Wood Carving
01 · Historical Records
The maturation of zitan (red sandalwood) carving technique is directly related to the making of palace furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the late Ming dynasty zitan began to be used in quantity for the furniture of the court and the upper classes; in the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns of the Qing dynasty the imperial workshops (Zaobanchu) included a carpentry section, a Canton-wood section and others, gathering artisans from Guangdong, Suzhou, Yangzhou and elsewhere and pushing zitan carving to the utmost of refinement and elaboration. After the founding of the Republic of China the palace workshops broke up and the technique passed into private hardwood furniture shops; in the late twentieth century museums and workshops began to systematize and reconstruct it.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The traditional zitan carving technique is used principally in the making of Ming and Qing palace furniture; it represents the highest level of woodworking technology of its time and has a distinctive stylistic character. Zitan carving lays stress on handmade execution; its carving methods are diverse, integrating line carving (raised and incised), low relief, deep relief, flat carving, round carving, "hair" carving and openwork carving. With wood as its ground, the works use the chisel in place of the brush and the knife in place of the pencil: the compositions are lush and full, the cutting vigorous and bold, the images deep and far-reaching. The subject matter is broad, chiefly landscapes, flowers, birds and animals, and "antique" (bogu) motifs; the patterns and designs embody auspicious wishes for good fortune, many children and much blessing, long life, and success in an official career. The mortise-and-tenon joinery used in zitan furniture is especially precise and ingenious: not a single nail is used in the whole piece, which relies entirely on the interlocking of joints, so that the parts are inseparable. The precision of the workmanship and the tightness of the fit — with not a hair's breadth between the parts — give a sense of a seamless whole that modern machine processes cannot match. The making of a zitan carving requires ten or more process steps — drying the timber, cutting the stock, fret-sawing, assembly, hand-adzing the surface, carving, cleaning the ground, sanding and waxing — before the piece is complete. The making of a single zitan carving takes at least a year, and in many cases several years. With changing times and the advance of large-scale industry, machine production has already penetrated every stage of traditional furniture making, and the traditional zitan carving technique now faces the crisis of extinction.
Archival Record of Process Steps
The making of a zitan carving requires ten or more process steps — drying the timber, cutting the stock, fret-sawing, assembly, hand-adzing the surface, carving, cleaning the ground, sanding and waxing — before the piece is complete.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Zitan carving takes Beijing as its principal center of transmission, directly connected with the furniture-making tradition of the Ming and Qing court; the China Red Sandalwood Museum in Beijing undertakes the functions of collection, exhibition and teaching, while the hardwood-furniture producing areas of Guangdong and Jiangsu also preserve related techniques and workshop habits.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zitan grows extremely slowly and its wood is hard, heavy and fine-grained; its objects use not a single nail and rely entirely on mortise-and-tenon interlocking, the fit so tight that not a hair's breadth remains between the parts, which makes them important physical material for the study of Ming and Qing furniture structure and carving technique. At present the number of artisans who master the complete handmade process is limited, and machine processing has penetrated every link of traditional furniture making, so the traditional zitan carving technique faces the crisis of extinction; museums, through the imitation of Ming and Qing furniture, exhibitions and teaching activities, keep alive the steps of drying, cutting the stock, fret-sawing, assembly, hand-adzing the surface, carving, cleaning the ground, sanding and waxing.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yan Jingxin 03-1277
- Long Congfa 03-1278
- Tu Jie 04-1803
- Fang Wentao 04-1804
- She Guoping 04-1805
- Cengdeheng 04-1806
- Li Yanjun 05-2665
- Liu Jieming 05-2666
- Xiong Yinghua 05-2667
- Xu Rilong 05-2668
- Duan Sixing 05-2669
- Baimazhandui
- Zhang Hongping
- Zheng Chunhui
- Zheng Yinpin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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