The jade is carved with hair-thin characters, neat and dense like snowflakes—this is the exquisite craft of micro-engraving.

Master Peng Zushu, the inheritor of Jilin Province’s intangible cultural heritage, ‘Peng’s Micro-Engraving’, devoted a decade to creating his magnum opus ‘Dream of the Red Chamber in Miniature’. This masterpiece, etched across 82 stone tablets, captures all 600,000 characters of the original literary classic, accompanied by intricate stone carvings. It stands as a crowning achievement in Chinese micro-engraving.

Each tablet is a fusion of micro-engraving, calligraphy, seal carving, painting, and ornamental artistry. The most densely inscribed piece bears 9,694 characters, while the choice of blue-green chalcedony subtly mirrors the transient, rootless existence of the novel’s characters—proof of the artist’s extraordinary attention to detail.

Now housed in the Peng Zushu Art Museum at Changchun World Sculpture Park, the collection draws art lovers back time and again. Mr.Peng gifted this treasure to the public, driven by a profound love for his homeland. He said, "I donated this piece to my beloved hometown, hope everyone here can experience the beauty of traditional art."