What folk works of art are there?

"Folk art" is a classification of the art field. If it is labeled as "folk", it is obviously different from the so-called "court art" and "aristocratic art". However, the field of "folk art" is very broad, and there are also many "unique skills", such as shadow play, paper-cutting, weaving, embroidery, lion dance and so on. These are well-known folk arts and the treasures of China culture.

Seasonal toys

Folk toys and traditional temple fairs in Shanxi during the Spring Festival often make people intoxicated with the memories of interesting childhood festivals. On New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month, "Didi Jin"; Tie lanterns and play with them during the Lantern Festival; On February 2 nd, at the ancient temple fair where the dragon looked up, the dynamic structure of cloth dragon, face dragon, bamboo snake and paper snake gave people an attractive feeling, which attracted children to laugh and compete for beauty. On the third day of March, the mud whistle is sweet; Flying kites before and after Qingming; Wear sachets to play with Ai Yehu on Dragon Boat Festival. There are also small windmills, seven-tone whistles, leather tigers and grasshopper cages, which make the children happy.

Lantern toy

Children lantern toys are mostly portable. It's usually paper paste with little red candles in it. Traditional small lanterns in rural areas are tied with sorghum stalks, covered with hemp paper, painted with the colors of animals or fairy tales that people like, printed with woodblock New Year pictures, or pasted with folk paper-cuts and fitted with small oil lamps. Now it has developed into a bamboo frame structure with colored paper or silk paste and candles. Although not proficient in production skills, but rough and powerful, there is no artificial feeling. No matter the shape, material, color and production style, it has a fresh local life atmosphere and strong local characteristics.

Cotton plastic toy

A cotton plastic only needs a handful of cotton, a few peeled sorghum stalks and a little glue. It's easy to do. First, several sorghum stalks are tied into a skeleton, and the expanded cotton is gently wrapped on the skeleton, and then bonded and shaped. With more glue and less glue, different shapes can be formed. Finally, a layer of glue is evenly coated on the body surface to fix the shape, and then the articles are colored to make cotton plastic animals or figures. Insert it into a drum prepared in advance. It is a toy with rich sounds and shapes, which can be displayed, appreciated and played at will. Cotton-plastic toys have less materials and low cost, and can be made from local materials, so artists often sell them while performing. There are chickens, sparrows, magpies, swallows, cranes and other birds in the cotton plastic toys, which are only three or five inches long and six or seven inches high. The main characters are Monkey Sun, an elf from Journey to the West, a simple and honest sand monk, a silly pig and a charitable Tang priest, all of whom are vivid and unforgettable.

In fact, folk dyeing and weaving embroidery art includes printing and dyeing, hand weaving, embroidery, brocade, silk reeling and so on.

Printing and dyeing are handicrafts closely related to folk costumes and daily room decoration, mainly including batik, tie-dyeing, blue printed cloth, color printing canvas and so on. , mainly used in clothing, hats, bedding, bed decorations, door curtains, luggage cloth, etc. , is a very widely used fabric.

Embroidery includes four famous embroideries, local folk embroidery and ethnic embroidery. The four famous embroideries are Xiang embroidery, Su embroidery, Shu embroidery and Yue embroidery. Representative national and folk embroidery in various places includes Miao Xiu embroidery, local embroidery, Manchu pillow top embroidery (embroidered at both ends of the pillow), Hubei embroidery and folk hand embroidery in Shaanxi, Shaanxi and Henan.

Traditional embroidery

embroidery

Traditional embroidery in China is divided into folk embroidery and four famous embroideries according to different users, regions and exquisite craftsmanship.

Folk embroidery is a popular embroidery technique in China, which is relative to the "Four Famous Embroideries" with palace culture and literati painting style. Traditional embroidery in China has a long history, which exists with the emergence and development of silk. As early as four or five thousand years ago, embroidery has become an important decorative means in the "Zhangfu System". The embroidery unearthed from Mawangdui tomb in Changsha more than two thousand years ago has been rich in stitches. It can be seen that there were stylized fixing processes with different stitches in the embroidery process at that time. 1982 Embroidered quilts and Zen (single) clothes from the Warring States Period were unearthed from No.1 Chu Tomb in Mashan, Jiangling, Hubei Province. They were embroidered with dragons, phoenixes and tigers, which were vivid and gorgeous.

There is a poem "I have embroidered my waist, and there is light in life" in the Yuefu poem "Peacock flies southeast" in Han Dynasty. During the late Han Dynasty and the Six Dynasties, figures appeared in embroidery themes, which set a precedent for later figure embroidery. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, literati began to participate in the design of embroidery drawings. The poetic and elegant paintings of literati paintings influenced the creation of folk embroidery, and embroidery began to develop in the direction of refinement and literati. In the Song Dynasty, embroidery almost became the most common and important kind of women's embroidery, and the embroidery creation of many well-educated wealthy women made the embroidery process more exquisite and wonderful. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many commercial embroidery workshops appeared in urban and rural areas of China. Especially in the Ming Dynasty, China traditional embroidery first appeared in Shanghai, called Gu Embroidery. It is famous for its exquisite embroidery and ingenious personal style with needles. It is good at embroidering flowers and birds, animals, pictures, hand scrolls and other furnishings, indicating that traditional embroidery has become an independent art from a decorative means attached to clothing. In the Qing Dynasty, several important embroidery schools appeared, such as Beijing embroidery, Kaifeng embroidery, Lu Xiu embroidery, and four famous embroideries praised by later generations.

In the late Qing Dynasty, folk embroidery techniques with local and technical characteristics appeared in various places. However, for a long time, the official culture and elite culture have paid little attention to the folk embroidery skills that have appeared in various places, let alone recorded and commented on them. Folk embroidery is basically in the position of ordinary "craft" which is completely integrated with daily life, but it is the art of this kind of life that makes folk embroidery spontaneously preserved from generation to generation and become the most wonderful, vivid and culturally rich intangible cultural category in traditional art we see today.

Folk printing and dyeing

Traditional folk printing and dyeing in China include tie-dyeing, batik, blue calico and colored calico.

The first three are the processes of printing, dyeing, coloring and showing flowers. Indigo extracted from cymes is used as a dye, which is also called blue dyeing and blue printing by the people. Color printing cloth is a multi-plate color printing process. According to historical records, annals of bamboo books and other ancient books, as early as the beginning of the 26th century BC, "the Yellow Emperor dyed the juice of vegetation as the crown of Huang Shang". In the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, there was already a regulation to distinguish the rank of honor and inferiority by the printing and dyeing colors and decorative patterns of clothing. After Qin and Han dynasties, block printing was very popular, and then there were more and more varieties of colors, and the printing and dyeing process was also improved.

China brocade

China brocade has a long history. According to archaeological findings, as early as the pre-Qin period, multicolor jacquard tapestries such as "He Ling Brocade", "Flowers Fill Yan Brocade" and "Dragon and Phoenix Brocade" were produced. In the Han dynasty, brocade with beautiful patterns was woven with complex and precise jacquard machines. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, brocade and makeup satin made of various silk and gold and silver threads were colorful and magnificent, and were praised as icing on the cake.

Shu brocade is produced in Sichuan, mainly in Chengdu, so Chengdu is also known as Jincheng and Jinguan City. In addition, Sichuan brocade is also produced in Nanchong, Langzhong, Leshan, Mianyang and Xindu. Shu brocade is still woven with dyed silk, with tough texture, rich colors and unique local style. Jin Song, also known as "Suzhou Jin Song" because it originated in Suzhou today, is famous for its simplicity and elegance, and now it is facing the endangered situation of skill interruption. The origin of brocade is in Nanjing, and it is named after its magnificent brocade. Its pattern layout is rigorous and rich in decoration, and most of them use gold thread to show flowers or twist edges. It is the royal brocade of China, representing the highest technical level of brocade technology.

statuary

Sculpture refers to folk works of art, which mainly include clay sculpture, dough sculpture, pottery sculpture, sugar sculpture, rice flour kneading products, paste patting, colored glaze, glass and other plastic arts. Plastic arts often rely on artists to perform arts and shape by hand. Because they are different from sculptures in creative techniques, their artistic effects are also different. Plastic arts are often combined with painting and decorative techniques, and painting is carried out after molding, so as to increase the ornamental, symbolic and auspicious atmosphere of artistic works. For example, typical works in clay sculpture include Hand Trick by Huishan, Jiangsu, Clay Dog by Huaiyang, Henan, noodle soup in Beijing, and works by noodle man Lang. Nami toys, such as Nibobo, Wisdom Fofo Agbo, Fengxiang clay sculpture, Beijing male prostitute, Mid-Autumn moon cake, Tuoguo and Sugar Man, are typical plastic folk arts. Some folk masks and utensils are made of paper pulp, while glass and sugar people use blow molding, which is also a plastic arts.

Clay sculpture art

clay sculpture

Clay sculpture art is an ancient folk art in China. It is made of clay by hand kneading or punching, or plain or colorful, with figures and animals as the main characters.

From the Neolithic Age to the Han Dynasty, a large number of pottery figurines, pottery beasts, pottery carts, pottery boats and so on appeared in a large number of archaeological excavations in China. Some are hand-pinched, and some are molded. In the funeral custom of ancestors in Han Dynasty, clay sculptures were widely used as funerary objects. In the Tang Dynasty, clay sculpture reached its peak. Yang Huizhi, known as the master of sculpture, is one of the outstanding representatives. With the development of clay sculpture art in Song Dynasty, not only the large-scale Buddha statues with religious themes continued to prosper, but also the small clay toys developed. Many people specialize in clay figurines and sell them as commodities. After the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China, clay sculpture art works are still circulating in the society, which can be used to watch the furnishings and let children play. Tianjin, Huishan in Wuxi, Jiangsu, Dawu in Guangdong, Fengxiang in Shaanxi, Xunxian in Henan, Huaiyang and Beijing are still important producing areas of traditional clay sculpture.

Dough sculpture art

China's traditional food culture has a long history. According to the literature, there were dough sculptures in the Han Dynasty. The Song Dynasty recorded the custom of using dough sculptures in Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and wedding celebrations. The earliest existing ancient dough figurines are female dough figurines, male upper body figurines and pig dough figurines unearthed in the tomb of the 4th year of Yonghui in Tang Dynasty (AD 653) found in Astana tomb in Turpan, Xinjiang. In the Qing Dynasty, there were craftsmen who made dough figurines for a living. Today, most parts of northern China still retain the craft and customs of dough sculpture.

Generally speaking, dough sculptures are divided into ornamental dough sculptures and edible dough flowers (or steamed bread). Pastry for viewing is usually made of refined flour, glutinous rice flour, salt, preservative and sesame oil, while dough for eating is made of powdered flour and raw flour. The difference of materials makes the two kinds of dough sculptures have some differences in the production process.

Dough modeling

The making tools of edible flour flowers are simple, and they all depend on women's ingenuity. The method is to knead flour into dough, and then shape the dough with scissors, kitchen knife and comb. Ornamental and decorative dough sculptures are made by pouring boiling water into flour, glutinous rice flour and preservatives, stirring with chopsticks, and then repeatedly kneading dough evenly. Then add magenta, magenta, magenta blue, white powder, pot smoke black and other colors to the noodles to make noodles with various colors, and then knead, knead, cut, pick, press, glue and other processes to shape the image. You can also use some feathers, cotton, etc. to decorate hair, beard, etc., so that a complete image appears.

Edible noodles or steamed bread used for holiday customs are very popular in northern China, where pasta is the main food. Edible flour flowers are distributed in Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces in the Yellow River valley, as well as rural areas in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Northeast China. Noodles are mainly produced in Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Beijing has the highest artistic level of dough sculpture.

Puppet art

China's puppet art reflects the profound characteristics of China culture from different aspects. From the perspective of materials and manipulation methods, puppet art has different forms, such as lifting thread, rod head, palm, iron branch, medicine hair, water power and so on. From the repertoire, there are historical legends, myths and legends, fables and so on. , heaven and earth, infatuation, realistic sketches, can be described as varied; From the modeling point of view, it can be as big as the height of people (the height of the big puppet in Han Dynasty is 193 cm) or less than one foot. Even heads can be made as big as thumbs, and patterns with correct facial features, accurate proportions, balanced lines and bright colors can be carved. For example, the staff-headed puppet in western Guangdong, the scholar Chen Qiulin in Fairy Lotus, Pig Bajie and Niu Wangmo in Monkey King Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon, all maintain a harmonious proportion even if the genie exaggerates.

Modern puppets in western Guangdong can move freely with their eyes, and can create actions such as opening eyes, blinking and blinking. According to the needs of expression, handy and vivid. The folk puppet head of Wuqiao in southern Hebei is exaggerated, concise and unique; Some are close to Tang ladies and Dunhuang colored sculptures; Some of them are close to China traditional opera masks, but they are flexible, funny and flexible.

On the other hand, the puppet show is also a portrayal of social life, and many emperors and literati have been touched by heartstrings and issued heartfelt sighs. For example, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Wang Yan, the former ruler of Shu and the later ruler of Shu, felt a lot after seeing the puppet and tasted the cloud:

"Cut off the road and break the geometry of life! Some people are puppets. 」

Art of cutting and carving

Incision refers to the folk art works which are mainly cut, carved and chiseled. Its contents include paper cutting, paper engraving, shadow play, clip art and printmaking.

woodcut

Reed, iron painting, stone carving line drawing, porcelain depiction, etc. Cutting technology is also widely used in the production of national clothing and fabrics. The modeling sequence of these artworks is often from large to small, and the materials used generally have a broad and tough texture, such as paper, leather, bamboo, stone, ceramics, ivory and so on. Common tools for cutting and carving are scissors, knives, chisels, chisels and some auxiliary tools. As a modeling method, engraving is good at expressing the details of works and embodying exquisite skills. For example, paper carvings can be as fine as hair (the fine-grained paper carvings in Yueqing, Zhejiang Province are an example), and wood carvings can achieve vivid and incisive artistic effects (such as exquisite boxwood carving and ivory carvings). ).

Paper cutting and paper carving

paper cutting

Paper-cutting is widely circulated among the people in China. According to historical records and unearthed objects, paper-cutting has a history of at least nearly 1500 years. The emergence of paper-cutting should be after the invention of papermaking in Han Dynasty, which provided favorable conditions for the emergence of paper-cutting. The art of paper-cutting developed greatly in the Tang Dynasty, and it was one of the important folk customs at that time to evoke the soul by paper-cutting. In the folk, paper-cut patterns are also widely used in woodcut carving, bronze decoration, cloth printing and dyeing and other artistic fields. The paper industry in Song Dynasty was mature, and the diversification of paper products provided conditions for the popularization of paper-cutting. There have been many forms of expression, such as folk window grilles, lanterns, and decorations on tea cups, which have expanded the application scope of folk paper-cutting compared with the Tang Dynasty. During the Southern Song Dynasty, there were artists who took paper-cutting as their profession. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday of paper-cutting art, and paper-cutting became an important home decoration, such as door stickers, window grilles, cabinet flowers and ceiling flowers. Paper-cutting has also become an indispensable decoration for folk activities. China's paper-cutting originated from the Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but it really flourished after the mid-Qing Dynasty. Ancient paper-cutting was mostly in rural areas, with scissors as the main hinge, which was simple and natural in taste, all from the hands of peasant women; After paper-cutting enters the city, not only citizens' hobbies and life ideals have to participate in the art of paper-cutting, but thousands of families are crowded together and passed on to each other. In order to save labor, paper-cutting artists changed to carving with one knife and multiple pieces, and their styles turned to exquisiteness, and artists were not limited to women. However, with the changes of times, life and aesthetics, traditional folk art can't meet the needs of reality gradually, so modern emerging paper-cutting art was born.

Carved paper

woodcarving

Paper-cutting is also a common form of folk crafts. Although the final form of paper-cutting and paper-cutting is the same, the production methods are different. Paper-cutting is an art that takes paper as the processing object and scissors as the tool to create. Paper engraving requires tools such as backing plates, carving knives, sharp awls and nails. First put the original appearance on twenty or thirty pieces of tissue paper, then put it on the backing plate and fix it with nails, and carve it layer by layer from the inside out with a carving knife. After carving the pattern, the paper carving is finished. Generally speaking, paper-cutting pays more attention to creativity, is not limited by carving knives and paper, and its shape is more free and casual. Engraving paper is more suitable for delicate picture effect. For example, the thin-line engraving paper in Zhejiang is as thin as hair, which is amazing. Carving paper makes up for the deficiency of paper-cutting to some extent, but it has limitations in creation.

Local style

Generally speaking, China's paper-cutting art can be divided into two types: northern style and southern style. Even so, paper-cutting in each region has different characteristics.

Shaanxi paper-cutting is a representative northern paper-cutting art, which is widely used in the Spring Festival window grilles, wedding flowers, a large number of paper decorations in funerals, props in social fire performances, and the creation of religious atmosphere in temples. Various folk activities are also inseparable from paper-cutting. In addition, paper-cutting is also used to make samples of artworks such as embroidery. Paper-cutting is mainly monochrome in form, with simple shape, free and easy, rough and exaggerated deformation. The content is mainly traditional flowers, animals, figures and plays.

Dyeing and engraving paper in Yuxian County, Hebei Province is a typical art form of engraving paper in China, which has a history of 200 years, especially window grilles. Later, the woodcut watermark window grilles in Wuqiang County, Hebei Province were introduced, and the paper engraving technology absorbed its color characteristics, imitated its transparent effect, and replaced engraving with engraving, forming the unique style of Yuxian paper engraving. Yuxian paper engraving is mainly based on "negative engraving" and "stippling", so there is a saying of "three division of labor and seven dyeing". Themes are mostly taken from opera characters, with auspicious images such as flowers, birds, fish, insects, birds and beasts.

The rest are Shandong paper-cut, Hubei paper-cut, Zhejiang Pujiang opera paper-cut, Zhejiang Yueqing fine line paper-cut, Guangzhou Foshan paper-cut and so on.

shadow play

Chinese shadow play is represented by Luanzhou shadow play in the north. The structure of shadow play is divided into seven parts: head, upper body, upper arm (two pieces) and lower arm (two pieces), hand (two pieces), lower body and legs (two pieces are connected with feet), and * * *1/component. The central control is the neck strap. Operate with a pole. Sheng Dan's face was hollowed out and his net ugliness was painted. The face is angular, the chin is pointed and the forehead is flat. Small size, generally about 25.4 cm to 30.4 cm, the largest is 40.6 cm. Carved from donkey skin. Shaanxi shadow play carved with cowhide is also divided into 1 1 component.

The Southern School, represented by Chengdu Deng Ying Opera, is divided into three types: large, medium and small. Deng Ying is 60-80 cm tall, Deng Ying is 1m tall, Deng Ying is 40-60 cm tall and Deng Ying is 24-30 cm tall. Chengdu lamp shadow * * * points 14 joint:

Cap, head, chest, abdomen, lower limbs, upper arms, forearms and palms. The head can be inserted into a leather ring wrapped around the neck with thin wire. The other joints are connected with fine hemp rope. A well-dressed filmmaker is divided into three sections: the hat section, the head section, collectively referred to as "hat" (called "headgear" in the north), and the clothing, shoes and hats section, collectively referred to as "handle" (called "needle" in the north).

China's shadow play has flexible joints. Under the control of excellent artists, he sat and looked around, wearing robes, dancing swords, riding clouds and fighting at an amazing speed. He interprets all kinds of legendary stories, portrays all kinds of unimaginable shadows of life, beauty and ugliness, gods, buddhas, spirits, monsters and beasts, and becomes the art of mind controlling things.

sculpture/glyphic art

Engraving refers to the way of depicting on bamboo, jade, metal and other media. Sculpture refers to the works made in this way, such as lettering, Qi Diao, sculpture, relief and so on. And works of art combining sculpture and modeling. Sculpture and carving are often carried out on hard interface and semi-dry solid interface, while plastic needs to be carried out on soft material, which is the difference between sculpture and plastic. We are familiar with this kind of works, including carved bamboo pen holder, jade jewelry and furnishings, metal jewelry, Wuhu iron painting, brick carving, stone carving and so on. Knives, chisels, drills and some auxiliary tools are often used to create sculptures.

jade carving

Jade carving is one of the traditional carving art forms in China. As early as the Neolithic Age, there were jade carving ichthyosaurs in Yangshao culture and Longshan culture. Ornaments such as turquoise and agate were found in Yin Ruins of Shang Dynasty. It can be seen that the jade culture in China has a history of more than 5,000 years.

braided fabric

Jade is regarded as a ritual vessel with important sacrificial function because of its precious raw materials and high requirements for carving technology. Exquisite jade cong dating back 4000 years have been unearthed from Jinsha site in Sichuan. From the Shang Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there appeared various jade ritual vessels and ornaments offering sacrifices to gods, which were vivid in shape, exquisitely carved and of excellent jade quality.

During the Han and Tang dynasties, jade carving became a favorite handicraft of the people and the court as an ornament, and the appearance of jade clothes in the Western Han Dynasty was an example. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, jade carving technology was valued and developed at a high speed. The Jade Hall in the court was specially designed for carving jade articles. Shoushan stone carvings in Fujian were created in large quantities at that time, and their value was also recognized by the imperial court. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday of jade carving. Suzhou is famous for its exquisite carvings, and jade is widely used by the court for decoration, use and play. Carving skills are more abundant, and exquisite handicrafts such as round carving have appeared. The representative "Yushanzi" is one of the largest jade articles in the world. Modern times are also the prosperous period of jade carving, and a number of famous jade carving artists such as Pan Bingheng appeared in Beijing. China jade carving's "four national treasures"-Daiyue Wonder, Range Rover, enjoying fragrance and enjoying the four seas are examples.

With the disappearance of traditional skills, the jade carving industry has encountered difficulties in carving technology because of its hard work and backward concept. In this respect, we should learn some scientific and reasonable memory and technology from the west on the basis of inheriting the tradition, which is eagerly awaited by the jade carving industry at present.

woodcarving

Woodcarving handicraft refers to all kinds of ornamental and practical decorations with beautiful forms created by carving with fine, tough and undeformed trees as raw materials. The earliest woodcarving found in China is a woodcarving fish unearthed from Hemudu site, which is 6000-7000 years ago. By the Warring States period, wood carving technology had developed from simple engraving and intaglio engraving in Shang Dynasty to three-dimensional circular engraving technology. The level of woodcarving in Han Dynasty was higher than that in the previous generation. The images of woodcarving animals unearthed from Han tombs are natural and vivid, and the knife method is concise and decisive, which shows the superb level of woodcarving artists at that time. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, woodcarving art began to develop in the direction of realism and exquisiteness. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the decorative woodcarving level of small ornamental woodcarving, architecture and folk practical appliances reached its peak. After the liberation of China in the early 20th century, woodcarving has been understood and loved by more and more people, and it has become a popular item for viewing and collection, and it is also an industrialized practical decorative art. ..

There are many kinds of wood carvings in China, which are spread all over the country. The most famous woodcarvings are Dongyang woodcarving in Zhejiang, Golden Lacquer woodcarving in Guangdong, Boxwood woodcarving in Wenzhou and Longan in Fujian, which are also called "Four Famous Carvings". Other kinds, such as Qufukai woodcarving, Nanjing antique woodcarving, Suzhou red woodcarving, Jianchuan cloud woodcarving, Shanghai white woodcarving, Yongling birch woodcarving, Quanzhou colored plastic woodcarving, etc ... These woodcarving are all named because of their origin, material selection or technological characteristics. Some of them have a long history, high technological level, traditional characteristics, skilled craftsmen all over the country, and rising stars are becoming more and more sophisticated in woodcarving skills and modeling, with distinctive local characteristics.

The carving techniques of wood carving include round carving, relief and carving. Generally, in the process of carving, various techniques are mixed. Because wood carvings are perishable and moth-eaten, some works have to be painted. Woodcarving, like all carvings, can be roughly divided into two forms, one is "independent" and the other is "attached". The former refers to a three-dimensional space sculpture that can be freely placed and seen from any direction and angle, and is usually used as an indoor display or desk decoration; The latter refers to the relief used to decorate the indoor walls of buildings or fixed spaces such as doors and windows. The most famous wood carvings are produced in Dongyang, Zhejiang, Yueqing, Guangdong and Chaozhou. In addition, Huizhou woodcarving and minority woodcarving art are also excellent woodcarving art forms.

stone carving

China stone carving art has a long history. The stone head unearthed from the magnetic mountain culture site in Wu 'an, Hebei Province, is a product of the Neolithic Age 7,000 years ago. In the Qin Dynasty (2265438 BC+0-207 BC), a huge stone carving-Stone Kirin appeared. A pair of stone statues found in the northwest suburb of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, were identified as stone carvings in the era of Emperor Wendi of the Western Han Dynasty (BC 179-BC 157), with profound spirit and simple and vigorous style. Buddhism was introduced into China in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and China developed rapidly in religious stone carving and tomb stone carving. The famous stone carvings in Yungang and Longmen Grottoes can explain the artistic level of stone carvings in the Six Dynasties, Tang and Song Dynasties. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the stone carving art developed towards secularization and diversification. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, exquisite craft stone carvings and folk sculptures such as Mazar stakes and beasts in towns and villages with the temperament of stone carving in Han and Tang Dynasties became the main body of stone carving art in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Folk small craft stone carvings are generally named after the origin or characteristics of the stone. From the origin of stones, there are Huizhou in Anhui, Qingtian in Zhejiang and Quyang in Hebei. Named after stones, there are Shoushan stone carving in Fujian, Chrysanthemum stone carving in Liuyang, Hunan and Baihua stone carving in Guangyuan, Sichuan. The areas famous for stone carving include Longdong, Gansu (the beast of town and village), Weibei, Shaanxi (Shuan Ma Zhuang), Shanbei (Shuan Shi Wa), Fangcheng, Henan (stone monkey), Yexian, Shandong (talc monkey) and Jiaxiang, Shandong (stone unicorn). ) and Leizhou, Guangdong (Stone Dog).

The production of folk small craft stone carvings pays great attention to the choice of stone varieties, colors and textures, and advocates that the art should be tailored to suit the needs and the carving should be exquisite, and various techniques such as relief, round carving, lettering and line carving should be used to create. The production process of stone carving is basically the same, which is generally like this: first, take pictures of the stone, and determine the theme to be carved according to its shape, texture and color. Second, draw the carved part on the stone with a pen, then chisel out the rough blank, and then carry out rough carving. After the carving is complete, the details are carved, and finally the work is finished by grinding, polishing and waxing.

Brick carving/carving

Brick carving appeared in China during the Warring States Period, when there were already tiles. Portrait bricks in the Han Dynasty developed quite well, the most famous being tomb brick carving, but most of them were printed by molds. In the Tang Dynasty, tiles were printed by molds and then carved to create three-dimensional decorative relief works. The figures and animals on the brick carvings are outstanding, all set off by cirrus patterns, with rich structures and vivid shapes, showing a complex and rich artistic style. During the Song and Jin Dynasties, brick carvings prevailed in tombs, with secular life as the theme and strong flavor of life. Among them, brick carving in Song Dynasty is a fresh and simple artistic style, with symmetrical image, vivid posture, neat and clear outline, depicting clothes lines and sharp knives. The brick figures in the Jin Dynasty are vigorous and simple, and the relief lines are generally rough and concise, which is very interesting. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, brick carvings were mainly used to decorate houses and temples, with rich content and complex composition. In addition to single-layer relief, there are also multi-layer relief and brick stacking techniques. The decorative pattern has a complete decorative effect, and the picture of the work has an independent composition form.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the art of brick carving has gradually developed from the accessory decoration of buildings to an independent folk art of brick carving, and the ranks of brick carving producers have been growing. Almost all countries have their own producing areas of brick carving, among which Huizhou, Tianjin, Beijing, Shandong Weixian, Suzhou, Guangdong, Gansu and Taiwan Province are the most famous.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the art of brick carving in the north and south gradually formed its own style, but the production technology of folk brick carving was still roughly the same, which was generally divided into six steps. (1) Brick repair (2) Sample loading (3) Sample engraving (4) Blanking (5) Thinning (or printing) (6) Polishing. Generally speaking, the artistic style of brick carving in the north is vigorous, while the artistic style of brick carving in the south is exquisite, but both of them are permeated with the local flavor of people all over China.