Stone Carving
01 · Historical Records
It has a long history, originating in the early Tang dynasty, and has more than 1,300 years of history to date.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dazu stone carving is the collective name for the stone-carving art circulating within Dazu District, Chongqing Municipality. Dazu District is located in the western part of Chongqing, in the heartland of the Chengdu-Chongqing region, guarding the place where Ba and Shu meet; various kinds of feldspathic quartz sandstone are distributed throughout the district, with relatively thick rock bodies, highly suitable for the creation and production of stone-carving works, of which Baoxing Town has the largest stone reserves. Dazu stone carving mainly uses sand stone and bluestone produced locally in Dazu, and later introduced purple-robe jade and white marble produced in Guizhou, Sichuan, and elsewhere as materials; it selects material according to the stock and applies its craft according to the material, uses the small hardware tools made within Dazu — where the small hardware industry is highly developed — as tools, and combines the stone's natural colors with the creative design of the work, paying attention to the aesthetic laws and creative principles of stone-carving art itself; the forms are graceful, the content rich, and the techniques diverse. Dazu stone carving is entirely made by hand through fine carving, including many complex process steps such as quarrying the material, conception, drafting, clay modeling, mold making, carving, fine carving, fine grinding, and polishing. Its techniques have developed from flat carving, high relief, shallow relief, round carving, and line engraving toward grouped carving, openwork, and incised carving; it flexibly employs many artistic methods such as the grid method, perspective, line modeling, the combination of line and plane, and letting the artistic intent run through to the final stroke, making the works exquisitely wrought, vivid and lively, true to life and expressive of spirit, reaching the realm of "humanizing the Buddha images and uniting human and deity." The carving themes are mainly figures, animals, and architectural components from daily life, as well as practical utensils and scenes of life and labor; among the figures, the main ones are Buddha images, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, and arhats from the Dazu Rock Carvings, a World Cultural Heritage site. Dazu stone carving has a long history; it is an epitome of the history of Chinese stone-carving art, the crystallization of the long-term wisdom of the Chinese working people, and precious material for the study of Chinese stone-carving art, Chinese art history, and even world art history. In many respects, such as three-dimensional modeling, carving techniques, and compositional aesthetics, it has pioneered new forms of stone-carving art, making a contribution to the innovation and development of Chinese stone carving.
Nine stages from quarrying to polishing
Entirely hand-worked, the craft runs through quarrying, conception, drawing, clay modelling, moulding, carving, fine carving, grinding and polishing.
Longshui small-hardware tools
Tools come from the district's small-hardware trade, working local sandstone and bluestone as well as imported purple-robe jade and white marble according to each material.
“Buddhas made human, gods and men as one”
Technique advances from flat and relief carving to grouped, openwork and intaglio work, using grid and perspective methods and the union of line and plane.
Seventeen generations of master-to-pupil transmission
Passed on by master-to-pupil demonstration for seventeen generations, the craft is centred on Dazu and influences the surrounding Ba-Shu region.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Today its main area of distribution is Dazu District, Chongqing, and it influences the surrounding Ba-Shu region. Dazu stone carving takes Baoxing Town, Longshui Town, and the urban area of Dazu as its craft centers, of which Baoxing Town has the largest stone reserves; the chisels, punches, and hammers forged in Longshui's small hardware industry provide convenient tooling conditions for the local stone trade. The themes are mostly drawn from the Buddha images, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin, and arhats of the cliff-side sculptures at Baodingshan, Beishan, and elsewhere within the district; besides supplying local temples and gardens, the works are also sold along the Chengdu-Chongqing corridor to Sichuan, Chongqing, and other provinces.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving · Stone Carving.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Dazu stone carving has been transmitted from generation to generation mainly through the master-apprentice relationship and demonstration, and has been passed down through 17 generations to date.
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)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。