Fame is not afraid of being late. Only by enduring loneliness can we see prosperity.

Recently, China’s 77-year-old coppersmith @朱炳仁变身 “Internet celebrity” has become popular all over the country and is also familiar abroad.

Many of his works of molten copper art have been collected by museums and cultural institutions at home and abroad, such as the National Museum of China, the Palace Museum, the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, the China Cultural Center in Singapore, and the China Cultural Center in Bangkok.

Victor Hugo once said: “40 years old is the old age of youth, and 50 years old is the youth of old age.” Zhu Bingren’s 77 years are young, and the reason why he became famous in his later years is not because he is a late bloomer, but because of his unremitting persistence and pursuit of ingenuity.

Zhu Bingren, born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1944, is the fourth generation of Zhufu copper art. At the age of 40, Zhu Bingren took over the great business of the bronze carving family and opened the road to reviving the bronze carving of Zhufu. Zhu Bingren has devoted himself to creation for decades, delved into ancestral craftsmanship, explored technological innovation, combined traditional bronze carving with calligraphy, painting, carving and other art forms, and gradually formed a new copper art system, and used copper products for Leifeng Pagoda, Emeishan Golden Peak, G20 Hangzhou Summit main venue and other more than 100 copper building decoration, but also with a huge color copper mural to open the artistic peak of Chinese copper murals.

In 2008, the “Hangzhou Bronze Sculpture” with “Zhufu Bronze Art” and “Zhu Bingren Bronze Sculpture” as the core was successfully selected into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, and was also awarded the first batch of “China Time-honored Brand” by the Ministry of Commerce. Zhu Bingren has also become a master of Chinese arts and crafts and a representative inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage of bronze carving skills by virtue of his exquisite skills.

If traditional skills are to be passed on forever, they must keep pace with the times and innovate and develop. On May 25, 2006, when Zhu Bingren participated in the renovation project of Changzhou Tianning Pagoda, the tallest pagoda in China, he was suddenly hit by a fire, and the copper tiles were melted to the ground to form crystal copper beads and molten copper crystals with thousands of postures, and its smooth beauty could not be achieved by artificial casting.

This accident gave Zhu Bingren an inspiration and a new way of thinking, and after research, he created the art of molten copper, thus creating a new school of “molten realism” and laying the foundation for the second artistic peak of copper culture.

Seiko must be a skilled craftsman and win the heart of the world. Zhu Bingren’s shot is king, and the first molten copper mural work “Que Li” was collected by the National Museum. Since then, Zhu Bingren has been out of control, and the work “Rice Kedao, Extraordinary Rice”, which symbolizes the wisdom of the Chinese nation, made with molten copper art, was exhibited at the Chinese Academy of Arts, and “Ten Thousand Springs Return to the Sea” and “Fragrance from Far Away” were permanently collected by the Boao Forum for Asia……

“Rice can be Dao, very rice” is Zhu Bingren’s proud work. He uses the process of copper melting, so that the copper flows freely, and gives shape at will, which embodies the feelings of compassion for all beings and the concept of people-oriented, and bundles of rice ears are either full and bowing their heads, or swaying in the wind, shining with golden copper light, presenting a scene of a bumper harvest of grains.

In 2015, the large-scale molten copper mural “Spring and Qingyan” was collected by the Chinese Culture and Arts Centre in Singapore. In 2017, Zhu Bingren brought 50 pieces of molten copper works to hold his first overseas solo exhibition – “Melting the Ancient and Casting the New” Zhu Bingren Singapore Art Exhibition. In 2018, the first European exhibition “Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage: Zhu Bingren Bronze Art Exhibition” opened at the China Cultural Center in Berlin. In 2019, “A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains”, “Guiju Mountain Fowl”, “Five Cows” and “Fuchun Mountain Residence” were collected and displayed in Building 1 of the World Trade Center in the United States.

This year is the 15th anniversary of Zhu Bingren’s copper melting, and it is also the 15th anniversary of the cultural exchange between Chinese and Western copper arts. Over the years, Zhu Bingren has traveled at home and abroad, and the art of copper melting has gained worldwide attention and recognition. Whether it is from China’s Wutai Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Emei Mountain, Putuo Mountain and other famous temples, or to Taipei, Bangkok, Moscow, Singapore, Berlin, the United States, etc., you can see Zhu Bingren’s copper architecture and copper art works.

From the heir of a century-old brand to a world-renowned modern artist, Zhu Bingren has continued to transform and innovate in the inheritance; From an ordinary coppersmith to a world-class bronze carving master, he has led the copper craft to copper art, making copper carving an international art category recognized by the world. Zhu Bingren did not forget the cultural inheritance, and in 2010, he and his son published a personal art collection “Dissolving Shape and Melting – Zhu Bingren’s Art Collection”, and wrote the relevant skills into the book through the biography, so that this skill will be passed on to the world forever.

Zhu Bingren’s achievements are remarkable, and any work he takes out can be said to be in vain, but he still said, “I will never be satisfied, and I will continue to move forward.” This is the spirit of ingenuity, craftsman

The spirit of the heart is to “live to be old, learn to be old, work to be old, never accept the old, constantly strive for excellence, constantly surpass innovation, and constantly pursue perfection ……”