Ｗｏｏｄｃａｒｖｉｎｇ Ｍａｓｔｅｒ ａｎｄ Ｈｉｓ Ｍａｓｔｅｒｐｉｅｃｅｓ

Ｗｕ　Ｘｕｈｕａ　Ｗｅｉ　Ｘｉｌｏｎｇ

One of the greatest moments in Woodcarving Master Feng Wenshis career came when the door of the West Lake Museum opened and visitors walked in and stood in awe in front of Fengs woodcarving entitled “87 Immortals”.

The masterpiece was precious not just because it was created on a piece of nearly 2,000-year-old precious wood felled and processed in the Han Dynasty. It wowed the audience, most of which were fellow artists and scholars, mainly because the carved grandeur, elegance, composition, sense of movement, emotions and techniques all combined to constitute a work of art hitherto unseen in woodcarving in China.

Wu Shanming, a professor with the China Academy of Art, commented that its excellence beyond compare suggests as if it were created by masters from heaven. When it first appeared at the West Lake Expo, all the participating artists admitted unanimously that the woodcarving was worth the best award available at the expo. The organizing commission created a special award above gold prizes to honor the woodcarving brilliance.

The “87 Immortals” showcases Feng Wenshis fifty-year career as a woodcarving artist. It was also a masterpiece that finally happened as the result of his relentless pursuit of perfection and innovation since his youth.

As an accomplished innovative master with many masterpieces, Feng Wenshi knew he needed a unique masterpiece to define and conclude his career. The opportunity came in 2000 when a man from Yangzhou walked into his studio. The visitor presented the master with a scroll of painting entitled “87 Immortals” and asked the master to duplicate the ancient painting in woodcarving. The visitor wanted exact duplication and explained its origin. The painting was created by Wu Daozi (c685-758), a painter of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) famed for painting human figures. It was purchased back by the 20th century Chinese artist Xu Beihong from an overseas collector and it is now in the collection of Xu Beihong Museum.

The man from Yangzhou had heard about Fengs reputation as a master of beauties, as most of his woodcarving masterpieces are beautiful women. As a matter of fact, the 87 immortals can be viewed as 87 beauties, for the immortals all have feminine features to satisfy the Chinese imagination of Buddhist greats.

Feng Wenshi knew what the requirements meant to him. Most woodcarving masters in Dongyang design their own works. That is, they rarely copy other masters images. Some masters can even carve without referring to any design. All the images are in their minds. This time, he would have to copy. It could be a big challenge. There would be no room for him to add anything of his own. On the other hand, it would not be merely an exact duplication of details. It should be a lifelike reproduction of the style, the grandeur, the sophistication, the elegance and the charm that never die, all created more than 1,000 years ago by the Tang artist. And it would be a reproduction to be made in a totally different media with different tools and techniques.

As if the challenge was not tough enough, the man from Yangzhou brought Feng an ancient piece of wood. It was about 2,000 years old. It was felled and processed in the Han Dynasty. Though the wood looked quite dilapidated on the surface, the inside revealed its finest texture. Now Feng knew the task would be more than a challenge. Once he started carving, there would be no room for even a slightest mistake. The wood itself was worth a huge fortune.

Feng rose to the challenge. He decided to take on the commission. He decided to gamble his reputation and career on this work. He knew he was representing all the woodcarving masters in Dongyang to meet the challenge. It was the first time that an ancient painting masterpiece would be reproduced in woodcarving in Dongyang.

He devoted his heart and soul, energy, inspiration, technique, imagination, aesthetics, experience to the carving. It took him more than 500 days to complete the 6-meter-long masterpiece. When he showed his work to the public and fellow masters, it was a smashing success and huge sensation.

Over the past eight years, Feng has improved the masterpiece and devoted himself to translating more paintings into woodcarving. □