Wood Carving

Ⅶ-58Traditional Fine ArtsMacao, ChinaBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Macao deity-statue carving originated in the religious beliefs of local fishermen and other residents; its development went through a process from simplicity to refinement, from small scale to large scale, and from single pieces to assembled works. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, merchants and settlers from Fujian and Guangdong crossed the sea to Macao; the statues of Tianhou (Mazu), Hong Sheng and other deities enshrined aboard ships and in temples gave rise to local wood-carving workshops for deity statues, and the craft gradually took shape in the late Qing and early Republic period.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Deity-statue carving is a traditional carving art popular in the Macao Special Administrative Region. It originated in the religious beliefs of local fishermen and other residents, and its development went through a process from simplicity to refinement, from small scale to large scale, and from single pieces to assembled works. Macao deity-statue carving carries forward the fine tradition of Chinese classical statuary, preserving ancient lacquer-decoration methods including gold-lacquer technique and the Ningbo-school forms regarded as the mainstream of Jiangsu-Zhejiang statuary, while also drawing on the modeling elements and joining methods of foreign statuary such as that of Burma, improving and innovating upon them. Macao deity-statue carving mainly produces wooden Buddhist images; the craft process includes main steps such as material selection, design, carving, joining, polishing, ground preparation, coloring, gold lacquering and gold-leaf application. Its statue products fall into five types: fishermen's belief statues, Taoist and folk-belief statues, Buddhist images and shrine implements, decorative sundries for dwellings and shops and public sculpture, and large wooden Buddhist images. The Macao Special Administrative Region currently has two deity-statue carving shops, “Dachang Buddhist Image Carving and Woodenware” and “Guangrong Statue Carving and Woodenware”; the former is also a century-old establishment in the locality and possesses unquestionable representativeness in deity-statue carving. Macao deity-statue carving combines traditional craft with modern means; it selects superior materials, has exquisite workmanship, rigorous forms and gorgeous decoration, displaying a high artistic level.

The Ningbo-style canon and gold-lacquer finishing

The craft keeps the old lacquering including gold lacquer and the Ningbo canon that dominated Jiangnan-Zhejiang image-making, while adapting foreign modelling and joining methods.

Five categories of images

Products fall into five groups: fishermen's deities, Daoist and folk deities, Buddhist images with shrine fittings, domestic and shop decoration, and large public Buddhist statues.

From choosing timber to applying gold leaf

The main sequence runs through timber selection, design, carving, joining, sanding, grounding, colouring, gold lacquer and gold-leaf application.

Zeng Deheng and multi-tonne wooden Buddhas

The national inheritor Zeng Deheng commands old-method lacquer, gold leaf and traditional Buddhist modelling, and can carve wooden Buddhas weighing several tonnes.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

It is distributed mainly in the old urban area of the Macao Peninsula, in blocks adjacent to temples and quarters where fishermen lived, and is closely connected with temple restoration and folk belief activities. “Dachang Buddhist Image Carving and Woodenware” and “Guangrong Statue Carving and Woodenware” are the only two deity-statue carving shops in existence today, the former already a century-old establishment.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Zeng Deheng (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1943; a native of the Macao Special Administrative Region. He comprehensively masters the ancient lacquer techniques, gold-leaf techniques and traditional Buddhist statuary forms of deity-statue carving. On the basis of preserving and inheriting his family's traditional craft, he has drawn on the strengths of carving in other regions, absorbed advanced local techniques, improved the family's original carving methods, and systematized the work flow. He is able to carve wooden Buddhist images weighing several tons. He values the preservation and development of traditional technique, actively devotes himself to the transmission of Macao's traditional crafts, and has conscientiously guided his nephew Zeng Jianxin in studying deity-statue carving technique, training a fourth-generation heir. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the wood carving (Macao deity-statue carving) intangible cultural heritage project. For many years he has managed the Dachang Buddhist Image Carving and Woodenware shop, which has a history of nearly a century, engaged in deity-statue and woodenware carving and training technical personnel.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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