Chapter 1889: Stepping on the waves with both feet and holding the ringed dragon ball
Yangluo Bridge has long bridge decks, some of which are 3 feet long and weigh 10 tons.
In the absence of large-scale machinery and equipment at that time, it could only be built by making full use of seawater tides.
At that time, stone strips were placed on the boat to fix the bridge piers when the tide was high, and when the tide was low;
The hull was lowered and stone strips were placed in the second piers to serve as the bridge deck.
The stone for the construction of Yangluo Bridge was also mined in Hui'an. Such a huge project required the participation of Hui'an craftsmen.
Even the stones of the East and West Pagodas in Quan City were found to have been mined and transported from Hui'an.
Its many round sculptures and reliefs of gods and Buddhas are also inseparable from the carvings of Hui'an craftsmen.
During the Ming Dynasty, there were more people in Hui'an who were admitted to the imperial examination and served as officials in the imperial court, and there were more stone carvings in various archways and tombs.
Chongwu Ancient City, built in the early Ming Dynasty, is a stone city built with stones.
Such relics include generals, horses, tigers, sheep from Zhang Yue's tomb, stone lions from Chongwu City God's Temple, etc.
These all mark the relatively high level of stone carving craftsmanship at that time.
However, the ancient city of Chongwu was destroyed in the Ming Dynasty, and the existing stone city was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing Dynasty was a period of great development for Hui'an stone carvings. The artistic style tended to be meticulously carved, focusing on the beauty of line structure and morphological charm, forming the southern style of Hui'an stone carvings.
This period was a connecting period in the history of stone carving development in Hui'an, and it was also a period when stone carving workers began to move out of Hui'an and develop outward.
In addition to various parts of the province, it also exported to Lijiapo, India, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian regions through overseas Chinese and businessmen.
After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, Taiwan experienced a boom in architecture.
During this period, many Hui'an craftsmen were attracted to Taiwan to participate in stone carving processing and production, and many people settled in Taiwan.
Through the construction of Yangluo Bridge, we can actually see why Hui'an's traditional stone carving craftsmanship is called "Da Qiao".
The technological process mainly includes four processes: kneading, engraving, picking and carving.
This technique is similar to other sculpture art schools, except that it is more clever.
The imitations Chen Wenzhe saw at this time were all antique works.
For example, the earliest extant stone sculpture in front of the tomb of Wang Chao, the brother of Wang Shen, the king of Fujian in the late Tang and Five Dynasties;
In the early Northern Song Dynasty, my country's first beam-type harbor bridge - Hui'an Yangluowan'an Bridge Stone Sculpture Project;
The T-shaped stone ancient city of the Ming Dynasty - Chongwu Ancient City in Hui'an;
In Guosongyanfeng Temple behind Huangtang, there is a 1.7-meter-high statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva carved in rock relief.
Finally, there are the statues of Puxian Bodhisattva, which are nearly three meters high. These are relatively precious.
In addition to these, there are others. For example, in the Shage Palace built in the Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty in Nanpu Township, Hui'an, there are five pairs of diabase and granite openwork stone dragon pillars.
Among the pair of large dragon pillars, the dragon heads are not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom.
At a glance, it looks like it is rising from the sea and then suddenly swooping down, with the force of thunder and lightning. It makes people admire the skill of Hui'an stone carving artists.
Built in the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, the pair of large diabase open-carved dragon pillars in the Dongyue Temple at the peak of Houlong Township are particularly unique.
If you hit it with an object, the east pillar will make a sonorous sound, like a dragon on a thin wall, while the west pillar will be mute and silent, allowing you to distinguish the male from the male.
This shows the superb skills of Hui'an carvers and artists;
There is a dragon pillar in front of the Fayu Hall in Fushi Yushan. The dragon coils from top to bottom along the stone pillar.
The overall style is smooth and elegant, with fan-shaped scales stacked evenly.
The legs and toes are strong and full of texture.
Stepping on the waves with both feet, holding the ringed dragon ball in one hand, the antlers of the deer are in auspicious shape, the whiskers of the shrimp are flying, and the tiger's eyes are looking up at the sky, giving the impression of roaring up into the clouds and flying away.
Built in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Longshan Temple is one of the eight most scenic spots in Taiwan. The earth-shaking dragon pillars in the temple are treasures of the southern dragon pillars. Only three pairs have been found in the country;
These are even more precious, and many of the large buildings are the masters of Hui'an stone carving art.
For example, Cai Qian's ancient residence in Nan'an, Neon Governor's Mansion in Tai Island, Xichan Temple in Fushi, Yongquan Temple in Gushan, Nanputuo in Xia City, East and West Pagodas in Quan City, etc. are too numerous to mention.
The origin of all these arts is inseparable from Hui'an. Why?
Hui'an stone carvings originated from the Tang Dynasty. At that time, Hui'an County was an important military town. It was named for its crisscrossing mountains and rich rocks.
This is why, the selection of stone is the first step in Hui'an stone carving production.
Stones from various places have their own characteristics.
However, from a cost perspective, stone sculptures are generally purchased nearby.
Of course, if you want to understand where the stone materials for Hui'an stone carvings come from, you must know what the main stone materials for Hui'an stone carvings are?
The materials chosen for Hui'an stone carvings are mainly southern rocks, which are hard in texture, dense in structure, bright in color, bright in crystal, and free of defects, cracks, etc.
During the material selection process, craftsmen need to carefully select from numerous stones based on the creative needs and the characteristics of the stone to ensure that the final work achieves the desired effect.
Stones are generally divided into granite, marble, sandstone and other categories based on their physical properties.
Hu Jiandu mainly produces granite quarry and a small amount of Jiulongbi marble.
Such as sesame white, Luoyuan red, sesame black, bluestone, yellow rust stone, etc.
These stones are also available in Hu Jian.
In terms of bluestones, Hu Jian bluestone is more cyan and green among many bluestone types.
In the true sense, it is worthy of the word "green".
The bluestone in some places, such as the so-called bluestone in Beihe, is actually darker in appearance, and the difference from cyan is not the slightest.
Bluestone is generally used for relatively complex carvings, such as relief dragon blocking, ancient temple wall blocking, etc.
Then there is granite, the white stone of Hui'an stone carving, usually sesame white and white marble.
Beihu's fine-flowered sesame white stone has made a lot of contributions to Hui'an stone carvings.
In the past, the stone for Hui'an stone carvings of Buddha statues was mainly obtained from Xia City and other places.
However, the stone in these two places is whiter, and some customers like it very much.
Of course, there are also some customers who like a darker white color, so they need to use Beihu’s sesame white stone.
In Xijiang, there is also this kind of carving-grade sesame white granite stone.
Sesame white stone has a wide range of uses. It is very suitable for animal stone carvings, portrait stone carvings, mountain gate archways, railing pavilions, stone lanterns and stone towers, etc.
White marble stone is commonly used in small handicrafts, as well as some slightly larger round sculptures and relief products, mainly for indoor stone sculptures.
The black stones used in Hui'an stone carvings generally include Sesame Black, Xishan Black, Yin San Black, etc.
Among them, Sesame Black is a local granite stone from Hu Jianzhang City, while Xishan Black is obviously from Xishan, and similarly Yinsan Black comes from Yinsan.
Most of the sesame black stones are used to make tombstones. Of course, sesame black is also commonly used in stone carving series products.
Yinsanhei and Xishanhei are also mainly used for stone tablets and stone carvings, with a small amount used for carvings.
When these are not polished, they generally appear off-white, and after polishing they appear black.
The main artistic charm of black materials is reflected in the layering of black and white.
Black, white, and off-white are interlaced to make the work more three-dimensional.