Historical Origin of Hui 'an Stone Carving

Tracing back to history, Hui 'an sculpture art originated from Zhang Yun, the "King of Castle Peak" (Fujian General of the Five Dynasties), who led troops to garrison Castle Peak (30 miles east of Hui 'an County) and guarded the border. His subordinates (mostly from the Central Plains) brought the advanced production technology of the Central Plains, including stone carving, and continued to grow and develop. According to historical records, Zhang Yun's subordinates first taught stone carving skills in Qingshan area, and later extended the teaching scope to the whole Chongwu Huian.

The skill of Hui 'an stone carving has been introduced to a quite high level. The earliest stone carvings in Hui 'an are the garden sculptures of lotus reliefs of civil servants, warriors, tigers, horses and sheep in Wang Chao's tomb appointed by Wei Wu in the late Tang Dynasty. They were carved in the Song Dynasty, and it has been more than 1 100 years since now, and the technological level has reached a quite high level. The stone generals left by Luoyang Bridge in the Song Dynasty, the Buddha statues carved on the stone pagodas of piers and the inscriptions carved on the pavilions all indicate that the technical level was very high at that time. Cai Xiang, the leader of Luoyang Bridge construction, had his mother from Hui 'an. Luoyang Bridge is a sea-crossing bridge, 15 Li away from Qingshan, with stone piers and three Li fixed with sea nails. Some bridge decks are three feet long and weigh 65,438+00 tons. In the absence of large-scale mechanical equipment at that time, make full use of the tide of seawater, put stones on the boat, fix the pier at high tide and fix the pier at low tide; When the hull descends, the stone strips are placed in the second pier as the bridge deck. Huian also mines stones. Such a huge project must rely on Huian craftsmen to participate. Even the stone of the East West Tower in Quanzhou was mined and transported in Hui 'an after textual research, and many of its round carvings and relief Buddha statues are inseparable from the carvings of Hui 'an craftsmen.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were many officials in Hui 'an, and there were many stone carvings in various archways and tombs. Chongwu Ancient City, built in the early Ming Dynasty, is a stone city made of stones. These cultural relics include generals, horses, tigers and sheep in Zhang Yue's tomb, and stone lions in Chongwu Town God Temple. These all marked the height of stone carving technology at that time. However, the ancient city of Chongwu in Ming Dynasty was once destroyed, and the existing Shicheng was rebuilt in Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty is a period of great development of Hui 'an stone carving, and its artistic style tends to be fine, paying attention to the beauty of line structure and the charm of form, forming the southern style of Hui 'an stone carving. This period is a connecting link in the history of Hui 'an stone carving development, and it is also a period when stone carving workers began to go out of Hui 'an and develop outward. In addition to all parts of the province, it has also developed to Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia through overseas Chinese and businessmen. Since 1894- 1895, Taiwan Province Island has witnessed the prosperity of architecture. Many Hui 'an craftsmen have been attracted to Taiwan Province Province to participate in the processing and production of stone carvings, and many people have settled in Taiwan Province. The stone carving skills brought by Zhang Yun's subordinates became an important medium in the relationship between Fujian and Taiwan. After liberation, Hui 'an stone carving technology gained new development. The construction of Jimei Olympic Garden in the 1960s, the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Nanchang Bayi Uprising Memorial Hall, Nanjing Yuhuatai Memorial Hall, Mazu Statue in Meizhou Island and Zheng Chenggong Statue in Xiamen in the 1980s all devoted a lot of efforts to Hui 'an stone carving artists.

Since the reform and opening up, especially after the first sculpture art festival held in Hui 'an in 2000, Hui 'an stone carving has injected a strong modern artistic concept, new standards, new ideas and new perspectives. Hui 'an stone carving has become the pillar industry of the county's economic growth. In 2003 alone, the county's carving industry achieved an output value of 8 billion yuan and earned 5 billion yuan through export, and was awarded the title of "China's hometown of carving art" by the Ministry of Culture.