On 30 September 2026, the 2026 "Yellow River Memory" Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition opened in Weinan, Shaanxi. Zhengdaming Cultural Industry Group presented its Qinba lacquerware series, using lacquer as a medium to bring eight thousand years of lacquer craft into dialogue with the cultural memory of the Yellow River basin.
Inheriting the Spirit of the Three Sages, Converging the Flow of the Great River
The exhibition was themed "Inheriting the Spirit of the Three Sages · Converging the Flow of the Great River", bringing together intangible cultural heritage achievements from across the Yellow River basin. As an important node of Yellow River culture, Weinan carries a deep historical legacy. Zhengdaming presented tea vessels, flower vessels, jewellery, scholarly objects, collector pieces, and raw and refined lacquer materials. In the booth, representative Qinba lacquer techniques such as coloured lacquer painting, biantu, gold-tracery and floating lacquer were shown through individual works.
From Lacquer Tree to Exhibition Booth: A Complete Industry Chain
Zhengdaming has worked in Qinba lacquer for 12 years, with more than 5,000 mu of lacquer tree bases in Ankang, Enshi, Chengkou, Shangluo and Zhuxi. Through a "company + cooperative + farmer" model, it has provided employment for more than 600 people and increased per-capita annual income by more than 50,000 yuan. From tree cultivation and raw lacquer tapping to refined lacquer production and final lacquering, Zhengdaming has built a complete industry chain. This chain not only safeguards the roots of national intangible cultural heritage skills, but also gives concrete form to the cultural dialogue between the Yellow River basin and the Qinba mountains.
Understandable, Takeaway, Usable
The booth drew many visitors. Staff explained lacquerware craftsmanship, material identification and daily care, helping visitors understand why "a hundred li, a thousand cuts, one jin of lacquer" is so precious, and feel the warm, jade-like and long-lasting quality of lacquer. Many visitors encountered gold-tracery, biantu and floating lacquer works at close range for the first time and came away with a strong impression of Niuwang lacquer from Pingli, Qinba.
Letting Chinese Lacquer Be Seen by the Times Again
Since 1925, when lacquer merchant Yuan Yongling founded the "Zhengdaming" shop and traded "Niuwang" lacquer, the brand has made "Let Chinese lacquer be seen by the times again" its mission. Today, as a Shaanxi Provincial Master of Arts and Crafts, provincial-level inheritor of lacquer techniques, and founder of Zhengdaming Cultural Industry Group, Yuan Duanjiao and the team continue to preserve craft through industrialisation and tell tradition in market language. The Yellow River Memory Exhibition was not only a display but also a dialogue: the depth of Yellow River culture met the precision of Qinba lacquer craft, and the industrial path of traditional craft intersected with contemporary life. Going forward, Zhengdaming will continue to rely on the Qinba raw lacquer industry to deepen the integration of "intangible heritage + exhibitions + cultural creativity + study tours", letting more heritage skills move from remote mountains into cities and daily life.