Stone Carving
01 · Historical Records
According to legend, chrysanthemum-stone carving has a history of more than two hundred and sixty years in Liuyang, and finished works were once presented to the imperial court as tribute.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
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. Chrysanthemum-stone carving is a traditional stone-carving art that uses chrysanthemum stone as its raw material, transmitted mainly in the Liuyang area of Hunan Province. Chrysanthemum stone, also called "stone chrysanthemum", is a rare and strange stone material: a dark-grey stone containing white markings that closely resemble chrysanthemums in full bloom. Local stone carvers make full use of this characteristic of the material, carefully designing according to its natural grain, form and colour and carving with ingenuity, bringing out the "chrysanthemums" hidden within the stone. The craft of chrysanthemum-stone carving includes a set of techniques designed in response to the characteristics of the material and the needs of the modelling. The entire process of carving consists of a dozen or so stages: quarrying the stone, selecting the stone, "opening the flowers", shaping, designing, carving, lacquering and sealing with wax, and making the base. Through processing, a plain stone becomes a lifelike chrysanthemum-stone carving in which the beauty of the material and the skill of the workmanship are fused into one, fully displaying the aesthetic character and artistic creativity of folk craftsmen.
Quarrying, selecting and “opening the flower”
Over a dozen stages run from quarrying and selecting to “opening the flower”, shaping, carving, sealing with lacquer and wax, and making the base.
Openwork, round carving and piercing
The inheritor Cao Mingzhu developed openwork, round and pierced carving for chrysanthemum stone and located a large new deposit at Lion Hill in Gugang town.
Works such as Stone Affinity and Peace Year after Year
Cao Mingzhu's works, including Stone Affinity and Peace Year after Year, have won awards and entered institutional collections.
Mingzhu Yilin, Cao Mingzhu's chrysanthemum-stone gallery
A national-level transmission base founded by Cao Mingzhu to display chrysanthemum-stone carving and bring the craft into schools.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chrysanthemum-stone carving relies on the chrysanthemum-stone mines around Yonghe Town in Liuyang City. Workshops of craftsmen and industry associations are distributed in Liuyang's urban district and in Gugang Town, while the Hunan Provincial Research Institute of Arts and Crafts in the provincial capital Changsha concentrates its efforts on the creation of fine works and the study of techniques; the two forces echo one another.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Cao Mingzhu (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in November 1949, native of Liuyang City, Hunan Province. Master of Arts and Crafts of Hunan Province. He has been engaged in creative work for nearly fifty years, pioneering pierced-and-hollow carving (loukong diao), round carving (yuandiao) and openwork carving (toudiao) in chrysanthemum-stone carving; his works are plain and bold in manner and consummate in skill. He also discovered the large chrysanthemum-stone deposit at Lion Mountain in Gugang Town, Liuyang City. He lays weight on the transmission of the craft, vigorously promotes activities bringing chrysanthemum-stone carving into schools, and founded the national-level transmission and development base "Mingzhu Yilin — Cao Mingzhu's Museum of Chrysanthemum-Stone Carving Treasures". Representative inheritor of the national-level intangible cultural heritage project Stone Carving (Chrysanthemum-Stone Carving), fifth national batch. Works such as "Affinity in Stone", "Peace Year After Year", "Bamboo Reporting Peace", "Bauhinia", "Chrysanthemum Champion", "Old Pine Loving the Chrysanthemum", "Rural Stream Delight", "Flower Vase" and "Caihe Loving Autumn" have won awards at various levels and are held in the collections of various institutions.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Qian Gaochao 03-1272
- Gongbaocaidan 03-1273
- Wang Guoqing 05-2657
- Cao Mingzhu 05-2658
- Tang Jun 05-2659
- Shi Yongen 05-2660
- Yang Jianming 05-2661
- Bao Wuwen 05-2662
- Yuan Jiaqi
- Liu Nengfeng
- Wang Shilin
- Ye Meisan
- Yin Guoan
- Hu Yang
- Liangbinggong
- Caidanjia
- Chen Jiwu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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