Huizhou bamboo carving intangible cultural heritage inheritor

Hong Jianhua

A native of Huizhou District. He began carving at the age of 16, upholding the traditional Huizhou carving techniques to this day.

His works not only inherit the artistic style of the Ming and Qing dynasties, but also have their own innovations and developments. His knife work is steady, vigorous, ingenious, simple and elegant, and profound.

The years of bamboo carving have left Hong Jianhua with fingers that are often so painful he can't close them, resulting in several fingers on his right hand becoming as thick as drumsticks. Despite the hardship, Hong Jianhua never regrets his choice; in his view, his connection with bamboo carving is predestined.

Hong Jianhua has been busy like this, transforming from an innocent child into an inheritor of Huizhou bamboo carving. Almost every step of his growth has been related to bamboo.

He said that it was a book that made him fall in love with bamboo carving, which was his "book connection"; and bamboo carving, in turn, led him to his current wife, which was his "bamboo connection".

Master Zhao Qingtao and Teacher Hong Jianhua