Long Congfa

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He began learning the craft from his father at the age of 12. Within the regional tradition and school record of Wood Carving in Wuhanshiqiaokou, Hubei: Wuhan wood-carved boat models are mainly distributed in Qiaokou District. The technique originated from the boat-model workshop opened in the late Qing dynasty by the Yichang artisan Long Qisheng, and later settled in the Hanzheng Street and Qiaokou area when the Long family moved to Wuhan. Today it is continued by Long Yong, the family's fifth-generation inheritor, and by the transmission base; most works are custom-commissioned and collected by museums and memorial halls. The boat models cover successive dynasties' vessel types such as dragon-and-phoenix pleasure boats, large cypress-wood drum boats, Dragon Boat Festival dragon boats, tower ships, wheel boats, and "five-tooth" warships. Among them, the reconstructed ancient warship "Five-Tooth Warship" is collected by the Military Museum of China, while the "Large Cypress-Wood Drum Boat" and "Dragon Boat Festival Dragon Boat" are displayed in the Hubei Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Wood-carved boat models are a traditional sculptural art passed down in Wuhan, Hubei Province. They were founded in the late Qing dynasty and have a history of roughly one hundred years to this day.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Han ethnicity, born in April 1938 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts. For more than seventy years he has inherited the family tradition without being bound by it, innovating in the craft of wooden model boats. His works are archaic and refined, grand and vigorous, and of superlative workmanship. His representative work Longfeng Fang (Dragon and Phoenix Pleasure Boat) was shown at the fifth exhibition of outstanding works by Masters of Chinese Arts and Crafts at the National Museum of China; Da Baimu Guchuan (Great Cypress Drum Boat) and Duanwu Longzhou (Dragon Boat of the Double Fifth) are displayed in the Hubei Hall of the Great Hall of the People; his reconstruction of the ancient warship Wuya Zhanjian (Five-Teeth Warship) is held by the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution; and Louchuan (Tower Ship), Chelun Zhou (Paddle-Wheel Boat) and Wuya Zhanjian are held by the Jiaxing Boat Culture Museum. Within the documented technical tradition of Wood Carving in Wuhanshiqiaokou, Hubei: The Yichang artisan Long Qisheng originally ran a small workshop making boat models; through the transmission and development of five generations, a distinctive boat-model technique gradually took shape and spread through the Wuhan area. Wuhan wood-carved boat models simulate various kinds of wooden boats to scale, with exquisite and refined workmanship, meticulous detail, and vivid, lifelike modeling. The whole process includes such main technical steps as design, selection of material, lofting, construction of the hull, making of parts and components, lacquering, and assembly. "Openwork precision weaving" and "precision modeling" are the essence of the full set of techniques: the former develops the traditional single-sided shuttle into double-sided and multi-sided shuttles, requiring the openwork patterns to be clear and even with their width controlled to within one millimeter, an exceptionally fine standard; the latter requires the model's form to be regular and square, its joints seamless, and its moving parts to start freely. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Fine openwork shuttle work": One of the core skills, developing the single-sided shuttle into double- and multi-sided forms with openwork kept under one millimetre wide. "Precision model making": The other core skill: the model must be strictly proportioned, seamlessly joined, with moving parts that work freely. "The dragon-phoenix barge, tower ship and wheel ship": Representative works by Long Congfa; the dragon-phoenix barge appeared in the National Museum's masters exhibition, while others entered the Jiaxing ship museum. "Five generations of the Long family": Founded by the Yichang craftsman Long Qisheng, the craft passed through five generations; the fifth, Long Yong, was named a “new-generation craftsman star” at the Chengdu festival.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of wood carving (Wuhan wooden model boats), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He has actively trained successors; his son Long Yong, the fifth-generation transmitter of the family line, received the title Rising Craftsman Star at the sixth China Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival.

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. Long Congfa · National Representative Bearer Archive