On March 11, Chen Baolin, director of the Wood Culture Rejuvenation Exhibition Center in Dongyang, received a response letter from the Sichuan Archives School. The letter stated, “Our school will cooperate with your exhibition to further promote the display of the ‘Red Boat,’ celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.”

The “Red Boat” mentioned in the letter is a woodcarving made from phoebe zhennan and basswood, with dimensions of 1.6 meters long and 0.4 meters wide. It took three years for Chen to complete this boat. “This is only a model. The full version will be 9.6 meters long and 1.6 meters wide—six times larger than this,” said Chen. The full version will be completed before May, and he will donate it to the Sichuan Archives School.

To date, Chen has designed several woodcarvings, including “Beam of the Silk Road” and “Memorial Arch of Chinese Dream.” “Woodcarving is a good ambassador for cultural introduction. I designed these works to tell the stories of China and Chinese culture,” said Chen. (By Ni Yuanshan, translated by Li Ziyi, edited by Kendra Fiddler)