A selection of Shoushan stone artworks created by Ye Zi, a Shoushan stone sculptor in East China's Fujian province. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

Ye is from Pucheng county, the northern tip of Fujian province, which is also the hometown of Liu Yong, a renowned poet during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). Human figures, flowers and fruits, and animals have long been the main themes of Shoushan stone carving. But Ye has focused more on portraying Chinese classical landscapes and idyllic scenes from her hometown.

Concerning the sculpting techniques, Ye said that sculptors need to "draw on the traditional and innovate the new". Traditional Shoushan stone carving techniques must be well-learned and properly combined with Western sculpting skills so as to give full play to the original beauty of the stones.

One of Ye's representative artworks is carved from a Shanxiuyuan stone, also an unpopular type of Shoushan stone. This carving, inspired by ancient Chinese poetry, has won the hearts of many viewers at exhibitions held at home and abroad. With pine trees, banana leaves and plum blossoms, it features a series of scenes depicted in ancient poems, including maidens reading by the window and scholars playing guqin, a seven-stringed zither, and the bamboo flute.