Stone carving (Anyue stone carving)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: stone carving (Anyue stone carving)

Applicant: Anyue County, Sichuan Province

Project No.: 832

Project No.: Ⅶ - 56

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Sichuan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Anyue County, Sichuan Province

Protection unit: Anyue County Cultural Center

Introduction to stone carving (Anyue stone carving)

Applicant: Anyue County, Sichuan Province

Stone carving, also known as "stone carving", is a traditional hand carving technique with stone as raw material. China's stone carving art has a long history. It has been carried on for thousands of years and has been handed down to the present day. It shows the exquisite technology, ingenious conception and abundant creativity of traditional folk crafts. Stone carving is usually created on natural stone materials such as marble, granite, bluestone and sandstone. In this process, a series of skilled folk carving techniques such as round carving, relief carving, openwork carving and line carving are used. Because these stone materials are natural and can be preserved for a long time, stone carving techniques are mostly used to make large-scale sculptures and decorative sculptures. According to the use, stone carving products can be divided into three categories: first, building components and decorations, such as platform base, memorial archway, stone lion, etc.; second, god Buddha statues, such as the statues of Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi Province and Longmen Grottoes in Henan Province; third, daily necessities, such as desk ornaments and inkstones, which can be appreciated and used. Traditional stone carving used axes, hammers and chisels as tools. In modern times, some more advanced tools such as glycerine powder and simple machinery were used. With the development of society, the stone carving technology is improving day by day. As a unique commodity, the related products are widely circulated in the market and have unique artistic charm.

Anyue stone carving is a traditional carving art in Anyue area of Sichuan Province. Anyue has a long history and is famous for its cliff sculptures. The local cliff statues began in the northern and Southern Dynasties and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties. They are mainly Buddhist statues, but also Taoist statues. There are more than 500 ancient stone carvings and more than 100000 statues in the territory. Anyue stone carvings inherit and carry forward the artistic tradition of ancient cliff carvings. It has round carvings, tower carvings, wall carvings, tablet carvings and other technical forms. The carvings are exquisite, skillful and ingenious. The figures are vivid and full of interest, showing the superb level of technology.