Skip to content
Honorary Titles:
Researcher-Level Senior Arts and Crafts Master
Member of the Chinese Arts and Crafts Association
Member of the Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Association
Chen Honglin, born in 1971 in Gaoyou, Jiangsu, is recognized as the foremost expert in Yixing zisha landscape engraving. Known early in his career by the pen name Yuquan, he now uses Honglin. From a young age, Chen exhibited a passion for drawing. To celebrate the completion of his family's house, he painted a "Double Fish" motif on red paper and affixed it to the beam. His skill quickly became renowned, and villagers from miles around would request his artwork for their own celebrations.
Chen's interest in calligraphy grew as he got older. Despite the scarcity of calligraphy guides in the early 1980s, he diligently practiced from the one book he had, a guide by contemporary master Zhou Huijun, under the tutelage of a local expert who wrote Spring Festival couplets.
In 1993, Chen graduated from the Wuxi Institute of Arts and Crafts, where he studied under Jiang Xin'an and Xu Nan. In 2000, he apprenticed with Xu Anbi, a "Master of Chinese Ceramic Art." Chen's work is diverse and uniquely characteristic, specializing in engraving. His ceramic carvings are elegant and refined, free-spirited and orderly, lively and vivid, simple yet avant-garde, and grand yet unrestrained.
After two decades of honing his craft, Chen has reached a level where he can create freely and precisely without preliminary sketches. Any subject can be translated into a beautiful engraving with minimal contemplation.
Renowned artists such as Gu Shaopei and Wang Fujun have sought Chen's expertise to embellish their own works with his masterful engravings.
