Yin Guoan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Yin Guoan, Male, Han, from Daye, Hubei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Stone Carving (Ⅶ-56). The tradition is documented in Daye, Hubei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Stone Carving in Daye, Hubei: Daye stone carving takes Yin Jieyuan Village in Bao'an Town as its centre of craftsmanship; stonemasons also work in the surrounding townships of Bao'an, Jinshandian and Huandiqiao and in neighbouring Yangxin and Ezhou, and the extant objects in the village, such as the relief "Fishing, Woodcutting, Farming and Reading" carved by the Qing-dynasty craftsman Yin Guangde, are the principal evidence for judging its character. Local stonemasons pass the skill on along two lines, family and master-apprentice; besides steles and stone lions they also make door lintels, column bases, stone rollers and millstones, and their products are sold by water along the Yangtze to various places in southeastern Hubei. According to the "Genealogy of the Yin Clan", in the Tang dynasty Yin ancestors made their way from Tianshui in Gansu through Ruichang in Jiangxi and elsewhere, and afterwards moved on to Daye, where they settled in Yin Jieyuan Village, quarrying stone from the hills and earning their living by carving; the history of Daye stone carving begins at this point.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Yin Guoan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Stone Carving in Daye, Hubei. Within the documented technical tradition of Stone Carving in Daye, Hubei: 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. Daye stone carving is a folk stone-carving art unique to Yin Jieyuan Village, Bao'an Town, Daye City, Hubei Province. The stone-carving skill has been transmitted from generation to generation in Yin Jieyuan Village, from the generation named with the character "guo" to the generation named with the character "cheng", through twenty generations in all. With one hammer and one chisel, these inheritors of stone carving have left a great store of artistic treasures among the people. The relief "Fishing, Woodcutting, Farming and Reading" kept in Yin Jieyuan Village was carved by the Qing-dynasty craftsman Yin Guangde. Taking the scenery of the Jiangnan region as its theme, this work is ingenious in design, strict and orderly in composition and refined in carving, with a strong sense of depth and space and full of decorative interest, displaying the basic characteristics of Daye stone carving. Daye stone carving, represented by Yin Jieyuan Village, can produce many types of products used for production, construction, decoration, commemoration and religious devotion, with steles and stone lions being the most numerous. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Yin Jieyuan village and its twenty generations": Daliye stone carving has passed through twenty generations in Yin Jieyuan village, taught mainly within families and through apprenticeships. "The relief Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer and Scholar": A relief carved by the Qing artisan Yin Guangde, held in Yin Jieyuan village and regarded as showing the basic traits of Daliye stone carving. "Steles and stone lions as the main products": The craft serves production, building, decoration, commemoration and worship, with steles and stone lions the most numerous products. "Round carving, relief, openwork and line engraving": Local bluestone and granite are worked with round carving, relief, openwork and line engraving; axes, hammers and chisels were only latterly joined by simple machinery.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Yin Guoan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Stone Carving, with Daye, Hubei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Stone Carving in Daye, Hubei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Daye, Hubei as its declared area, and Hubei Yinjieyuanshidiao Art Co., Ltd. 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. Yinguoan (Daye, Hubei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yinguoan · China ICH Official Archive