Stone Carving
01 · Historical Records
Balin stone carving is a craft-art technique that uses Balin stone, a specialty of Balin Right Banner in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, for artistic carving. It has a long history: among artifacts excavated from the Xinglongwa culture site of about 8,000 years ago and the Hongshan culture site of about 6,000 years ago, objects carved from Balin stone — jue (penannular rings), pendants, silkworms, and birds — have been discovered.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The principal raw material of Balin stone carving is Balin stone, scientifically named pyrophyllite (yelashi). Its place of production is Mount Tenigeretu on the Chabuhu grassland, 45 kilometers from Daban Town, Balin Right Banner; it is an important natural resource of Chifeng City. It is divided into five major categories — chicken-blood stone, fortune-yellow stone, frozen stone (dongshi), colored stone, and picture stone — with more than one hundred varieties; its typical characteristics are fineness, cleanliness, moistness, a greasy smoothness, warmth, and denseness, and it is the seal-stone variety with relatively large reserves in China. Carvers choose techniques to suit the material according to each variety; using specially made knives, chisels, shovels, saws, and polishing machines, and employing relief carving, round carving, openwork carving, and other techniques, they create exquisite Balin stone-carving artworks. Its production steps are mainly reading the stone (xiangshi), conception, composition, wielding the knife, carving to form, refining the details, and polishing. On the basis of inheriting excellent traditional carving techniques, artisans have drawn on the history and reality of Inner Mongolia and Chifeng City to create many stone-carving artworks with ethnic character and grassland flavor. Works fall into two major categories: Balin stone carved objects and Balin stone seals with carved knobs; among the carved objects there are figures, animals, plants, and scenes. Balin stone carving bears the ethnic cultural character of the Inner Mongolian grassland, incorporating rich and colorful cultural elements of history, religion, ethnicity, and folk custom. Ordinary Balin stone, through artistic creation, becomes exquisite carved objects and carved-knob seals; its artistic value is multiplied, reflecting an outstanding craftsman's spirit, and it has fairly broad market prospects.
Archival Record of Process Steps
Its production steps are mainly reading the stone (xiangshi), conception, composition, wielding the knife, carving to form, refining the details, and polishing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The project is now distributed mainly across the twelve banners, counties, and districts of Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and is also found in other parts of Inner Mongolia and in Fujian, Zhejiang, and elsewhere. The main production area of Balin stone is Mount Tenigeretu on the Chabuhu grassland, 45 kilometers east of Daban Town, Balin Right Banner, Chifeng City; Daban Town and the urban district of Chifeng are the centers of carving, display, and trade. The Chifeng Museum undertakes collection and research functions; seal-stone workshops in other leagues and cities of Inner Mongolia and in Fujian and Zhejiang also purchase Balin stone stock for processing, allowing the technique to circulate over a wider area.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Balin stone carving is transmitted mainly through master-apprentice transmission; the transmission spans a hundred years, and its lineage is clearly documented. Transmitting and protecting Balin stone carving can contribute to local inclusive economic development and play a positive role in raising cultural confidence and promoting cultural exchange.
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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