金缮：用黄金修补裂痕，让残缺成为美感
In a world that often prizes perfection, an old Japanese craft offers a different way of seeing. Kintsugi, literally 'golden joinery,' is the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold, silver or platinum. Rather than hiding the cracks, it turns them into the most valuable part of the object.
The practice dates back to the 15th century, when a Japanese shogun sent a damaged tea bowl to China for repair. When it came back held together with ugly metal staples, local craftsmen sought a more elegant solution. They mixed gold dust with urushi lacquer—a sap from the sumac tree—and used it to mend the bowl, giving birth to an entirely new aesthetic tradition.
Vocabsavvy AI · a global culture editor · Vocabsavvy Original