Fujian Daily, New Fujian Client, April 22 (Reporter Chen Shengzhong, Wu Peng, Correspondent Xu Wenquan, Chen Xiaowei) Thousands of sails are competing, fertile fields are thousands of miles, Goolan Washe, fishing villages and wild markets...... More than a dozen craftsmen use knives as pens and wood as rolls to carve an epic wood carving masterpiece with full attention in the Putian Art Museum. At present, the 120-meter wood carving "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal" designed by Zheng Chunhui, a master of Chinese arts and crafts, and his team has completed all the rough production except for the Tianjin section, and has entered the stage of detailed creation.
A Grand Canal, half of Chinese history. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal stretches for thousands of miles, connecting the north and the south, connecting the ancient and the modern, bringing a busy transportation economy and shaping a unique river culture. In 2014, China's Grand Canal, including the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, was listed as a World Heritage Site. "The Grand Canal stretches thousands of years of Chinese culture and is the source of self-confidence for our country and nation. After being named the "Great Country Craftsman" Person of the Year in 2019, Zheng Chunhui thought about what kind of works to show the excellent traditional Chinese culture again, and the theme of the Grand Canal also entered his creative vision.
At the beginning of 2020, Zheng Chunhui began to design the artwork of the monumental "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal". After clarifying his thoughts, he adhered to the exquisite craftsmanship of Putian woodcarving craftsmen, sketched and investigated along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, visited the site while searching for cultural and historical materials, repeatedly researched the obtained materials, and consulted experts and scholars, and finally completed the finalization of the design drawings in early 2023.
On March 27, 2023, Zheng Chunhui and his team officially began carving the giant wood sculpture "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal". The work is laid out in the form of a long scroll of Chinese landscape painting, divided into three parts: the northern volume, the middle volume and the Jiangnan volume, which is composed of 9 camphor trees that are more than 500 years old, and will be carved on one side by using relief carving, hollow carving, openwork carving and subtle openwork carving techniques, showing the prosperous transportation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the cultural landscape and cultural heritage of the coastal cities in front of the world. It was revealed that the work is planned to be completed in 5 years.
Since the start of construction, the giant wood carving "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal" has attracted attention from all walks of life, attracting more and more people to the site to observe and check in. There are also many viewers who watched the "Cloud Craft" through the slow live broadcast of the "Putian 100-meter Wood Carving" video number, and witnessed the birth of the masterpiece together.
In early March, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage organized a delegation of authoritative experts on the culture of the Grand Canal to come to Putian to observe and guide the creation of the giant wood carving "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal". The expert group was deeply shocked by the magnificent conception and exquisite craftsmanship of the work, and spoke highly of it. At the same time, professional guidance is put forward on the cultural connotation, important nodes, and landmarks along the Grand Canal. Li Xiangdong, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, said: "Although the work has not yet taken shape, we can already feel the grandeur and rich cultural connotation of the work. He believes that Master Zheng Chunhui has carried out artistic processing of his works based on the actual situation, enriching the picture of the entire canal and bringing more cultural and spiritual enjoyment to the audience.
This is not the first time Zheng Chunhui has created giant wood carvings. In 2013, he led the team to create a 12.286-meter-long, 3.075-meter-high, 2.401-meter-wide camphor wood carving "Qingming Riverside Map", which was entered into the Guinness World Records for "the world's longest wood carving". The two sides of the work are carved with two versions of the "Qingming Riverside Map" drawn by Zhang Zeduan of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Qing Palace Painting Academy, with a total of 2,275 figures, which are lifelike and vivid, making people feel as if they have traveled through a thousand years.
In addition, they also created large-scale landscape wood carvings such as "Thousands of Miles of Rivers and Mountains" and "Fujian Township". At present, these works are collected in the Chunhui Wood Carving Art Museum in Putian City, which is also the first private wood carving museum in Putian, attracting citizens and tourists to come. It is precisely because of the rich experience in carving giant wood carving works that Zheng Chunhui and his team are full of confidence and passion in their creation.
It is worth mentioning that at present, in the Putian Art Museum, Zheng Chunhui and his team created another giant wood carving work, "Baili Lanxi Map", is also being created at the same time. The work is composed of 4 camphor trees with a length of more than 10 meters and a total length of not less than 50 meters, carved on both sides, which will show a panoramic view of the 24 scenes of Putian along the Mulan River Basin, and truly show the beautiful scenery along the Mulan River and the historical and cultural heritage of Putian City. "I hope that large-scale wood carvings such as "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal" and "Baili Lanxi Map" can become a beautiful artistic business card of Putian in the future. Zheng Chunhui said.
No pain, no gain. Over the years, Zheng Chunhui has taken the inheritance and promotion of Chinese wood carving culture as his own responsibility, and many honors have followed: national technical expert, master of Chinese arts and crafts, representative inheritor of Putian wood carving of national intangible cultural heritage projects, "Great Country Craftsman" of the year, experts enjoying special government allowances of the State Council, and national young and middle-aged literary and artistic workers.
When culture is prosperous, the country is prosperous, and when culture is strong, the nation is strong. "Large-scale wood carving can not only reflect the spirit of Chinese landscape painting, but also reflect the beauty of carving techniques through three-dimensional expression, showing the beauty of Chinese history, mountains and rivers, and culture. Zheng Chunhui said that standing at the historical node of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, as a creator of arts and crafts, he will continue to adhere to integrity and innovation, excavate creative themes from Chinese historical and cultural resources, innovate expressions, tell Chinese cultural stories, and enhance the influence of Chinese civilization.
Source: Fujian Daily client