Haixing root carving
The root carving art circulating in the Haixing area is all-encompassing, mainly root carving, wood carving, circular carving and tree gall carving, with a beautiful and vivid and natural shape, which has a history of 200 years. In 2019, Haixinggen carving was included in the provincial intangible cultural heritage list.
As the saying goes: "Rotten wood cannot be carved". However, in the hearts of root carvers, decaying wood can not only be carved, but also turn decay into magic.
A section of dead tree trunks and a section of old tree roots, after their careful speculation and skillful hand carving, faded the roughness of the surface and became a unique root carving artwork.
The art of root carving, which turns decay into magic, has been circulating in Haixing County for about 200 years.
"Dragon Watch"
Three points of knife work Seven points of heaven
"Click, click, click"... In Dalianghu Village, Suji Town, Haixing County, looking for the rhythmic tapping of tree trunks, entered a small courtyard of elegant and chic farmhouses. This is the residence of Sun Baokun, the representative inheritor of the Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Haixing Root Carving, and it is also where he works.
The 70-year-old Sun Baokun is not good at words, and his old partner Lu Shuming has been intoxicated in a world far away from the hustle and bustle for many years, fiddling with root carvings, and immersing himself in calligraphy and painting creation...
Entering the workshop, a large root sculpture with a height of 2.6 meters and a diameter of 80 centimeters, "Julong Watch", stands out and makes people shine. In the work, the 9 curved dragons loom in the clouds and waters, which are really imposing and lifelike.
Sun Baokun said: "This work took three and a half years to complete. At that time, a friend recommended this thousand-year-old jujube trunk. After it was shipped home, I conceived it for a long time before I began to carve. Someone once bid 1 million yuan for this work, but I refused. Looking at it every day is like seeing your own child, I can't help it! ”
In Sun Baokun's painting room, a mellow wood fragrance wafted through his nose. The carvings are on display, including galloping horses, funny and cute monkeys, crocodiles creeping forward, lifelike lions, and vivid figures, flowers, birds, insects and fish, and landscape shapes... Each piece of work is formed according to the situation, vivid and vivid image.
The raw materials of these works, which were originally useless waste roots, were once again reborn in the hands of this simple and unpretentious farmer, and became admirable and collectible works of art.
"This root carving, unlike other carving arts, has no drawings and fixed patterns. After I get the root of the tree, I must first respect its original form, think about it repeatedly, and then start to create it after conceiving it. Through my thoughts and hands, some useless wood is removed from the roots of the tree and the essence is preserved. Sun Baokun said, "Therefore, people often say that tree root carving pays attention to the use of the natural form of the root, relying on 'three points of knife work, seven points of natural success'." ”
After years of dedicated creation, Sun Baokun created root carving works such as "Fish Fun", "After Late Return", "Unloading Donkey and Rolling", "Guanyin Attending the Meeting", "Chi Deer" and so on. These works are made from jujube roots, locust roots, peach roots, elm roots and thorn roots, etc., to achieve a subtle, vivid and natural artistic effect.
Sun Baokun
Originated from the Dong Pai and prospered by the sea
In the Ming Dynasty scholar Xie Zhaochun's "Five Miscellaneous Tricks", there is a description of "using dead wood roots as a Zen chair". In Wen Zhenheng's "Chronicle of Long Things", there are also records that "the tendai vine is used, or the root of the wood tree, such as the dragon knot is bloated, the teeth are four out, the scoop and the number of beads and bottles and other utensils can be hung, and it must be smooth as jade, and it is better not to show the axe".
Sun Baokun said: "In the Ming Dynasty, a large number of root carving masters emerged in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, and successively created works of practicality and artistry such as root carving double chair, jade linglong qilin and phoenix. Today, Haixing is famous for its jujube and rattan root carvings. ”
In the Qing Dynasty, the creation of root carving art was more prosperous, and many famous root carving artists and root carving art works appeared. Pu Songling, the author of "Liaozhai Zhiyi", once created a low-case artwork with tree roots, and Kong Yuxi, the Duke of Kongfu, paid tribute to the Qing court with root carvings such as ruyi and shou cane.
"In the Qing Dynasty, Two wood carving artists in Tianjin, Dong Hongxing and Dong Hongda, were my teachers. Haixing root carvings were also passed down from there. Sun Baokun said, "Because of the development and evolution of Dong's carving technology in Tianjin, Haixinggen carving works still retain the characteristics of delicate stylus, simple and elegant, and exquisite and transparent." ”
Fish Fun
In the third year of Qing Daoguang, a workshop specializing in jujube carving supplies appeared in Tianjin, mainly dong Hongxing and Dong Hongda brothers. They began to carve simple wooden items such as mirror frames, bellows, and canes. With the continuous expansion of the business, the Dong brothers began to innovate in wooden craftsmanship, carving forms and composition styles while recruiting apprentices to pass on the art, and gradually formed their own characteristics, which was known as "Dong's carving style" in Tianjin at that time.
Later, the Dong brothers passed on the art to their children Dong Hailong and Dong Haiwang. The two broadened their thinking and were able to undertake the more difficult Taishi chair carving, dresser carving phoenix, eight immortal table carving dragon and other processing and carving techniques, and the carving style has reached more than 40 kinds.
"Twenty-one years after the Qing Dynasty, Li Zhihe of Zhao GaoCun, a small mountain in Haixing, went to The Dong's Carving Workshop in Tianjin to learn the art and began to learn carving techniques. Li Zhihe studied private school for two years, was very fond of the art of carving, coupled with high understanding and hard work, and became the main force of Dong's carving workshop in less than two years. Five years later, because his old mother was in poor health, he bid farewell to the Dong brothers and went home to take care of his parents. As a third-generation heir, Li Zhihe brought this skill back to Haixing. In the introduction of Li Zhixing, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center of Haixing County Cultural Center, the historical context of Haixinggen carving art has gradually become clear.
Li Zhixing said: "In 1901, after Li Zhihe introduced the root carving technique to Haixing, it was passed down by the Li family for three generations, and in 1972, by the fifth generation of heirs Li Wenzheng to his nephew Sun Baokun. Sun Baokun is the sixth generation. Sun Baokun passed on the art to his son Sun Jianye. At this point, Sun Jianye became the seventh generation of Haixinggen carving art. ”
"Bohai Lion"
One by one, chanting affection
In Haixing County, the art of root carving has been passed down for more than 100 years and is also widely popular in nearby counties and cities. In addition to Sun Baokun, a number of outstanding folk root carving artists such as Hou Xiushan and An Yuntao have emerged.
Hou Xiushan and An Yuntao are both natives of Haixing, and have been influenced by the local environment since childhood and have a special love for root carving. Although they all have their own jobs, in their spare time, they are devoted to the art of root carving, and have created hundreds of works in the past ten years. Today, they are the county-level inheritors of Haixinggendiao.
"There is a lot of emphasis in making root carvings, mainly in inspiration and discovery. To find good raw materials, we must first form a composition map in the brain, sometimes inspiration is not immediately available, inspiration comes immediately interception, peeling, carving, this process can not be sloppy. Hou Xiushan said.
Hou Xiushan (left) and An Yuntao discuss the work
"From the root of the tree to the root carving is both simple and complex – so simple that it is close to a finished product when it is cut out of the soil, so complex that it is placed there for many days and still does not know how to start. Doing root carving on the surface relies on imagination, but in fact it depends on the state of mind, and you must be able to read and understand the story of each root knot in order to make root carving with rich connotation and vitality. "When it comes to the art of root carving, An Yuntao is like a family treasure.
Since its development, in addition to jujube trees, locust trees, peach trees and thorns, the raw materials of Haixing root carving art also include tsubaki roots, almond roots and pomegranate roots. Haixing root carving works are divided into categories, including root shapes, root stickers, root art flower stands, root art bonsai and root art crutches.
"The charm of root carving is that with the root of the tree as the creative object, through the conception of intention, the root carving process of various forms is presented. Haixinggen carving art is also an extension of Bohai culture, and we are very grateful for the attention and support of governments at all levels and all sectors of society. I will often take advantage of the opportunity to participate in activities and teaching to pass on my skills to more young people who are willing to learn, so that this ancient cultural heritage can be better passed on and developed. Sun Baokun expressed such a voice.