Chapter 1879: The Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, Unrivaled in Ancient and Modern Times
The stone statues of the Tang Dynasty are almost the same size as real people, making people feel that they are communicating with Buddha in person and are approachable.
There are also grottoes in the Tang Dynasty such as Tianlongshan Grottoes and Bingling Temple Grottoes.
The statues are plump and graceful, showing the secular atmosphere of Buddhist art in the Tang Dynasty.
There are few painted sculptures from Buddhist temples in the Tang Dynasty in the plains. There are painted sculptures from Foguang Temple in Nanshan Temple in Wutai Mountain, which are almost the same style as the Tang Dynasty painted sculptures in Dunhuang.
Small-scale Buddha statues are still mainly made of stone and copper. The artistic style is consistent with the grotto statues. They all show the graceful and generous style of the Tang Dynasty, and the artistic level of stone carving is very high.
Tomb sculptures of the Tang Dynasty are still divided into two categories: statues in front of the mausoleum and small pottery sculptures inside the tomb.
The large statues in front of the mausoleums are mainly distributed near the tombs of emperors of the Tang Dynasty in the Guanzhong area of Western Shaanxi.
There are tall stone figures on both sides of the Shinto in front of the mausoleum, and the stone horses echo each other, which is magnificent.
Among them, the most influential ones include: Xianling stone carvings, Zhaoling stone carvings, Qianling stone carvings, Shunling stone carvings, etc.
The sculptures of the Tang Dynasty integrated Chinese and foreign countries, combined the characteristics of the north and the south, and reached the peak of maturity, setting a glorious example for later generations of sculpture art.
After the Tang Dynasty, another glorious era was the architectural stone carvings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The Ming and Qing dynasties were the last cycle of my country's feudal society from turmoil, recovery, prosperity and collapse.
The architectural art at that time still developed along the tradition of classical art analysis.
Thus forming the last peak in the history of ancient Chinese architectural art.
The scale of palaces, gardens and tombs in the Ming Dynasty was very grand.
The art of architectural stone carving has also made many innovative achievements.
The beautiful palace gardens surpass those of the Ming Dynasty in scale and quality.
Stone-carved Chinese watches have existed since ancient times, but the white stone Chinese watches at Tianyi (An) Gate in the Ming Dynasty have their own characteristics and artistic achievements of the times.
It uses a variety of carving techniques to create unprecedented architectural decoration.
The main dragon pattern on the Huabiao column is carved with a shallow relief that is hidden from the ground, depicting a dragon shape that curves up.
It is decorated with cloud patterns in between, making the watch magnificent and solemn.
The capitals are decorated with colorful openwork clouds, and the stone plate with lotus petals is decorated with a round sculpture of a lion.
There is also a gorgeous octagonal base under it, surrounded by exquisitely carved dragon-patterned railings and a pillar carved with lions.
Looking at the overall shape of the Huabiao, it is a sublimation of the traditional form.
At the same time, we can also see that Huabiao is essentially a perfect symbol of the combination of Chinese and Western cultures.
In fact, the platform base, staircase railings, walkways, atrium, and stone bridges of the main hall of the Forbidden City are all organic combinations of various stone carving art forms.
These stone carvings were re-carved after the original Ming Dynasty decorations were chiseled off under the order of Emperor Qianlong in the 25th year of his reign.
However, from the existing decorative patterns on the stone railings, it can still be seen that the stone carvings in the Forbidden City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties still inherited the decorative patterns and techniques since the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Looking at the palace gardens of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the extensive use of architectural stone carvings can be said to be unparalleled.
They eloquently reflect the fact that the best and greatest buildings in the world are inseparable from decorative stone components.
Among the royal gardens of the Qing Dynasty, the Old Summer Palace was a great garden known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens".
What is sad is that it was burned down in 1860, but today, from the remaining stone carvings and architectural remains in the ruins of the garden, we can still get a glimpse of some of the features of this unparalleled garden architectural art in ancient and modern times.
There are countless examples of the extensive use of stone carving art forms in Ming and Qing architecture.
For example, the well-known Temple of Heaven was a place where emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties worshiped heaven and prayed for a good harvest.
The base under the main building, the white stone round altar, and the stone components are all decorated with exquisite carvings.
They were all created under the control of the imperial court to adapt to various needs such as feudal rule and luxurious life.
This is also reflected very prominently in the mausoleum architecture.
Today, a large number of stone carvings of Ming and Qing mausoleums are preserved in the Imperial Tombs in Fengyang, Hui Province, the Ming Xiaoling Tombs in Jinling, the Ming Tombs in the Divine Capital, the Eastern Qing Tombs in Zunhua, Beihe, and the Western Qing Tombs in Yi County.
These stone carvings pay attention to lifelike shapes, round and delicate techniques, and smooth and free grain patterns.
Its traditional skills began in the Han Dynasty, matured in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and became popular in the Tang Dynasty.
There are mainly several categories: garden sculptures, architectural sculptures, statues, and stone carvings, with hundreds of varieties.
This time Chen Wenzhe really experienced something. What he saw here was not only a miniature version of the scenery, but he even saw a reduced and dismantled version of the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.
Take a look at what's here? Marble mantelpieces, figure sculptures, reliefs, etc.
Others include abstract sculptures, fountains, flowerpots, Roman columns, railings, pavilions, busts, door frames, stone benches, bathtubs, animal sculptures, tombstones, antique sculptures, etc.
It can be easily seen from these things that stone carvings have a long history.
It pays attention to the realistic shape, round and delicate technique, smooth and free pattern.
The carving products mainly include figures, animals, fireplaces, flower pots, railings, fountains, reliefs, dragon pavilions and columns, jade pavilions, birds and animals, various fine carvings, etc.
It not only has the charm of ancient art, but also has an elegant and bright modern art style. It enjoys the reputation of "exquisite workmanship" and "ground-breaking" at home and abroad.
Stone carving is a variety of works of art that integrates creativity, design, and production.
To put it simply, it is a work carved from stone, and its essence is stone.
Natural stone is also rare.
Solid and weather-resistant before use.
Therefore, in Lingnan architecture, in addition to stone towers, stone bridges, stone squares, stone pavilions, and stone tombs, they are more widely used in building components and decorations.
It is roughly divided into three categories: one is door frames, railings, drum stones, steps, column foundations, beams, well rings, etc. that are used as building components;
The second is the stone tablets, stone lions, stone tablets and stone statues that are accessories of the building;
The third is as furnishings in buildings, such as stone incense burners, stone five offerings, etc.
Even now, natural stones are widely used by people, who regard nature as their beauty, and are used in school entrances, garden green belts, government units entrances, etc.
It can be said that stone has now become the cornerstone of stone carving art, but not the cornerstone of architecture.
However, in modern times, there is no unified national standard for many types of stone sculptures, and it is difficult to accurately classify them.
However, according to the development in recent years and combined with traditional habits, stone carving products can be classified.
In this stone carving factory, this classification is particularly clear.
For example, according to the purpose, it can be divided into ornamental, hanging and collection of stone crafts, jewelry and stone carvings.
The stone carvings to watch are definitely represented by grottoes and cliff stone carvings.
One major category is cemetery stone sculptures, followed by practical palace, mansion and garden stone sculptures, as well as temples, temples, and altar stone sculptures.
There are also architectural ones, but there are fewer of them now, such as stone bridges and stone sculptures.
Then there are the stone carvings of stone towers and archways, and the more complicated ones are the stone carvings of tower buildings.