The purpose of this paper is to examine the development and characteristics of lacquerware inlaid with gold produced on the basis of the artisan system in the 13th and 14th centuries during the Yuan dynasty, and determine the transmission of lacquerware inlaid with gold and the fashionable trends of inlay work to Goryeo and the contemporary Japan. As a method of decorating lacquerware, the technique of gold inlay requires the setting or insertion of a metal material or pigment into the surface of lacquerware after it is incised. Lacquerware usually is made of wood, metal, or porcelain clay as the base material, and metal or pigments for decoration. This technique is also called qiangjin (戧金) in China and sokin or chinkin (沈金) in Japan. Concurrently, the two names have been used in Korea without clear distinction. For the development of lacquerware during the Yuan dynasty, its full story can be found, along with relevant artifacts, in references such as The History of Yuan ( 元史), The Essential Criteria of Antiquities (格古要論, a guidebook about commerce and culture of the Ming dynasty), and The Record of Rest from the Plow (輟耕錄, an encyclopedia that treated the culinary arts). As the artisan system of the Yuan Dynasty was continually organized from 1260 and the Metals and Jewels Workshop ( 金玉局) was reformed for expansion in 1265, the composition and system of artisans, the Supervisorate-in-chief of Metal Workers and Jewelers for the Various Routes ( 諸路金玉人匠總管府), moved to Hangzhou in 1278. This was in direct relation to the manufacture of lacquerware inlaid with gold. This influence can be found even in the inscription on a sutra box inlaid with gold created in the Yuan dynasty, which is currently in Japan. Presumably, the Artistic Bureau ( 畵局) of the Supervisorate- in-chief of Metal Workers and Jewelers for Various Routes ( 諸路金玉人匠總管府) also played a role in design-making, along with painted drawings. It is assumed that designs that conformed to the use and reflected the trends of the times were supplied. It is judged that these designs were interlinked with other factors that influenced the manufacture of crafted works and were intimately connected to other kinds of crafts and designs. From an analytic approach, such closely related manufacturing also has contributing factors including: the technique of inlay with gold into the lacquered surface, which was used in the court; the use of metal inlay craft; and multiple production activities by the Fuliang Porcelain Bureau ( 浮梁 磁局). This study analyzes the decorative motifs and expressions of extant lacquerware inlaid with gold that were produced in the Yuan dynasty in order to examine various aspects of the technique. The design objects used include: floral scroll; bird based on a Chinese phoenix, peacock and parrot; clouds; linear design; and human figures. The aspects of the technique can be largely grouped into three categories: the first uses linear inlay with gold ( 綫戧金) and planar inlay with gold (面戧金) using the wood face of lacquerware to inscribe the main- supplementary design on each face of the relevant artifact without allowing margins; the second uses linear inlay with gold only; and the third uses other various decorative materials within the frame of the technique of gold inlay into a lacquered surface.