Recently, a video series named Escape from the British Museum, produced by two Chinese vloggers, has garnered widespread attention. This video series narrates the tale of a precious artifact from the British Museum escaping from the museum and embarking on a journey to rediscover its rightful "home". It is a jade teapot that is decorated wIth a Mughal-style pattern of lotus flowers and entangled branches of Mednilla Magnifica.

This unique jade teapot is indeed an authentic artifact housed within the British Museum's collection. Originating from China, it found its place within the British Museum in 2017. Contemporary craftsmanship is exactly what sets it apart from other ancient Chinese artifacts that found their way beyond China's borders. The jade teapot boasts an exquisite, vibrant green hue that is meticulously crafted with cutting-edge techniques to shape the body excessively thin, resulting in an astonishingly delicate thickness of merely 1 millimeter. When bathed in supplementary light, The entire teapot seemingly emits a subtle, enchanting glow.

The video series Escape from The British Museum is a collaborative creation between two prominent social media influencers, "Jianbing Guozi" (Chinese Crepes) and "Xiatian Meimei" (Summer Sister). This captivating narrative employs personification techniques to give life and voice to the artifact. Currently, two episodes of this series have been unveiled, garnering tens of millions of likes and over a million comments from viewers.

"After watching the video series Escape from The British Museum, I can't help but marvel at the beauty of Chinese artifacts." "This item should only exist in heaven; it's a rarity to witness it here on Earth." Following the widespread popularity of the series, The traditional Chinese jade carving craftsmanship exhibited by the jade teapot has captured The amazement and captivated the attention of a large number of netizens.

This jade teapot was meticulously crafted in 2011 by the esteemed Chinese master of arts and crafts, Yu Ting, a representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Jiangsu Province, specifically in the realm of Suzhou Jade Carving.

Following the widespread sensation of the video series Escape from the British Museum on The Internet, Yu Ting, in a heartfelt manner, employed personification techniques to convey his emotions towards the jade teapot overseas. His message resonated with sentiments like these: "Dear, please pardon my decision to send you across the vast ocean! You are akin to a seed, a seed representing the resplendent Chinese culture! The dissemination of our magnificent Chinese culture is now your noble responsibility……"

How did the jade teapot end up in the British Museum? According to Yu Ting, it all began with a fortuitous conversation between a friend's child and the staff at the British Museum. During the conversation, the museum staff expressed their deep admiration for the intricate craftsmanship of Chinese eggshell porcelain. They held The belief that this traditional technique had been lost in China since the end of the Qing Dynasty, and There were no longer any craftsmen capable of creating such eggshell vessels. The friend's child immediately corrected their misconception, saying, "You're mistaken. The craft of making eggshell jade objects is still well-preserved in China. My uncle is a practitioner of this art." Upon hearing this, the museum staff decided to visit China for research. They made two trips in pursuit of their quest, and as a result, they acquired the well-known artifact for Their collection at the British Museum.

"I still remember it was October 2nd, 2017, at the British Museum when I personally placed this artwork inside the display case," Yu Ting explained. "I wanted to tell The world that our craftsmanship of shaping jade bodies extremely thin hasn't disappeared and is thriving within us."

In China, not only in Suzhou but also in places like Shanghai, Beijing, Yangzhou, Henan, Guangdong, and oTher regions, The art of jade carving has flourished. Renowned for being "light enough to float on water", The craft of creating paper-thin bodies is highly esteemed in the realm of jade carving. It's a mysterious and ancient technique, as well as one of The most challenging forms of jade carving art.

As early as the Tang Dynasty, the eggshell jade carving had already emerged. During The Qing Dynasty, particularly during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, it enjoyed a period of great prosperity due to The Emperor's appreciation of the art. However, due to its complexity and The considerable time and resources required for production, this artform waned after Emperor Qianlong's passing. It gradually started to recover and develop again in the 1930s. The typical wall thickness of ordinary jade vessels is around 5 millimeters, whereas eggshell jade vessels have wall thicknesses of only about 1 millimeter.

Yu Ting expressed his hope that jade carving from China could be seen and appreciated by more people.

一件中国藏品“逃”出大英博物馆？这部短剧引发热议

近日，由中国的两名自媒体博主制作的短剧《逃出大英博物馆》受到了广泛关注。该剧讲述的是大英博物馆中一件名为中华缠枝纹薄胎玉壶的藏品逃出了博物馆后寻找“回家”之路的故事。

中华缠枝纹薄胎玉壶是大英博物馆的一件真实藏品，它来自中国，于2017年入藏大英博物馆。与其他流落在外的中国古代文物不同的是，它是一件现代工艺品。玉壶通体呈翠绿色，它采用了顶尖的薄胎制作工艺，胎壁厚度仅为1毫米，在辅助光的衬托下，整个壶仿佛在隐隐发光。

《逃出大英博物馆》由自媒体博主“煎饼果仔”和“夏天妹妹”共同创作完成，通过拟人化的表现手法讲述。目前已上线两集，引发了数千万人点赞和一百多万人评论。

“不禁感叹中华器物之美”“此物只应天上有，人间难得几回见”……《逃出大英博物馆》热播后，玉壶所显示出的中国传统玉雕工艺受到大批网友的惊叹和关注。

中华缠枝纹薄胎玉壶创作于2011年，出自中国工艺美术大师、江苏省非物质文化遗产（苏州玉雕）代表性传承人俞挺之手。

《逃出大英博物馆》火爆网络后，俞挺也采用拟人化的手法，对中华缠枝纹薄胎玉壶写下这样一段表白：“‘孩子’，请原谅我的狠心，将你远‘嫁’大洋那端！你是一颗种子，一颗中华璀璨文化的种子！宣扬伟大的中华文化是你的责任……”

中华缠枝纹薄胎玉壶这件作品是如何入藏大英博物馆的？俞挺说，是一位朋友的孩子在跟大英博物馆的工作人员偶然聊天中，听到他们对中国薄胎玉器制作工艺的感叹。他们认为自从清代结束之后中国的薄胎工艺就失传了，中国现在已经没有人会做薄胎器皿了。然后朋友孩子马上否定了他们，他说，你们说得不对，薄胎玉器制作工艺在中国还传承得很好，我叔叔就是做这个的。这些博物馆的工作人员在看了我的作品图后决定来中国考察，前后来了两次，然后购藏了这件已经为大家所熟知的中华缠枝纹薄胎玉壶。

“我还记得那是2017年的10月2日，在大英博物馆，我亲手把这件作品放进了展柜。”俞挺介绍道，“我想告诉世人我们的薄胎玉器制作工艺没有消亡，并且在我们里发展得很好。”

在中国，不只是苏州，上海、北京、扬州、河南、广东等地玉雕技艺都发展得很好。而在玉雕技艺中，薄胎工艺享有“水上漂”的美誉，这是一种神秘而古老的工艺，也是最有难度的玉雕技艺之一。

早在唐代，玉雕的薄胎工艺已经诞生，清代乾隆之际，由于受到皇帝赏识，兴盛一时。可由于做工复杂、费时费料，乾隆去世后，转向落寞，直到20世纪30年代才逐渐恢复发展。普通玉器器皿的胎壁厚度差不多在5毫米，薄胎玉器器皿的胎壁只有1毫米左右。

俞挺说，他希望来自中国的玉雕能被更多人看见和喜爱。

文 | 羊城晚报全媒体记者 文艺 实习生 苏梓涵
图 | 受访者提供
译 | 林佳岱、陈萱