The Tuoguang lacquerware of Pinglei County has a long history. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), the Tuoguang lacquer technique had basically formed a local characteristic. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had reached a considerable scale and began to be exported to countries such as Britain and Russia.

Tuoguang lacquerware is an advanced type of painted furniture with craft characteristics, named for the luster produced by polishing with the palm. The famous Shanxi handicraft, Pinglei Tuoguang lacquerware, has an ancient and elegant appearance, bright and sparkling surface, golden and brilliant decorations, smooth and delicate touch, heat resistance, moisture resistance, and durability, making it a top-quality lacquerware.

Currently, the varieties of Pinglei Tuoguang lacquerware mainly include high-end screens, wall panels, TV cabinets, large and small wardrobes, corner cabinets, wine cabinets, display cabinets, jewelry boxes, etc. The base coat is mostly black, red, yellow, and purple, with patterns in traditional national style, such as characters from classical novels, operas, ancient myths, and legendary stories, which are either gilded and colored, or carved and inlaid, or embossed and embedded. The lines are smooth, the colors harmonious, and the overall look luxurious and magnificent.

The production of Pinglei Tuoguang lacquerware is divided into five processes: wooden core, gray core, lacquering, painting, and inlaying. After the wooden core workshop makes various types of furniture cores from pine wood, the gray core workshop wraps the wooden core with white hemp and applies a layer of brick dust mixed with pig's blood, called "wrapping with hemp and applying gray". The lacquering process is very detailed and complex. After each brush of lacquer is applied on the gray core, it must first be sanded with water sandpaper, then repeatedly rubbed by hand until the surface feels smooth, and then another layer of lacquer is applied. It can be brushed up to seven times, and as few as six times. The subsequent rubbing becomes even more meticulous. First, coarse water sandpaper is used, then fine water sandpaper, followed by rubbing with cotton cloth, silk cloth, a strand of human hair, and then rubbing with hands dipped in sesame oil or soybean oil, and repeated rubbing with the palm. It relies on eyesight, carefulness, feeling, and number of times. The lacquer surface becomes brilliant and shiny. The painting and inlay workshops require higher technical skills. Painters must study painting for more than four years and master basic painting techniques before they are allowed to draw red and green on the lacquered surface and work independently. Carvers must have blades as flexible as brushstrokes, varying in thickness and depth, and easy to start and stop. At the inlay workshop, there are swirling fumes and sounds of tapping. Workers process river mussel shells, mother-of-pearl, ivory, and colored stones into various components, and then carefully and firmly inlay them according to the requirements of the pattern. Before the Qing Dynasty, the Tuoguang lacquerware was plain base with gold painting. Starting in the early Qing Dynasty, the main style became gold lacquerware. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, a new technique of thickening the lacquer layer and polishing it to produce luster was created. Since then, Pinglei Tuoguang lacquerware has developed a unique artistic style combining polished lacquer surfaces with gilded and colored paintings.