Metal, lacquer and clay

Three masters share their thoughts on the development and promotion of traditional handicraft, Wang Ru reports.

Wu Zhongfeng was impressed by mengxiang, or Mongolian-style craft of inlay, which "can turn metal into doughlike soft things" at the age of 16, when she started to learn the craft of making such work in metal and other materials from craftsman Kang Wensheng in Beijing in the 1970s.

Wu's devotion to the craft for the past 40 years has turned her into an official inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage called "Beijing Mengxiang". Along with two other masters, who specialize in lacquerware carving and clay figurines, Wu participated in an activity held by a Beijing-based association to promote the development of cultural heritage in the city on March 20.