Han Zhiyao
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Nurtured by his family from childhood, he loved painting, calligraphy and carving; studying the family craft with dedication, he mastered carving techniques such as full-round, relief and openwork carving. Within the regional tradition and school record of Nut Carving in Dalianshixigang, Liaoning: Dalian pit carving is distributed in Xigang District of Dalian City, Liaoning Province. It is a pit carving art practiced on locally grown peach pits, reflecting the folk customs of southern Liaoning and its marine culture. Dalian is located at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula and is noted for a great variety of peach cultivars: the pineapple honey peach pit is fine and dense with a large carvable area, making it the main raw material for large-scale series works; the yellow honey peach pit has a coarser grain and a small carvable area, and is used mainly for single pendants. In the mid-Qing dynasty, Wang Qingxi made a living by carving peach pits and gradually became well known locally.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1956 in Dalian, Liaoning Province. Through long practice he achieved breakthroughs in the use of live chains, live rings and multi-layered hollow rolling balls in pit carving, strengthening the expressive power of the art. His pit carvings cover a wide range of subjects, including figures, animals and landscapes, and he is especially skilled at pendants, display pieces and long narrative carving groups. Representative works include Hezhou Daguan (A Grand View of the Carved Boat), and for reproducing the carved boat described in the essay Hezhou Ji and for a series based on the painting Qingming Shanghe Tu (Along the River During the Qingming Festival) he twice received the China Folk Literature and Art Shanhua Award, presented jointly by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Folk Artists Association. In recent years he has set up the Dalian pit-carving transmission workshop at the Xigang District Cultural Centre in Dalian, dedicating himself to passing on the craft. Within the documented technical tradition of Nut Carving in Dalianshixigang, Liaoning: Dalian pit carving is distributed in Xigang District of Dalian City, Liaoning Province. It is a pit carving art practiced on locally grown peach pits, reflecting the folk customs of southern Liaoning and its marine culture. Dalian is located at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula and is noted for a great variety of peach cultivars. Among them, the pit of the pineapple honey peach is fine and dense with a large carvable area, making it the main raw material for large-scale series works; the yellow honey peach pit has a coarser grain and a small carvable area, and is used mainly for single pendants. The carving requires careful thinking, precise knife work, and a balance of substance and conception. According to records, Wang Qingxi, the first-generation inheritor of Dalian pit carving, learned to carve peach pits from his ancestors from childhood. His descendants continued the transmission and engaged in peach pit carving, carving immortal figures and auspicious boat charms for seafaring workers. Dalian pit carving has been passed down and survives within the Wang family; besides family members learning pit carving, apprentices are also taken in for transmission and training. Dalian pit carving works according to the material, skillfully exploiting the natural shape and grain of the peach pit, devising aesthetic contrast, and determining the subject of the carving. The main carving tools are chisels, files, and hand drills, in three types. The techniques are divided into round carving, relief carving, and openwork carving. Among them, openwork is most representative for its techniques of transparent chains, movable rings, and multi-layered rolling balls. First the pit is roughly worked with a flat file to make the basic form, after which an awl-knife is used to carve the fine details. Carving requires eye, hand, and mind to act as one; even a slight error may undo all the work. Finally, polishing and grinding are carried out at a specific angle, rotational speed, and pressure; after being soaked and wiped with oil, a warm, lustrous, and lifelike peach pit carving is complete. Dalian pit carving embodies the characteristics of marine culture and reflects folk customs. Carving on the ever-changing, irregularly sectioned surface of a peach pit, figures, objects, vessels, and poems are carved into the tiny pit, turning it into a refined work of craft art. Peach pit micro-carving draws inspiration from paper cutting, calligraphy, painting, seal cutting, and other art forms, and is inclusive and comprehensive in character. Dalian pit carving reflects the life interests of the people of southern Liaoning and their social practice in relation to humanity and nature, and embodies their longing and pursuit of peace, auspiciousness, and a contented, happy life. On a tiny peach pit, ingenious conception and superb carving demonstrate the creator's wisdom of mind and hand in union, condensing their aesthetic and artistic insight. It is an important component of China's folk pit carving art and has high historical-cultural and artistic-aesthetic value. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Wang Qingxi and the first generation": The first recorded inheritor Wang Qingxi trained with his grandfather and, in the mid-Qing, made a living carving peach stones for boatmen's talismans. "Chisel, file and bow drill": Three tools suffice — chisel, file and bow drill; shaping is filed first, detail chiseled, then polished at a set angle and speed and finished with oil. "Openwork chains, running rings and rolling balls": Of round, relief and openwork carving, openwork is the signature: linked chains, moving rings and multi-layered rolling balls all achieved on a nut. "A Panorama of Core Boats": Han Zhiyao's Panorama of Core Boats and his Along the River During Qingming series each won a China Folk Literature and Art Mountain Flower Prize.
Wang Qingxi and the first generation
The first recorded inheritor Wang Qingxi trained with his grandfather and, in the mid-Qing, made a living carving peach stones for boatmen's talismans.
Chisel, file and bow drill
Three tools suffice — chisel, file and bow drill; shaping is filed first, detail chiseled, then polished at a set angle and speed and finished with oil.
Openwork chains, running rings and rolling balls
Of round, relief and openwork carving, openwork is the signature: linked chains, moving rings and multi-layered rolling balls all achieved on a nut.
A Panorama of Core Boats
Han Zhiyao's Panorama of Core Boats and his Along the River During Qingming series each won a China Folk Literature and Art Mountain Flower Prize.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
National representative bearer of Pit Carving (Dalian Pit Carving), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
In the mid-Qing dynasty, Wang Qingxi made a living by carving peach pits and gradually became well known locally.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song Shuiguan | Suzhou, Jiangsu | 03-1279 | Other regional school |
| Wang Xude | Weifang, Shandong | 03-1280 | Other regional school |
| Huang Xuewen | Zengcheng, Guangdong | 03-1281 | Other regional school |
| Han Zhiyao | Dalianshixigang, Liaoning | 05-2670 | This page |
| Zhou Jianming | Suzhou, Jiangsu | 05-2671 | Other regional school |
| Cengzhaohong | Zengcheng, Guangdong | 05-2672 | Other regional school |
| Liu Bin | Weifang, Shandong | — | 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。