Brick carving (brick carving of Shanxi folk houses)

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

Applicant: Qingxu County, Shanxi Province

Project No.: 337

Project No.: Ⅶ - 38

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Shanxi Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Qingxu County, Shanxi Province

Protection unit: yaowangbao kiln brick carving arts and crafts factory of Qingxu County

Introduction to brick carving (brick carving of Shanxi folk houses)

Applicant: Qingxu County, Shanxi Province

Qingxu County is located in the south of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, where Fenhe River and Xiaohe River pass through. The high quality and rich soil deposited is the best raw material for brick carving. As early as before the Xia and Shang Dynasties, Xu Xianmin of the Qing Dynasty had mastered the art of pottery making.

From the bricks and tiles of many temples in the Sui, Tang, song and Yuan Dynasties preserved in Qingxu, we can see the carving traces, which shows that the brick carving technique of Qingxu in Shanxi Province was mature at that time. During the two hundred years from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, with the rise of Shanxi merchants, the construction of residential buildings in villages and communities in Qingxu became popular, and the market demand for brick carving crafts such as ridge collar, shadow wall and flower wall gatehouse was very large. By the middle and late Qing Dynasty, there was a small brick kiln in an average of four villages in Qingxu. Each kiln could produce brick carvings commonly known as "HuaHuo". Up to now, there are still many Qingxu brick carvings in the world.

The materials used for brick carving in Qingxu folk houses are of good quality, durable, various production techniques, complicated routines, fine painting and unique knife work. The brick carvings in the early Ming Dynasty inherited the style of the Qin and Han Dynasties. They were simple and rough, with more flat lines, less changes in the image of the characters, and more simple pictures. Later, it gradually developed into the current artistic style. The lines are concise and straight, vigorous and extensive, which makes it childish and simple. The whole work is mainly made of relief and shallow round carvings. With the help of line carving, the composition lacks perspective change, emphasizes symmetry, and is full of decorative interest.

Brick carvings in Qingxu dwellings in Shanxi Province have a strong flavor of folk culture. They are close to people's life and express people's concern for the value of life, their expectation for the prosperity of the family, their yearning for a rich life and their pursuit of a certain social status in a simple and straightforward artistic language. The style evolution of brick carving in Qingxu folk houses reflects the development and change of Han culture to a certain extent, and provides first-hand image data for the study of history and culture.

In Qingxu, the inheritance of brick carving is clear and orderly. After 1928, with the continuous demolition of Qingxu temple, the brick carving market became weaker and weaker, and brick carving owners closed their kilns one after another. Although the brick carvings in Wangbao of xuyao kiln in Qing Dynasty persisted in firing, they were closed in the autumn of 2002 for various reasons. The inheritance of brick carvings in Qingxu dwellings is hindered and they are on the verge of extinction. If they are not rescued in time, they are likely to die out completely in a short time.