Cao Mingzhu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1970 he became a pupil of Dai Qingsheng, learning the craft of chrysanthemum stone carving. Within the regional tradition and school record of Stone Carving in Liuyang, Hunan: Chrysanthemum-stone carving relies on the chrysanthemum-stone mines around Yonghe Town in Liuyang City. Workshops of craftsmen and industry associations are distributed in Liuyang's urban district and in Gugang Town, while the Hunan Provincial Research Institute of Arts and Crafts in the provincial capital Changsha concentrates its efforts on the creation of fine works and the study of techniques; the two forces echo one another. According to legend, chrysanthemum-stone carving has a history of more than two hundred and sixty years in Liuyang, and finished works were once presented to the imperial court as tribute.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in November 1949 in Liuyang City, Hunan Province. A master of arts and crafts of Hunan Province. Engaged in creation for nearly fifty years, he pioneered the openwork, round and pierced carving techniques of chrysanthemum stone carving, and his works are plain and grand in spirit and superb in craftsmanship; he also discovered the large chrysanthemum stone deposit at Shizishan in Guguang Town, Liuyang City. He attaches importance to transmitting the craft and vigorously promotes chrysanthemum stone carving in schools, and he founded the Mingzhu Yilin, the Cao Mingzhu Gallery of Fine Chrysanthemum Stone Carvings, a national-level base for transmission and development. Within the documented technical tradition of Stone Carving in Liuyang, Hunan: Stone carving, also known as "stone engraving" (shike), is a traditional manual carving art that uses stone as its raw material. China's stone-carving art has a long history and has been passed down in an unbroken line over thousands of years to the present day, displaying the consummate technique, ingenious conception and abundant creativity of traditional folk craftsmanship. Stone carving is generally carried out on natural stone materials such as marble, granite, bluestone and sandstone, and in the process the carver must employ a series of practised folk carving techniques, including round carving (yuandiao), relief carving (fudiao), openwork carving (toudiao) and line engraving (xianke). Because these stone materials are taken from nature and can be preserved for a long time, stone carving is mostly used to make large-scale sculptures and decorative sculptures. According to their use, stone-carving products fall mainly into three categories: first, architectural components and ornaments, such as pedestals, memorial archways and stone lions; second, images of deities and Buddhas, such as the statues in the Yungang Grottoes of Shanxi and the Longmen Grottoes of Henan; and third, everyday articles that are both decorative and practical, such as table ornaments and inkstones. Traditional stone carving uses tools such as axes, hammers and chisels; in modern times more advanced implements such as glycerine gunpowder and simple machinery began to be adopted. With the development of society, stone-carving craftsmanship has steadily improved, and related products circulate widely on the market as distinctive goods, possessing an artistic charm all their own. Chrysanthemum-stone carving is a traditional stone-carving art that uses chrysanthemum stone as its raw material, transmitted mainly in the Liuyang area of Hunan Province. Chrysanthemum stone, also called "stone chrysanthemum", is a rare and strange stone material: a dark-grey stone containing white markings that closely resemble chrysanthemums in full bloom. Local stone carvers make full use of this characteristic of the material, carefully designing according to its natural grain, form and colour and carving with ingenuity, bringing out the "chrysanthemums" hidden within the stone. The craft of chrysanthemum-stone carving includes a set of techniques designed in response to the characteristics of the material and the needs of the modelling. The entire process of carving consists of a dozen or so stages: quarrying the stone, selecting the stone, "opening the flowers", shaping, designing, carving, lacquering and sealing with wax, and making the base. Through processing, a plain stone becomes a lifelike chrysanthemum-stone carving in which the beauty of the material and the skill of the workmanship are fused into one, fully displaying the aesthetic character and artistic creativity of folk craftsmen. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Quarrying, selecting and “opening the flower”": Over a dozen stages run from quarrying and selecting to “opening the flower”, shaping, carving, sealing with lacquer and wax, and making the base. "Openwork, round carving and piercing": The inheritor Cao Mingzhu developed openwork, round and pierced carving for chrysanthemum stone and located a large new deposit at Lion Hill in Gugang town. "Works such as Stone Affinity and Peace Year after Year": Cao Mingzhu's works, including Stone Affinity and Peace Year after Year, have won awards and entered institutional collections. "Mingzhu Yilin, Cao Mingzhu's chrysanthemum-stone gallery": A national-level transmission base founded by Cao Mingzhu to display chrysanthemum-stone carving and bring the craft into schools.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of stone carving (chrysanthemum stone carving), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Works such as Predestined Ties in Stone (Shi Zhong Yuan), Peace Year after Year (Sui Sui Ping'an), Bamboo Brings Peace (Zhu Bao Ping'an), Bauhinia (Zi Jing Hua), Chrysanthemum Chief (Ju Kui), Ancient Pine in Love with Chrysanthemums (Gu Song Lian Ju), Diversions of a Wild Stream (Ye Xi Qu), The Vase (Hua Ping) and Cai He in Love with Autumn (Cai He Lian Qiu) have won awards at various levels and have been collected by various institutions.

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. Cao Mingzhu · National Representative Bearer Archive