张雪磊, 助理工艺美术师, Assoc Master Artist Zhang Xue Lei.
1. The top Ornate Artist recognised for long in our fraternity and still alive currently is 江建翔 Jiang Jian Xiang, and though unranked, as a Highly Skilled Craftsman 实力派匠人, is regarded YiXing's Top Ornate in the past two decades, after the other two Ornate Class Legends: 蒋蓉 Jiang Rong and 汪寅仙 Wang Yin Xian, had passed on.
Assoc Master Zhang Xue Lei's ZiSha Works, even as early at 2021-2022, were shown to Grand Masters and Masters alike, and being "blind" to who crafted them, all adjudged the works laid before them, to be "Ornate works which are the work borne of at least: a Senior Master Artist, of maturity at least: 40 years of age, and having the eyesight still unaffected at 40 yet with all the experience and skills of a mature 40 years old Senior Master Artist.
Little do they know after that, during the reveal, that these works are borne of Zhang Xue Lei's hands.
And scarily, ever since 2022, Zhang Xue Lei's prowess has climbed even further!
And his latest works bear testament to his astounding abilities. Both talent and patient work.
And his latest works bear testament to his astounding abilities. Both talent and patient work.
Zhang Xue Lei has gained recognition and fame, and is being regarded since, as YiXing's Top Ornate Class Artist.
2. 张雪磊 Zhang Xue Lei also holds the distinction and fame of being the youngest ever Artist to achieve L4 Associate Master Artist. He was born on 16th February 1996.
He holds the crown of the youngest ever Artist to attain L4 Assoc Master Artist at 23 years of age, when he passed his Accreditation Exam in December 2019.
3. Provincial Grand Master of The Arts, 邵顺生 Shao Shun Sheng's TOP disciple is Senior Consummate Master 路学峰 Lu Xue Feng.
Senior Consummate Master Lu Xue Feng's TOP disciple is Assoc Master Zhang Xue Lei.
The lineage is strong.
The fraternity is also rearing Senior Consummate Master Lu Xue Feng to be accredited with L1 Research Level Master in Dec 2026, due to his immense skills already manifested through his multiple works. He is so good, that Provincial Grand Master of The Arts, 何道洪 He Dao Hong, has adopted Lu Xue Feng as his 闭门弟子 Bi Men Di Zi, the last disciple he will ever ordain as his own. This is massive because with the most maturity, fame and status attained, a Grand Master adopting the disciple as his last, will be the one who is the most wisely and judiciously judged, having "seen it all", many roads travelled, and knowing how to choose a disciple amongst the many.
Grand Master Shao Shun Sheng has been awarded 五一劳动奖 "5-1 Labour Award" by the City, Provincial and Government levels chronologically in 2010, 2012 and 2013, and further in 2016 and 2018, Integrity and Honesty Awards at both National and Provincial levels as well. These are massive awards to receive, and the heaviest weights for one Artist to carry.
If his disciple or his grand disciple goes astray e.g. by getting himself or herself involved in the dishonest Dai Gong operations, Grand Master Shao Shun Sheng's reputation and his lineage will forever be tainted.
Shao Shun Sheng is the Sixth Generation descendant of the legendary Shao Da Heng.
He has no son.
Shao Shun Sheng entrusts his lineage to Lu Xue Feng to carry on.
Guarding his lineage, is of EXTREME, PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO HIM.
Lu Xue Feng and Zhang Xue Lei has to carry on the torch, as his spiritual successors as well, the Artists to authenticate Shao's works when he passes on in future as well.
3. Zhang Xue Lei is going for the L3 Master Artist Accreditation Exam this December 2025 and is certain to attain it.
4. Very, very few ZiSha Artists would want to specialise in Ornate class works.
The reason being, without demeaning other Artists who chose to specialise in Austere, Polygonal and Segmental-Corollary class works:
Ornate works are the riskiest to one's livelihood.
Zhang Xue Lei spends weeks to work on a bespoke Ornate work, and for example, the 鸣远松段 Ming Yuan Song Duan: he worked on it for after three weeks, it cracked. Here we see the cracked piece after he had already painstakingly spent three weeks of effort crafting it. This he has to abandon, and he has to redo again, from step zero.
Completion of the work at the next attempt, takes another six gruelling weeks.
Thus for three plus six, i.e. nine weeks, he is remunerated $4800. A very trying issue for an Ornate Artist. Sometimes it would take even as far as the fourth attempt for Zhang Xue Lei to call it a success. An extremely time-consuming, and risky path.
Ornate works as complicated as Ming Yuan Song Duan and above, take six weeks to ideate, craft and perfect. Firing is a big issue as well, because, without a firm grasp of the moisture of the clay, and the MAINTENANCE of the moisture of the whole work within these six weeks of crafting, the piece can often dry in parts and crack open ~ this is not remediable. Care of the most minute and detailed parts, e.g. the ends of the twigs, the curved organic forms, the ovoid tree bark skins, the flowers, the fine and thin features reminiscent of a true tree, are the most precarious. Cracking off will render the whole piece, void. This is cruel, but true. The Artist must be rigorous to the Nth degree.
Very often for a young Artist, often swayed by the powers of monies, and being impressionable and easily influenced,
Such determination exhibited by Zhang Xue Lei since young, to forcefully dedicate himself to specialise in Ornate class works from an early age of 15, with blinders on, is hugely commendable.
Unlike Austere works, which an Artist would take at most two weeks to complete,
Or the Polygonal works depending on complexity: two to three weeks to complete, and the Segmental-Corollary works, which takes two to three weeks to complete,
Ornate works, the most complex which are embarked upon by Zhang Xue Lei, take the longest time, and the heaviest risks and opportunity costs involved.
Suffering a crack or mishap or deformation during crafting/firing, for an Austere, Polygonal, Segmental-Corollary work, would mean two to three weeks "wasted". Suffering such for a complex Ornate work, means Zhang Xue Lei may potentially suffer six weeks without coming up with a successful work.
This is the reason, Zhang Xue Lei's complex Ornate works come up only three or at most four times a year, at best.
Perfection and Flair, Detail and Grit, all rolled into one.
Zhang Xue Lei has, since 2021, been exclusively availing his works through us at RealZiSha.
For your information, Zhang Xue Lei does not craft Austere works for sale. If you Google and trawl the net, and find Austere/Polygonal/Segmental-Corollary pots "made by Zhang Xue Lei" sold by other retailers, they are all false. Even if these pots bear "his stamp", avoid. They are all duds (jigger-machined pots stamped with Counterfeit Stamps). And such stamps and certificates from these retailers are faked. Such Chinese sites (bogus retaielrs) are ubiquitous. If they are prevalent in China, imagine all the cookie-cut sites in English made to dupe the Westerners. With AI, such sites can be drafted up really fast, and many retailers cookie-cut and paste photos from Taobao, where they get their source jigger-machined pots from.
Again, we reiterate, Zhang Xue Lei does not craft such Austere/Polygonal/Segmental-Corollary pots for sale. He only crafts Ornate Class works, and he only avails them with us at RealZiSha.
Video and Paper Certification with Associate Master Artist Zhang Xue Lei, 助理工艺美术师 - 张雪磊 for every Artwork of his procured.
张雪磊助理工艺美术师，Zhang Xue Lei
Born 16th Feb 1996, attained Level4 Associate Master Artist in Dec 2019, at the youngest age of 23 years old.
Youngest ever Artist to reach Level4 Associate Master Artist accreditation and rank in the past 25 years history of the ZiSha Faculty/Fraternity of Artists. Confirmed.
There are other webstores making false claims: that their L4 Artists are the "youngest ever to reach Assoc Master status". Be cautious and be aware.
