From: Yuncheng Urban Collective Industrial Association
Issue Time: 2020-05-15 11:00
The Research Institute of Litian Wood Carving in Ruicheng County is located in Yongle Town, Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province. Yongle Town is located near the mountains and rivers, and is a place of great spirituality and excellence. The town flourishes because of Yongle Palace. It is full of aura and treasure because of Taoism, and famous because it’s also the hometown of LV Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals. The Taoist culture has a long history. The traditional hand-carving of Lvzu’s mahogany mascot originates from Taoism and folklore and has already circulated for a thousand years.
The raw materials of Yongle Lvzu peach wood sword and other peach wood handicrafts come from the land of Lvzu. The wood is of great quality. Its surface is smooth and it sends out a rich fragrance of peach. It’s not easy to crack and the more you use it, the smoother it gets. Tao Fa Hui Yuan, an ancient compilation of texts of Taoism, says: “The peach wood should be treated as gold and jade.” The peach wood can kill the epidemic and ghosts, drives away the evil, and from it rises the good fortune. It symbolizes the Chinese civilization that dates back to thousands of years. Each carved handicraft is not processed roughly, but finely carved, polished, and moistened by vermilion oil. The color is soft and the scent is natural. The size of the carvings is also proportional and only can be used after the “enlightenment” of a Taoist master. With the increase of the demand of mahogany mascots, the company now operates in the mode of “company plus farmers”. It started training courses of wood carving skills, and takes in people with disabilities to learn carving skills. They truly care for people with disabilities, and hopes to train more carving talents for the society.
Since its foundation, the Research Institute of Litian Wood Carving in Ruicheng County has gained many honors: the gold award of Folk Craft in Shanxi Special Agricultural Products Trade Fair; “Tao Mu Chun Yang Nei Jing Tu” won the First Prize of Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of China Cultural Promotion Association; “Lvzu Sword of Nine Dragons in Peach Wood” won the Silver Award of Shen Gong Cup Arts and Crafts Award in the First Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair in 2013; the Party Committee and government of Ruicheng County gave the company the honorable title of leader of cultural industry development; “Lvzu Peach Wood Table” won the Silver Award in the 2014 “Golden Phoenix” Innovative Product Design Competition; “Lvzu Couple’s Sword” and “Lvzu Peach Wood Sword” won two gold medals in the “Shanxi Cultural Industry Fair Shen Gong Cup Arts and Crafts Excellence Award” in the 2nd Shanxi Cultural Industry Fair in 2015; “Divine Bow” won the Silver Award of “Shanxi Cultural Industry Fair Shen Gong Cup for Arts and Crafts Excellence Award” in the second Shanxi Cultural Industry Fair in 2015; “Yongle Mahogany Sword” won the Silver Award of “One Belt, One Road, One City: International Culture and Arts Festival”; “Yongle Mahogany Carving” won the gold award of the Yuncheng Intangible Cultural Heritage Traditional Technique Competition in 2016; “Dragon and Phoenix Mahogany Sword” won the gold award of the Excellent Works Competition of the 11th Hefei International Cultural Expo and Chinese Arts and Crafts Expo in 2017; “Mahogany Immortal Sword” won the Silver Award of “Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair ‘Intelligent Craftsman Cup’ Arts and Crafts Award” in the 3rd Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair in 2017; “Chinese Sword—Unity” won the “Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair ‘Intelligent Craftsman Cup’ Arts and Crafts Award” at the 3rd Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair 2017. He also won the Silver Award in the “Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair ‘Intelligent Craftsman Cup’ Arts and Crafts Excellence Award” at the 3rd Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair in 2017; he led YANG Tinghu, a disabled person, to participate in the Chengdu National Non-Foreign Art Carving Competition and won the Best Newcomer Award.
