The Historical Origin of Bamboo Crafts from Bamboo Products

Original bamboo carving

The art of bamboo carving in our country goes back to ancient times. Our academic and archeological communities have always believed that before the invention of ink and paper pens, the ancestors had learned to use a knife to write notes on the columns. This most primitive bamboo carving should precede Oracle. Because, Oracle has already had three elements of calligraphy art, and the so-called bamboo note, the first moment is only the symbol. In ancient times, there was no growth of bamboo in the Central Plains and northern regions of China. Therefore, animal bones were used to engrave them. In the south, bamboo was produced and symbols or words were engraved on bamboo. However, bamboo canisters are difficult to keep, not comparable to animal bones. Therefore, after a long period of time, we have the privilege of seeing the Oracle relics of the Shang Dynasty era, but it is very difficult to see the bamboo carving works of the time. However, according to records in ancient literature, the source of Chinese bamboo carving art appeared as early as before the Shang dynasty. This is beyond any doubt.

In addition, in ancient times, our country began to use bamboo to manufacture production and living utensils. Because of the beauty of nature, the decoration of bamboo products is no different from that of carved jade, stone, bone, and woodware. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are found bamboo ornaments in primitive social sites. However, bamboo is easily damaged and it is difficult to preserve it so far.

Pre-Qin bamboo carving

As a formal work, bamboo carving has already formed in the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to the records of Han Dynasty Dai Sheng's "Etiquette and Yuzao," the monk (also known as the hand board) held by the Western Zhou Dynasty officials during the monarchy of the Western Zhou Dynasty was made of bamboo pieces. "Everything has a finger and paints before the king and uses it. It was built before the king." , then the book is in the book." Only the official position is different, and the material of the eaves is also different. "The emperor uses the ball jade, the princes like the elephant (tooth), the doctor uses the fish to compose the bamboo, the bamboo, and the wooden elephant." The scholars held by the scholar-bureau are all bamboo long and narrow boards. This kind of enamel is also engraved with some decorative patterns. Although it is still not a kind of handicraft, it reflects that people used the bamboo in the pre-Qin period and can cut it. Make or cut some simple finished products. Bamboo slips are also present at almost the same time. In archeological excavations, bamboo slips of this kind of words are frequently found, such as "The Art of War" and bamboo slips that describe medical prescriptions. In addition, bamboo fans, bamboo pens, bamboo rods, bamboo baskets, bamboo mats, bamboo boxes, etc. are also available.

During the Warring States period, lacquer ware was in full swing and lacquer carving art flourished. In lacquer ware, a considerable portion of it was made of bamboo or bamboo, which was influenced by the lacquer carving art. Later, the manufacture of bamboo ware itself also began to be artistic. The beast-hoofed bamboo lacquer box unearthed in Hubei is a product of this artistic tendency. It was first carved into a round box with a hoof-like support and then painted. This carved bamboo box is the precious material for us to study the history of bamboo carving today.

Han Tang Tang

The bamboo carvings of the Han and Tang dynasties are now seen in earlier artifacts. They are dragon-painted bamboo spoons carved out of the Western Han Dynasty tombs in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province. This embossed dragon pattern lacquer bamboo spoon, full-length 65 centimeters, takes bamboo as the tire, the device table black, red two-tone paint. Near the top of the spoon handle is red, embossing a black dragon, vivid and simple image. In the Jin Dynasty, bamboo pen holders appeared. According to ancient times, the bamboo pen holder used by the Eastern Jin Dynasty calligrapher Wang Xianzhi was very delicate. The vase of Wang Xianzhi resembles a bell in the shape of a bell—a round pot used to hold wine in ancient times. The surface of the bamboo utensils is spotted like a tanned skin, and Wang Xianzhi called it a “cuckoo clock,” but there is a certain truth. This also reflects the fact that the artificial carving process has not yet appeared on bamboo pen holders.

During the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, according to the introduction of "Nan Qishu Ming Lun Shao Zhuan Biography", Qi Gaodi Xiao Daocheng rewarded the then great hermit Ming Yu Shaosong with a bamboo root carving of "Yiwu Sunzi." The writer of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Geng Xin, wrote in the poem “Serving Zhao Wang Hui Wine”, “Wild donkey leaves, and cups holding bamboo roots”, and also mentions wine glasses made from bamboo roots. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, root carving art has appeared. The image of the bamboo carving process began in the Tang Dynasty, and the most famous one is a bamboo shakuhachi with a bird-and-flower motif. Shakuhachi is a vertical blown wind instrument. It was named after a pipe leader about eight feet in length. The bamboo shakuhachi of the Tang Dynasty in Japan, which is currently in the Japanese State House, is 43.6 centimeters long and 2.32 centimeters in size, and it is decorated in three sections. There are five pressure holes on the front and one on the back. This shakuhachi adopts the method of remaining green carving, Shiyinwen shallow carving, pressure holes around and up and down, there are patterns. The images of ladies, trees, flowers, birds and butterflies were distributed on the pipes, and the depictions were extremely delicate, with Tang style.

According to Guo Ruoxu's “Pictures and Reports”, during the Tang Dynasty, the Texas governor Wang Yijia had a brush and the bamboo pen was slightly thicker than the usual pen tube. Each end was half an inch apart, and the middle part was engraved with a supplement. Pavilions and clouds are all exquisite; every moment, "from the military line," two poems, such as 'the court before the Qishu has been worthy of the climb, the expulsion of foreigners who have not yet returned' is also, like non-human power, its paintings , Xiang Mingfang can be argued that the cloud is carved with rat teeth, so Cui Yi Lang's literary collection has 'Wang's pen management record', the body type Han retreat's mind painting."

From this we can see that the bamboo carvings of the Han and Tang dynasties were still in the early stages of art creation in the history of bamboo carving. Its characteristic is to pay attention to the appearance of the outside. Therefore, the root carvings were produced at that time, but the carvings on the surface of the table were basically Is still a single way of expression - line engraving.

Song Yuan Bamboo Carving

In Zhao Zhaozhen’s “Antique Guide,” she said: “The bamboo sculptors are carved with bamboo. The works are the same as those of calligraphy and painting, but they are written in ghostwriters and bamboo is used as the paper ear. Difficulties in painting and calligraphy are well known. Today, it is easy to use knives and bamboo. Difficulties are even more than paintings! Press, the ancients cut Jane for the book, rule bamboo for a long time as the director of the people, carved bamboo as a cultural relic, or ancient times also have a line of people, only to rule is not refined, for the nameless, is the past no past pass This phrase is mainly about the bamboo carvings before the Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, there were some major changes in the Chinese bamboo carvings, which were mainly reflected in two aspects. First, the Song Dynasty was the most advanced period in the history of ancient history. It has formed a large and culturally literate class of doctors. Their artistic aesthetic thoughts and requirements have driven the entire carving process including jade carving and bamboo carving. development of. At this time, bamboo is considered by the literati as a symbol of purity and integrity, often appearing in literary works of poetry and literature. The most famous one, such as Su Shi, “will rather eat without meat and must not be allowed to live without bamboo”. The poet's pastoral gardens are more diverse in their heart and grass, and the festival is made to be full of wood. It is precisely because bamboo has such a lofty status in the minds of literary people that bamboo carving techniques are highly valued. Second, bamboo carvings tend to be artistic. Bamboo carvings and bamboo carving artists are widely praised. According to the records of Tao Zongyi's “Zeng Nong Lu” in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhan Cheng, an entertainer of the Southern Song Dynasty, had carved bamboo bird cages on all four sides. All of them were carved in bamboo palaces, figures, landscapes, flowers and trees, and birds. Meticulous and exquisite activities." It can be seen that the art of bamboo carving is high and the works are exquisite. Therefore, Tao Zongyi could not help praising Zhan Cheng: "For more than two hundred years, no one will be allowed."

Ming and Qing dynasty bamboo carvings

Looking at the history of the development of Chinese bamboo carvings, we can see that the bamboo carving industry in the Song Dynasty has already appeared. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the art of bamboo carving reached its peak and there was a scene of blooming flowers. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the literati wrote bamboo, bamboo, bamboo, and carved bamboo. The cultural content of bamboo carvings also rose rapidly. At this time, the flourishing of cultural paintings has promoted the integration of bamboo carvings with paintings and sculptures, leading to the unprecedented development of bamboo carving art. According to Jin Yuanzhang's "Bamboo Manpower and General Cases" in the Qing Dynasty, at the time the bamboo art was "carved with two schools, beginning with Jinling (Nanjing) and Zhai Zhongqian, and beginning with Jiading (Wuxue) Zhu Songsong". As sculptors, Zhu Songlin, Qi Zhongqian, and others, are not limited to the use of bamboo on the arts, rhino horn, **, rosewood are also commonly used materials. The grasp of various materials' properties and various techniques makes their sculptures a godsend. As arts and crafts artists, they are also longer than calligraphy and seal seals, composition painting is omnipotent, and they have the qualities of literati painters. Therefore, their bamboo carving works are creative, full of scrimmage and lack of craftsmanship; they use the natural form of bamboo, cumbersome and simple, and bring out the essential characteristics and cultural meaning of bamboo. The work was accepted by the literati and passed on to the Chinese nation. Valuable artistic wealth.

According to historical records, the Jiading faction in the Ming Dynasty could be carved into landscapes, characters, pavilions, birds and beasts, shallow carvings, embossed carvings, and round carvings. The swordsmanship was exquisite and the art made a deep impression. Play a knife. Therefore, the prosperity of the Jiading bamboo carving art school continued until the middle of the Qing dynasty, with dozens of successors. The Jinling School of Bamboo Sculpture in the Ming Dynasty was distinguished by its root carvings and bamboo engravings. Compared with the gorgeous bamboo carving style of the Jiading School, it was simple and elegant. However, the Jinling faction is not prosperous, and it has been extended to the Qing Dynasty. There are few skilled craftsmen who can fully reflect the style.

In the early Qing Dynasty, Jiading sent bamboo carvings to flourish and reached its peak in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. During the Qianlong and Daoguang periods, Jinling School Pan Xifeng and Fang Zhujia were lightly esteemed and became the temple soldiers of the Qing Dynasty. In addition, Zhang Xihuang and Shang Xun’s stay-on-gravity technique, which is extremely documentary and also dry.

During the Kangxi and Qianlong years, the office was built with bamboo yellow carvings. The boxwood was used as a carcass, and the bamboo's endothelium was used to sculpt all kinds of ornamentation, affixed to the watch, and the name was “sticky yellow”. Later, Jiading, Huangyan, Shaoyang, Jiang'an, and Shanghang all produced. After the Qianlong period, the Office also created a fake bronze ware, bronze edifices and ornamentation. The handles and handles are particularly ingenious.

**After the war broke out, China gradually became a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society. Social turmoil, economic decline, and China's urban and rural handicrafts were severely damaged, which also led to the decline of bamboo carving art. The bamboo carving works of this period were mostly carved and shallow bas-reliefs. Techniques such as deep carving and round carving were rarely used, so they appeared to be single and shallow. Although the sculptors also have good painters, most people can only sculpt by others' imaginary drawings. There is no creativity and the level of works is small. Therefore, they lack artistic appeal, the screen is dull, and the method of writing is lack of elegant flowing. As a result, the art of bamboo carving with the temperament of the text quickly returned to the original works of artisans. This is the inevitable result of the years of calamity, depression and depression.

The remains of the early bamboo carvings were few, and most of them have been handed down to the Ming and Qing dynasties. They are generally simple and honest, full of composition, covered with bodies, and deep knife-workers. They often make deep-relief carvings or openwork carvings. The lines are vigorous and powerful, and the corners are angular. Varieties are mainly pen holders and incense sticks. In the early Qing dynasty, there were remnants of the Ming dynasty, but the performance techniques were more diverse, including shallow carvings, bas-reliefs, staying greens, and round sculptures. At the same time, the varieties expanded. Except for the pen holders and incense sticks, the arm rests, bamboo roots, animals, and rocks were provided. The production of exquisite and neat, delicate and elegant, and like Zhang Xihuang's stay in the green landscape pavilion, Deng Xiao's shallow carved characters, etc., are personal style characteristics are very distinctive works.