In the city of Guyuan in China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Yang family is widely known for their clay sculptures, which have been included on the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The last of the family's fourth generation, Yang Qihe passed away last year, but luckily his skills and spirit have been passed on to the next generation, and many of those moments recorded on camera.

Yang Qihe is a fourth generation descendant of Yang Family's clay sculpture and painting craftsmanship. According to the family's genealogy, the Yang school of clay sculpture art was initiated during the reign of Qing Emperor Daoguang, over 160 years ago.

YANG QIHE, FOURTH GENERATION DESCENDANT YANG SCHOOL CLAY SCULPTURE ART "You have to carve the skills deep into your mind and heart. Once you decide to learn it, you should study the whole thing and take it as a lifetime mission."

Under Yang Qihe's scrupulous guidance, some of his sons and grandsons have grown into qualified inheritors of this national cultural heritage.

YANG JIANIAN, FIFTH GENERATION DESCENDANT YANG SCHOOL CLAY SCULPTURE ART "My father was very strict with all of his children. He asked us to be a good person above all. He always repeated that to learn the art well, you have to be a man of honesty and integrity first."

The Kongdong mountain is well-known for Taoist culture. Plenty of Buddha statues are scattered in the large area of its building complex. In the early 1980's, Yang Qihe led four of his sons and grandsons here to repair the weathered statues. It took the five descendants of the Yang family up to four years to finish the restoration. Yang Qihe, then in his eighties, carefully directed every stage of the project.

YANG QIHE, FOURTH GENERATION DESCENDANT YANG SCHOOL CLAY SCULPTURE ART "Each god or figurine has his own typical looks. For example, What are the Daluo god's facial features? How should the gods in Hades look? And how about the appearances of men in this world? So you must have it in your mind. Otherwise, your work would be hollow in expression and of little charm."

The Yang Family clay sculpture is a kind of painted addition sculpture made of clay. It's quite meticulous in every step of its creation.

It includes making the material; drawing detailed sketches; creating a base; building an armature, which is like the bones for the sculpture; filling in the basic form; moving from large forms to smaller and adding in details and textures. Moreover, the Yang Family also shows their strength in color painting, the last step in this process.

YANG JIANIAN, FIFTH GENERATION DESCENDANT YANG SCHOOL CLAY SCULPTURE ART "Our Yang Family clay sculpture is more complicated in the creation process. We have preserved a lot of traditional means."

The Yang Family's unique craftsmanship in clay sculptures was listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2007.

Yang Qihe's descendants have been carrying on their ancestors' crafts and essence, to make the century-old art live longer. SW, CGTN.