72-year-old wood sculptor makes model of Luding Bridge using traditional technique

Using an ancient woodworking technique, an old wood sculptor in Yuxi city, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, has created a wooden model of the iron-chain Luding Bridge, the location of a crucial battle that changed the course of the country's history.

Photo shows Pu Mingcai and his wooden model of the Luding Bridge. (Photo/Guo Yuchen)

Pu Mingcai, 72, followed an ancient Chinese mortise and tenon technique, which means no nails were used in the entire process of making the wooden model, which is 8.2 meters in length, 2.2 meters wide and 2.2 meters in height. The artwork also includes two wooden pavilions built to a scale of 1:10 on the flanks of the bridge. Impressively, the "iron chains" are also wood carvings.

Pu spent over three years creating the wooden model and used about three cubic meters of wood.

Pu learned carpentry when he was in the army. After he left military service in 1976, he ran a furniture store and later worked in the wood carving business. As a veteran, he has always respected Chinese revolutionaries of the older generation who fought bravely for the country and the people.

Photo shows a part of the wooden model of the Luding Bridge. (Photo/Pu Mingcai)

"The Battle of Luding Bridge was a crucial battle concerning the survival of the Red Army during the legendary Long March. The Red Army's victory in the battle laid a solid foundation for the rise of the Communist Party of China and the founding of New China," Pu said.

He came up with the idea of making the wooden model of the Luding Bridge in order to inspire the younger generation to carry forward the revolutionary spirit of veteran revolutionaries and the spirit of the Long March in the new era.

Photo shows a part of the wooden model of the Luding Bridge. (Photo/Pu Mingcai)

In April 2018, Pu and his apprentices visited Luding Bridge over the Dadu River in southwest China's Sichuan Province, where they took pictures of the bridge.

After coming back from Sichuan, Pu printed photos of the bridge and examined its structure in detail. He started making the wooden model of the bridge in January 2019 and completed it in August 2022.

Photo shows a part of the wooden model of the Luding Bridge. (Photo/Pu Mingcai)

Photo shows a part of the wooden model of the Luding Bridge. (Photo/Pu Mingcai)

Photo shows a part of the wooden model of the Luding Bridge. (Photo/Pu Mingcai)

Photo shows the wooden model of the Luding Bridge. (Photo/Guo Yuchen)