With the left hand against the black slate and the right hand holding the heavy copper chisel, the tip is flat on the slate. With the sound of fine knocking, a black and white landscape painting appears on the granite. "It depicts the traces of a boat crossing the water." Recently, in Wuqiao County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, the reporter met Fang Shiying, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in Hebei Province, who was "painting". She said that when she was growing up by the canal, her biggest dream was to carve her hometown's version of the "Qingming River Map" with her own skills. Fang Shiying said "craftsmanship", learning from famous stone shadow carving. Stone carving craftsmen in the Qing Dynasty, relying on the traditional "needle black and white" craft, integrated painting art into it, and stone shadow carving came from this. In 2013, this skill was included in the fifth batch of intangible cultural heritage list of Hebei Province. It is reported that at first, stone shadow carving was created on the bluestone slab. After the stone surface was polished, the craftsman used a steel chisel to knock on the stone slab. The composition was designed according to the size, depth, thickness, density, etc. of the points, so that the picture presented a sense of hierarchy and three-dimensional. In 1987, Fang Shiying, a 16-year-old apprentice, went to a stone sculpture shop in Fujian. Fang Shiying, who has just learned skills, is bold and innovative, and chooses hard granite slabs. "Although the stone slab is hard and difficult to carve, the work is more delicate and glossy than ordinary stone." With the development of science and technology, there are fewer and fewer stone shadow carvings created by hand in the past, and the creation of modern tools such as electric and laser has gradually become the mainstream. "I think the mechanical creation works are rigid and lack of hierarchy. The hit points are basically arranged in a straight line or arc, lacking aura." Fang Shiying has always insisted on using traditional tools such as steel cones and copper chisels to "paint". "The most difficult thing is to portray characters, and the details should be handled with strength. When the picture changes from light to dark or from dark to light, the strength of the transition zone is completely different." On the basis of inheriting the traditional craft, Fang Shiying combined the optical effect of photography with the painting brush technique to strengthen the flexibility of stone shadow carving. "You must concentrate on your work and never make mistakes." Fang Shiying said that the creation of stone shadow carving is "eternal after writing", which cannot be wiped or altered. If it is wrong, it can only be destroyed and rebuilt. In 2006, Fang Shiying returned to his hometown Wuqiao. "The Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal connects multiple cultures from the south to the north. The ancient towns and villages, ancient pagodas and temples, and market terminals along the canal are beautiful." Fang Shiying said that it was her dream for many years to record the life picture on both sides of the Grand Canal with stone shadow carving. She plans to create a series of works named "A Thousand Miles Canal Map". With her exquisite skills, Fang Shiying's works won the gold medal in the first China Intangible Cultural Heritage Skills Exhibition. She has been awarded the honorary title of "Hebei Arts and Crafts Master" and "Hebei Craftsman of the Year in 2022". Now, with the support of the government, Fang Shiying has set up a non genetic training center and a training center in Shijiazhuang. "It's hard to learn this skill. It's hard to persist without patience and perseverance. As long as you love it, you will enjoy it." Fang Shiying said that he hoped that the stone shadow carving technology could spread more widely. (Liu Xinshe)