Wood Carving Patterns: Continuation

Author: Ma Muliang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: In 1997, while designing and hurriedly creating a large screen for the Hong Kong Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Hong Kong for its return to China, I met Mr. Ma Muliang of Beijing Wood Carving Factory through my old friend Hong Jun Tao. We had a very tense yet pleasant collaboration and exchange. Back then, Ma Muliang told me he was preparing to collect and organize a pattern collection for wood carving craftsmanship as a reference. He also proposed that after it was compiled, he hoped I would write a few words for it, perhaps it could become an inspiration and for this wood carving craftsmanship collaboration.
I remember growing up in my hometown of Nantong, small workshops for redwood crafts were very common. We seemed to live in an environment where wood carving art and fine woodwork could be seen everywhere—from woodwork doors and windows, solid wood furniture, frame beds, ten-scene cabinets to inlaid screens, stools, small tables, and brackets, all of which relied on exquisite shapes, carved designs, and layout arrangements, as well as mortise and tenon structural construction. Especially the elegant aesthetic spirit deeply embedded in Ming-style furniture was an important topic that everyone paid attention to, discussed, admired, compared, and studied among many "arts of life." Moreover, "the arts of life" is a very broad topic, and it is closely linked with music, chess, calligraphy, painting, residential areas, roads, bridges, and garden pavilions, etc. Strictly speaking, it is a part of the traditional Eastern culture. As Mr. Yang Yao, a renowned late Ming-style furniture research expert in our country, pointed out: "Chinese Ming-style furniture has simple, lightweight, and elegant shapes, without being heavy or dull. The lines are smooth and lively, without being stiff or coarse. The carvings are appropriate and interesting, not overly complicated or purposeless. From the simple and beautiful carvings on Ming-style furniture, we can see that it drew on a variety of patterns from bronze ware, jade ware, pottery, and architecture. Once these patterns were adopted into furniture, they were refined and developed sufficiently, showing that Chinese wood carving techniques had further advanced by the Ming Dynasty."
We earnestly summarize the purpose of our work—to contribute to the inheritance and development of the national art cause. Of course, there is also an issue of visual standards and how to choose and select. We are always full of good wishes, striving for higher standards and meeting the needs of our peers and the general public. However, we must firmly believe in a truth: doing is better than not doing, and more practice means more comparison. Our achievements are just like the process of history—constantly progressing through continuous accumulation.