ShiLiuyun/Xinjiang Daily reporter Jia Chunxia
"This is a bamboo carved toothpick box, that is a relief bamboo carving handle, this bamboo carved fan is very distinctive..." On the morning of October 15, in the Shanghai exhibition area of "Xinjiang is a Good Place - Counterpart Aid to Xinjiang 19 Provinces and Cities Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition", whenever the audience stepped forward, Zhuang Long, a 51-year-old non-hereditary inheritor of Jiading bamboo carving, would put down the carving knife in his hand and get up to introduce it to the audience one by one.
The audience photographed Zhuang Long's bamboo carving technique. Photo by Jia Chunxia, reporter of Shiliuyun/Xinjiang Daily
It is understood that the Jiading bamboo carving was created by Zhu He in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu He integrated the art of calligraphy and painting into bamboo carving, and created a "profound technique" characterized by transparent carving and deep carving, making bamboo carving an independent ornamental art, which has a history of nearly 500 years. Jiading bamboo carving techniques include round carving, relief carving, thin yang script, yin carving, and liuqing. Bamboo carving artists use knives to write instead, integrating books, paintings, poems, texts, printing and other arts into one, giving bamboo a new life. In 2006, Jiading bamboo carvings were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list by the State Council.
The reporter saw that when Zhuang Long carved the calligraphy on the bamboo board, he first carefully tasted the calligraphy gestures, and then sharply dropped the knife and used the knife as a pen. The bamboo carving works placed in the exhibition cabinet are diverse, including pen holders, incense sticks (lavender), interstitial screens, arm rests, hugging pairs, etc., as well as characters, landscapes, grasses and trees, animals, etc. The characters depicted in them are both gods and gods, the landscape is far-reaching, and the flowers and birds are vivid, which makes the visitors marvel.
A bamboo carving of a figure made by non-hereditary heir Zhuang Long. Photo by Jia Chunxia, reporter of Shiliuyun/Xinjiang Daily
"The technique I'm carving now is called Liu Qing. First, the calligraphy work is pasted on the bamboo board according to the appropriate proportions, and then the outer outline of the calligraphy is outlined, and then the excess part is removed, and the font has a feeling of relief. Zhuang Long said that he loved traditional handicraft production since childhood, and later participated in a training class to study, and since then he has formed an indissoluble relationship with bamboo carving, and has been engaged in the industry for more than 30 years.
Landscape bamboo carvings made by non-hereditary heir Zhuang Long. Photo by Jia Chunxia, reporter of Shiliuyun/Xinjiang Daily
Zhuang Long frankly said that because Jiading bamboo carving requires a certain foundation of painting and sculpture, coupled with the need for pure handmade production, the process is complex, the production is time-consuming and laborious, sometimes a work has to be carved for months or even years, and non-genetic inheritance has a certain difficulty.
A bamboo carving of a figure made by non-hereditary heir Zhuang Long. Photo by Jia Chunxia, reporter of Shiliuyun/Xinjiang Daily.
In order to carry forward the bamboo carving skills of Jiading, Zhuang Long opened Jiading bamboo carving training classes in Shanghai School for the Deaf and Dumb, Jiading Sunshine Workshop and other places. "I have been teaching in these two places for 10 years, and half of the nearly 100 or so trainees trained have made bamboo carvings that can be sold." Guiding the trainees to find employment through a skill, Zhuang Long found the greatest value and significance of this skill. In 2015, he won the "Top Ten True People Who Touched Jiading to Help the Disabled".
The audience photographs the bamboo carvings on display. Photo by Jia Chunxia, reporter of Shiliuyun/Xinjiang Daily
"Intangible cultural heritage needs to be protected, and it needs to be inherited and carried forward." Zhuang Long said that after the exhibition, he plans to go to the Kashgar region to teach local children the knowledge of Jiading bamboo carving, so that more people can fall in love with intangible cultural heritage and the excellent traditional Chinese culture.