Wushan brick carving is a technique and art form of carving figures, landscapes, flowers and other patterns on polished green bricks, commonly known as "hard flower work". Due to the long history of brick carving skills, wide application, and the continuous inheritance of craftsmen over the generations, Wushan brick carving was included in the intangible cultural heritage protection list of Gansu Province in 2017.
Brick carving is a kind of main component of building decoration, temple, temple, view, nunnery and other religious buildings, antique buildings, halls, halls, offices and other public buildings and traditional residential buildings have its outstanding figure. Wushan is known as "no carving can not be a house", from the remains of ancient ruins can see the significance of brick carving in the life of people raised by water and soil, can be seen Wushan people thousands of years unchanged brick carving plot. The fragments of brick carving paintings at the Shitanping site, more than 4,000 years ago, tell the history of the creation of brick carving by ancient ancestors. The pottery house courtyard of the Han Dynasty exhibited in the Wushan County Museum can be said to be a microcosm of the life scene of the people at that time, the courtyard of the courtyard, the hall and the kitchen, the chicken and dog stove well, etc., are vivid and vivid, and the smell of fireworks is strong, so that people can peek into the warm and warm life of the ancestors of Wushan two thousand years ago, as well as the ideology of the Han Dynasty people "seeing death as life". The portrait bricks of the Han Dynasty unearthed from the tomb of Fanjiaping are simple and beautiful, simple and elegant, and very interesting. The brick carving "Twenty-four Filial Piety Pictures" of the Yuan Dynasty has simple and smooth lines, lifelike characters, and distinct themes. There are also Luomen West dry ping, Mali Yuan Zhongshan, Chengguan Zhujiaping and other tombs unearthed Song and Yuan Dynasty tomb brick carving, or for the historical story, or for the animal, flower, or for the life scene, there are "twenty-four filial piety" map, ploughing and hunting, travel and recreation, acrobatic performance, samurai flying and other content, the composition is exquisite, the craft is skillful, rich in life interest and artistic appeal, reflecting the social economy, culture and folk customs at that time, etc., embodies the wide application of brick carving as a good wish in life, It shows the maturity of brick carving skills and the wisdom of brick carving craftsmen.
Walking into the countryside of Wushan, whether it is the traditional houses with yellow walls and blue tiles, or the modern buildings renovated, you can always see the brick carving components appear in relatively fixed parts, the gatehouse, the door cover (door head), the wall, the courtyard gate, the wall, the temple ridge and the eight-character wall, etc., all have brick carving decoration, so that this ancient craft adapts to the development of the times, presents a derivative vitality, the integration of tradition and modernity, and gives people the nostalgia and beautiful yearning for life. Brick carving has gone through a thousand years of history, with the majesty and mystery of the temple, but also with a strong folk fireworks atmosphere, has become the main decorative material of modern buildings in Wushan, and still occupies an indispensable and important position in the folk house building.
Wushan brick carving intangible heritage inheritor Dang Jinhong introduced, brick carving to use selected green bricks, first polish the surface of the green bricks, and then use a carving knife to carve out a variety of patterns, a pattern needs more than a dozen or even dozens of green bricks spliced together. The brick carvings are best in pigeon color, and they make a crisp sound when they collide with each other. Before carving, the green bricks are soaked in water, and then the surface is smoothed, so that the texture of the bricks is delicate and pure, and there is no sand or coarse-grained impurities on the surface, which is suitable for fine carving, outlining the pattern. The production tools of Wushan brick carving mainly include folding rulers, saws, planers, shovels, chisels, carving knives, etc., among which shovels, chisels and carving knives are divided into several kinds of light and heavy, size, length, width and narrowness, thin and thick blades due to process requirements. The engraving process is mainly eight processes, such as grinding, composition, carving, fine grinding, watering, numbering, splicing installation, and decoration. Brick carving handicrafts mainly include piers, walls, shadow walls, brick murals, etc.
The first process of brick carving is "blank", that is, the craftsman to select the topic, conceive the pattern and make the image of the creative process, large-scale drawing generally takes a week or two to complete, and then by the old artist to the knife, according to the pattern theme and plot, arrange the picture, chisel, drill out of the outline of the picture. Drawing is a comprehensive embodiment of the wisdom and skills of craftsmen, not only to be familiar with traditional themes, combined with the architectural characteristics and the owner's interests and the actual composition of the family, but also to innovate the design, so that the picture is novel, the idea is beautiful, but also to be confident, with ease; The second process is "fine", also known as fine carving, which is to use the techniques of round carving, relief and high relief to show the artistic conception of the picture. A brick sculpture is usually composed of three or four layers of patterns, overlapping top and bottom, echoing inside and out. A group of brick carving integrates a variety of techniques, and combines the auspicious symbols of folk expression such as Fu Lu Shou Xi with the beautiful images of mountains, rivers, flowers and birds, auspicious clouds and beasts, etc., and skillfully combines them with calligraphy and painting, and absorbs wood carving, stone carving, jade carving and other carving techniques, forming a unique carving technique of Wushan brick carving.
Brick carving in the technique of carving and hollowing combined techniques, its carving techniques mainly include Yin line carving, concave line carving, convex line carving, bas-relief, high relief, hollow openwork and so on. The main part is carved in a round or semi-circular way, and the secondary parts and backings are treated in relief, which enhances the layering and three-dimensional sense of the brick carving image, as well as the artistry, aesthetics, perspective effect and ornamental effect of the whole work.
Wushan brick carving works are complex in content, the number is huge, the pattern is exquisite, mainly with folk auspicious symbols, mainly there are "double dragon playing pearls", "a hundred birds and a phoenix", "phoenix offering rui", "a group of immortals wishing longevity", "eight immortals across the sea", "Meilan bamboo chrysanthemum", "many sons and many blessings", "more than one year in a row", "pine crane prolonging the year", "deer and crane with spring", "wealth and peace", "qinqi calligraphy and painting", "Yutang wealth", etc., a large number of use of realism and romanticism combined with the technique of creation, formed a strong and bold regional style. The work is full of charm and pleasing to the eye.
In order to meet the needs of large-scale brick carving buildings, meet the architectural decoration needs of the masses, and reduce the cost of brick carving products, brick carving craftsmen first use green brick design to carve out the pattern, and then turn out the mold, and then use the mold and cement to "carve" a new type of "brick carving" products to meet the needs of different consumer groups, decorate civil buildings, and highlight the interests of the householders. It better carries the innovative display and creative development of this traditional skill in modern life.
Text: Ling Luyin
Video: Wang Zhengping