ABSTRACT
Back in the time of Clannish society 5,000 years ago, our ancient people were already aware of decorating buildings and houses to improve their living environment and quality. Wood, as a major building material, was used for portraying animals and plants or a person’s working and living scenarios, and woodcarving came into being as a result. After the Qing Dynasty, the woodcarving technique was widely used for architectural decoration. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, apart from architectural decoration, woodcarving was also applied in furniture, playthings, and household utensils. The decoration not only enriches the creators’ artistic values, but also embodies the dignity of buildings. Architectural woodcarving art is popular due to its profound and rich connotations, and has been handed down from age to age as one of the traditional folk arts and one of the Chinese cultural treasures. Located in Minnan Delta and in vicinity of Chaoshan, Zhao’an County has a long history of using woodcarvings for architectural decoration, in particular, in the bucket arches, beams, rafters, and mortises and tenons in ancestral halls and temples. The themed woodcarving decoration enhances both stability and aesthetics of buildings, and thus is a folk technique that integrates aesthetics and practicality.
