Yan Jingxin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

From childhood he learned kai wood (Chinese pistache) carving from his grandfather, and later took Yang Yutian as his teacher, studying seal engraving at the same time. Within the regional tradition and school record of Wood Carving in Qufu, Shandong: Kaishu wood carving is distributed mainly in the urban area of Qufu City and around Nishan and Fangshan. Practitioners are mostly local Qufu artisans, among whom the Yan family lineage is the most representative transmission. Traditional products center on longevity staffs and ruyi scepters; today the range has grown to nearly a hundred varieties, which besides supplying the Kong family mansion, the Confucius Temple and the local tourist market are also sold as gifts to other provinces. The kaishu (Chinese pistache) trees used in kaidiao carving grow in the Nishan and Fangshan areas of Qufu; the wood is tough, fine and dense, with a grain like a painting. Legend has it that after Confucius died, his disciples built huts to keep watch at his tomb and carved pistache wood into staffs; thereafter pistache wood was called “wenkai” (the pistache of culture) and became a material for honoring Confucius. Since the Tang and Song dynasties kaidiao has been used for sacrificial vessels in the Confucius Temple and as gifts; in the Ming and Qing dynasties it entered the ranks of tribute and gift articles presented by the Dukes of Yansheng of the Kong family to emperors, generals, ministers and high officials.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Han ethnicity, born in June 1936 in Qufu, Shandong Province. Senior arts and crafts artist, Master of Arts and Crafts of Shandong Province, and fifth-generation transmitter of the Yan family's kai wood carving. His work fuses calligraphy, painting, seal engraving and kai wood carving into an artistic style of his own; his pieces are lively in form and delicate in knife work, archaic yet refined, with fresh ideas and graceful resonance. His representative work Kongzi (Confucius) presents an integrated, vivid and imposing image. He values the theoretical distillation of practical experience and has committed his reflections on creation to writing. He attaches importance to the transmission of the craft and founded a studio where he teaches his third son, Yan Shiwei, and his apprentices. Within the documented technical tradition of Wood Carving in Qufu, Shandong: Kaishu wood carving, also called “kaidiao”, is a traditional carving art popular in Qufu City, Shandong Province, with a history of more than two thousand years. It carves the rare pistache tree, unique to the locality, as raw material, and through long practice has gradually formed a distinctive artistic character. Historically, the finest kaidiao has been exceptionally precious, serving as tribute or gifts presented by the Dukes of Yansheng of the Kong family to emperors, generals, ministers and high officials. Kaishu wood carving has many forms, including circular carving, relief, openwork and pierced carving; the entire craft process consists of more than a dozen steps. Traditional products center on longevity staffs and ruyi scepters; today the range has grown to nearly a hundred varieties, and it can carve images of Confucius as well as figures, flowers, birds and beasts, and can also make stationery and writing implements. Kaishu wood carving has a plain and simple knife style and exquisite, refined workmanship; its forms are dignified and weighty, with both form and spirit captured, possessing a national bearing and regional character. At present, ensuring the further transmission and development of this special craft on its existing basis is the main task of the Qufu kaishu wood-carving trade for the coming period. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The pistacia tree and the name “literary kai”": Carved from the locally distinctive pistacia, kai wood carving developed its own artistic character over a long period of practice. "Longevity staffs and ruyi sceptres": Traditional products were longevity staffs and ruyi sceptres; today nearly a hundred kinds are made, from Confucius figures to birds, beasts and stationery. "Round, relief, pierced and openwork carving": Using round, relief, pierced and openwork carving across more than a dozen stages, the craft is plain and simple in cutting yet dignified in form. "Yan Jingxin's Confucius": The fifth-generation Yan-family carver Yan Jingxin fuses calligraphy, painting and seal carving into his work; his Confucius is a unified and imposing image.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of wood carving (Qufu kai wood carving), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He has produced more than three hundred kai wood carvings, of which over fifty have been shown in exhibitions at home and abroad, and many have won national and provincial awards.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Yan Jingxin · National Representative Bearer Archive