Because, this is not industrial production, but carved out with a pair of meat hands, a knife and a knife, into the wood three points, the knife to see the kung fu, the knife to see the painstaking efforts. Each piece is the culmination of his virtuosity and his deep affection for the traditional craft of nuclear carving.

The so-called nuclear carving refers to the core carving, which has a long history in our country. From Wei Xueyun's "The Story of the Nuclear Boat", we at least know that the nuclear carving art of the Ming Dynasty has reached the level of perfection in the combination of breadth and fineness. Due to regional differences, nuclear carving skills are also divided into two major schools, the north and the south, and there are many small branches among the two factions.

The Yanliang nuclear carving inherited by "Peach Kernel Zhao" belongs to the northern Xi'an lineage. This vein can be traced back to Shandong during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, and after several changes, it finally settled in Xi'an. Later, through the famous nuclear carving veteran Mr. Sun Guangming passed on to Zhao Bingke, and formed a line of Yan Liang, Yan Liang nuclear carving is mainly based on peach core carving.

The reason why the peach pit carving is selected, in addition to its hard texture and convenient material, is that it has the effect of driving away evil spirits and eliminating disasters. In fact, as early as in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", there are legends of two gods, Shen Tu and Yu Lei, who hunted ghosts under the peach tree, and later people also had the custom of posting peach charms during the New Year.

In addition, artists also often carve various ornaments from peach wood for people to wear, hoping to be auspicious, happy and safe throughout the year. The texture of peach pits is extremely hard, it will not break for hundreds of years, and the longer you wear it, the smoother it will appear.

"Three minutes, seven points of labor", this is a sentence that "Taohe Zhao" often hangs on his lips, and he is also practicing it in a knife. The so-called "if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools", it is difficult to carve a good work without a set of knives, and each carving knife is specially made by these nuclear carvers based on decades of experience.

The types of light knives are divided into knives, carving knives, sharpening knives, scrapers, etc., and there are more than a dozen kinds of knife methods, such as chopping, carving, dialing, picking, scraping, and cutting.

This technique alone is complicated enough, but compared to the carving process, it is not the same. Because the nuclear carving is carved on the peach pit of square inch size, its process is very complex and cumbersome, up to dozens of ways.

The first is the selection of materials, mainly peach pits, which need to have clear lines and good texture. After choosing, it should be carefully cleaned and disinfected, and in order to prevent the peach pit from deforming, it should be put into a pot and steamed.

After steaming, the surface of the peach pit needs to be cleaned, and the remaining pulp is removed one by one to prevent insects, and then it is placed in a cool and dry place to dry.

Then according to the characteristics of the peach pit with the shape of the trick, carry out the idea of carving, if the skill is skillful, since you can "enter the room without thickness, restore it in the ease must have room to carry on", if the skill is rusty, you need to use a pencil to outline the figure and then start the pen.

Even if it is a skilled old artist, he also needs to devote himself wholeheartedly to carving, and must achieve the state of unity of eyes, heart and hands, otherwise the slightest mistake will be wasted.

What's more cumbersome is that in the process of nuclear carving, in order to keep the texture clear, it is necessary to brush with peach kernel oil at any time. In order to prevent insects from growing in the work, the peach kernels must be cleaned with a fine needle after the work has been roughly formed.

Then the molding work should be carefully polished with sandpaper, and then soaked and wiped with walnut oil after the polishing is completed. The so-called "slow work produces fine work", the peach pit is "fine work", so carving it is even more fine.

The Yanliang nuclear carving represented by "Peach Kernel Zhao" has been well-known in the world in recent years and has received rave reviews at home and abroad. Yan Liang nuclear carving belongs to the three-dimensional miniature carving art, its length is not full of inches, the shape is vivid, in the delicate to see the flexibility, the square inch between the creation, really shows the Buddhism said "Sumeru mustard seeds, mustard seeds Na Sumeru".

The Chinese philosophical concept has always been the unity of heaven and man, what is the unity of heaven and man? It is what Lu Xiangshan said, "The universe is my heart, and my heart is the universe", and it is precisely because of the pericardial universe that we can show creation in this square inch. In addition to the long history and unique selection of materials and craftsmanship, the most important feature of Yanliang nuclear carving is probably the folk.

The so-called "folk" means that its themes are derived from the various states of life, human ethics, and the folk tales are vividly expressed by nuclear carving art, so they are loved by people. Although it is based on life, it is not vulgar, but elegant in the vulgar.

This is also in line with the characteristics of Chinese philosophy of "extremely clever and modest", that is, in secular life, there is a realm of heaven and earth, which is not suspended from the outside, but is manifested between the daily routine, which is what Wang Yangming said, "do not leave the daily routine, and directly create the congenital before painting".

The representative works of Yan Liang's nuclear carving mainly include "One Hundred and Eight Arhat Buddha Beads", "Eight Views of Chang'an", "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea", "Dragon Boat", "Fisherman's Pleasure" and so on. The whole peach pit is not full of inches, and each character is only the size of a mustard seed, but the facial features are clear and lifelike.

"Although the sparrow is small, it has all the organs", the carved dragon boat, the cabin has a door, there is an anchor behind the ship, and the anchor chain is interlocking, if it is placed in the "dwarf country", it is a huge ship, which can carry many people to sail on the sea.

In the past, the art of nuclear carving was an object played in the hands of a few nobles, but now it is the era of "the old Wang Xie Tang Qianyan flew into the homes of ordinary people". Yanliang nuclear carving plays an important role in enriching people's spiritual life and building a harmonious society.

It shows the long-standing, broad and exquisite characteristics of Chinese traditional crafts, and is undoubtedly a treasure of Chinese art. Inheriting this fine tradition is of great significance to the cultural rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the cultivation of cultural self-confidence. In addition, the art of nuclear carving is also admired by foreign friends, which is also an important bridge connecting Chinese and foreign cultural exchanges.

The art of Yan Liang's nuclear carving is indeed exquisite and breathtaking. But what is more important is the batch of old folk artists behind it who guard it and inherit it. They have been focusing on one thing for decades, focusing on one thing all their lives, gathering all their hearts and minds in every square inch, guarding the faith of craftsmen with their youth and life, and shouldering the sense of responsibility and mission of inheriting national culture with passion and blood.

Most veterans buy nuclear carvings in a very simple preference. Of course, this is greatly affected by the social environment, the price of nuclear carvings in the past is generally not high, more than 100 nuclear carvings are said in the past, so many veterans do not have the consciousness of "worth a few dollars" when buying nuclear carvings, and have never thought of "selling a layman at a high price." "Excluding the relationship between friends because of faith, the veteran's feelings for nuclear carving are the purest love from the heart.

During this time, many friends have been asking me the same question: "Can you see how much this thing is worth to me?" "It's a question that can't be answered. There is no unified standard for nuclear carving, and the so-called "gold is priceless, jade is priceless" is all based on personal preference. From the perspective of merchants, it is normal for a nuclear carving to sell for tens of thousands; From the player's point of view: I'm just rich, I'm willing, do you care?

However, although there is no specific price standard for nuclear carving, everyone knows it when they have more contact. I just want to say that the nuclear sculpture is not an antique, it cannot be fully recognized by the world. It can't be said on the same day as gold and diamonds, to put it bluntly, it's a war, you can exchange a golden tweezer for a full meal, and you take the right walnuts to let people smash and eat kernels.

So I hope you don't always worry about how much this thing is worth, let alone think that you can make a fortune by collecting these. If you can really feel the joy that nuclear carving brings you, then you can play steadily. If you want to make a fortune, then I advise you to play something else.

Veterans are often less "demanding" than novices in nuclear carving. For example, the core carving depends on the carver, the nuclear quality, what is not a few flowers, whether the famous artist is not famous and so on, and the focus is often on the preference of the work itself.

A friend played with a nuclear sculpture that was sparkling and beautiful. According to people's words, "It's nothing wrong with a little bit, this string of I play when I'm frustrated, play when I'm proud, I can't let it go, it's a kind of companionship." Then he smiled, and the simple smile and the nuclear sculpture in his hand reflected each other, and they were full of color.

Many novices have very high requirements for nuclear carving. What "perfect round iron core", "four flowers", "Merlin core", "master model", I have really seen the size of the micron accurate! Let's not talk about how the plate is, whether we understand it or not, we just have to have face, and when we look back and see our friends, we can show off with others for an hour.

This is just a superficial phenomenon, but in fact, it is the cognition of the nuclear eagle itself in the bones. Veteran players have been in contact for a long time, and they also have their own measurements, and they know how much they spend and what kind of objects they get.

New players have a short contact time, and some of their own "personalities" are like this, so it's not new to make a mistake. I just want to tell you to distinguish between watermelon and sesame seeds, no matter how good a string of machine carvings is, it is not as good as other people's ordinary handmade works.

Veterans rarely comment on the quality of other people's things. One is because I have seen a lot of things, and I have seen both good and bad things; Second, because the more I learn, the more I learn, I always feel that I am still far behind. This is especially evident in the circle of playing with insects and "fighting crickets".

Fighting crickets have the rules of the circle: how good your worm is, you can't brag it, no matter how bad other people's worms are, they can't be squeezed. Generally say kind words, "Your worm is good, I'll give you a drain." ”

This is not hypocrisy! It's a kind of culture, you love to blow up thorns, your mouth is full of airplane cannons, and people won't take you to play next time. This point vividly embodies China's thousand-year-old "modest" culture!

The nuclear boat is a folk handicraft carved into a painting boat and a boat with a fruit core, which originated in ancient times and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, indicating the superb realm of ancient craftsmanship and the wisdom of the ancient working people in China. It is a kind of miniature carving in nuclear carving techniques.