Wenzhou Ousu, or Wenzhou Clay Sculpture, is a folk art long practiced in Zhejiang’s Wenzhou area, an important manufacturing center of lacquerware during the Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279) dynasties. Evolved from a traditional Chinese lacquering craft called “duiqi” or embossed lacquer, it has widely been used in decorations for temples, residential houses and dowries. During Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1616-1911) times, embossed lacquer further developed into three more distinct varieties, i.e. plating gold as well as red and black lacquer paint and oil on top of the original surface. With the improvement of lacquering materials and techniques, the artistic expression of Ousu has been further enhanced in modern times.

While Ousu works and products have long been used as decorative pieces for dowries and furniture, Zhou Jinyun, an accomplished Ousu master, broke out of the confines and developed Ousu into an art form similar to oil paintings in the past two decades. In the process, Zhou Jinyun refined his craft and created ten new varieties of Ousu, including embossed mural paintings, 3D Ousu, and imitation white jade, among others. Over the years, Zhou has been committed to integrating Ousu with frescos and environmental art, and his efforts have been widely lauded.

More recently, Zhou Jinyun has turned his focus to marketing Ousu culture and expanding the accompanying creative and cultural industries, for any traditional craft and folk art need to be passed down and, more importantly, meet the current market demand. Thanks to Zhou and masters like him, Wenzhou Ousu and a number of other traditional crafts are now both artistically vibrant and commercially viable.