Liu Nengfeng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Liu Nengfeng, Male, Han, from Dazu, Chongqing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Stone Carving (Ⅶ-56). The tradition is documented in Dazu, Chongqing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Stone Carving in Dazu, Chongqing: Today its main area of distribution is Dazu District, Chongqing, and it influences the surrounding Ba-Shu region. Dazu stone carving takes Baoxing Town, Longshui Town, and the urban area of Dazu as its craft centers, of which Baoxing Town has the largest stone reserves; the chisels, punches, and hammers forged in Longshui's small hardware industry provide convenient tooling conditions for the local stone trade. The themes are mostly drawn from the Buddha images, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, and arhats of the cliff-side sculptures at Baodingshan, Beishan, and elsewhere within the district; besides supplying local temples and gardens, the works are also sold along the Chengdu-Chongqing corridor to Sichuan, Chongqing, and other provinces. It has a long history, originating in the early Tang dynasty, and has more than 1,300 years of history to date.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Liu Nengfeng is anchored in the documented technical standards of Stone Carving in Dazu, Chongqing. Within the documented technical tradition of Stone Carving in Dazu, Chongqing: Dazu stone carving is the collective name for the stone-carving art circulating within Dazu District, Chongqing Municipality. Dazu District is located in the western part of Chongqing, in the heartland of the Chengdu-Chongqing region, guarding the place where Ba and Shu meet; various kinds of feldspathic quartz sandstone are distributed throughout the district, with relatively thick rock bodies, highly suitable for the creation and production of stone-carving works, of which Baoxing Town has the largest stone reserves. Dazu stone carving mainly uses sand stone and bluestone produced locally in Dazu, and later introduced purple-robe jade and white marble produced in Guizhou, Sichuan, and elsewhere as materials; it selects material according to the stock and applies its craft according to the material, uses the small hardware tools made within Dazu — where the small hardware industry is highly developed — as tools, and combines the stone's natural colors with the creative design of the work, paying attention to the aesthetic laws and creative principles of stone-carving art itself; the forms are graceful, the content rich, and the techniques diverse. Dazu stone carving is entirely made by hand through fine carving, including many complex process steps such as quarrying the material, conception, drafting, clay modeling, mold making, carving, fine carving, fine grinding, and polishing. Its techniques have developed from flat carving, high relief, shallow relief, round carving, and line engraving toward grouped carving, openwork, and incised carving; it flexibly employs many artistic methods such as the grid method, perspective, line modeling, the combination of line and plane, and letting the artistic intent run through to the final stroke, making the works exquisitely wrought, vivid and lively, true to life and expressive of spirit, reaching the realm of "humanizing the Buddha images and uniting human and deity." The carving themes are mainly figures, animals, and architectural components from daily life, as well as practical utensils and scenes of life and labor; among the figures, the main ones are Buddha images, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, and arhats from the Dazu Rock Carvings, a World Cultural Heritage site. Dazu stone carving has a long history; it is an epitome of the history of Chinese stone-carving art, the crystallization of the long-term wisdom of the Chinese working people, and precious material for the study of Chinese stone-carving art, Chinese art history, and even world art history. In many respects, such as three-dimensional modeling, carving techniques, and compositional aesthetics, it has pioneered new forms of stone-carving art, making a contribution to the innovation and development of Chinese stone carving. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Nine stages from quarrying to polishing": Entirely hand-worked, the craft runs through quarrying, conception, drawing, clay modelling, moulding, carving, fine carving, grinding and polishing. "Longshui small-hardware tools": Tools come from the district's small-hardware trade, working local sandstone and bluestone as well as imported purple-robe jade and white marble according to each material. "“Buddhas made human, gods and men as one”": Technique advances from flat and relief carving to grouped, openwork and intaglio work, using grid and perspective methods and the union of line and plane. "Seventeen generations of master-to-pupil transmission": Passed on by master-to-pupil demonstration for seventeen generations, the craft is centred on Dazu and influences the surrounding Ba-Shu region.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Liu Nengfeng was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Stone Carving, with Dazu, Chongqing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Stone Carving in Dazu, Chongqing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Dazu, Chongqing as its declared area, and Chongqing Dazu District Art Museum (Chongqing Dazu District Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Liunengfeng (Dazu, Chongqing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Liunengfeng · China ICH Official Archive