Raw Lacquer resin
The sap from the lacquer tree is called raw lacquer. In Taiwan, the harvest season begins in April and ends in November. To get the raw lacquer is a very tough job indeed. The raw lacquer collectors must reach the mountain at 3 to 4 o'clock in the early morning and finish the job at about 10 to 11 o'clock. The collectors begin by scooping out the bark with gouges and inserting a shell or shell-shaped container. The raw lacquer then flows into the shell. A single worker may harvest three hundred trees in several hours time. The average person collects 5 kilograms of raw lacquer in one day. In ancient time, the value of one kilogram of lacquer was equal to one chariot or one horse. From the source to the products, the Lacquerware must be handmade. From the source to the final products, the process of making Lacquerware was labour-intensive. Once we know the process for harvest the raw lacquer and the process of making Lacquerware, we can understand why Lacquerware is so expensive.
taken by Chung-wen Yang in a lacquer tree farm, Hanoi, Vietnam. | taken by Chung-wen Yang in a lacquer tree farm, Hanoi, Vietnam. | The old photo was collected by lacquer artist Huang, Li-Shu. |