Master of stone carves out new branches for a historic lineage

Gao Yingpo grew up in a world of "magicians": "People brought back a chunk of stone from the mountain. They incised, polished, and colored it, and it ended up looking like a watermelon sliced open," he recalls.

Asking if he could learn the magic, he was given a hammer of the size a child like him could handle. He remembers his first works were apples and pears, and he would receive some pocket money for good handiwork from his parents, who were also stone artisans.

The small boy who was delighted in being rewarded for his craft is today a master artist of stone engraving, showing dozens of his works at The Path of Mastery, running at the National Art Museum of China until Oct 7.

For generations, Gao's family has been living in Quyang county, Baoding, Hebei province, surrounded by ranges of mountains that produce fine quality marble perfect for being engraved into a variety of shapes and patterns. Since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), stonemasons in Quyang prided themselves on boundless creativity in engraving Buddhist statues, architectural components and ornamental objects. They also participated in monumental projects such as the Great Hall of the People and the Monument to the People's Heroes, both located in the Tian'anmen Square. Quyang stone carving is a national intangible cultural heritage item.

Gao's great-grandfather was an accomplished craftsman capable of quarrying stone, designing, and engraving. "Not only should we pass down the crafts left by the forebears. Also, we need to let them grow new branches and leaves in the soil of today," he says.

The exhibition shows these thriving "branches" the 54-year-old has cultivated over the years. A new development of his work is a portrait statue series of mythological characters and historical personas, such as Laozi, the Taoist philosopher living over 2,400 years ago, and Yandi, a legendary tribe leader revered as one of the founding ancestors of the Chinese. The subject was no strange to him who had made a great deal of such sculptures for public display.

He says that when he sought a breakthrough years ago, he bumped into the archaic bronzes at the Yinxu Museum, built on the site of the late capital of the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC). He was especially caught by a gigantic square ding vessel and on it the vivid details, some of which as smooth and thin as that of the human hair. "I wondered if I could re-create that same sense of weight and aura of solemnity in my work."

Yibo Yuntian (Boundless Righteousness and Loyalty), a statue on show of Guan Yu the courageous general living in the second and third centuries, is a fruit born from Gao's endeavors. He chose to engrave on black stone, over the white marble commonly used in stone carving, to accentuate the depths of history. Guan Yu is immortalized and paid respect to as a model of moral integrity. Gao says the exaggerated forms and powerful details convey the spirit of a nation and hopefully, everyone can feel in it their own versions of Guan Yu.

The exhibition also shows Gao's recent foray into the making of Ding ware. Quyang was the production hub of the Ding ware, one of the five famed ceramic types in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), of which the decorative motifs against a monochromatic ground champions the Chinese minimalist aesthetics.

Gao has transplanted his experiences with stone to sculpting the Ding ware, mostly the white porcelain best known for. "I see the integration of the artistry of stone carving and Ding ware a direction of prospect to better incorporate two cultural traditions into the everyday life."