Pursuit of perfection

Upon getting a raw stone, craftsmen would first examine and cut out the flawed or cracked parts before designing according to the original shape of the remaining part.

For a highly skilled, demanding artisan, this crucial initial step can be very consuming.

Yu Ting, a 51-year-old jade carver from Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu province, is renowned for his expertise in crafting jade utensils as thin as eggshells. He recalls a time when he acquired a 260-kilogram raw stone, of which only 49 kg was of the purest quality. With this portion, he skillfully fashioned a 10-piece dinnerware set weighing a mere 368 grams, in addition to crafting another pair of bowls and a teapot.

Since high-quality jade is truly rare, the improvement of skill always comes with the pursuit of realizing the material's potential to the extreme while compensating for the jade's natural imperfections or even taking advantage of them — qiaose is simply one of these techniques.

Another piece of the "national treasures" is an extravagantly decorated vessel for perfuming. The jade artisans managed to build this 71-centimeter-tall vessel in the shape of a giant two-eared cup out of a raw stone only 65 cm in height, using a technique called taoliao.

To manage this, they scooped within the main body to carve out the lid. Within the lid, they applied the same method to further carve out the base. These independent parts were screwed together using carved spiral ridges.

On the perfuming vessel are relief patterns of auspicious beasts from ancient Chinese mythology, as well as nine three-dimensional dragons tightly gripping the ears and the lid, with 10 loops dangling from carved decorations.

Chain carving, a craft with a history of more than 3,000 years, is without doubt the highlight of the third piece — a jadeite flower basket. Its hoop handle on the top and two movable chains, each with 32 interlocked loops, almost double the height of the original stone.

According to Yang, the museum guide, its raw stone has many cracks and flaws. When carving the chains, the artisans searched a relatively fine part of the jadeite, which they twisted in and out multiple times to expand its form.