Director of Dongyang Woodcarving Studio
*All conversations published have gained the consent of speakers.
Among Chinese intangible cultural heritages, woodcarving is one of the most practical crafts passed down—it’s handy in the daily lives of ordinary people. Dongyang woodcarving, originating in the Tang Dynasty, is one school of woodcarving in the four significant woodcarving sects in China (Fujian longan woodcarving, Yueqing boxwood woodcarving, Chaozhou golden lacquer woodcarving, Zhejiang Dongyang woodcarving).
Dongyang County, Zhejiang, known as the hometown of Chinese woodcarving, has a history of woodcarving for over a thousand years. Beijing's Forbidden City, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Anhui, and many other places all have exquisite Dongyang woodcarvings left in prominent spaces. Dongyang woodcarving is mainly flat relief, using multi-level relief combined with scattered-perspective composition to form distinctive carving features. The material selection is generally light in color, elegant in style, and retains the natural texture and color of the log. This is different from the wood color-painting method—"white wood carving"—and is one of the best folk crafts in the Chinese nation. Dongyang woodcarving is known for its proud name, "the treasure of the country."
When traveling to Jinhua city (where the Dongyang county nestles), besides all kinds of delicacies based on ham, the famous Dongyang woodcarving was an essential part of our trip. My grandmother had told my mother to buy a pair of camphorwood boxes to add to her collection. After arriving in Dongyang early in the morning, we followed a friend's instructions to the Dongyang "Woodcarving City" in a hidden corner of the county. We met up in one of the best shops with Director Ding of the original Dongyang Woodcarving Factory, who has been in the business for many years.
Hearing that we wanted to buy a pair of camphorwood boxes, Director Ding skillfully introduced us to the technique of judging the texture of a finished product and asked us about the size we wished for. Soon, we chose a pair of large-looking, beautiful storage boxes. They were especially significant as both were very effective in storing antique paintings: the wood was moth- and mildew-proof, and again, just so beautiful.
Referring to the brilliance of Dongyang woodcarving, I asked about its previous wide usage in buildings and furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially the famous Qiangong bed, Shili Hongzhuang, and other furniture. Director Ding was not without emotion. In the 1950s, Dongyang woodcarving manufacturers gradually expanded the craft to Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. When business was booming, handmade furniture was no longer only needed for marriages but became a daily necessity for every household.
I continued asking about the business situation of this art in recent years; Director Ding was a little bit embarrassed. His factory was a balanced small business with barely any profits. The operating cost of raw materials and labor prices had become increasingly expensive, but the demand for furniture had declined. Looking at the many decorations in the store, Director Ding, lamenting a lost golden age, said that Dongyang Woodcarving had also once hoped to transform and keep up with the needs of this new era. At the beginning of the 20th century, they tried hard to turn to exports, but the overall acceptance could have been better. They had stopped moving forward since then.
Talking about the trends and changes of the era, Director Ding once again expressed melancholy. Dongyang woodcarving, one of the first Chinese folk arts to be recognized as intangible cultural heritages, is a craft whose inheritance and protection the local government attaches great importance to. Faced with the small number of exquisite furniture left in existence, the relevant leading inheritors, Guangzheng Lu, Chuwei Wu, and Wentu Feng, are all elders over sixty years old and approaching their eighties. Yet, it has been challenging to establish a suitable inheritance mechanism. People's lives have undergone tremendous changes in the past twenty years: traditional wood carvings are no longer used to decorate modern buildings. With this lack of demand, it is difficult for young people to devote themselves to traditional skills. Therefore, most new practitioners are not nearly as skilled. The beautiful endangered craft must be rescued and protected as soon as possible.
Like the majority of intangible cultural heritages, Dongyang woodcarving's skilled and exquisite craftsmanship, as well as its ingenious ideas and rich traditional connotations, have lost the environment they depend on for survival and are gradually declining. I cannot admire Director Ding more, a man who sticks to preserving the craft because of his deep love for it, and I also hope that I can do something with my meager efforts in the future.
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