Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-07-11
CARVING THE TEA ROOT.
Curious Ipdustry Which Furnishes
Employment to Hany CeiestiaIs.

hPioyHicut 10 many Ceiesttals.
For more than hundred generations
there has been guild of artists in this 90
pdlous province of Fo- kien whose life work
Is the conversion of the gnarled and inter
laced roots of the tea tree into things of
beauty, that is, beauty from a celestial
point OF view. The herb whose leaves
giaauen western palates in the form of
Ooiong' Tyson and Souchong is hardy
plant and takes a firm hold on mother
earth. Its roots seem to have no regular
Ia" OF growth. Sometimes they develop
very much as beard sprouts from the
chin; at others they separate and move
along parallel lines as if they were lip-
nose centipede.
In general it may be said that they make
one large, clumsy mass from which shoot
out anywhere from three to thirty root
lets. Their surface 5 never smooth. but
always irregulariy corrugated The value
OF root depends upon its size, its outline.
It's freedont from decay and its suggestive
ness OF some everyday object. 1t is rare
thate main root or root mass is more than
SIX inches in diameter. Such beions to
trees ranging in age from thirty wears to a
century lnfrequentiy they attain TO
twelve and fifteen inches, and are fban
So, 49, ~. hinese experts TO be 400 and 500
Years old
The roots are dug from the soil and al
lowed to thoroughly dry in the open air
under a shed or else in a moderately warn,
room. The loose earth is carefully re-
moved, as is the loose bark and all pieces
decayed, cracked or Uormeaten. The art
lst then determines what it is to be. The
favorite types are ORA CONS, buffaloes, cows.
carmyores, bears, MAJ darins, priests. howl
ing dervishes, dancers or mythic heroes.
III the root cannot be worked into one of
these shapes 1T is converted into a pedestal
or platform for figure piece The pri-
mary operation consists in saving it into
rough shape. This S done with a fine
crosscut, and the clean edges are removed
by rubbing them on les or bricks. Some
times root is bent by softening it with
steam or boiling water and then twisting
1t in any desired direct ton.
Now comes the hardest task of all The
UQst valued piece is that which shows no
art and se5f1s perfectly natural. The
carver goes over the block, removing here
a fiber and there net of roots, here thin,
ming out one on the under side and forcing
1t down, and there burning another and
expanding it at the burned point. I have
one in my drawing room which is capital
inquire OF dragon, rearing and opening his
Jaws as if to spring upon his prey, Careful
examination shows that nothing has been
added to the mass, but that hundreds of
fibers, knots and corrugations have been
skillfully removed.
In nearly every Instance human figure
made in the same manner or carved from
z Gs2d 81 the same color or else made
Party iron. Tea roots and partly from
edfTed Wood is added to the first piece.
The designs are endless in this field.
Learned men lecturing birds, Inandarins
standing on dragons, boys riding cows and
other ridiculous quadrupeds, dancing beg
gars, men fighting each other, are the com
monest groups, but Of the more uncommon
there are thousands. One famous artist in
Eoo-Choo claims to have produced, with
the aid of his apprentices, over 10000
different designs, and Judging from his
stock on hand his claim seems reasonable
enough. Cor Collector.