Bamboo Carving
01 · Historical Records
During the late Qing period, Changzhou liuqing bamboo carving (the technique of retaining the green skin) already stood at the forefront of the craft nationwide and enjoyed a unique reputation.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Liuqing bamboo carving is a traditional folk craft of the Changzhou area of Jiangsu Province, with a long and deep-rooted history. Building on the art of earlier bamboo carvers, Xu Subai used his knife to reproduce the celebrated works of Shanghai painters and calligraphers, raising liuqing bamboo carving to an entirely new level. Bai Shifeng's works feature fluent knife work and fine, meticulous carving, with a plain, understated yet elegant style and abundant lingering charm. Changzhou liuqing bamboo carving products come in many types, including craft table screens, hanging screens, brush pots and armrests. The production process consists of four main steps — shaping, tracing the design, trimming the edge and scraping the base — and finishing a single fine piece often requires months of effort. The bamboo is fashioned into rectangular objects such as armrests, hanging screens and brush pots, then polished smooth; this is called 'shaping'. A painting or calligraphy design is traced, printed or drawn directly onto the bamboo surface; this is called 'tracing the design'. The edges of the bamboo are cut at various angles — vertical, slanted or curved; this is called 'trimming the edge'. The green skin is then shaved and scraped away; this is called 'scraping the base'. In calligraphy works, the base is scraped on one and the same plane: the stroke edges must flow smoothly, the green skin left on the base must be even and smooth, and the bamboo fibres must run straight. For painting works, by contrast, the scraping must be decided by the density, depth, void and solidity of the brushwork — whether to retain all, most, little or none of the bamboo green. Changzhou liuqing bamboo carving displays a refined aesthetic taste above the commonplace and can play a positive role in cultural exchange between China and the wider world.
Shaping, tracing, edging and clearing
The four main stages of Changzhou liuqing carving: shaping the bamboo, tracing the design, cutting the edges at varying angles, and clearing the green skin.
Clearing for calligraphy versus painting
Calligraphy is cleared on a single plane for smooth strokes and even retained skin, while painting varies how much skin is kept according to ink tone.
Xu Subai and the Shanghai painters
Xu Subai reproduced the works of Shanghai painters with the knife, lifting liuqing carving to a new level; his son Xu Bingfang became its leading modern master.
The Xu and Bai schools
Modern Changzhou liuqing carving produced two schools, headed by Xu Subai and Bai Shifeng, the latter known for fluent, finely cut, restrained work.
Wang Shixiang on Xu Bingfang
Wang Shixiang's Ci jun jing yan lu records that Xu Bingfang advanced greatly after forty, seeking change even where no knife mark shows.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Since modern times, renowned masters of Changzhou liuqing bamboo carving have emerged in succession and fine works have appeared one after another, giving rise to two major schools represented by Xu Subai and Bai Shifeng.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving · Bamboo Carving.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
As an outstanding representative of the culture of the Jiangnan region, this handicraft of exceptionally high artistic content has research value in many respects. At present, although the Xu and Bai schools are not short of inheritors, their skill level falls noticeably short of that of the earlier masters. Raising the overall standard of Changzhou liuqing bamboo carving and adopting effective measures for its protection and transmission has become an urgent task. Xu Bingfang (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in December 1945, native of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. Visiting researcher at the Institute of Arts and Crafts, Chinese National Academy of Arts. Son of Xu Subai, the renowned bamboo carver; immersed in a family atmosphere of the art from childhood, he developed a love of painting and carving. Since the 1980s his works have won acclaim both at home and abroad, and his liuqing landscape carvings are regarded as a matchless achievement of the present age. Wang Shixiang recorded in his Cijun Jingyanlu (A Record of This Gentleman): "Mr. Bingfang inherited the family art from childhood and specialized in liuqing; after the age of forty his artistry advanced greatly. He sought not only to reveal spirit where the knife is visible, but also to create variation in the hazy, indistinct places where the knife is hidden." His works on the themes of flowers and birds, figures and landscapes show considerable technical innovation compared with earlier masters; they have been exhibited widely in China and abroad, and some have been collected by institutions including the British Museum, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and the Hong Kong Museum of Art. He has published numerous monographs, including 'A Collection of Xu Bingfang's Bamboo Carvings', 'The First Family of Liuqing Bamboo Carving', 'The Bamboo-Carving Life of Xu Bingfang', and 'Youren Ji' (The Roaming Blade). He is a representative inheritor of bamboo carving (Changzhou liuqing bamboo carving), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the third batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Cengjiantan 01-0107
- Qiao Jinhong 03-1248
- Xu Bingfang 03-1249
- Luo Qisong 03-1250
- Zhang Zongfan 04-1790
- Wang Wei 05-2619
- Hong Jianhua 05-2620
- He Huayi 05-2621
- Baijianren
- Gu Qiwang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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