Wood Carving
01 · Historical Records
It originated in the Tang and Five Dynasties period, entered its mature stage in the Song and Yuan periods, and has been handed down for a thousand years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Quanzhou wood carving, rooted in the carved-and-painted beam architecture of Central Plains culture, is a folk carving craft that arose in dependence on the "palace-style" (huang gong qi) large-scale traditional dwellings of southern Fujian that imitate palace buildings. By the nature of the wood, Quanzhou wood carving divides into two broad categories: hard-wood carving (longan, boxwood, hongmu, beech, cypress and sandalwood) and soft-wood carving (basswood, ginkgo, camphor, pine and China fir). The division of technical labor includes joinery, lathe turning, fret-cutting, chiseling, paring, filing, sanding, coloring, wax finishing and lacquering. Its creative methods are diverse, with mixed carving, ground-chasing carving, line carving, openwork carving and applied carving coexisting; at the same time it is fused with other traditional fine arts and crafts of southern Fujian, such as lacquerware decoration, lacquer-thread sculpture and gold-traced line painting, and is applied widely to Buddhist-image carving, architectural carving, furniture carving and the carving of ornamental craft objects. Large pieces are grand and spectacular; small ones are exquisitely fine. The process of Quanzhou wood carving is elaborate, comprising seven steps: rough blocking with the chisel, fine blocking, finishing the surface, sanding, carving hair and decorative patterns, coloring and polishing, and fitting the base. Quanzhou wood carving is a typical representative of the southern school of Chinese carving: it is bold and rugged, plain and substantial, with flowing, straight and simple lines, and its figures are dignified and composed; it bears clear traces of the carving art of the Central Plains while also possessing the fine and elaborate craft character of southern culture. Its carved content has southern Fujian character and national substance; its carving technique is fine and ingenious, its means of expression rich and full of the flavor of life, and it occupies a fairly important place in the history of Chinese carving art. Quanzhou wood carving has rich subject matter, closely bound up with its distinctive natural geography, local folk customs and multicultural atmosphere; it carries the cultural imprints of different historical periods, continues the historical memory of Quanzhou's maritime Silk Road and plural culture, and is important material for the study of the history of Chinese folk arts and crafts. Its cutting is fine, its forms beautiful and its content rich, and it has high artistic and appreciative value.
Archival Record of Process Steps
The process of Quanzhou wood carving is elaborate, comprising seven steps: rough blocking with the chisel, fine blocking, finishing the surface, sanding, carving hair and decorative patterns, coloring and polishing, and fitting the base.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is now distributed mainly in Hui'an County, Jinjiang City and elsewhere in Fujian Province, and has spread throughout southern Fujian as well as to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and Southeast Asia. In the choice of decorative subjects it divides into traditional pattern designs and symbolic designs, drawing widely on opera figures, myth and legend, historical stories, and flower, plant and animal motifs, reflecting the folk character of southern Fujian's multicultural fusion. Its products sell far across China and abroad, helping to drive rural revitalization and local economic development, extending the influence and spread of traditional Chinese culture, and playing a positive role in fostering cultural identity across the Taiwan Strait.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Quanzhou wood carving is transmitted mainly through the master-apprentice system or family inheritance.
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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