Carving out a symbol of virtue

Craftsmen deploy their skill and experience accumulated over the centuries to help shape jade's continuing appeal, Fang Aiqing reports.

By Fang Aiqing | China Daily | Updated: 2024-12-31 05:48
Share
Share - WeChat
The glowing sun and a pair of cranes on the miniature Taishan Mountain. [Photo by Wang Jing/China Daily]

Manual work

In the past, jade carving was much more labor-consuming. Artisans had to sit for a long time at a table-like iron rotary machine with cutter bars.

Summer or winter, they treadled to drive the machine while picking up abrasive sands — usually made from quartz or garnet — from a tray of water.

It was largely by this machine they cut, carved, drilled and polished to create miracles on the tough mineral that has long been favored by the Chinese.

Since the 1960s, motor-powered rotary machines have been introduced to the industry, along with improved tools such as various grinding heads, cutters, ultrasonic drilling equipment, mechanized grinding beads and vibratory polishers, Wang Mingying and Shi Guanghai, both from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, wrote in a 2020 article on the evolution of Chinese jade-carving craftsmanship.

According to them, computer numerical control and three-dimensional scanning devices have been increasingly applied in jade carving. However, detailed manual work, such as that used to make eggshell-thin jade vessels, as well as the above-mentioned qiaose and chain carving techniques, cannot be achieved with these machines.

Yang Xi, a Suzhou-based national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of jade carving, has observed this trend. He says it's quite usual for the younger generation to complete the majority of work with a computer and then continue the carving and polishing by hand.

He admits that sometimes even industry insiders cannot tell whether artworks are made by hand or with the assistance of machines.

However, the 60-year-old veteran carver sticks to the traditional manual craft and particularly emphasizes the importance and challenge of originality in design.

Yang Xi is well-known for his series of works inspired by his hometown, a water town with the typical Jiangnan (the region south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) temperament.

He has also created various works in which he has inserted new expressions into the antique craftsmanship, such as incorporating an internal structure of a mechanical watch into a piece of work — a rare theme in jade carving — and an innovative adaptation of the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva).

"The art should always keep pace with the times," he says.

|<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5   

Related Stories

Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美三级在线播放| 国产三级久久久精品麻豆三级| 国产真实乱在线更新| 国产亚洲精品精品国产亚洲综合| 午夜亚洲乱码伦小说区69堂| 亚洲欧洲日产国码在线观看| 亚洲午夜久久久影院伊人| 久久精品国产亚洲AV无码偷窥 | 亚洲欧美另类视频| 久久久久亚洲av无码去区首| 波多野结衣在线观看中文字幕| 草莓视频在线观看18| 精品久久久久香蕉网| 欧美亚洲国产激情一区二区 | 日韩电影中文字幕| 岛国大片在线播放| 国产精品无码久久四虎| 处处吻动漫高清在线观看| 国产成人精品视频一区| 国产极品大学生酒店| 免费特级黄色片| 久久精品久久久久观看99水蜜桃| ts人妖系列在线专区| 黄色成年人网站| 浮力国产第一页| 成年美女黄网站小视频| 国产精品午夜爆乳美女视频| 啊轻点灬大巴太粗太长了视频| 国产精品ⅴ无码大片在线看| 午夜影院a级片| 久久精品成人一区二区三区| _妓院_一钑片_免看黄大片| 青青青国产精品国产精品美女 | 八戒网站免费观看视频| 亚在线观看免费视频入口| 99精品国产第一福利网站| 羞羞网站免费观看| 旧里番yy4480在线高清影院| 天堂在线ww小说| 啊灬啊别停灬用力啊呻吟| 午夜宅男在线永久免费观看网 |