Jade Carving

Ⅶ-57Traditional Fine ArtsShanghaiBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Haipai (Shanghai school) jade carving took as its starting point the jade trade that gathered in Shanghai after the port opened; it took shape in the area of the old walled city in the late Qing and early Republic period, and in the mid-20th century was consolidated through enterprises such as the Shanghai Jade Carving Factory, becoming a school standing alongside the northern school, the Yangzhou school and the southern school.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

“Haipai jade carving” is another name for Shanghai jade carving. Founded in the twenty-third year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty (1843), it ranks with the northern school, the Yangzhou school and the southern school as one of the four great schools of Chinese jade carving. From craft categories, tools, materials and techniques, Haipai jade carving comprehensively inherits the technical tradition of Chinese jade carving, and has left behind a large number of fine jade works in history. While inheriting the techniques of ancient Chinese jade production, Haipai jade carving has adapted to the characteristics of different periods and products, gradually forming its own cultural character. In making, the material must first be comprehensively observed and analyzed — also called “assessing the jade” (xiangyu). One examines the skin color, the nature of the material, its flaws and its overall situation. Design then follows from the basic conditions grasped through this examination: according to the conceived image, sketches and basic forms are drawn. Carving is the main step of jade work: the surface of the jade is cleaned, a rough sketch drawn, the material cut and the whole divided with the wheel (tuo), a flat base positioned, details divided, a fine sketch drawn, fine parts ground, and finishing touches applied. Finally the finished jade article is polished. Representative figures in Haipai jade-carving technique include Yuan Derong, Gu Xianchi, Sun Tianyi, Liu Jisong, Xiao Haichun, Guan Shengchun and Han Guowei, as well as Liu Zhongrong, Ni Weibin, Hong Xinhua, Yu Jing, Yi Shaoyong and Zhai Nianwei. Because the demands of the craft are extremely high, it now faces the dilemma of having no successors.

Founded in 1843

Founded in 1843, the Shanghai school stands with the northern, Yangzhou and southern schools as one of the four great traditions of Chinese jade carving.

Reading the stone: skin, nature, flaws and form

Work begins with “reading the jade” — judging skin colour, the nature of the material, flaws and overall form — before the design is drawn.

Cutting with the wheel and refining the details

Grinding is the central stage: cleaning the stone, rough drafting, wheel-cutting, blocking out, flattening the base, refining details and finally polishing.

Yuan Yao and the micro-carved Thousand-Armed Guanyin

The national inheritor Yuan Yao blends colour-zone carving, micro-carving and micro-engraving; his 2004 jadeite Thousand-Armed Guanyin entered the Guinness records.

Hong Xinhua and his pupils Cui Lei and Yu Xuetao

Hong Xinhua ranges widely but excels at figures; his pupils Cui Lei and Yu Xuetao have become Chinese arts-and-crafts masters.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

It is distributed mainly in the central urban districts of Shanghai, with workshops concentrated in Huangpu, Jing'an and Xuhui. The Shanghai Jade Carving Factory, the Shanghai Research Institute of Arts and Crafts, and related academies are the principal vehicles for transmitting the technique.

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

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Haipai jade carving possesses extremely high artistic, commemorative and collecting value, and is an important component of China's traditional jade carving. Yuan Yao (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Deputy chief craft artist, senior craft artist, national senior technician, and master of Shanghai arts and crafts. He began carving seals at the age of nine, and then studied calligraphy, carving, pottery and other arts. He excels at combining many techniques such as color-exploiting carving, micro-carving and micro-inscription; his works select materials according to their character and use the material to suit the art, fully exploring and expressing the essence of the material to win by a surprising move; his conceptions and forms are airy and exquisite, his craft ingenious, its difficulty surpassing all others — almost divine. In 2004 he pioneered the jadeite micro-carving “Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin”, a rare treasure recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. Works such as “Fishing Alone on a Cold River”, “Five Hundred Arhats”, “Hundred Tigers” and “Emperor Qianlong's Southern Tour” blend the spirit of calligraphy, his knife moving with effortless ease. Male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1949; a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the jade carving (Haipai jade carving) intangible cultural heritage project. His works have won numerous awards. The more accomplished among his students include Huang Yiming and Zhao Huaxin. Hong Xinhua (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1959; a native of Shanghai. Professor-level senior craft artist and master of Chinese arts and crafts. His creative subjects are wide-ranging — flowers, animals, landscapes and vessels are all within his competence — and he excels particularly in carving figures. Representative works include “The Beginning of Chaos” in agate, “Bell for Driving Away Evil and Bringing Blessings” in jadeite, and “Arhat” and “Maitreya Buddha” in white jade. His disciples Cui Lei and Yu Xuetao have both become masters of Chinese arts and crafts. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the jade carving (Haipai jade carving) intangible cultural heritage project. His works are pure in material, complete in both spirit and form, fluent in line, smooth and refined in carving, full of verve, and have won national awards on many occasions. His 1984 green jade “Jia Baoyu's Dream Visit to the Land of Illusion” won the second prize for excellent creative design at the Hundred Flowers Awards for Chinese Arts and Crafts.

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 ↗

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