Introduction

With a time-honored history, woodcarving boasts a great amount of genres with a variety of shapes. Historical records show that woodcarving came into existence as early as the Shang Dynasty (circa 1600-1100BC). Lu Ban, who is honored as the founding father of carpentry, was said to have carved a wooden bird, which was able to fly in the sky for three days during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC).

Up to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), woodcarving art experienced remarkable development, at least partly because of the prevailing of puppet opera that boosted the craftsmanship of carving skills.

In the past, woodcarvings were mostly used in Buddha statues or figures, temple decorations as well as other construction decorations, dragon lanterns, steles, folding screens and other furniture. With several generations of efforts by artists, the function of woodcarvings has become more artistic. Generally speaking, woodcarving can be categorized into three genres concerning the method: circular, relief and pierced (hollowed-out) carving.

Boxwood carving, which has a history of about 900 years, is basically a kind of circular carving. Boxwood, the material, has a creamy and yellowish color, which darkens over time, giving an elegant and classic sense of aesthetic feeling. Boxwood carvings are mostly produced in Wenzhou and Leqing of East China's Zhejiang Province, as well as Shanghai Municipality and Southeast China's Fujian Province.

Based on traditional carving skills, the Shanghai boxwood carving assimilates western carving methods like dissection, inverse proportion, configuration, center of gravity and line. The works are mostly based from childhood stories and folk customs.

Making boxwood carving

The main artistic feature of boxwood carving is that all the works are made based on their original shapes, maximizing the use of the wood. Though there are many methods, the most prominent and popular way is circular carving.

The tools involved in woodcarving include a mud hammer, sculpting shelf, clay sculpture box, caliper (a kind of measurement tool), and scraper, as well as various kinds of knives. The tools used to shape the rough base include a saw, wood hammer and steel hammer, while the tools for carving are mainly chisels in various shapes like broad, flat and groove chisels.

The making process generally involves a couple of detailed procedures. First a sketch has to be made. Then the artist has to in succession sculpt the clay model, select fine wood, carve and then polish the wood, carve the grains, wax, and arrange the base. To produce boxwood carving of good quality, each of these complicated procedures has to be done very carefully.

Although usually more than one person creates the woodcarvings via a flow process, for some of the special works, only one artist completes them from the beginning to the end. Some adept artists do not need to sculpt the clay model, and rather can carve directly on the boxwood.

Legend

Concerning the origin of boxwood carving, there is a legend, which states the art form was invented by a child cowherd called Ye Chengrong, who was a local of Leqing County in Zhejiang Province.

According to the story, one day the boy is playing in a temple at the end of the village, and finds an old man carving a Buddha figure. He is immediately attracted and ties his cow to a tree. Ye finds a piece of sticky mud, and sits in front of the temple to imitate the old man. The old man is a famous local artisan; finding Ye very intelligent and fond of learning, he decides to take the child as his apprentice, and teaches him about the circular carving, clay sculpture, dyeing, gilding (gold plating) and relief.

The boy learns very fast, and a year later masters these skills. One day, while Ye is sculpting some Taoism figures, the Taoist in the temple finds a branch of boxwood and asks him to carve a hairpin. While carving the boxwood, Ye finds the nature of the wood very hard, the grains very exquisite, and the color and luster very outstanding. He deems it a very good raw material to make woodcarving, and conceives boxwood carving, a very rare and precious genre of folk art forms in China.

Introduction to boxwood

As a very precious and rare form of wood, Chinese littleleaf boxwood usually grows in virgin forests, high mountains, or precipices. The plant blossoms in winter, and seeds in spring. A saying goes that "A thousand-year-old boxwood would not be enough to make a pat", which vividly describes its slow growth. Generally speaking, a boxwood plant between the ages of 40 and 50 has a diameter of only 15 centimeters.

Boxwood was used to produce wording boards even before Homer (a classical poet in Greece during the Bronze Age from 2500 to 750BC). Seven boxwood carving masterpieces sculpted between 1736 and 1795 were collected in Beijing's Imperial Palace.

Masterpiece: Liu Hai Playing with the Golden Toad

The work of "Liu Hai Playing with the Golden Toad" was carved in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Royal households and high officials collected most of the boxwood carvings dating from ancient times; only a fraction was placed in the temples. The small figure carvings, especially those exceeding 20 centimeters in height, are very rare today.

Liu Hai is a legendary Taoist sage who sprinkles money and brings fortune to the people. The image of Liu Hai playing with the golden toad usually appears in folk paintings during the lunar New Year. Thus the figure is deemed as an auspicious symbol and is deeply loved by the people.

"Liu Hai Playing with the Golden Toad" is 24 centimeters tall, with a baseboard that is 15 centimeters in diameter. The whole work is dark yellow, yet bright and lovely. The main figure, bare-footed Liu Hai, carrying a golden toad on his back, is leaning a bit forward and is about to take another step. Liu Hai's complexion is very vivid and delicately carved: His eyes and eyebrows look very kind, the wings of his nose are plump, and the lines of his lips are also very clear.

Liu's body is slim with distinctive ribs though the clothes are loose. However, the man still looks relaxed with his elegant poise and sagely features. The ancient sculptor has put life into the woodcarving with his adept skills, leaving behind a Taoist sage who always seems to be moving.

Author: Jeff