(DAIANNEWS)- When talking about local folk arts, we can not miss out the shell carving, which is a kind of elaborate art work using natural shells as raw materials. It is just like a shining pearl on the list of the intangible cultural heritage projects of Dalian. 

Before we start our article, let's have a look at how Jin Ashan, a local folk art artist, makes a shell carving work with his exquisite skill.

The shell carving is a collection of various carving techniques such as ivory carving, jade carving, wood carving, micro-carving, stone carving and others. It takes the advantages of painting, calligraphy, sculpture and engraving, inheriting and carrying forward the Chinese traditional craftsmanship by using the shells' natural color, texture and shape.

Making a shell carving work is very complicated, which includes more than ten procedures such as design drawings, material selection, rough processing, fine processing, fine carving, polishing and three-dimensional molding.

Dalian is the origin of Chinese modern shell carving art. In the 1970s and 1980s, the shell carving art went to glory in Dalian.

Jin Ashan, owner of the Jin Ashan Art Museum, and also known as the master of Asia-Pacific craftsman and the master of Chinese arts and crafts, told HiDalian reporters that at that time, local young people got married with the carved sculpture as a must-have item. 

After entering the 1990s, due to the rapid development of social economy and the improvement of household decoration, the shell carvings gradually faded out of people's sights. 

Although it has currently ranked into the list of the intangible cultural heritage projects of Dalian, how to regain the glory of these shell carvings and better inherit them in the future has become a task for Jin Ashan.

"I think the shell carving art should not limit to the painting frame, but can be developed in the fields of the large-scale high-end fine works of art and architectural decoration, so I start to make three-dimensional shell carving, also known as 'Precious seashells art', by putting in gems, gold and jade." said Jin Ashan.

in Ashan, known as the first Chinese shell carving artist, is 75 years old. He has been working in the shell carving art for 54 years. As early as 1980s, Jin Ashan undertook the scientific research project of the ministry of light industry, which was called the "shell softening and molding" process. 

The project won the second prize of national science and technology progress award and the first prize of science and technology progress award of the ministry of light industry in 1987. He continues to develop this art skill and proposes a new conception of "precious seashells art" with a series of works in forms of three-dimension, flat sticking, relievo, inlay and Thang-ga.

In order to promote the development of local shell carving, Jin displays his innovative works on different exhibitions across the country. He has also trained a lot of apprentices to pass on this intangible cultural heritage.

"The shell carving art will see a better future only if people raise their awareness of this technique. Maybe I can't change the current situation too much by myself, but at least I can make as many shell carvings as I can, and pass on them to the young generations.", said Jin Ashan with a smile.

(photo&video by Zheng Wei, Chen Pengyu；Zhao Zihan also contributes to this article)