Suzhou jade industry needs to grasp market opportunities

In the Spring Auctions of Sotheby's New York, which recently ended, the special auction rate for "important Chinese porcelain and crafts" including jade articles reached 64%. Gao Gu porcelain and jade articles became the most sought-after hit lots on the auction scene. According to the news, Chen Jian, president of the Suzhou Jade Cultural Industry Association, said that the performance of the ancient jade wares in international competitions is getting better and better. For practitioners, it is definitely an extremely important signal. “Inheriting history and reproduction In the contemporary development of the brilliant Chinese jade art, Suzhou should seize some opportunities."

Wu Dizhi Yudai has inherited Luzigang, an important brand of Chinese jade culture. Suzhou is a famous cultural city with a history of more than 2,500 years. As early as 4000 years ago during the Liangzhu Culture period, Suzhou's ancestors have been able to produce all kinds of beautifully designed and implied meanings. Far-reaching jade. Yanshan Jade Vessel Cellar is regarded as a pinnacle of Chinese jade crafts in the late Spring and Autumn Period. In the second half of the Ming dynasty, Suzhou entered the peak period of economic development and cultural brilliance. Giant merchants and Daguan nobles gathered in Suzhou from all directions. Scholars and migrants took Wumen School and Wumengdao as authentic; In the filling society, a group of famous jade masters, represented by Luzi Gang, came to the fore and stood at the commanding height of Chinese jade crafts.

What is particularly important is that a very rare "symbiosis and co-prosperity" relationship has developed between the literati celebrities and the masters of the craftsmen. The ingenious ideas of the former can often be expressed through the uncanny workmanship of the latter. From Lu Zigang's handed down jade carving works, he has direct and indirect contacts with Ming dynasty artists such as Xu Wei, Wen Peng, Zhu Yunming, Dong Qichang and other literature, paintings, crafts, and celebrities. These have greatly enriched the connotation and art of his works. grade.

On the other hand, the implementation of the new craftsmanship system in the Ming Dynasty was divided into two types, wheelers and housers. The shift craftsmen belong to the Ministry of Industry and take turns to work in Beijing. In addition to rotating in Beijing once a few years, the rest of the shift craftsmen are at their own disposal. Lu Zigang, as the leader of the Suzhou jade sculpture in the Ming Dynasty, will certainly serve as a “wheel shifter” in Beijing to serve the court. Some of the "Gao Gang Style" jade objects in the Qing dynasty's old possessions may have been Lu Zigang's works during the "turning craftsmen" period; these fine collections in the palace's inner courts have acquired a huge reputation and status for Suzhou Jade. Under the influence of popular paradigms and regional cultures, the valuable Suzhou Jadeware has become an important part of the “Suzuo” and has formed an “empty, elegant, delicate, and exquisite” artistic feature. This feature and standard have been used for a long time. So far, it is highly respected.

Contemporary jade development requires a modern organizational structure Since the 21st century, the Suzhou jade industry has entered a period of rapid development. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 3,000 jade production enterprises in and around the city, with more than 100,000 employees. The total annual sales of the industry exceeded 10 billion yuan. Suzhou has become an important base for domestic jade production and sales. In Suzhou Garden Road, Xiangwang Road, Guangfu, Dongjing and other important jade processing and production bases, there are jade stone trades all the year round, and jade materials in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Liaoning, Russia, Korea and other places are continuously transported to Suzhou, which is controlled by Suzhou. Jade master processed into various types of jade products, sold throughout the country. Affected by this, a group of jade-workers from all over the country came here to learn from art, settle down, and start a business. They are destined to become an important part of the Suzhou Jade culture.

In the face of such booming jade industry development momentum, an industry organization with a modern management model is urgently needed. In December 2007, the Suzhou Jade Cultural Industry Association was established first. This is the municipal industry association under the Suzhou City Government Economic and Information Commission. The purpose of the association is to promote the jade culture of China and the history of Suzhou jade artifacts, inherit the “Su Gang” jade craftsmanship, strengthen the contact with the domestic industry, actively display outstanding jade carving works in Suzhou, establish the norms of the jade carving industry, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the industry. It provides an exchange platform for famous artists' works and art displays to promote the improvement of Suzhou jade carving techniques.

After more than two years of sustained efforts, in 2010, the association obtained 40 types and 41 types of trademark registration certificates issued by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, "Lu Zigang", establishing the significance of the "Luzigang brand is Suzhou" from the legal level. The association currently has 340 member companies in the jade carving industry, including domestic jade companies, jade carving studios and jade workshops. Currently, the association’s personnel structure is mainly young and middle-aged jade carving practitioners, and mainly new Suzhou people. Through many years of personnel training, the association now has a highly qualified technical team: 4 senior arts and crafts artists in China; 22 Chinese arts and crafts artists; 1 Chinese jade carving master, 14 young Chinese jade carving artists; Jiangsu jade carving 5 masters, 38 senior technicians certified by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Sciences, and 20 intermediate technicians; 1 key talent (enjoying government subsidies) in Suzhou City.

The association also holds four sessions of the China Suzhou Jade Culture Festival, the Third China Jade Culture High-Level Forum, and two Chinese “Lu Zi Gang Cup” jade carving boutique exhibitions. A number of members’ works were selected in the “Shanghai World Expo” and won numerous awards in the national jade art selection “China Art Cup”, “Lu Zigang Cup”, “Hundred Flowers Award”, “Tiangong Award” and “Godwork Award”. Accumulated more than 500 winning entries.

Capital assists the brand discourse right Jade production is a handmade skill inherited from the millennium, and Suzhou has thus become a major town on the Chinese jade road. At the beginning of the 21st century, Mr. Fei Xiaotong clearly stated: “We should theoretically analyze and present the parts that can represent the uniqueness of Chinese culture in front of the world. Here, my first thought is the jade of China. Because jade has had a very important position in the history of China. This is something that the West does not have or is rare." The Chinese jade articles collected from museums at home and abroad have made great achievements in domestic and foreign auction markets in recent years. The Chinese jade articles, as well as the wearing of jade ornaments and the collection of jade articles, which have not diminished in popularity, can be seen that the development prospects of the Suzhou jade industry are full of vitality.

However, for a long period of time, the jade industry's business model is still a hand-workshop-style front-store backyard. It is so large that it can be used to identify places of origin and small to specific workshop products. The entire jade industry is mostly in its own loose structure. As jade raw material is a scarce resource, and as the international jewellery industry and the design community gradually agree with the “Oriental Nephrite” (ie jade with a Mohs hardness of 7 or less based on Chinese Hetian jade), especially the Chinese national strength With the increase in the number of foreign cultural exchanges, once domestic and foreign capitals are turned to the jade industry, fragile enterprises and industries will soon be collectively acquired.

Therefore, in the not too long period in the future, Suzhou jade industry must have the right to speak within the domestic and even international related industries. On the basis of rich and valuable foundation, it must take the initiative to invite the capital to join. Enterprise architecture, business model, design innovation, marketing promotion, derivatives development and other perspectives, from the hand-workshop to the modern enterprise's promotion, in a broader platform, the promotion of Suzhou city image, the dissemination of Suzhou city culture, establish the industry brand The "Suzu" brand and the "Luzioka" brand were promoted throughout the country and pushed to the international level to support the great development and prosperity of the cultural undertaking.