Chaozhou wood carving has a long history. Liu Yao, who worked in Guangzhou during Tang Zhaozong's time, has three records about Chaozhou sculpture art in his "Different Records of Ridges": Guang Zhi belongs to a county, and Chaozhou Zhou Xun has many wild elephants and small and red teeth, which are the best. (on the volume); Li Guo is produced in rivers and streams, with thin leaves and strong body like cypress, but its roots are too soft to be sawed with a knife. Today's tide, with people, with its roots, and do it. When it is not dry, carving is as easy as cutting melons; After doing it, be flexible and unreasonable. Or oil or paint, as light as grass. In the summer months, it is as strong as Chinese fir. Today, Guangzhou guests have come from grazing in various counties. When they first arrived, they had oil painting sleepers on the eaves. (in volume); The gourd rafters are shaped like melons, with orange and yellow skins. So people value them, love their fragrance, hold a banquet in Beijing and pity their distant fruits. The meat is thick and white as radish. South China women compete to carve birds with meat, soak them in honey and order rouge. They are good at not letting Hunan people carve papaya. (in the volume)
These three records show that in the middle Tang Dynasty, there were tooth carving, wood carving and melon carving in Chaozhou, eastern Guangdong, among which "oil painting wooden shoes" were famous products worn by Guangdong officials in those years. After that, Chaozhou wooden shoes were recorded in various historical books and miscellaneous works, and the "oil painting wooden shoes" in Tang Dynasty can be said to be the earliest germination of the famous Chaozhou gold lacquer wood carving.
The official appearance of Chaozhou golden lacquer woodcarving recorded in literature began from the Northern Song Dynasty to the first year of Wu Jia (1054). The word "Chao" in 5345 "Notes on Forest Carving Leaks" in Yongle Dadian records that the chief of Chaozhou was ordered to repair the city wall the year before, and the next year, in view of the fact that the wooden leak used for timing in Zhoucheng was "corroded by water for a long time" and "it was a new engraving leak", it was proposed that the lotus leak in the county was "the best". In the past 40 days, there were always 60 events, but they were all missed. "'Hum' and' sound' originally meant that children's breasts had two horns, and they were extended here to mean decoration." "Gold lacquer" refers to the gold lacquer after the completion of wood carving components, that is, gold lacquer wood carving. This work can be said to be the earliest gold lacquer woodcarving in Chaozhou, without missing carving earlier than this lotus flower.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, although such fine gold lacquer wood carvings appeared, they were not widely used in residential buildings and applications, including some official houses. The Xufuma Mansion in Chaozhou, which was built during the reign of Emperor Yingzong in the Northern Song Dynasty (1064-1067), was praised by experts as "a rare Song Dynasty mansion in China" (now it is a national key cultural relic protection unit). Although it has been repaired many times in the past dynasties, it still preserves the architectural pattern of the Song Dynasty and a large number of architectural relics, such as doornails. It was not until the first year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1 165) and 100 years later that the news that Buddhist temples were "resplendent" came out. See Yongle Dadian and Chao Yu (Volume 5345) Chen Qingyu's Reconstruction of National History. In this article, the Chaozhou magistrate said to the county magistrate Yao and his officials before rebuilding the country: "Fu (referring to Buddhism-the author) said that his fortune was slim and he was afraid of causing vulgarity. The residence of his disciples is magnificent. Fix it if it's ugly. If it is bad, it is easy to buy. If it's not difficult. This passage is a criticism of the extravagance of monks, but this sentence can be understood as referring to architectural decoration including gold lacquer wood carving. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the above-mentioned woodcarving works of carved gold lacquer, the wooden fish carving in Kaiyuan Temple in the Tang Dynasty, the "wooden dragon" and "Xufu Mafu" hanging from the bronze bell in the Song Dynasty were still relatively primitive.
Chaozhou woodcarving matured in Ming Dynasty. Zhenhai tower, a Chaozhou mansion built in the second year of Hongwu in the early Ming Dynasty, has 108 stigma carvings and 108 wooden monkeys with different expressions on its verandah, which indicates the maturity of Chaozhou woodcarving. The building was destroyed by gunfire in the 19 1 1 revolution, but it survived. Three wooden monkeys now collected in the museum of this city can be seen in their vivid works. The legend of the previous generation tells the story of this 108 wooden monkey, each of which looks like a live monkey, commonly known as "Francois monkey". If the monkey in the mansion at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty is the tallest round carving among Chaozhou woodcarvings, then the hexagonal seven-story Thousand-Buddha Pagoda with a height of 2.58 meters still existing in Kaiyuan Temple in the late Ming Dynasty is the beginning or beginning of comprehensive application of relief and round carving techniques, multi-level cutting and meticulous carving. Each floor of the tower is carved with arches, with Buddha statues in it, King Kong, the protector, engraved on the tower foundation, and one or five small towers at the top. Also, because the golden pagoda is painted with gold, it is called the Golden Thousand Buddha Pagoda. The niche table preserved in Kaiyuan Temple and the hanging tube "Ji Xian pine nuts" preserved in Chaozhou Museum are also painted with gold, which also shows that gold lacquer wood carvings have appeared in some important buildings and household items in the late Ming Dynasty. Some Ming Dynasty architectural woodcarving decorations left over from other places, although some are not gold lacquer woodcarving but plain carving (such as the woodcarving decoration in the back seat of Wenci Temple in Anbu Town, Chao 'an County, which was completed the following year), are naive, exaggerated and humorous, and have great artistic appeal, indicating that Chaozhou woodcarving in Ming Dynasty has matured. The Guandi Temple at the north gate of Jieyang City was built in the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (1558 E), updated in the twenty-ninth year of Wanli (160 1 xinchou), and expanded in the forty-second year of Qingganlong (1777 Ding You). There is a gossip-shaped algae well on the top of the front hall.
The Qing Dynasty was the perfection and heyday of Chaozhou woodcarving. Many ancestral temples built in the early and middle Qing Dynasty are still well preserved, such as Xi Gu Grand Ancestral Hall in Jieyang, Ming Luan Gong Temple in Qiankeng of Jiexi and Yongchang Ancient Temple in Mianhu of Jiexi. Comprehensive use of heavy carving, relief, round carving, general carving and other forms and techniques to express complex content. During the Guangxu period in the late Qing Dynasty, the half crab basket came out, which laid the foundation for the world-famous multi-layer carving of dragons, shrimps and crab baskets. It is the creation of Huang Kaixian, who is known as the "champion of wood carving". At the same time, he built Dafeng Ancestral Hall (Ci Hall) in Shantou, and the woodcarving crab basket on the beam frame was also his creation. Huang Kaixian is from Rongcheng, Jieyang. He, Lin Xike and Xie Guoqiang were famous woodcarving artists in Chaoshan area in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. Huang Kaixian and Xie Guoqiang cooperated in the woodcarving "Seven Sages Going to Beijing" of Hufeng Ancestral Temple in Mianhu, Jiexi. The figures are lifelike, lifelike, and the peony is carved and carved in layers, which is exquisite and can be called a boutique. The above-mentioned people were the representatives of woodcarving art in Chaoshan area at that time, and they made Chaozhou woodcarving art go to a perfect realm.
In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, many large houses with high walls were built in the cities belonging to Chaozhou Prefecture. The Annals of the Qianlong Mansion said: "When a famous family builds a house, it must build a temple, which is particularly magnificent. ..... If you have a daughter, you must build a study, carve beams and draw buildings, and decorate it with bamboo trees on the pond. " "Jiaqing Chenghai County Records" records: "A noble family likes to build houses, carve beams and paint buildings, and pool bamboo trees, which will be very clever. A large number of small clans competed to build ancestral temples, and they fought for grandeur and spared no expense. " In the thirty-third year of the Republic of China (1944), Guangdong Yearbook said: "There are overseas Chinese in Guangdong who like to build big houses to show off their hometown. The wind in Chaoshan is also very strong, but the scale of the house is particularly grand compared with other places. Rich people must have temples and study rooms. " The atmosphere of building big houses and boasting in Chaoshan described by Zhicheng created conditions for the prosperity of Chaozhou woodcarving art. Congxi Temple in Jinsha Township, Haiyang County (now Caitang Town, Chaoan County) and Jilu Huanggong Temple in Chaozhou City, which were built during Guangxu period, are exquisite in wood and stone carving and diverse in techniques, and can be described as masters of wood and stone carving in Chaoshan area. During the Republic of China, there were also such buildings, such as Meizu Temple in Shenyang Village, Chaoyang. The wood carvings of these buildings are really jaw-dropping. As a result of competing for ancestral halls, study rooms and temples, Chaoshan is home to architectural art everywhere. Professor Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts wrote: "In some places where woodcarving is concentrated, people feel that every village is like a woodcarving art museum and every family is like a sculpture showroom." (see ArtNo. 1960, Chaozhou Woodcarving No.65438+February). Built in the 20th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, the woodcarving decoration of Chenjia Temple in Guangzhou, known as the "Pearl of China Southern Architecture", is mostly Chaozhou woodcarving, which shows the reputation of Chaozhou woodcarving.
During the Republic of China, due to frequent wars and economic decline, the number of ancestral temples built by the people decreased, and the use of wood carvings was not as extensive as that in the Qing Dynasty. The life of woodcarving artists is very difficult, and woodcarving art has not developed much.
Contemporary, Chaozhou woodcarving art has entered a new stage. After the founding of New China, handicraft industry embarked on the road of collective production, some set up handicraft cooperatives, some set up factories, and some also set up technology research institutes. The government advocates the principles and policies of "letting a hundred flowers blossom" and "bringing forth the old and bringing forth the new". Some new artists participated in the work of the craft industry, some artists gave guidance, and some artists were sent for further study and training to broaden their artistic horizons. During the 1950s and 1970s, although no ancestral temple was built, woodcarving, stone carving and other artworks were exported for production, which were needed for the restoration of cultural relics and historic sites. Therefore, the artistic level of woodcarving was improved, and even a major breakthrough was made. During 1954, two famous Chaozhou woodcarving artists, Zhang Jianxuan and Chen Shunqiang, went to Guangzhou to create woodcarving at the invitation of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture. They inherited and developed Huang Kaixian's woodcarving Crab Basket and created the first interesting woodcarving Crab Basket. This work won the bronze prize at the 6th World Youth and Students Festival held in Moscow from 65438 to 0957, and Chaozhou woodcarving art began to attract international attention. During this period, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture also specially allocated funds to purchase a large number of Chaozhou woodcarvings (about 20,000 pieces) for the collection of Guangdong Folk Arts and Crafts Museum, Guangdong Provincial Museum and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.
1958 to the early 1960s, in order to meet the needs of national and provincial halls and clubs, some large-scale wood carvings appeared. 1958 Zhang Jianxuan, Chen Shunqiang and others produced Three Sheep Kaitai, Pheasant Five Blessingg, Autumn in the Lotus Pond, Lobster and Crab Basket. 1962 Guo Yingteng and Lin Yingzu of Jieyang County produced large-scale wood carving hanging screens (more than 3 square meters each).
After a period of imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution, in the mid-1970s, with the needs of the international market and the subsequent wave of reform and opening-up, the development of tourism, the renovation of hotels, the restoration of ancestral temples of cultural relics and the demand for personal appreciation and collection, opportunities were created for the production and artistic progress of woodcarving. Woodcarving ornaments, especially antique works, are exported to Europe, America, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and domestic provinces and cities. Many cultural relics that are not decorated with Chaozhou woodcarving, such as Foshan Ancestral Temple and Guangzhou Liu Rong Temple, also require Chaozhou woodcarving. New buildings, such as Guangzhou Oriental Hotel, White Swan Hotel and some hotels in Hong Kong and Macao. , but also decorated with supporting Chaozhou woodcarving. These woodcarvings have also made great breakthroughs in art and achieved special results. For example, Zhang Weihuai, a woodcarving factory in Shantou, designed and manufactured a large-scale wall-hung woodcarving based on A Dream of Red Mansions, with a length of12m, a width of 4.5m and a thickness of 0.9m, with a total area of 54m. This magnificent, complex, numerous and resplendent four-story sculpture system is now on display in Guangzhou Oriental Hotel. Mother, a giant woodcarving based on A Dream of Red Mansions, is the work of Chen and others in Jieyang Craft Factory, and it is also the masterpiece of this period. It is now on display in a restaurant in Kowloon. The seven-story sculpture "A Million Heroes Crossing the River" created by He Changqing, a craftsman of Shantou Woodcarving Factory, has also appeared one after another, and won a sensational effect at the national arts and crafts exhibition. Another example is "Flying the Luding Bridge" made by Ye Xiyong, a craftsman in Chaoyang City, which vividly depicts the scene of the Red Army soldiers fighting bloody battles on the rickety iron chain bridge-all the chains of the iron chain bridge are carved into activities; The bridge is on fire every day, and the river under the bridge is sinister; In addition, the bomb landed on the swollen water column on the river, which made people feel magnificent, as if they were in the scene of a battle.
The world-famous "lobster and crab basket" woodcarving had a new development in the 1980s. Chen Shunqiang, the "Master of Arts and Crafts in Guangdong Province" in Chaozhou, completed another giant structure with the help of his son Chen in the years before his death in 1987. This work has a diameter of 70cm and a height of 1.83m, which is more than 10 cm higher than another giant structure 1985 which won the "Silver Cup Award" in China Arts and Crafts Hundred Flowers Award. The craft is more arduous and the plastic arts are more mature. This work, inside and outside the basket, is surrounded by 7 pairs of lobsters, 24 crabs and 9 swimming fish. Some are struggling in baskets, some are frolicking outside, some are "whispering", and some paws and soles are in full bloom ... In all kinds of ways, plus the splash of waves, the water plants are swaying under the seat, which is very interesting. The works are magnificent, profound and exquisite. This work, weighing 50 kilograms, is carved from a piece of camphor wood with a diameter of 1 meter, a height of 2 meters and a weight of 800 kilograms. It consists of relief, round carving and general carving, which lasted for four or five spring and autumn periods. This work is the last creation of the master and a rare treasure. Now it is collected by Guangdong Arts and Crafts Museum.