In recent years, Guangdong Provincial Museum has collected 13 pieces of Shan pahudia carvings,  which is a unique Lingnan folk handicraft and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) item with a long history in Maoming.

Shan pahudia carvings. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu]

Shan pahudia carving is a micro-carving art that integrates elements of art, sculpture, literature, and folk crafts. It is an exquisite and rare work of art, as well as a craft that people in Gaozhou, a county-level city in Maoming, have explored for hundreds of years.

Gaozhou folk artists use the seeds of a 490-year-old Burmese eggplant tree in Xi'an village of Gaozhou to carve and make seals or exquisite handicrafts. The carved works, which often depict landscapes, pavilions, as well as birds and animals, are renowned for their meticulous and realistic characteristics.

For more than 400 years, Shan pahudia carvings have been renowned, with many people collecting them or using them for decoration.

In 2012, Shan pahudia carving was included in the fourth batch of representative projects of provincial intangible cultural heritage items in Guangdong province. Liang Yuyi was selected as the representative inheritor of Shan pahudia carving in the ICH project of Guangdong province.

Liang Yuyi. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu]

Liang is particularly renowned for sculpting figures and animals. Among his most popular works are ones that depict the laughing Arhat, Guan Gong with a long sword and a horse, as well as Guanyin with her palms together. Every piece of Shan pahudia carving art he has created is vivid, boosting their collection value. His works are sold at home and abroad.