On February 24, Cai Youyin pointed at the five words "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and integrity," saying that each word contains nearly a hundred characters. Photographed by Liu Zhankun.
ECNS, Nanchang, February 24 (Liu Zhankun, Lin Zhaoming) A 73-year-old retired man from Xincheng County, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, named Cai Youyin, has created a unique skill called "inscribed stone calligraphy with hidden paintings." He first carves the characters onto stones, then uses the stones to print the characters onto rice paper. Not only are there characters within characters, but there are also paintings within the characters. Cai Youyin, who has won more than 200 awards so far, expressed his intention to apply for the Guinness World Records.
On the afternoon of February 24, a reporter from China News Service visited Cai Youyin's home. In the not-so-large room, at first glance, the walls were covered with calligraphy and painting works. A cursory look might suggest they were ordinary calligraphy pieces, but upon closer inspection, it became apparent that these calligraphies held secrets—each character contained smaller characters, and some even included paintings within the characters.
The reporter saw on the wall a piece titled "Peach Blossom Spring," and upon closer examination, four large characters revealed smaller ones inside. Cai Youyin introduced that these small characters were all content from Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Spring," totaling over 300 characters.
Another of his works, "Generations of the Land," was particularly impressive. The large character "jiang" (river) was composed of fish and shrimp patterns; the character "shan" (mountain) consisted of pine trees, cypress trees, bamboo, as well as images of birds and wild animals; the character "wan" (ten thousand) was made up of patterns representing the twelve zodiac signs; and the character "dai" (generation) included images of cave dwellers, new houses, Chinese rockets, and the mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb explosion, symbolizing China's growing strength.
Cai Youyin introduced to the China News Service reporter that these characters were not ordinary calligraphy. He first carved them onto stones and then used ink to print them onto rice paper. Each character was personally carved by him, requiring considerable effort. Subsequently, he demonstrated his carving skills on the spot, carving the five characters "China News Service" onto a small stone in approximately 15 minutes.
At the scene, apart from stones, the reporter also noticed tools such as cutting machines, steel saws, and sandpaper for inscribing on stones. Cai Youyin's wife informed the reporter that the process of "inscribed stone calligraphy with hidden paintings" was very complex. They had to cut, saw, polish, and carve the stones they collected according to the size of the characters, then use the stones to print the characters onto rice paper.
"My wife is responsible for grinding the stones; she also deserves credit," Cai Youyin smiled, explaining that after retiring from the Food Station in Xiangshan Town, Xincheng County in 2005, he persisted in carving for ten hours every day, "I've already broken more than ten carving knives."
On a nearby table, the reporter saw a thick collection of honor certificates, containing over 200 award certificates Cai Youyin had received from competitions in Canada, Japan, South Korea, and domestically. His works can also be found in publications like the "Chinese Calligraphy Yearbook" and the "Selected Calligraphy Works Collection for the Celebration of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games."
"This type of font is my own creation, and this kind of stone carving is the first of its kind in China," Cai Youyin stated. He also mentioned his desire to apply for the Guinness World Records but has been unable to find a way. "Since this technique is difficult to learn, I hope it will attract attention so that it can be passed down."