Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage Egg Carving / Leaf Carving Handmade Experience

Egg carving and leaf carving are both representative intangible cultural heritage arts of Shanghai. These two miniature carving arts are full of oriental ingenuity. Egg carving is hailed as the “fragile art on the knife’s tip.” On eggshells less than 1 millimeter thick, techniques such as intaglio, relief, and openwork carving are applied to carve landscapes, flowers and birds, and traditional Chinese-style imagery within a tiny space. The selection of materials is meticulous, the procedures are complex, and the force of the knife cannot deviate by a fraction of a millimeter, integrating the aesthetics of seal cutting, painting, and paper-cutting. Leaf carving, formerly known as leaf cutting, has a long and storied history. Natural, mature leaves are carefully selected and undergo dozens of traditional processes including washing, softening, carving and drawing, and shape stabilization. Excess leaf flesh is removed, and patterns are outlined relying on the natural leaf veins. The finished product is as thin as a cicada’s wing, flexible, and translucent. Creation follows the native veins of the leaf, achieving an artistic conception of the unity of human and nature.