Yesang village is regarded as the birthplace of Tibetan woodblock art, a tradition that     1     (pass) down for more than 340 years.

The village,     2     (locate) in Polo township of Joda county in Tibet, has more than 60 woodblock artists. It lies in a remote valley far from the county’s downtown.     3     takes more than three hours of driving on the mountainous roads to get there, and the journey requires both     4     (drive) skill and courage.

Yesang is near a historical printing house of Tibetan Buddhism scriptures. More than 80 percent of the printing house’s woodblocks were produced in Yesang, according to     5    (villager).

“Three-hundred years ago, a great master called Kolha Lugye     6     (begin) the tradition of woodblock art in our village, after     7     the tradition has been passed on for generations. Therefore, our village has contributed     8    (great) to Tibetan cultural preservation,” said Tashi Tsephel, an instructor of the Woodblock art in Yesang.

Tsultrim Darje, another woodblock artist in the village, works     9     average of 11 hours a day. Each year, he works more than eight months on the woodblocks. “I earn about 40,000 yuan ($5,800) every year from working on the woodblocks,” Tsultrim Darje said.

“Every woodblock costs between 400 yuan and 800 yuan based     10     its quality, and I can finish four per month.”

Chinese seal (印章) carving originated during the Shang Dynasty. In the beginning, the characters carved on seals were the same as     1     (that) used in writing, such as Xiaozhuan of the Qin Dynasty. However, with Chinese writing     2     (become) increasingly standardized and simplified, it became a tradition to use Xiaozhuan for seals.

In ancient times, seals were regarded as     3     guarantee of authenticity (真实性). Today, they are more of a sign of authority of a legal person     4     an artwork.

After the Qin Dynasty, materials for seals were     5     (strict)classified. Jade (玉) was only used for emperors, gold and silver for high-ranking     6     (office) and copper (铜) for the low ranks. Various types of stones were used from the Song Dynasty,       7     led to a boom for seal carving.

    8     (early), seal carving was accomplished only by workers. During the Song Dynasty, scholars and artists began to get involved in it. They combined seal carving with calligraphy and painting,       9     (make) this traditional art more popular in China.

To protect this artistic treasure, Chinese seal carving     10     (include) on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.