Chapter 525 Wood Carving Immortal Tree (II)

In 2014, at the Dongyang Wood Carving and Bamboo Weaving Craft Expo in China, a set of 22 pieces of Huanghuali wood furniture attracted attention at the Dongyang International Convention and Exhibition Center in Zhejiang, with a price tag of 500 million yuan. Known as the world's first yellow Huanghuali home. According to a merchant from Shanghai, this set of furniture is a 22-piece set, which is made of a yellow pear log that weighs about four tons and is more than 1,000 years old. It took years of engraving by the entire company team. The reason for its sky-high price is not only the large size, but also the highlight of such a thing, which is sold and gone, which is a rare treasure. The merchant claimed that the furniture has the reputation of the treasure of the town in Dongyang, and it is only exhibited and not sold. And the one in front of us, I am afraid that the size and quality of the year are more high-quality. I said.

"My mother, those things are very valuable, but this thing is too big to take away, how about we transport a branch?" Dazhe said.

"The object engraved by the SLR will inevitably lose its original value once it is damaged." I say.

"But this thing is just wood, how can it be so valuable." Yun Xian asked.

"Wood carving is carved from various woods and tree roots, which is an important category in traditional carving techniques. The history of wood carving is very long, there are wood carving fish unearthed in the Hemudu cultural site in Yuyao, Zhejiang, which is the earliest physical object in the history of wood carving in China. The wood carving town wood beast unearthed from the Warring States Tomb in Xinyang, Henan, and the colorful carved wood maid unearthed from the Yunmeng Han Tomb in Hubei are all early wood carving works in China. Due to the difficulty of preservation, it is difficult to see wood carvings that are more than 1,000 years old. During the Song and Song dynasties, wood carvings were more common, and wood carvings at this time were made using finely organized wood as the carrier. This is conducive to the transmission of wood carving works. Some temples in our country still have wood carvings from the Song Dynasty.

During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, due to the rapid development of overseas trade, the variety of timber increased. Many hardwood imported from overseas is the wood carving process that has developed considerably. I said.

"Wood carving has a long history. It is a very valuable historical reference. The Ming and Qing dynasties were a glorious period of woodcarving art, and a large number of famous artists, artists and their works with history emerged, which was a peak of ancient woodcarving art. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, due to the corruption of the government, the decline of national strength, and the invasion of foreign powers, the people did not survive, and the art of wood carving declined since then, and famous artists could only be reduced to craftsmen to make a living. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, under the care of the party and the state, folk crafts have been protected and excavated. Wood carving has also regained its vitality, and a number of national masters have emerged. Their works, exquisite craftsmanship, adhering to tradition, far-reaching ideas, eulogizing the times, reflect the masters based on tradition, determined to innovate, directly express the mind of rebirth and serve the country. The affection of knowing the grace of encounter. ”

"In the modern country's reform and opening up, the economy has taken off, the country has become rich and the people are strong, and the party and the state have vigorously supported folk crafts. It arouses the people's love and pursuit of traditional arts and crafts. In this prosperous era, folk arts and crafts have a new leap, and wood carving art is no exception. Let's face the facts. In the national exhibition of handicrafts, the authors of excellent works are older. There are very few young authors. As time passed, a serious problem lay ahead. How to stimulate young people's interest in making folk crafts. How to train qualified successors so that there will be no successors to the cause of folk art is a task that is not an attempt to study in addition to normal artistic creation. How to effectively protect folk art and inherit traditional folk culture has become a common issue faced by the government, scholars and artists. As a successful artist, he should be a good person to spread the word of influence while becoming famous. It can be changed to change the form of inheritance in the past, folk crafts are mostly made and operated by individual families, and there is no very reliable guarantee in terms of economic resources and sales of works. In particular, there are more difficulties and problems in continuation, continuation, inheritance and development. If there is no suitable and ideal family heir, and the society does not pay attention to and support it, many folk art treasures may be broken in our generation. This urgently requires us to carry out cultural rescue so that these precious works of art and art forms can be preserved. However, the difficulty encountered is that due to the high development of machine building, time-consuming manual work is increasingly being squeezed. For example, a simple wood carving takes several days to take a very common thing, while it only takes tens of minutes with a machine. For the same work, due to the large difference in cost and price, the share of handmade products in the market is getting smaller and smaller. Secondly, it is precisely because the profit margin squeezes out the living space of folk handicrafts, and under the pressure of low cost, shoddy handmade wood carvings abound. Handmade wood carving has gradually lost its inherent cultural value and is increasingly on the margins of social culture. In order for wood carvings to gain a foothold in the market, it is necessary to produce excellent works of art that cannot be manufactured in large quantities, which requires the high skill of the author himself. However, mastering comprehensive and solid skills is by no means a day's work, and many art masters hope to find good disciples to pass on their crafts and carry them forward, but there are not many young people who are interested in folk crafts. No matter what kind of craft category, the author is required to be very passionate about the craft itself, to concentrate, willing to use his brain, to endure loneliness, and to resist the temptation of the outside world. Exhibitions of works are held regularly in the society, so that the masses, especially young people, have a deep perceptual understanding of traditional art, from love to yearning, and devote themselves to it, and gradually deepen. There is a saying that things are vaguely precious, so it seems that handmade wood carving has become more precious. I explained.

"I don't think it's right." Yun Ximing suddenly said, "Come over and take a look, there seems to be something wrong with this tree. ”

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I saw the leaves of this tree drop on the ground just now, not like they were arranged in advance, but like the tree will lose its leaves on its own, and the buds on this tree, how do I feel that they have become a little bigger than before." Yun Ximing said.

"Is this tree alive?" Dazhe asked.

"Of course not, I think there may be an organic bracket in this tree." Yun Ximing said.

"What is the machine?" Dazhe asked.

"The machine is the organ." Yun Ximing said.

"Why do wood carvings still have mechanisms?" Dazhe asked.

"Wuhan wood carving boat, this craft is a bit like Wuhan's wood carving boat." I said, "Wuhan wood carving boat is a very unique art variety in China's wood carving process. Works of engraving art, it has a history of more than two thousand years. The reason why the craftsmanship of Wuhan wood carving ship can reach the point of transcendence is closely related to the geographical environment where Wuhan is located and the development of Hubei's shipbuilding industry. There are many kinds of wood carving boats in Hubei, such as wooden sailing boats, ancient boats, war boats, painting boats, dragon boats, phoenix boats, color boats, etc. Wuhan wood carving ships are made of cypress, boxwood, mahogany, etc. In the art of carving, in addition to round carving, relief carving, and openwork carving, there are also some unique crafts, such as bas-relief to remove the skin without hurting the face; The deep relief is deep without hurting the bottom, and pays attention to pattern decoration, hollow and fine molding. Its pattern is clear, well-proportioned and slender. The ship's pavilions, doors, windows, railings, etc. are also meticulously detailed. Its mold is based on the different shapes of each product, and a variety of parts with different structures are designed. Technically, it is required to be square and round, seamless and easy to disassemble. It is said that this carved wood boat is as large as its anchor and sail rudder and as small as the window and door panels, and it is all movable and movable. I said.

"It's amazing, so, from this point of view, this tree does have a mechanism installed, and it is alive." Dazhe said.

"In a way, that's right." I say.

"But this tree seems to be even more rare." Yun Ximing said, "Ordinary brackets need someone to activate before they can take effect, but isn't it a very unbelievable thing that this big tree carved from wood will lose its leaves and bloom on its own." ”

"So in other words, things have turned back and it's still a matter of perpetual motion machines." Uncle Lu said.

"In ancient times, the most common mechanism was the crossbow mechanism, in order to prevent theft, this kind of trigger weapon was placed in the tomb door, passageway, etc., once a tomb robber entered the tomb, it would encounter a tripwire connected to the crossbow trigger, and then be subjected to heavy fire. After that, there are also anti-theft hidden weapons such as chain flaps and iron cable hanging stones. However, the actual effect of the above mechanisms is far less thrilling, and the rust of the parts, the aging of the strings, and the dampness of the traps will make the actual effect poor. But such a mechanism that has been operating automatically for many years and is not corrupt or corrupt, not to mention ancient times, is also not available in modern times. Yun Ximing said.

"It seems that this is just a tree, it just grows here in this way, it doesn't seem dangerous, and it's not a mechanism, so what did Zuo Ci build such a tree for?" Min Lan asked.

"It's not for anything, it's for what, this tree wasn't designed by Zuo Ci to be placed here, but it should have been here." I say.

"What does that mean?" Min Lan asked.

"Since this is Yaochi, then don't say anything else, the most important thing here is the peach tree." I said, "The peach tree, it blooms once in 3,000 years, and bears fruit every 3,000 years, if what I say is right, this Zuo Ci's design is to let this peach tree grow on its own until it blossoms and bears fruit, but with his human lifespan, I'm afraid I can't see it." And we don't see it anymore. As for the principle of perpetual motion, I am afraid that it will always become a secret. I said.

"My God, this is amazing, this Zuo Ci is simply a god." Yun Xian said.

"He naturally has his own uniqueness," Yun Ximing said, "otherwise why are there so many immortal cultivators, only he is called, half-immortal." (To be continued.) )