Linxia brick carving

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Linxia brick carving

Applicant: Linxia County, Gansu Province

Project No.: 337

Project No.: Ⅶ - 38

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Gansu Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Linxia County, Gansu Province

Protection unit: Linxia County Cultural Center

Linxia brick carving

Applicant: Linxia County, Gansu Province

Linxia County of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture is located in the middle and southwest of Gansu Province. It is the only way from the Central Plains to Qinghai, Tibet and Sichuan since ancient times. It is part of the world-famous silk road. Han, Hui, Tibetan, Dongxiang, salar, Baoan, Tu and other nationalities live here, forming a unique and colorful folk culture.

Linxia brick carving is a traditional architectural decoration carving in Linxia county. The brick carvings unearthed from the tomb of Wang Ji in the 15th year of Dading in the Jin Dynasty are made of green bricks from Earth kilns. It can be concluded that the Linxia brick carvings originated from the Qin and Han Dynasties and are an extension of the folk woodcarving techniques at that time. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the prosperous period of Linxia brick carving, which was once neglected after 1949 and revived in the past 20 years. Brick carvings are mainly used to decorate temples, temples, temples, nunneries and deep houses in folk houses. They are generally used in patio, gable, screen wall, gallery wall, Danlong, steps, sill, Longtou, xumizuo, roof and other places. The carvings can be divided into natural scenery, social life and decorative patterns with national characteristics. In the process of development, Linxia brick carving absorbed the techniques of wood carving, stone carving, jade carving and other carving arts. At the same time, it integrated the artistic expression forms of traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy, seal and poetry with brick carving techniques, forming a pluralistic artistic feature. It not only retains the simplicity and simplicity presented by the unique materials, but also presents a variety of artistic features.

Linxia brick carving technology is mainly divided into two kinds: kneading carving and carving carving. This method is often used to make ridge animals, sets of animals, bottles, etc.; it is often used to carve on clay kiln tiles with knives, and it is often used in wall decorations and steps of buildings. The carving process includes eight procedures: grinding, composition, carving, fine grinding, water passing, numbering, splicing and installation, and decoration. The production tools include folding rule, saw, plane, shovel, chisel, and cutter. The shovel, chisel, and cutter can be divided into several types according to the process requirements, such as weight, size, length, width and thickness of the cutting edge. Its carving techniques mainly include Yin line carving, concave line carving, convex line carving, low relief carving, high relief carving, hollow through carving and so on. Now the main inheritors of Linxia brick carving are Zhou Jingde and Zhan Xueren.

At present, the traditional brick carving technology has lost the market, many practitioners lack of traditional brick carving technology and basic artistic quality, brick carving technology has serious "dating" phenomenon, and the modern production line mode of segmented production will also lead to the disunity of brick carving style, lack of personality performance and vivid charm. In this situation, it is necessary to take specific measures to rescue and protect the traditional skills of Linxia brick carving.