Zhang Aiting
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhang Aiting, Male, Han, from Qingtian, Zhejiang, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Qingtian Stone Carving (Ⅶ-34). The tradition is documented in Qingtian, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qingtian Stone Carving in Qingtian, Zhejiang: Qingtian stone carvings were exhibited and won awards at the Paris Exposition of 1899, the Belgian Exposition of 1905, and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in the United States in 1915; in recent years, dozens of works have in turn won first prizes for outstanding creative design at the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th “Hundred Flowers Awards” of China.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1939, a native of Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province. He is a senior arts and crafts artist and a Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts. In 1957 he entered the Qingtian County Stone Carving Factory, where he successively served as head of the design group and factory director, and he is known for figure carving. In September 1958 he entered the Department of Folk Art at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. In 1961 he taught stone carving to thirty-eight students at the Qingtian Arts and Crafts School. In 1967 he was selected by the state to go to Albania to teach stone carving. In 1975 he was engaged by the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts as a stone carving instructor. In 1998 he was appointed professor at Lishui University, where he taught stone carving. In 2016 he was awarded the title of Master Artisan of the Asia-Pacific Region by the Asia-Pacific Regional Section of the World Crafts Council. Within the documented technical tradition of Qingtian Stone Carving in Qingtian, Zhejiang: Qingtian stone carving is a traditional stone-carving art made from Qingtian stone; it is named after the high-quality pyrophyllite produced in Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province. Qingtian stone has a warm, smooth texture with a felicitous balance of brittleness and softness, rich colors, and unusual veining; it is both the finest material for seal carving and an ideal stone for the art of stone carving. According to historical records, the craft of Qingtian stone carving originated in the Six Dynasties period. It emphasizes working in accordance with the material and exploiting its colors, and involves such process steps as stone selection, rough blocking, carving, wax sealing, and polishing. It is especially noted for openwork carving, with round carving, openwork, high and low relief, and line engraving used in alternation. Qingtian stone carving covers a wide range of subjects — fish, insects, flowers, birds, landscapes, and figures — all meticulously carved with spirit and form alike captured; realist and expressive methods are equally well developed, grand in overall bearing yet exquisite in detail, with standardized craftsmanship and a distinctive style of its own. With the approval of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Qingtian stone carving was successfully registered as a certification trademark of geographical origin; Qingtian County has accordingly been named a “Home of Chinese Folk Art” and a “Home of Chinese Stone Carving” by the Ministry of Culture and the China National Light Industry Council. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Records of Process Steps": According to historical records, the craft of Qingtian stone carving originated in the Six Dynasties period. It emphasizes working in accordance with the material and exploiting its colors, with such process steps as stone selection, rough blocking, carving, wax sealing, and polishing. It is especially noted for openwork carving, with round carving, openwork, high and low relief, and line engraving used in alternation.
Roughing out and finishing
The carvers excel at roughing out, polishing and finishing faces, sizing by eye and working fine detail to straight lines and flat planes.
Yuan-dynasty masters
By the Yuan dynasty the craft was famous, producing masters such as Yang Qiong, Wang Dao and Wang Hao.
Working on the capital's monuments
After 1949 Quyang carvers worked on the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People and other capital projects.
From marble outward
As materials expanded from marble and jade to wood, ivory, bronze and steel, round, pierced, openwork and relief carving appeared.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
National representative bearer of Qingtian stone carving, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. "Spring of Peace" and other works won the gold award of the China Arts and Crafts Hundred Flowers Awards and the gold award of the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo, and "Lion Dance" was collected by the China National Arts and Crafts Museum. Since 1971 he has taken on more than one hundred apprentices, cultivating technical backbone personnel for Qingtian stone carving.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The transmission of the Quyang stone-carving trade relies mainly on master-to-apprentice teaching and lineage continuity. Lu Jinqiao learned his family tradition from childhood; his uncle was the renowned stone carver Liu Dongyuan, and Zhen Yancang also took Liu Dongyuan as his master. In the late Qing dynasty, works by Quyang carvers such as 'Crane' and 'Plum Blossoms on Dry Branches' won second prize at the Panama International Art Exposition, from which came the saying that 'the whole world praises Quyang stone carving'.
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.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lu Jinqiao | Quyang, Hebei | 01-0095 | Other regional school |
| Zhen Yancang | Quyang, Hebei | 01-0096 | Other regional school |
| Zhang Aiting | Qingtian, Zhejiang | 04-1781 | This page |
| An Rongjie | Quyang, Hebei | 04-1782 | Other regional school |
| Liu Tongbao | Quyang, Hebei | 05-2607 | Other regional school |
| Liu Hongli | Quyang, Hebei | 05-2608 | Other regional school |
| Wang Shuchang | Quyang, Hebei | — | Other regional school |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。