Buxus buxus is a small evergreen shrub with slow growth. As the saying goes, "it is difficult to plant boxwood in a thousand years." "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that "boxwood is difficult to grow, only one inch long at one year old, and it will retreat in case of leap". There are similar records in Yueqing county annals. In leap years, retrogression and shortening describe its growth retardation. Boxwood generally needs to grow for forty or fifty years before it can be used for carving. Most of this wood is only about 3~5 inches in diameter, which is suitable for carving small people for desk appreciation. Boxwood has tough texture, smooth surface, fine texture, moderate hardness and bright yellow color. Boxwood is finely carved and can be compared with ivory carving. Especially with the passage of time, the color changes from shallow to deep, giving people a simple, beautiful and unique feeling.
Boxwood carving, as a three-dimensional carving handicraft, appears alone in front of people's desks for people to enjoy. What can be obtained at present is the relics of the Yuan Dynasty. At present, the statue of boxwood carving's "Li Tie's Strange Face" in the Forbidden City is a work from the Yuan Dynasty to the second year of Zheng Zheng (AD 342), which has a history of more than 600 years. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, boxwood carvings have been discovered continuously. At present, "Sleeping Beauty", "Gourd Bottle", "Pen Container" and "People's Smoking Pot" collected by museums in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are all artistic treasures of this era.
Boxwood carving, Zhejiang, concentrated in Wenzhou and Yueqing, is the main producing area of boxwood carving, China. The basic process of boxwood carving is visual composition, blank making, rough carving, fine carving and waxing (or cleaning and painting). In order to carve larger works, splicing method is adopted, and group carving can also be carried out.
Zhu Zichang (1876— 1934), a famous Wenzhou folk carving master, inherited the traditional carving skills, combined with the characteristics of boxwood and used unique techniques to create many excellent works, which greatly promoted the development of boxwood carving. His Hide-and-Seek, Woods ·Xi· Tommy and The Bag Monk are all masterpieces with vivid images, rich expressions and exquisite simplicity. 1909, his work "The Buddhist monk in Jidian" won the first prize in Nanyang Persuasion Competition, and later generations praised his works for their smooth cutting, light clothing lines, vivid modeling and fresh and elegant characters. Wenzhou is located in the southeast coast, and its overseas transportation is very convenient. Since 1876, the Sino-British Yantai Treaty has been opened as a trading port, and foreign trade has been active. At that time, Wenzhou had set up an export handicraft purchasing bank with a large scale of operation. In addition, Yueqing, Yongjia, Xianju and other places are rich in boxwood resources, and the conditions for supply, production and sales are all available, and the development of boxwood carving has seen a new situation. Gradually formed a group of artists engaged in boxwood carving and an art school represented by Zhu Zichang.
Yueqing's arts and crafts have a long history, and there are many high-quality products, mainly including boxwood carving, fine line paper-cut, jade inlay, painted curtain, cross-flower, bamboo weaving, straw weaving, stone carving, jewelry dragon, etc. Among them, boxwood carving and fine line paper-cut are the most famous.
Boxwood carving, sandalwood carving, camphor wood carving, jujube wood carving, Li Tang wood carving, etc. , collectively known as wood carving. Among them, pushing boxwood carving is the most important. The boxwood carving in Wenzhou was founded in Song and Yuan Dynasties and prevailed in Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is also called "Three Carvings in Zhejiang" with Dongyang Wood Carving and Qingtian Stone Carving. Yueqing woodcarving has a complete range. On the basis of adhering to the tradition and maintaining the original style and charm of boxwood carving, we will make bold breakthroughs and bring forth the new. From "single carving" to "block carving" and "group carving", from ordinary "round carving" to "split carving" and "root carving", the skills are more exquisite and the works are more perfect.
Boxwood carving was founded in Yueqing, and boxwood carving figures are often decorated on the skeleton of folk Lantern Festival. The artist Ye Yuqing made the statue of the old gentleman in Taishang on the stage in the 20th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty (1840), which is the first boxwood carving handed down from generation to generation in modern Wenzhou. Later, Ye Jia's art was handed down from generation to generation. Zhu Zichang, an artist from Yongjia in the late Qing Dynasty, improved the boxwood carving technique and made it an independent desk work of art. His work "Buddhists on the River" won the prize in the first international competition in Nanyang in the year of Tong Yuan (1909). In the 4th year of the Republic of China (19 15), another work, Hide and Seek, won the second prize in Panama Expo. Since then, boxwood carving art has attracted people's attention, and the number of artists has also increased.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, boxwood carving developed rapidly and its skills were further improved. In addition to single-person three-dimensional round carving, patchwork carving and group carving techniques have been developed to skillfully combine traditional relief and round carving; The theme of the works has also been extended to modern figures, and many works have been exhibited at home and abroad.