Wu Zehai

Wu Zehai was born in January 1954 in Hunan Changde City, Linli County, He Kou Town, Ping Shui Village. In 1965, he entered the carving apprenticeship, learning for six years. At the age of sixteen, he began independently pursuing a career in carving, and by twenty-one, he was already mentoring apprentices. In 1981, he restored architectural sites such as the Lixian Confucian Temple, Shimen Jia Shan Temple, and Nanyue Temple, among others. Later, he went to Guangzhou, where he mentored numerous apprentices in Hainan, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanmen, Xinjiang, and other regions. In Inner Mongolia, he carved the entire "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and various ancient-style furniture. Later, he managed a factory with over a thousand carvers. Subsequently, he returned to Hunan and engaged in folk carving in Hubei's Xianning and other areas.