广雕 (Guǎng Diāo) — specifically 象牙雕刻 xiàngyá diāokè
Guangdong ivory carving (广雕) represents one of the most technically extraordinary carving traditions in the world, distinguished by the concentric sphere (套球 tào qiú) — a single ivory tusk carved into a series of 20–40 freely rotating nested spheres, each layer carved through the openings of the outer layer, without any assembly or joining. The procedural knowledge of establishing entry points, maintaining wall thickness as thin as 1mm at each sphere level, and carving inward without destroying completed inner layers represents an extreme of three-dimensional spatial intelligence. CRITICAL NOTE: elephant ivory is banned under CITES (1989). All contemporary practice uses mammoth ivory (fossil, legal), synthetic ivory resin, or ox bone. CRAFT documents this technique for its procedural significance while explicitly noting the material ethics context.
Risk level: Endangered · China National ICH List (2006)
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