Mouchengjin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

From 1958 he studied under Wang Peizhen, a renowned artist of coloured-stone inlay at the Wenzhou Art Carving Factory. Within the regional tradition and school record of Xiangqian in Wenzhoushilucheng, Zhejiang: Colored-stone inlay is most concentrated in the Lucheng and Ouhai districts of Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang, with workshops also distributed in the Ruian, Pingyang, and Qingtian area; the stone is mostly Qingtian stone produced locally. Wenzhou Chonglinzhai Crafts Co., Ltd. is the protecting unit. The inheritor Miao Chengjin, a native of Lucheng, has worked in the craft for more than fifty years and can independently complete every process step except joinery and lacquering; his works are mainly hanging screens and large multi-panel screens on historical themes. Colored-stone inlay is a traditional decorative art popular in southern Zhejiang Province; it evolved from the 'dian' (mother-of-pearl) inlay technique of traditional lacquer craft, and is carried out mainly with the richly colored Qingtian stone.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in June 1943 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. From 1966 he created coloured-stone inlay works such as Tao Ma (Lassoing Horses), Yu Bai Luohan (The Jade-White Arhat), Ling Shan Hui (The Assembly at Vulture Peak) and Guanyin, which were sold in Taiwan, China and in Japan and other countries. He has worked in coloured-stone inlay for fifty years and has a systematic and thorough command of every stage of the process apart from carpentry and lacquering. Representative works include the flat-polished coloured-stone inlay portrait Chairman Mao Zedong, as well as Tian Nu San Hua (The Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers) and Shan Wu Jia Ren (Beauty in the Fan Shop). He attaches importance to transmitting the craft and taught two apprentices during his years at the art carving factory. Within the documented technical tradition of Xiangqian in Wenzhoushilucheng, Zhejiang: Chinese inlay art has a long history and a distinctive style. As early as the Yin-Shang period, decorative patterns of gold inlay and jade setting already appeared in bronze casting. As craftsmanship continually improved, natural colored stones, pebbles, shells, mother-of-pearl, gems, jade, and man-made glass, ceramics, and wood all became materials for inlay. Over the course of its long development, inlay art has accumulated many important technical methods, mainly including direct inlay, the prefabrication method, the reverse-paste reverse-set method, and the obverse-paste obverse-set method. Besides flat inlay, inlay can also be carried out on relief surfaces, a method that can further enhance the three-dimensional effect of the inlaid object. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, the relief inlay method came to be widely used in decorating various crafts; in the mid-to-late Qing dynasty there further appeared a relief inlay method that inlays opera figures and stories on different grounds, to which porcelain inlay and bone-and-wood inlay belong. Inlay crafts have the advantages of sturdiness, resistance to sunlight and damp, and freedom from discoloration; the texture of the materials and the resulting effects of form, color, and luster lend inlay crafts added artistic charm, fully displaying a bold, vigorous, and richly splendid beauty. Colored-stone inlay employs technical methods such as mortise inlay, pieced inlay, and adhesive inlay, and takes expressive forms including relief, round carving, and openwork carving. Its working process comprises fifteen steps: designing the sketch, shaping, arranging, carving, burnishing, matching, joinery, lacquering, inlaying, sculpting, gluing, waxing, finishing, outlining, and mounting. Colored-stone inlay products of southern Zhejiang are mostly ornamental crafts such as hanging screens, standing screens, large multi-panel screens, and tabletop display pieces; large works are magnificent in scale and small ones exquisitely wrought, with ingenious conception, layout, and execution. Works inlaid with the natural colors and grains of stone cover a wide range of subjects, their images rich in layering and their color effects pronounced. These inlay pieces depict small scenes of landscape, flowers, and birds, represent major historical events, reproduce classic calligraphy and painting, or recreate the figures and scenes of literary masterpieces, displaying strong decorative appeal and craft beauty. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Process Records": Colored-stone inlay employs technical methods such as mortise inlay, pieced inlay, and adhesive inlay, and takes expressive forms including relief, round carving, and openwork carving. Its working process comprises fifteen steps: designing the sketch, shaping, arranging, carving, burnishing, matching, joinery, lacquering, inlaying, sculpting, gluing, waxing, finishing, outlining, and mounting.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Representative bearer of Xiangqian (coloured-stone inlay), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. His works have been shown in numerous exhibitions and have won 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. Mouchengjin · National Representative Bearer Archive