Boxwooden
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.
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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 .
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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
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.
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