The "Foolish Man" in Guangxi Mine: Twenty Generations "Dealing" with Stone Carving Skills

China News Service, Guilin, October 31st: "The Foolish Man" in the Guangxi Mine: Twenty Generations "Dealing" with Stone Carving Skills

　　Author Liu Juncong

　　On the 31st, Yuankou Village, Lingchuan County, Guilin City, Guangxi Province, is a small village surrounded by mines on three sides.

Yang Xinwen is in his workshop, using carving tools to chisel a "stone turtle" in front of him. With the rhythmic clanging sound, the appearance of the "stone turtle" and the patterns on his body are becoming clearer.

　　The 53-year-old Yang Xinwen is a native of Yuankou Village, and he is also the 20th generation inheritor of Yang's stone carving skills.

There are all kinds of stone carving works in his stone carving workshop, including lifelike auspicious beasts with different shapes, and all kinds of solemn and mighty statues. This workshop was named by him as "Yugong Carving Art Museum" ".

　　"Similar to the story of 'Yugong Moving Mountains', the people of Yuankou Village have been 'dealing' with stones for generations. Because they are backed by mines, many villagers in history have been masons, and quarrying and stone processing are traditional sidelines of Yuankou Village." Yang Xinwen said.

　　The stone carving skills of Yang's family in the village can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty, and Yang Xinwen's workshop still retains the stone carvings carved by his ancestors in the Ming Dynasty.

As a descendant of the Yang family, Yang Xinwen has developed a strong interest in painting since junior high school. He is often fascinated by the comics sold by roadside vendors.

Yang Xinwen is carving the head of a "stone turtle".

Photo by Li Jiaoyang

　　"At that time, I would buy an entire comic book for a comic I liked, and then slowly copy it at home. My favorite painting is the 'dragon' of the Tang Dynasty, which can be painted with just one stroke." Yang Xinwen said.

　　The accumulated painting practice has consolidated Yang Xinwen's sculptural foundation.

After graduating from junior high school, Yang Xinwen began to follow his father to learn the ancestral stone carving skills, and in 1998, he began to work as a sculpture in Guilin's "Yuzi Paradise".

　　In his 9-year working career, Yang Xinwen has cooperated with more than 60 sculptors from more than 30 countries and regions in the world and assisted them in completing more than 80 works. He also felt the difference between Chinese and Western art and culture.

　　"Western sculpture works are very personalized and their presentation methods are very public, and they will put more emphasis on the sculptor's 'personal style'. On the contrary, Chinese sculpture works tend to be more in the same line of style and shape, and reflect the social system, farming and farming in different periods. Clothing and other historical backgrounds." Yang Xinwen said.

　　As an ancient technique that has appeared since the Neolithic Age, Chinese stone carving pays attention to the exquisite and realistic shapes. It is the art of combining geometric figures such as dots, lines, squares and circles, and its patterns are smooth and free.

　　Yang Xinwen often uses bluestone, granite, white marble and other materials for carving.

With round carving, openwork, high and low relief and other techniques, a simple stone finally "transformed" and became a mythical figure and exquisite stone carvings such as flowers, birds, insects and fish.

A stone lion carved by Yang Xinwen.

Photo by Li Jiaoyang

　　"When carving a group of stone carvings, such as the 'little stone lions' on the railings, their expressions and expressions are different, which is one of the difficulties of carving. It not only tests the carving skills of stone carvers, but also needs to have depth in their historical modeling. grasp." Yang Xinwen said.

　　Because of his excellent stone carving skills, Yang Xinwen is often invited by surrounding villages to participate in the production of stone inscriptions.

　　Today, Yang Xinwen often compares himself to a "Yugong" after spending most of his life "dealing" with the stone. He hopes to carry forward the unremitting spirit of Yugong and continue to inherit this ancient skill.

In 2015, Yang Xinwen was named "Guangxi Folk Arts and Crafts Master". Every year, the workshop attracts many people to come to learn stone carving skills.

　　"Unlike most traditional handicrafts, stone carvings can be preserved for thousands of years. So every chisel is a record of history and needs to be taken seriously." Yang Xinwen said.

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