Wood carving (Macau statue carving)

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

Applicant: Macao Special Administrative Region

Item No.: 834

Project No.: Ⅶ - 58

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Macao

Type: new item

Applicant: Macao Special Administrative Region

Protection unit: wood carving of Dachang Buddha statue

Brief introduction of wood carving (sculpture of Macao god statue)

Applicant: Macao Special Administrative Region

Statue carving is a traditional carving art popular in Macao Special Administrative Region. It originated from the religious beliefs of local fishermen and other residents. Its development has gone through the process from simplicity to delicacy, from small to large, from monomer to assembly. Macao statue carving inherits the fine tradition of Chinese classical statue art, maintains the ancient painting including gold lacquer craft and Ningbo style, which can be called the mainstream of Jiangsu and Zhejiang statues. At the same time, it learns from the modeling factors and joining methods of Myanmar and other foreign statue art, and improves and innovates them. Macao statues are mainly made of wooden Buddha statues. The technological process includes material selection, design, carving, jointing, polishing, bottoming, coloring, gold paint, and gold foil. The statues can be divided into five types: Fishermen's belief statues, Taoist and folk belief statues, Buddha statues and shrines, residential decoration and public sculptures, and large-scale wooden Buddha statues. There are two statue carving shops in Macao Special Administrative Region, namely "Dachang Buddha carving wooden ware" and "Guangrong statue carving wooden ware". The former is also a local century old shop, which is undoubtedly representative in statue carving. The sculpture of Macao statues is a combination of traditional and modern techniques, with excellent materials, exquisite workmanship, rigorous modeling and gorgeous decoration, showing a high artistic level.