Jade Carving

Ⅶ-57Traditional Fine ArtsYuqichang, BeijingBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

It rose to prominence in the Yuan dynasty, with the Quanzhen Taoist priest Qiu Chuji as its founding master. In the Ming dynasty, the Yuyongjian (Directorate for Imperial Use) of the imperial household maintained a jade workshop (yuzuo) that gathered the finest jade carvers from across the country, and Beijing's court jade-carving industry thereby entered a flourishing phase. In the Qing dynasty, jade appreciation became fashionable in Beijing, and jade-carving technique reached a historical peak. Since the 1980s, owing to funding shortages and a break in the line of trained talent, the distinctive varieties and techniques of Beijing jade carving have steadily been lost, making rescue and protection a matter of urgency.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Beijing jade carving, also known as “Beijing jadeware”, is a jade-carving technique passed down in Beijing. After 1911, Beijing's private jade-carving trade grew increasingly prosperous, producing celebrated master craftsmen of outstanding talent and astonishing skill — Pan Bingheng, Liu Deying, He Rong, Wang Shusen and others — who carried Beijing jade carving into an entirely new historical stage. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Beijing's jade-carving industry developed rapidly, at one point reaching a scale of several thousand practitioners, with talent gathered in abundance and techniques vying in novelty. Four jadeite national treasures made in this period — “The Marvelous Landscape of Mount Tai”, “Fragrance Gathered in Rare Splendor”, “Rejoicing Across the Four Seas” and “A Gathering of the Finest Flowers” — wrought with consummate craftsmanship and exquisite detail, displayed the highest artistic standards and received commendation from the State Council. Beijing jade carving has long enjoyed a reputation for “fine workmanship and solid material”. Inheriting the technical tradition of the court jade workshops, it uses choice materials, is finely made, covers a complete range of categories, and can produce vessels, figures, flowers, birds and beasts, bonsai, jewelry and many other articles. The techniques of Beijing jade carving include many steps such as assessing the material, cleaning the material, cutting the material, designing, grinding and polishing. Its forms are vigorous and weighty, dignified and elegant; its ornamentation is exquisite and delicate, bright yet plain, reflecting a superb level of craftsmanship.

The four jadeite national treasures

Four jadeite masterpieces — Mount Tai, Gathering Fragrance, Four Seas Rejoicing and Flowers of All Seasons — were commended by the State Council.

Pan Bingheng, Liu Deying, He Rong and Wang Shusen

After 1911 the city's private jade trade flourished, producing famous masters such as Pan Bingheng, Liu Deying, He Rong and Wang Shusen.

Reading, cleaning, sawing, designing, grinding and polishing

The sequence covers reading the stone, cleaning, sawing, designing, grinding and polishing, producing vessels, figures, flowers, birds, beasts, bonsai and jewellery.

The court jade workshop and Qiu Chuji

The craft arose under the Yuan with the Quanzhen Daoist Qiu Chuji as its reputed founder; the Ming court jade workshop gathered masters from across the empire.

Thin-walled work and Liu Chaoguo

The national inheritor Liu Chaoguo inherited the court tradition of thin-walled carving and excels in animals and vessels.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The production and transmission of Beijing jade carving were long concentrated in the jade factories and arts-and-crafts academies of the Chongwen and Xuanwu districts (today's Dongcheng and Xicheng districts). The Beijing Jade Factory was the core unit, at one point in the mid-20th century employing several thousand people; after the 1980s, activity expanded to Tongzhou, Changping and other districts.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Jade Carving · Jade Carving · Jade Carving · Jade Carving · Jade Carving · Jade Carving.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Song Shiyi (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in December 1942; a native of Beijing. Senior craft artist and master of Chinese arts and crafts. Graduated in 1964 from the sculpture department of the Beijing Arts and Crafts School, then joined the Beijing Jade Factory, where he studied under senior artists such as Wang Shusen and engaged in jade design and production. Later pursued further study at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University and the Central Academy of Fine Arts. His technique is broadly assimilated and draws widely on the strengths of others; he has distinctive methods of handling raw materials such as jadeite, white jade, agate, coral, turquoise and crystal. His works cover a wide range of subjects in varied forms, of an elegant taste and rigorous structure, with careful composition, beautiful modeling and meticulous workmanship; in the jade-carving world he is associated with the phrase “Song in the north, Gu in the south”. His works have won many awards; representative pieces include “Statue of Huang Daopo in Turquoise”, “Banna Moon in Agate” and “The Silk Road”. He has taken on apprentices such as Su Ran, Song Jiayin and Song Jiale. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the jade carving (Beijing jade carving) intangible cultural heritage project. Liu Chaoguo (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1945; a native of Beijing. Master of Chinese arts and crafts. In 1962 he was assigned to the Beijing Jade Factory to do cutting work. From 1972 he turned to design, excelling in animal and vessel forms. He successively studied under veteran artists Cheng Zhanxiong, Xia Changxin, Li Huanting and Jiang Tong, inheriting the essence of court jade-carving technique and mastering thin-wall techniques; his artistic style is grand and majestic, bold and vigorous, steady and dignified, richly elegant, embodying the aesthetic fashion of the era. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the jade carving (Beijing jade carving) intangible cultural heritage project. Many of his representative works, including “Auspicious Dragon Gathering Auspiciousness: White Jade Flower Censer”, “Agate Soup Tureen” and “Chain Vase of Flourishing Wealth”, have won gold and silver prizes at various exhibitions.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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。