The origin of wood carving

The common saying is that Chinese wood carving art originated in the Neolithic period.

But in fact, like other sculpture arts, wood carving art was born with the emergence of human beings; It was just an unconscious act at the beginning. Wood carving did not really become an art until people had aesthetic appreciation.

Wood carving art originated in China in the Neolithic age. Wood carving fish have appeared in Hemudu culture in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, more than 7000 years ago. The wood carving techniques of Qin and Han Dynasties tend to be mature, and the painting and carving techniques are exquisite and perfect.

The appearance of colored wood carving indicates that the ancient wood carving technology has reached a very high level.

The Tang Dynasty was a time when Chinese craftsmanship and technology flourished, and wood carving became more and more perfect. Many wooden Buddha statues that have been preserved to this day are masterpieces of ancient Chinese art. They have the characteristics of concise modeling, skilled and smooth knife techniques, and clear and bright lines. They have become the "favorite" in the art market at home and abroad.

The themes of wood carvings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were mostly life customs and fairy tales, such as the wood carvings of the auspicious festival, the bumper harvest of grain, the auspicious dragon and the Phoenix, the peaceful Ruyi, the pine and crane extending the year, and so on, which were deeply welcomed by the society at that time.

There are many kinds of wood carvings. After hundreds of years of development, each major school has formed its own unique craft style, which is well-known throughout the country. Dongyang wood carvings were born in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province in the Song Dynasty. They are good at carving, with beautiful patterns and exquisite structures.

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, more than 400 craftsmen were summoned to the capital to repair the palace in Dongyang, which was known as the "hometown of carved flowers"; Yueqing boxwood carving has become one of the Chinese folk wood carving crafts since the middle of the Qing Dynasty. It is famous at home and abroad for carving small boxwood furnishings; Guangdong Golden lacquer wood carving originated in the Tang Dynasty. It is carved with camphor wood and painted with gold. It is resplendent and has a strong artistic effect.

Inheritance and development

Wood carving is an important category of traditional carving techniques, which uses various kinds of wood and tree roots as materials for carving. Wood carvings have a very long history. Wood carvings fish were unearthed at Hemudu cultural site in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, which is the earliest kind in the history of wood carvings in China. The wood carved Zhenmu animals unearthed from the Warring States tombs in Xinyang, Henan, and the color carved wooden servants unearthed from the Han Tombs in Yunmeng, Hubei are all early wood carvings in China. Due to the difficulty of preservation, it is difficult to see wood carvings with more than a thousand years.

Wood carvings were more common in the Song Dynasty. At this time, wood carvings were made with well-organized wood as the carrier, which was conducive to the passing down of wood carvings. Some temples in China still have wood carvings of the Song Dynasty.

During the yuan and Ming Dynasties, due to the rapid development of overseas trade, the types of wood increased. Many hard wood imported from overseas made great progress in wood carving technology.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties were a glorious period of wood carving art. A large number of famous artists, artists and their works emerged, which was a peak of ancient wood carving art.

During the period from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, due to the corruption of the government, the decline of national strength, and the invasion of foreign powers, the people did not live in poverty. Since then, the wood carving art has declined, and the artists and masters can only live by as craftsmen. After the founding of new China, with the care of the party and the state, folk crafts were protected and excavated, wood carvings were revived, and a number of national masters emerged. Their works, with exquisite craftsmanship, adhering to the tradition, have a far-reaching intention and eulogize the times, reflecting the masters' determination to innovate, based on the tradition, and express their feelings of regaining a new life and serving the country.

The national reform and opening up, the economic take-off, the prosperity of the country and the people, and the strong support of the party and the state for folk arts and crafts have aroused the people's love and pursuit for traditional arts and crafts. At this prosperous time, folk arts and crafts have made a new leap, and wood carving art is no exception. Faced with the actual situation, in the national arts and crafts exhibition, the authors of excellent works are older, and there are few young authors.

With the passage of time, a serious problem is facing us. How to stimulate young people's interest in making folk arts and crafts, and how to cultivate qualified successors so as not to leave the folk art cause without successors, are the work that we try to study outside the normal artistic creation. How to effectively protect folk art and continue folk traditional culture has become a common issue faced by the government, scholars and artists. As a successful artist, he should help others with his influence while becoming famous in public.

We can change the previous inheritance form. Folk crafts are mostly self-made and operated by families, and there is no reliable guarantee in terms of economic source and sales of works. In particular, there are more difficulties and problems in continuation, continuation, inheritance and development. If there are no suitable and ideal family heirs, and the society does not pay attention to and support them, many folk art treasures may be broken down in our generation. This urgently requires us to carry out cultural rescue to protect these precious works of art and art forms. However, the difficulty encountered is that due to the high development of the machine manufacturing industry, more and more time-consuming manual operations are squeezed. For example, it is common to spend a few days on a simple wood carving, while it only takes tens of minutes to use a machine.

For the same work, due to the great difference in cost and price, the market share of handmade works is less and less. Secondly, because the profit space has occupied the living space of folk handicrafts, under the pressure of low cost, rough handmade wood carvings can be found everywhere.

Handmade wood carving has gradually lost its inherent cultural value and is increasingly on the edge of social culture. If you want to make wood carvings stand in the market, you must produce excellent works of art that cannot be made by a large number of machines, which requires the author to have superb skills. However, mastering comprehensive and solid skills is by no means a day's work. Many art masters hope to find good disciples so that their skills can be passed on and carried forward. However, few young people are interested in folk crafts. No matter what kind of craft category, the author is required to love the craft cause, be attentive, use his mind, endure loneliness and resist the temptation of the outside world. Works exhibitions are regularly held in the society, so that the broad masses, especially young people, have a profound emotional understanding of traditional art, from love to yearning, and gradually deepen their involvement in it. The competent government departments should pay more attention to artists, especially young and middle-aged artists, so that they can engage in artistic creation at ease and do not rush about for life.

It is a good cause for society and individuals to report and publicize the deeds of successful artists in the media so that young people can understand that engaging in art will eventually bring great honor. It is an urgent and long-term task for the reform of art education in the new era to bring wood carving art into the teaching and scientific research of art colleges and universities and teach by example in the pulpit.