Inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese glass-fi lament-laying techniques in Boshan

Filament-laying techniques originated in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and flourished in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), before being introduced to the Boshan region of China. After this technology was introduced to Boshan, glass artisans in the area used the well-developed local methods of glass production to pull out ultra-fine glass filaments, replacing original fibre or silk filaments with glass filaments. As a result, Boshan's speciality of glass-filament-laying was born. Products made using this technique include plaques, table lamps, palace lamps and screens. Glass-filament-laying is the melting of transparent glass into fine filaments of uniform thickness, dividing the filaments into two layers, closely arranged and bonded in different orders, with calligraphy and paintings on paper or silk sandwiched in between them. The glass-filament-laying process is highly complex and there are fewer and fewer master artisans of this skill today, with it being close to being lost. This paper mainly studies and discusses the development of glass-filament-laying in Boshan and the contemporary innovative methods of glass-filament-laying.