Huangxian folk house carving skills
Compiled by Ma Mingrong Huangxian folk house carving technique is a combination of three carving techniques: brick carving, wood carving and stone carving. Brick carving technique originated in the Qin Dynasty and matured in the Song Dynasty; stone carving technique originated in the Northern Dynasties and was widely used in Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture; wood carving technique originated in the early Ming Dynasty and gradually matured in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, reaching its peak in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, those who were well-off would inevitably use Huangxian folk house carving technique to build houses, which was a symbol of wealth and style. Brick carving technique, commonly known as "hard flower work", is the process of making fine blue-gray bricks into architectural decorations through exquisite carving. The craftsmanship is divided into two types: "kneading work" and "carving work". "Nuihuo" means first making the processed clay mud into the required shape and pattern by hand or mold, and then putting it into the kiln for baking; "carving" means carving various patterns on the selected fired blue bricks with a carving knife through processes such as brick repair, lofting, blanking, fine, grinding, and repair. The pattern can be formed alone, or it can be spliced together by dozens of blue bricks. Wood carving skills are the process of drying the fine and tough wood that is not easy to deform with a low fire, and then making it into architectural decoration through processes such as sampling, lofting, blanking, grinding, oiling and painting. Stone carving skills are the process of making high-density, impurity-free, and intact stones into architectural decoration through processes such as drafting, roughing, roughing, digging out, and fine. The themes of Huangxian folk house carvings are very rich, including the meanings of blessing, longevity, announcing good news, auspiciousness, and moral education. When building houses, on the basis of respecting the traditional tile and stone construction method, the ancient culture, rituals, aesthetics, folk customs and other elements are fully integrated, and the carving techniques are widely used. The carving techniques are delicate and complicated, and the buildings are exquisite, staggered, well-organized, and lifelike, with high artistic value. The repair of many ancient architectural cultural relics protection units mostly uses the Huangxian folk house carving techniques for restoration and protection, and the application range is relatively wide. The Huangxian folk house carving techniques are an excellent part of my country's architectural art, with significant regional characteristics, and are of great value for studying the history of Jiaodong architecture and folk customs.