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Bamboo carving tradition flourishes
By Gu Xianhui |
December 27, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BAMBOO carving is a traditional Chinese art that's still going strong in Jiading. Craftsmen turn out sometimes exquisite artworks as well as everyday household items.
Their craft has been passed down through generations. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a local family surnamed Zhu produced three master bamboo carvers. They developed a style all their own, starting the bamboo-carving artistry of Jiading.
By the time Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) sat on the throne, a whole host of different bamboo carving schools had sprung up.
Those who follow the trade say that Jiading has produced more than 130 great practitioners of the art, giving the city a reputation as "the home of bamboo carving."
Many bamboo artworks from Jiading are in the collections of Chinese and foreign museums and art aficionados.
Bamboo carving calls for superb skills and poetic imagination.
The Jiading Museum boasts many bamboo carvings, including an incense burner, featuring the patterns of auspicious animals. Although only over 10 centimeters long, the Qing Dynasty piece is considered as a level-one state relic (there are three levels, level-one is the highest).
The burner has a round mouth and a slim body. Its two ends are covered with rosewood caps. The top is decorated with lotus flowers and camellia blossoms, while the bottom is covered with peonies and plum blossoms.
Auspicious animals, including a dragon, a phoenix, a capricorn and a lion, feature on the overwork carving.
The tools of bamboo carving are simple, belying the difficulty of the art. Only a special knife and a piece of bamboo are required. However, the craftsmanship involved harks to those other great expressions of Chinese art: calligraphy, painting and poetry.
Bamboo carvings utilize bamboo tubes and slices, depending on the shape the craftsman wants to attain. Sometimes bamboo roots are used to create human figures, landscapes, plants or animals.
Their craft has been passed down through generations. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a local family surnamed Zhu produced three master bamboo carvers. They developed a style all their own, starting the bamboo-carving artistry of Jiading.
By the time Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) sat on the throne, a whole host of different bamboo carving schools had sprung up.
Those who follow the trade say that Jiading has produced more than 130 great practitioners of the art, giving the city a reputation as "the home of bamboo carving."
Many bamboo artworks from Jiading are in the collections of Chinese and foreign museums and art aficionados.
Bamboo carving calls for superb skills and poetic imagination.
The Jiading Museum boasts many bamboo carvings, including an incense burner, featuring the patterns of auspicious animals. Although only over 10 centimeters long, the Qing Dynasty piece is considered as a level-one state relic (there are three levels, level-one is the highest).
The burner has a round mouth and a slim body. Its two ends are covered with rosewood caps. The top is decorated with lotus flowers and camellia blossoms, while the bottom is covered with peonies and plum blossoms.
Auspicious animals, including a dragon, a phoenix, a capricorn and a lion, feature on the overwork carving.
The tools of bamboo carving are simple, belying the difficulty of the art. Only a special knife and a piece of bamboo are required. However, the craftsmanship involved harks to those other great expressions of Chinese art: calligraphy, painting and poetry.
Bamboo carvings utilize bamboo tubes and slices, depending on the shape the craftsman wants to attain. Sometimes bamboo roots are used to create human figures, landscapes, plants or animals.
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