Bamboo Carving
01 · Historical Records
The Jiang'an zhuhuang craft (carving on the bamboo's inner skin) has a long history and was already flourishing during the Zhengde era of the Ming dynasty. In 1915, the Jiang'an work 'Flower Basket' won a prize of merit at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, after which the craft began to reach the wider world and win fame both at home and abroad. From the founding of the People's Republic of China to the 1980s, the Jiang'an zhuhuang craft entered a period of transition and revival, winning many national and provincial- or ministry-level awards.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Jiang'an lies in southern Sichuan, where the warm, humid climate suits the growth of bamboo. The abundant bamboo, great in quantity and variety, provided the local people with a resource on which to subsist and laid an important material foundation for the emergence and development of the Jiang'an zhuhuang craft. Jiang'an zhuhuang products fall into seven major categories — carved bamboo-skin wares, bamboo chopsticks, bamboo tubes, bamboo-root carving, bamboo weaving and bamboo interior fittings — comprising more than a thousand craft varieties. Their modeling and carving retain the expressive charm of Chinese painting and calligraphy while displaying the distinctive techniques of a national craft tradition. The craft pursues vivid expressiveness and freehand spirit, naturally revealing a folk aesthetic experience and taste, and displaying the typical cultural characteristics of Chinese folk art. At the same time, its emergence and development are closely tied to daily life, at times displaying pronounced characteristics of the era and of society. The transmission lineage of the Jiang'an zhuhuang craft extends over four to five generations or more, and its artisans are now all well past the age of fifty.
Seven categories, over a thousand items
Jiang'an bamboo-huang work spans seven categories and over a thousand varieties, from chopsticks and tubes to root carving and architectural fitting.
The Flower Basket prize in Panama
In 1915 the Jiang'an bamboo-huang Flower Basket won a prize at the Panama-Pacific exposition, carrying the craft to an international audience.
The Zhihe and Zonghe lineages
He Huayi learned huang carving from Gu Juming of the Zhihe school, printed chopstick templates from Lai Yinzhang and relief from Zhou Haiyun.
He Huayi and the transmission workshops
He Huayi has practised for over fifty years, compiled documentation on the craft, and taught his family and open workshop classes without charge.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
At present only six bamboo-skin carving workshops remain in the locality; development is stagnating and every step is difficult.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Jiang'an zhuhuang craft is increasingly falling into endangerment and urgently needs rescue and protection. He Huayi (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1947, native of Jiang'an County, Sichuan Province. Senior arts-and-crafts artist. He was influenced from childhood by his father, He Yongzhi. While working at the Jiang'an Bamboo Chopstick Craft Factory, he studied bamboo-skin carving under the renowned master Gu Juming of the Zhihe school of Jiang'an zhuhuang, the carving of printed-pattern chopstick molds under Lai Yinzhhang of the comprehensive school of Jiang'an zhuhuang, and relief carving techniques under Zhou Haiyun. He has practiced the craft for more than fifty years, fully mastering the production techniques of Jiang'an zhuhuang and integrating the methods of all his teachers to create a large number of fine works. Through investigation and research he has also organized materials and photographs of the Jiang'an craft, preserving documentation for the transmission of the techniques; he is highly representative and influential in the field. He is a representative inheritor of bamboo carving (Jiang'an zhuhuang), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the fifth batch. He actively trains inheritors: in addition to teaching his wife and two daughters, he has run training courses and an apprenticeship institute, giving classes on a voluntary basis.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Cengjiantan 01-0107
- Qiao Jinhong 03-1248
- Xu Bingfang 03-1249
- Luo Qisong 03-1250
- Zhang Zongfan 04-1790
- Wang Wei 05-2619
- Hong Jianhua 05-2620
- He Huayi 05-2621
- Baijianren
- Gu Qiwang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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