Chicken‑blood Stone Craft

As red as chicken blood, the chicken-blood stone is one of the most costly ornamental(装饰用的) materials in China. With its bright red colour and jade-like texture(质地), it has been used for centuries to create carved works.

Changhua in Zhejiang is one of the producing areas of such stones. The stones were created by volcanic activity 75 million years ago. Since the Ming Dynasty, local people have been using chicken-blood stones to carve all kinds of things in different shapes and sizes.

In 2008, the chicken-blood stone carving was added to the national intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) list. It not only records geological(地质的) changes, but is also a cultural relic that shows people's lives of different times. For Chinese people, the carving's red colour also means joy, success and good luck.

Craftsman Qian Gaochao, 67, and his son, spent more than six months making three “chicken-blood” stone carvings showing the taekwondo and wrestling competitions for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Qian is a national inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the chicken-blood stone carving technique. He said, “It's a great honour to be able to contribute to the Asian Games, held in my hometown, through my hand skills.”

According to Qian, the content and themes he chooses for carvings keep up with and show the style of the times. “I'm not only doing carving work, but also recording the development and changes of our society, and remembering the important events through my carvings,” he said.

Qian has created fascinating works, many of which are related to important events in Chinese history, including the Zunyi Conference in January 1935. He has also done work to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Qian hopes the technique can be learned by more people so that it can be passed down. “We are looking for qualified people to continue to inherit and develop these traditional skills. At the same time, we also hold research activities and provide training courses, allowing more young students to understand and learn traditional Chinese culture,” he said.