In pics: Wood carving works from China’s Fujian tell China stories to world

Zheng Chunhui introduces a wood carving work titled “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” on Dec. 14, 2022. Zheng spent nearly four years completing the camphor wood carving work. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)

Putian wood carving, one of the four best-known genres of the art of Chinese wood carving, originated in the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) Dynasties and flourished in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. It is one of the traditional folk carving techniques of southeast China’s Fujian Province and a national intangible cultural heritage item in China.

Zheng Chunhui, Lin Jianjun and Chen Yushu are three wood carving masters in Putian city, Fujian. Zheng is a representative provincial-level inheritor of the wood carving art, who not only excels in traditional wood carving technique, but also expresses his love for his family and nation through his works. The exquisite wood carving works by Lin shone at the BRICS Xiamen Summit in 2017, while the Chinese-style antique furniture pieces by Chen have been displayed at many international exhibitions.

Putian city is home to over 2,600 wood carving enterprises, and the wood carving works created here are sold to more than 20 countries and regions around the world.