Cui Yujing, a 65-year-old native of Ruyang County, Henan Province, is the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Cui's stone carving skills in Ruyang County. Because the family's stone carving skills were not passed down at the age of 38, he began to learn stone carving skills with his father. The stone stele carved by Cui Yujing is mainly based on tombstones, merit tablets, and stone plaques, and on average, it can be carved about 50 pieces a year.
Stone carving work is also divided into off-season and high season, the peak season is mainly concentrated before the Qingming Festival, because the local fame is getting bigger and bigger, during this year's Qingming Festival, Cui Yujing received a total of 28 list of carved tombstones. "In the off-season, you can carve up to one or two pieces a month, but on average, you can carve about 50 pieces a year." Cui Yujing said that although the storefront is relatively small, less than 20 square meters, but the work is not small, so he is very busy every day.
Cui Yujing carved stele charging standard, mainly according to the size of the calculation, under normal circumstances, a three-foot stele, including text and patterns, need more than 600 yuan. The larger size of the merit monument, the fee is about 2,000 yuan.
Many times, the stone tablets in the order need to be made urgently, cui Yujing needs to work overtime, a sit is 6 to 7 hours, the longest time, to sit for more than 10 hours. "Originally, children also had a good craft of carving a monument, but young people were not very willing to do this job, feeling too dirty and tired, and it was better to go out to work and earn money." So, I had to do it myself. However, Cui Yujing liked this work very much in his heart, so he never felt hard.
Cui Yujing said that in the future, he plans to publish a book on the art of inscription and do his best to pass on the craft. (Photo: Chen Jie)