Picturing “China Gift” by Carving

At the 2024 “Chongqing Gifts” Tourism Commodities (Cultural and Creative Products) Competition and Foreign-Affairs Gifts Selection, a dazzling array of items featuring the charm of Chongqing were on display. Among them, the “Mountain City Miracles” phoebe zhennan ornaments, which vividly showcases Chongqing- style living, stood out and won wide acclaim.

How does an ordinary piece of wood transform into an exquisite ornament? Chen Yongli, the fourth-generation inheritor of the Chen-family woodcarving and director of Hechuan Nanshanfang Woodcarving Factory, accepted an exclusive interview with our reporter and shared the story of making wood “blossom” through carving.

Inheriting Woodcarving Craft with Skillful Hands and Ingenious Mind

Early in ancient times, human ancestors had begun woodcarving. Using simple tools, they depicted daily-life scenes and mythical legends on wooden blocks, which gave birth to the primitive art of woodcarving. These carvings not only carried memories of human lives but also embodied the wisdom and craftsmanship of the ancient people.

Historically, blessed with unique geographical and climatic conditions, Hechuan has been rich in phoebe and ebony, fostering a long tradition of woodcarving. In 1965, Chen Yongli’s family founded the brand of Nanshanfang Woodcarving. Her grandfather and father were both masters in the woodcarving industry. Growing up in such an environment, Chen Yongli developed a strong interest in woodcarving from an early age. Under her father’s guidance, she started with basic tasks like sawing, then learned to carve, and then carved small Buddha pendants. Through dedicated study and practice, she has gradually mastered the techniques and secrets of Chen-family woodcarving and become an outstanding woodcarver.

In 2000, Chen Yongli took over the “baton” from her father, becoming the fourth-generation inheritor of Chen-family woodcarving craftsmanship, a craft recognized as a Hechuan District Intangible Cultural Heritage. With her masterful skills, she has transformed ordinary pieces of wood into lifelike works of art: solemn Buddha statues, galloping horses, vivid grasshoppers, and realistic Chinese cabbages, each exuding a unique charm.

Engaged in this craft over two decades, Chen Yongli has always been upholding the craftsman’s spirit. In 2023, the Nanshanfang Woodcarving was recognized as a “Chongqing Time-Honored Brand,” and its core production technique was included in the Chongqing Hechuan District Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Telling China’s Story Effectively with New Intellectual Property Products

As time changes, the art of woodcarving is also following the pace. Chen believes that while inheriting craftsmanship, it is important for craftspeople to expand their thinking and promote the development of works through inheritance and innovation. “Developing cultural and creative products is a promising future direction. More and more tourists, especially young people, like to take intellectual property products home, which promotes the dissemination of various local traditional cultures.”

“We’ve set up a monthly plan for new products to launch more market?appropriate cultural and creative items,” Chen Yongli introduced. For example, the “Mountain City Miracles” phoebe zhennan ornament series incorporates such urban elements as Hongyadong and Liziba Through-building Rail Coaches. These infuse the ornament pieces with local cultural characteristics, making them a carrier to tell stories of Chongqing and China more vividly.

With such thinking, they have carved new products such as tea tables, writing desks, antique shelves, and wooden fans, all receiving widespread praise. In 2024, Chen Yongli’s woodcarving work, a backscratcher “Ruyi Chaotianme” was selected into the “Promotion Plan for China Gift Industry” implemented by six ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of Commerce, the Publicity Department of CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Radio and Television Administration, the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Besides, the “Mountain City Miracles” phoebe zhennan ornament series was listed as a Foreign-Affairs Gift in the 2024 “Chongqing Gifts” Tourism Commodities (Cultural and Creative Products) Competition. And one of the pieces in the series sculpting Liziba Through-building Rail Coaches won the bronze award in that competition.

Nanshanfang Woodcarving Factory is actively collaborating with local universities to establish internship bases, to attract more young people to join the woodcarving industry. “I hope to inject today’s new vitality into traditional cultures and gather everyone together to preserve and pass on this traditional craft,” Chen said.

(This column is a Sino-foreign cultural exchange project jointly operated by The World & Chongqing and the College of International Studies, Southwest University.)