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03 VOICE | 声音

While staying true to its roots, Chinese culture has continued to evolve. It has instilled in the Chinese nation a firm
confidence and resilience and enabled it to foster sentiments, values, ideals, and a spirit shared by all Chinese.
——Chinese President Xi Jinping

中华文化既坚守本根又不断与时俱进，使中华民族保持了坚定的民族自信和强大的修复能力，培育了共同的情感和价值、共同的理想和精神。

——中国国家主席习近平

STROKE BY STROKE,

AN AMBER LEGEND EMERGES

一雕一琢刻出传奇

By our staff correspondents
□ 本刊综合
In the misty dawn of Tengchong grain. “Amber holds the breath of millen- the fourth batch of such recognitions for and hung out a meaningful sign: Yanding
City, a faint, rhythmic rasp of sandpaper nia,” he murmured, a smile touching his the intangible cultural heritage project. Jadeware—Integrity in Every Promise.
whispered from Duan Shengju’s studio. lips as he gently polished the surface. “Our Now, the two plaques hang side by side “Amber carving is an exploration,”
Hunched over his workbench, he guided work is but to liberate its voice.” in his studio, standing proudly among Duan remarked, his fingers tracing the
an engraving knife with reverent precision In March, this post-1990s amber carv- shelves lined with his amber creations. intricate ice-crack patterns on a piece of
across a raw piece of amber. With each er was named a Provincial Rural Crafts Time rewinds to 2008. Fresh out of golden raw amber. “You may discover
pass, golden-red flakes drifted down like Master in Yunnan. Only a month earlier, middle school, Duan arrived in Teng- breathtaking beauty just beneath the sur-
incense dust, revealing—stroke by patient he had been certified as the first Coun- chong’s Hehua Township with little more face, or risk losing it all with a single mis-
stroke—the serene countenance of an an- ty-Level Representative Inheritor of Teng- than his belongings and a spark of curi- placed stroke.” This guiding principle—a
cient Buddha slumbering within the wood chong Amber Carving, a title awarded in osity. Stepping into the local jade carving creative harmony between the craftsman’s
workshops, he was met with the relentless hand and nature’s form—has brought his
roar of machinery—a sound that only works repeated acclaim in the industry.
seemed to deepen the gleam in his eyes. Yet the recognition he values most comes
“To watch masters transform raw stone from his peers: “The amber Bodhisattvas
into pieces that felt almost alive,” he carved by Young Duan,” fellow artisans
recalled, “was like seeing magic happen often say, “have eyes that seem to follow
right before me.” you wherever you stand.”
During his five-year apprenticeship, In 2019, Duan was elected vice presi-
he slept in storerooms stacked with uncut dent of the Tengchong Amber Association
jade and wore down countless engraving and appointed senior lecturer in amber
blades. While his peers pursued their fu- carving culture at a training base, while
tures in the glow of cityscapes, this young also serving as a special technician for
man from the countryside learned to feel the Amber Museum’s Cultural Industry
the rhythm of art in age-old methods like Development Research Society. Over
“angle grinding” and “blade walking.” 17 years, he has mentored hundreds of
Then, one evening in 2013, fate present- apprentices, many of whom now run
ed another path. In the Tengchong Trade their own amber workshops across rural
City, the setting sun, filtering through a western Yunnan. Some have even gained
piece of raw Myanmar amber, kindled a recognition as master carvers themselves.
new light in his eyes. “Our teacher taught us to see the soul
“Jade is a noble lady,” Duan reflected, within amber,” one of them explained.
“but amber is a poet from a quiet alley.” “What others might call imperfections, he
He still remembers the tremor he felt the taught us to read as nature’s invitations to
first time he cradled a piece of raw tea create.” Alongside preserving tradition,
amber in his hands. These “time cap- Duan has also guided the craft toward the
sules,” formed from the resin of ancient contemporary, leading his team in design-
pines, preserve moments forever: the faint ing silver jewelry inlaid with amber and
flutter of an insect’s wing, or the elegant, creating a range of cultural and creative
eternal curve of a leaf caught mid-unfold- products. Through these efforts, the “gem
ing. Convinced, he made a decisive turn. of time” from Yunnan’s remote mountains
Pooling his savings, he rented a modest has found new life as fashionable pen-
ten-square-meter shop in the county town dants worn by a younger generation.