Intangible cultural heritage inheritor designs delicate shell carved stamps for Hangzhou Asian Games

Yu Youjin, an inheritor of China's intangible cultural heritage shell carving, as well as the originator of stamps carved out of shells, has designed four sets of shell carved stamps featuring the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

"This year's Asian Games represent a grand event held near my home. I hope to take this opportunity to show the charm of our water town to people all over the world," said Yu, who is a native of Xitang ancient town in Jiashan county, Jiaxing city, Zhejiang Province.

Yu Youjin, an inheritor of China's intangible cultural heritage shell carving as well as the originator of stamps carved out of shells, carves stamps using shells. (People's Daily Online/Chen Luxun)

Yu started to try designing shell carving artworks in 2000. He brought shell carving patterns he designed to factories for mass production, and found that the carvings sold so well that many factories followed suit.

Since 2005, Yu left the school where he had taught for 30 years so as to fully devote himself to shell carving, gradually becoming a renowned master in the field of shell carving art.

"The shells I use to carve stamps are freshwater shells, which are unique to China's water towns in regions south of the Yangtze River," said Yu. He explained that shells used for shell carving artworks are divided into seashells and freshwater shells. To better highlight the charm of China's water towns, he used freshwater shells to carve the special stamps.

Photo shows commemorative shell carved stamps for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. The stamp was designed by Yu Youjin, an inheritor of China's intangible cultural heritage shell carving as well as the originator of stamps carved out of shells. (Photo courtesy of the media center of Jiashan county)

"Shells are natural materials. Any mistake in any step can waste all the previous efforts," Yu said. To make a stamp carved out of shell, he needs to carve patterns like the West Lake in Hangzhou, mascots and emblem of the Hangzhou Asian Games on shell only 5 centimeters long, 3 centimeters wide and 3 millimeters thick.

In 2010, Yu was invited to design two shell carved stamps for the Guangzhou Asian Games in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. This year, shell carved stamps he designed for the Hangzhou Asian Games have become licensed products of the international sporting event, and have been sold all over the world.