What are the characteristics of woodcarving in Ming and Qing Dynasties?

Businessmen were very active in Ming and Qing dynasties. Some businessmen returned to their hometowns to build ancestral temples and mansions after making a fortune, which gradually became a trend. Because of this, the application scope of wood carving technology is wider and the production process is more exquisite. Its quantity, wide distribution and brilliant achievements are unimaginable today. In the Qing Dynasty, no wealthy family did not decorate furniture, doors and windows, partitions, beams, columns and arches of buildings with wood carvings. Even ordinary people have few carved furniture and utensils at home. Decorating wood carvings on buildings and using carvings on furniture are common in almost every village, country and family. The wood carvings on some of the remaining ancient buildings are exquisite, showing the superb skills of folk craftsmen. Famous local woodcarvings include Chaozhou woodcarving in Chaoan area of eastern Guangdong, Minnan woodcarving in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou areas of southern Fujian, Dongyang woodcarving in Zhejiang, Huizhou woodcarving in Anhui and so on. Because of the difference in time and region, it presents different artistic styles. But on the whole, the Ming and Qing woodcarvings are famous for their exquisiteness, whether they are carved furniture, indoor and outdoor architectural sculptures, small religious statues or ornamental furnishings.

Chaozhou woodcarving character story