Carving a story of skill

Chen's father began working at the publisher, and Chen studied under his dad, starting from the age of 14, as the group's youngest apprentice.

"I had to get up at 7 in the morning and worked until my vision got blurry around 10 at night," Chen recalls.

Chen has developed expertise in carving various Chinese calligraphy styles, such as cursive, seal and official characters.

He is particularly adept at the widely used Song Dynasty (960-1279) typeface known for its blocky, clear and balanced appearance.

The artisan and colleagues at Guangling have also restored many historical books and documents, and brought watercolor-block printing back from the verge of extinction.

Indeed, he has devoted himself to preserving all the ancient methods used in the trade that, centuries ago, issued in a paradigm shift for written language that ultimately transformed the world.

"The most commonly used wood comes from wild fruitless pear trees," he explains.

"It has a moderate hardness and fine grain, and its size doesn't change much when it's soaked or dried. These qualities make it relatively easy to carve and good for applying ink."

Blocks are soaked in water for six or seven months to remove the sugar, so they don't rot or get eaten by bugs.

"The secret is to make sure that, while they're soaking, they don't leave the water for even a second until it's time to dry them out completely. Otherwise, even an instant of exposure to air can cause convection cooling that can compromise the wood's structure," Chen says.