Carving out a specialty

At the entrance to Tanbian village, Xianyou county, Fujian province, there is an old tree that has stood proudly for about 100 years. Under the tree there is a crudely built iron-sheet structure with its doorway often filled with sawdust. It is the studio of Wu Furong, a craftsman specializing in wood carving.

"What I carve are often large-sized works roughly three to five meters long, and I usually work for more than 10 hours every day. Therefore, I work in the studio so that the noise won't disturb neighbors," says Wu.

Now in his 50s, he has worked in this profession for more than three decades, and is a sophisticated craftsman who enjoys his work.

Xianyou is famous for its arts and crafts industry, which is a pillar of the local economy, and includes carving, painting, embroidery and lacquerware. According to statistics released by the Xianyou government, nearly 200,000 people are engaged in such businesses, creating an output of approximately 53 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) in 2021.

Among them, wood carving plays a significant role. Xianyou has a wood-carving history stretching back more than 1,000 years, and is known as "the capital" of the craft in China. Wood carving has been listed as a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage of Fujian.

It is not surprising that Wu, who became interested in handicrafts in childhood, learned the craft at 16. At first, he learned the skills from his cousin, and then by working in a local company established by You Liangzhao, a master of wood carving in Xianyou. He worked for the company for more than two decades, but in recent years, he has branched out on his own.

His carving covers a wide range of subjects, including Buddhist statues and artistic works depicting famous paintings, legends, historical stories and musical instruments. He cannot remember how many works he has created over the years, but they have been sold to many places in China, and to countries like Singapore and Malaysia.

Xianyou wood carving features simplicity and conciseness. The materials craftsmen use are often expensive with special textures and complicated patterns, and the Xianyou craft aims to give full play to the beauty of the wood itself.

"Carving wood requires much patience. You need to observe the original wood, consider your plan, roughly draw the patterns and begin to carve. You need to polish the work slowly and repeatedly to make it good," says Wu.

"Artistic works are flexible and have no fixed standards. Therefore, I often need to think of the plan for a long time, while I try to find the best possible way to make it," he adds.

He always considers a lot of details, such as the size, costume, posture and accessories of each character he is shaping.

Zhang Weimin, another wood carver in Xianyou, says, "Besides the craft, more in-depth thought is required to make an artistic piece.

"Every craftsman has a unique style of wood carving, and that is formed by integrating their experience and emotions into the traditional craft," he adds.

Sometimes, when Wu carves a large-scale piece up to a height of three meters, he needs to climb on a ladder. He often stays on the ladder for several hours, but the effort doesn't bother him.

"I love the work. Every time when I complete a piece after repeated revision and improvement, I feel that it is the most enjoyable moment in my life, and all the difficulties of the process are worth it," says Wu.

Wu has recruited dozens of apprentices over the years, but many gave up halfway. "Carving is fiddly work, which not only requires sharp insight and good mastery of the craft, but also the patience to endure hardships.

"For decades, the graver has never been idle in my hands, and that comes from people's recognition of my proficiency in wood carving. Making every piece of work as good as I can, that is what I have tried to accomplish as a craftsman," says Wu.