Lime sculpture, also known as "gray sculpture" or "gray batch", is a craft of using lime to sculpt and shape buildings. It is one of the architectural decorative arts. Lime sculpture appeared very early, and was most popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The existing archway of Junma Liangci in the sixth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1511) is an early example of the combination of lime sculpture and brick carving decoration. The contents of Tongxiang gray sculpture are mostly landscapes, flowers, figures, calligraphy, myths and opera stories, and also dragons, phoenixes, peacocks, tigers, lions and unicorns. The techniques include multi-layer three-dimensional gray sculpture, relief gray sculpture, and round-carved single gray sculpture. Tongxiang gray sculpture is mainly used for roof decoration of temples and garden buildings. Its works are unique, large in size and long in span. For example, the "biting ridge dragon head" is nearly 2 meters high and dozens of meters long, spanning the entire ridge of the main hall, which requires the overall shape of the work to be accurate and the proportions to be coordinated. In addition, Tongxiang gray sculpture works pay more attention to symmetry, which restricts the randomness of production and increases the difficulty of production. The production process of Tongxiang lime sculpture is roughly the same as the process of general lime sculpture, which can be summarized as follows: first, mix ordinary slaked lime and purple gold (bamboo and rice straw fibers), then put it in a stone mortar and beat it until it is tough and set aside; use wood to fix the main frame according to the shape of the sculpture, use steel bars to tie the basic outline, and then gradually pile up the beaten lime to complete the initial blank; use tooth feet to press the surface of the sculpture firmly and smoothly, and outline the lines and patterns; after applying paint, the whole sculpture is completed. The process requirements of lime sculpture are very high, and the key technology is the use of tooth feet. The tooth foot is the main tool for lime sculpture. It is made of ordinary boxwood branches. In addition to pressing the surface of the rough blank firmly and smoothly, it also uses methods such as picking, scratching, carving, and pressing to carefully outline the charm, dynamics, patterns, and patterns of the figures and animals being sculpted. The folk artist engaged in Tongxiang lime sculpture is mainly Shen Hualiang (born in 1945), from Sujibang Village, Gaoqiao Town, Tongxiang City. When he was young, he studied as a bricklayer under his uncle Shen Si'an. In 1978, he went to Suzhou Ancient Architecture Company to work for four years and participated in the renovation of Suzhou ancient buildings. During this period, he learned lime sculpture. After years of research and practice, Shen Hualiang's sculpture technology has become more and more mature. The lime sculptures he made, such as "Double Dragons Fighting for a Pearl", "Eighteen Arhats", "Twelve Zodiac Signs", "Tile General", "Biting the Ridge Dragon Head", etc., are first-class in shape, expression and color. Most of the large lime sculptures of temples and ancient buildings such as Tongfu Fuyan Temple, Gaoqiao Yanjiao Temple, Chongfu Confucius Temple, Puyuan Xianghai Temple, Wuzhen Shifo Temple, and Tudian Jizhao Temple were made by him. Now, Shen Hualiang has five apprentices, one of whom can make lime sculptures independently, so that this folk craft can be passed down in Tongxiang. Tongxiang lime sculpture has been included in the third batch of Zhejiang Province's intangible cultural heritage list. Information source: Jiaxing Library Information source: Jiaxing Library