The Cultural And Sociological Background Of Chinese Traditional Woodcarving

Dongyang woodcarving belongs to the school of woodcarving from Dongyang city in Zhejiang province.It is one of the four most famous schools of woodcarving in China.Dongyang woodcarving has a long history of over a thousand years,and has left its footprints in Suzhou,Hangzhou,and Anhui.Even the imperial palace in Beijing contains some of the handiwork of Dongyang woodcarvers.These days,Dongyang woodcarving is exported internationally,to worldwide acclaim.After the1990 s,the Chinese government has made many efforts to further develop the brand of Dongyang woodcarving.As a result of governmental and financial backing,the tradition of Dongyang woodcarving has been carried forward into the modern era.Dongyang woodcarving is now a part of the industrialized world.It has been classified by Zhejiang province as a protected traditional art and craft,and by Beijing as a part of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.At the same time,following the collapse of old collectives,woodcarvers have opened their own workshops as a means of making a living.In this environment of upper level and grass roots support,Dongyang woodcarving has entered a stage of high development.According to statistics,Dongyang city has 2733 woodcarving businesses,as well as specialized woodcarving manufacturers.There are over 2,000 family household workshops,with over 134,000 employed.The products include architectural decorations and mountings,furniture and everyday household items,artworks for display,and religious items.The value of annual production is over 14 billion Yuan.This naturally has attracted the attention of academic researchers and technical experts.According to incomplete statistics,the current literature on Dongyang woodcarving consists approximately of 30 books and over 50 academic articles.These are rich sources for the study of Dongyang woodcarving.When making a summary of the current literature on Dongyang woodcarving,the author realized a few important characteristics: 1.Most of the academic articles and literature on Dongyang woodcarving was published after the 1980 s.This has something to do with the history of craft art in China,and its low status among the arts.There is a deficiency in researchers of the Dongyang woodcarving craft before this time.2.Data on Dongyang woodcarving as it was in traditional society is seriously lacking,the local records rarely mention famous woodcarvers or their works.This has something to do with the low status of woodcarvers in traditional society,as well as low status ofthe woodcarving craft.The limited data that is available generally talks about the illustrious mansions of wealthy men,with small mention of the craft itself.3.There is now a lot of data on the characteristics of Dongyang woodcarving,the technical skills involved in carving,and the subject matter.But there is very little material on the cultural meanings of Dongyang woodcarving,more specifically the cultural connotations of the subject matter for architectural decorations and furniture decorations.The three characteristics of the current literature on Dongyang woodcarving listed above decided the content of this paper.In order to make up for this lack in the current research,this thesis will examine Dongyang woodcarving from the perspective of “sociological art,” introduced by Michael Baxandall(1933-2008).This paper will inquire into the cultural connotations of traditional Dongyang woodcarving,looking more deeply into how local Chinese philosophies of Daoism and Confucianism influenced the techniques and subject matter of the woodcarvings.The author sees Dongyang woodcarving as a fundamental part of local customs and Chinese traditional society.The artistic expression of this craft and the ideals and principles of the society at large have an intricate connection.