Wanted: apprentices to learn stonemason’s ancient trade before it’s gone forever
The work is dirty, difficult and not particulary well paid, but 60-year-old master tradesman says his centuries-old skills are still worth passing on
A master stonemason in northern China has offered to teach apprentices for free in an attempt to preserve his dying craft.
Liu Qingshan, from Quyang county Hebei province, said he has taught more than 20 apprentices, though all but four have left the trade due to the hardships involved, the Xin Wen Hua Bao reported.
Liu learnt his trade in Quyang, a county southwest of Beijing and one of the most renowned for its skilled masons.
The Quyang craftsmen specialise in carving stone lions – one of the most symbolic elements in Asian architecture that are often placed at the entrances to auspicious buildings such as ancient temples in Japan and government buildings in China.
But the craft risks dying out as masters like Liu are finding it hard to take on apprentices keen to inherit their skills.