The so-called "Qingtian stone carving" refers to traditional Chinese handicrafts carved from Qingtian stone.

Qingtian Stone is produced in Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province, eastern China, which has always been known as the "Hometown of Chinese Stone Sculpture".

In 1992, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued four special stone sculpture stamps. In 1995 and 1996, Qingtian was named the Hometown of Chinese Stone Sculpture Art and the Hometown of Chinese Stone Sculpture respectively by relevant departments of the State Council.

In recent years, Qingtian stone carvings have been hailed as the wonders of the Chinese national art garden because of their exquisite execution, meticulous carvings and ingenious workmanship. They have increasingly become a fashion collection for celebrities and elegant people, and are very popular at home and abroad.

Qingtian County is located in the southeast of Zhejiang Province, in the middle and lower reaches of the Oujiang River.

It borders Wenzhou and Yongjia to the east, Ruian and Wencheng to the south, Lishui and Jingning She Autonomous County to the west, and Jinyun to the north. The county has a total area of ??2,493 square kilometers and is known as "nine mountains, half water and half farmland".

It is known as the "Stone Capital of China and Qingtian of the World".

Qingtian has a long history and is known as "the hometown of stone sculptures, the hometown of overseas Chinese, and the hometown of celebrities".

It is also the top county in China for housing prices, one of China's top ten financial counties, the top county for foreign exchange, and the top county for per capita deposits.

Qingtian also has a world agricultural heritage - Qingtian rice and fish breeding system. Qingtian stone is the first of the four national stones, the stone left by Nuwa to mend the sky, and Fengmenqing is the first of the three major seals.

In 2013, Qingtian deeply implemented the development strategy of “deepening radiating Wenzhou, building Qingtian around the world, and building a happy hometown of overseas Chinese”, and closely combined with reality to create a magnificent new scene of “richness, beauty, harmony and well-being” for the hometown of overseas Chinese.

Qingtian stone carvings are widely loved by people for their beautiful shapes and exquisite craftsmanship, and enjoy the reputation of "embroidery on stone".

Qingtian stone carving is a bright pearl in the treasure house of folk art with a long history.

The so-called history, of course, does not include the folklore of "Nuwa's stone that mended the sky descended to earth and turned into a Qingtian stone." The earliest work that can be verified now is a cultural relic of the Wuyue culture unearthed in Xingan County, Jiangxi in 1989 - the Yin and Shang Dynasty.

"Jade Feather Man".

This cultural relic is carved from Qingtian stone, maroon red, 115 cm in height, with ingenious shape and fine carving. It is a rare art treasure.

Qingtian stone is a famous Chinese stone. It is not only an artistic carrier for carvings, but also the first choice for printing materials.

According to the "Qingtian County Chronicle", in the Yuan Dynasty, "Zhao Ziang began to use the lamplight stone in our hometown to make seals."

Wen Peng, a master of seal cutting, used Qingtian stone as a sealing material instead of metal and tooth bone. From then on, stone engraving came into being.

Qingtian stone has made an indelible and epoch-making contribution to the art of Chinese seal cutting.

Qingtian stone carving has its own genre, which is bold and bold, delicate and exquisite, and has both form and spirit.

The tone is realistic but still artistic; the techniques include round carving, openwork carving, relief carving and line carving; the process includes phase separation, blanking, rough carving, fine carving, sealing wax, polishing, etc.

Stone carving artists develop ideas based on the characteristics of the stone, apply techniques according to the material, and choose the beauty according to the color, turning "decay into magic", giving Qingtian stone carvings a unique artistic charm.

Shankou and Fangshan are the cradle of Qingtian stone carving.

Qingtian stones are widely distributed, with Shankou as the center; there are hundreds of types of Qingtian stones, among which Shankou Dengjingjing, Fengmenqing, Fengmensancai and Huangguoyao are the most valuable.

Han Tianheng, a famous contemporary seal engraver, wrote in a preface: The top-quality Qingtian stone itself is a work of art.

Regardless of whether the texture is frozen or not, the nature of the stone is pure and waterless, "hard, clear and moist", and "soft and desanded". It is the most suitable for receiving knives and expressing the spirituality of engravers. It has been the most favorite and most trusted first choice printing material for first-class sealers since ancient times.

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Qingtian stone carvings are favored by the world not only because of their exquisite carving skills, but also because of the preciousness of Qingtian stone as its carrier.

A poet wrote a poem in praise of Qingtian's closed gate and said: "After reading the closed gate for hundreds of millions of springs, the result will be as good as gold."

The stone left by Nuwa is still there today, and the jade and ice are clear and beautiful. Qingtian stone carving has developed rapidly. As of 2009, there are more than 20,000 people engaged in the creation, production and operation of stone carvings, with an output value of hundreds of millions of yuan.

His works are exported to more than 50 countries and regions and are well-known at home and abroad.

Qingtian stone carving is an excellent national culture created jointly by generations of stone carving artists and appreciators. It is an art with life and soul.

Its charm is irreplaceable by any other art, and its rich cultural heritage makes Qingtian, an ancient riverside city even more charming.

For hundreds of years, it has made people yearn for it, make people love it, inspire people, and bestow beauty and happiness to its close friends who love it.

Qingtian stone carvings are the pride of Qingtian people and the pride of Chinese national culture.

Qingtian stone carving is an excellent national culture created jointly by generations of stone carving artists and appreciators. It is an art with life and soul.

Its charm is irreplaceable by any other art, and its rich cultural heritage makes Qingtian, an ancient riverside city even more charming.

For hundreds of years, it has made people yearn for it, make people love it, inspire people, and bestow beauty and happiness to its close friends who love it.

After more than a thousand years of mining of high-quality pyrophyllite, the resource has been nearly exhausted. At the same time, the scale of Qingtian stone carving handicraft workshops has gradually shrunk, and traditional skills are in danger of being lost and are in urgent need of rescue and protection.