Xiangya Carving
01 · Historical Records
The technical genealogy of Guangzhou ivory carving relies mainly on master-apprentice and family transmission, adopting a handicraft-workshop mode of production; famous inheritors include Chen Zuzhang, Weng Zhao, Weng Rongbiao, Feng Shaoxia, and Li Dingning. Zhang Minhui, born in 1953 in Jiangmen, Guangdong, has engaged for many years in the design and production of ivory carving and has also researched and created bone-carving craft works, opening up a new avenue for transmitting the traditional techniques of ivory carving.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Ivory carving refers to the carving craft that uses ivory as its material, and the finished products made from it. The ivory carving of Beijing and Guangzhou has different artistic styles. Beijing ivory carving, that is, ivory carving in Beijing, has a documented history traceable at least two thousand years. In the course of its later development, outstanding craftsmen who migrated or were recruited to the capital from other regions constantly exchanged skills with local Beijing craftsmen; after several hundred years of practice, Beijing ivory carving acquired an elegant and sumptuous courtly artistic character and formed distinctive craft characteristics. Beijing ivory carving once declined in the late Qing, but through the efforts of Yang Shihui and his successors this ancient craft was revived. Owing to the inherent qualities of the ivory material, ivory carving possesses a noble and refined beauty and has become part of China's special craft art. Beijing ivory carving is a complex and demanding craft with a wide range of subjects, and its techniques are transmitted orally from master to apprentice. Since the 1980s, out of consideration for protecting elephant populations, the international community at one time banned the ivory trade, which plunged Beijing ivory carving, an industry entirely dependent on imported ivory raw material, into difficulties, facing a situation with neither raw materials nor young successors. Guangzhou ivory carving, that is, ivory carving in Guangzhou: openwork-carved ivory balls, flower boats, and micro-engraved calligraphy and painting are all representative of Guangdong ivory carving. Guangdong ivory-carving products fall into three main categories. The first is appreciation pieces, including ivory balls, flower boats, crab baskets, flower pagodas, vases, birds and beasts, human figures, and miniature mountain landscapes. The second is utilitarian articles, including folding fans, desk lamps, cigarette holders, cigarette tips, brush pots, powder boxes, seals, comb sets, chopsticks, toothpicks, bookmarks, paper knives, and Chinese chess pieces. The third is ornaments, including bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and brooches. Guangzhou ivory carving places emphasis on carving work and is world-renowned for its openwork and deep-relief carving techniques; through long craft practice it has gradually formed a complete and superb set of carving techniques. Guangzhou ivory carving is delicate and exquisite, intricately wrought, and lays stress on the bleaching of ivory stock and colored decoration, suiting both refined and popular tastes. The works are distinguished by lustrous ivory texture and fine, detailed openwork carving; their overall composition is dense and lively, leaving no blank space. Ivory carving is ingeniously inlaid with various other materials such as red sandalwood, rhinoceros horn, tortoiseshell, and kingfisher feathers on a single object, giving the patterns greater depth; at the same time, the knife work is sharply angled, splendid and beautiful. Guangzhou ivory carving has a long history: it had already developed to a certain degree in the Qin and Han periods; in the Ming and Qing dynasties its craft and scale of production reached a historical peak; since the Republican era its level of craftsmanship has grown ever more refined, and it stands alone in the national ivory-carving trade. Located at the southern gateway of China, Guangzhou has close economic and trade exchanges with overseas regions, and the market for handicrafts with ethnic characteristics has considerable prospects for development. At present, however, there are no longer any family-style workshops in the Guangzhou ivory-carving trade, master-apprentice relations have changed greatly, and manual skills are imperceptibly being lost or altered, while the meticulous craft process has also come under pressure. Nobody is willing, or able, to make a living solely by traditional ivory-carving techniques, which has greatly affected the development of the Guangzhou ivory-carving industry and the transmission of its traditional skills; plans must be drawn up as soon as possible to change this unfavorable situation.
Archival Records of Process Steps
Located at the southern gateway of China, Guangzhou has close economic and trade exchanges with overseas regions, and the market for handicrafts with ethnic characteristics has considerable prospects for development. At present, however, there are no longer any family-style workshops in the Guangzhou ivory-carving trade, master-apprentice relations have changed greatly, and manual skills are imperceptibly being lost or altered, while the meticulous craft process has also come under pressure. Nobody is willing, or able, to make a living solely by traditional ivory-carving techniques, which has greatly affected the development of the Guangzhou ivory-carving industry and the transmission of its traditional skills; plans must be drawn up as soon as possible to change this unfavorable situation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Guangzhou ivory carving is renowned for its openwork and deep-relief carving techniques and lays stress on the bleaching of ivory stock and colored decoration, suiting both refined and popular tastes. Openwork-carved ivory balls, flower boats, and micro-engraved calligraphy and painting are all representative of Guangdong ivory carving; the works are distinguished by lustrous ivory texture and fine, detailed openwork carving, with dense, lively overall compositions that leave no blank space, and are often inlaid on a single object with materials such as red sandalwood, rhinoceros horn, tortoiseshell, and kingfisher feathers.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiangya Carving · Xiangya Carving.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years the international community has begun to abandon rigid trade bans, permitting trade in existing ivory stocks. Even so, this cannot solve the problem that Beijing ivory carving, as a special craft, has no one to transmit it; protection mechanisms should be established as soon as possible to excavate and rescue this ancient and distinctive craft. Guangzhou ivory carving is transmitted mainly through master-apprentice and family inheritance, adopting a handicraft-workshop mode of production. Famous inheritors include Chen Zuzhang, Weng Zhao, Weng Rongbiao, Feng Shaoxia, and Li Dingning. Zhang Minhui (from the official archive records of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1953, from Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. For many years he has been engaged in the design and production of ivory carving, and has mastered figure-carving techniques such as group carving, through-carving, round carving, relief carving, hollow openwork carving, and inlay. His ivory-carving creations skillfully blend traditional concepts with modern aesthetics; his works have exquisite, ever-changing forms and delicate, intricate carving, and contain profound cultural depth and rich auspicious elements, representing the artistic characteristics and style of Lingnan ivory carving. Works he created or directed the production of have won more than thirty national, provincial, and municipal gold awards; some are held in the collections of institutions such as the China National Museum of Arts and Crafts. He has researched and created bone-carving craft works, opening up a new avenue for transmitting the traditional techniques of ivory carving, and has devoted himself to the training of successors. He is a representative inheritor of Ivory Carving, an intangible cultural heritage item of the fourth national-level batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Sun Sen 01-0088
- Wang Shuwen 01-0089
- Chai Ciji 04-1776
- Li Chunke 04-1777
- Zhang Minhui 04-1778
- Xiao Jianbo
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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