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Inside the Workshop, with a pair of tongs, 67-year-old Xing Lanxiang twisted the glass rods into a pear-shaped artwork while talking to her son about the quality of the material.As the sixth generation heir of the family business, she has been making Liaoqi, a traditional Chinese glassware, for more than 50 years. However, as equipments and raw material are no longer available, the art is facing the danger of becoming a dying art as the glass dragon in her workshop may just be the last remaining piece of her large work.The art saw a strong growth from the 1960s to 1980s. However, there are now less than four Liaoqi masters left in China. Xing: "Unlike other crafts, you can draw your design and others can follow the drawing to make it. However, with this, no one can help you. You must complete it on your own in one go, as you can not complete the sections separately. Once the glass leaves the flame it will crack, so it is difficult in that you must sculpt it in one sitting without any molds. All the designs must be inside your head as you do not have time to think about it once you start working," Under her influence, Master Xing Lanxiang's two sons began studying Liaoqi making from an early age. As one of the seventh generation heirs, the elder brother, Liu Yu feels it is his responsibility to pass down this traditional craft to the next generation. But his daughters are not interested in learning the craftsmanship. Liu Yu: "Frankly speaking, my daughters are not that interested in Liaoqi making, they thought it was too tiring. The investment does not equal its payback. From their point of view, Liaoqi making is only an interesting handicraft or one of their hobbies, they have never thought about taking it as a lifelong career, they have their own opinions." The history of Liaoqi starts from the Western Zhou Dynasty, around 1046-771 B.C., and it became popular in Ming and Qing Dynasty. The existing Lioaqi factory in Beijing is one of the old factory that used to make glassware for the royals during the Ming Dynasty.Liaoqi is listed as one of China's national Intangible Cultural Heritages for its artistic value. Now the Xing family can only battle hard to remain the practice of the craft, while hoping that someday the art can prosper again. ◆ 追蹤更多華視影音及圖文新聞：
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