Colored Stone Inlay
It is a unique national intangible cultural heritage of Wenzhou, Zhejiang. It blends the beauty of natural colored stones with ingenuity and craftsmanship, transforming intangible cultural sentiments into tangible and eternal beauty. It is an artistic treasure that Wenzhou, the "hometown of a hundred crafts," presents to the world.
BACKGROUND
The art of Wenzhou inlay has a long history, dating back to the ancient Stone Age. As an evolution and sublimation of the traditional lacquerware "inlay" technique, the first written record of colored stone inlay appears in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty.
At that time, Zhou Yindai, the prefect of Yongjia, mined local "Luofu stone" (pyrophyllite) for inlaying objects, thus initiating this craft.
HEIR
Miao Yichuan, born in 1972 into a family of craftsmen in Wenzhou, is the son of Miao Chengjin,a national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor,and the fourth-generation successor of the century-old brand "Chonglinzhai".
He spent his early years working in the IT industry overseas before resolutely returning to China in 2013 to take over the family business. As a municipal-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor, he strictly adheres to traditional methods while also strivingfor innovation.
HONORS AND AWARDS OF THE FOUNDER
2018 Wenzhou Lucheng District Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance (Colored Stone Inlay)
2018 Luohan Bridge "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" won the "China Award" and the "Gold Award" for Arts and Crafts Cultural Creativity at the 14th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair
2020 Ziguangtan Colored Stone Inlaid "Like a Fish in Water" Stationery Storage Box (Second Batch of Zhejiang Province Excellent Intangible Cultural Heritage Tourism Products)
2020 "Colored Stone Inlaid Screen - Auspicious Crane Picture" (by Miao Yichuan) won the Wenzhou International Fashion Industry Cultural Creativity Gold Award
2022 Colored Stone Inlaid Installation "Wang Hua" won the First Prize in the Annual Wenzhou Creative Design Competition
2022 Wenzhou Cultural Expo Cultural Entrepreneurship Gold Award
2023 "Slow-Moving Begonia Jewelry Box" won the 15th Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Award
2023 Gold Award at Zhejiang Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition
2024 "Colored Stone Inlaid Begonia Eight Treasure Box" - Zhejiang and China 16th Intangible Cultural Heritage Award
2025 "Micro" Colored Stone Inlaid Cement Coffee Table - Second Prize at Wenzhou Garden Expo Concept
2025 "Remembrance" performed in Milan
VISION
The same culture manifests itself differently in the geographical divisions of East and West. The East emphasizes the natural law of harmony between humanity and nature, while the West places more emphasis on the objective understanding of things.
In the context of globalization, the boundaries between Eastern and Western aesthetic consciousness are gradually blurring, and a new "contemporary language" is slowly emergingover time.
