Chinese wood carving: History, Symbolism, and Skill

The text below is the excerpt of the book Chinese Art (ISBN: 9781783106998), written by Stephen W. Bushell, published by Parkstone International.

Wood-carving is one of the most important of the industrial arts of China and is alluded to in some of the earliest records.

Chinese architecture can be traced back to a period when the structure was entirely built of wood, and even in the present day, when the walls of a building are filled in with stone and brick, the decoration of the interior of the hall is still entrusted to the wood-carver. He fills in the skeleton outline of beams and pillars with delicate tracery, supplies movable partition screens of elaborately carved woodwork, lines the walls and ceiling with ornamental panels, and decorates the doors and windows with characteristic trelliswork designs.

The motifs employed in the designs depend on the type of building, but the groundwork is generally composed of floral scrolls taken from nature. In imperial buildings the floral scrolls are accompanied by bands and panels of dragons in clouds, phoenixes flying in couples and other mythological monsters, and the carving is executed in the dark, heavy, precious tuz-tan wood, derived from different species of Pterocarpus, which is prescribed for the purpose by sumptuary laws. For ordinary use, there is a choice of many richly grained woods of almost equal beauty, such as the hua-li, the rose-wood of the Portuguese, the t’ieh-li, a variety of ebony, the hung-mu or “red-wood,” which are produced in the south-western provinces of the empire and are also imported from Indochina. The prevailing floral grounds are filled in with panels of figure scenes from history and romance, birds and animals, butterflies and other insects, emblems of riches and happiness, or with some other of the many motifs generally employed in Chinese art.

For Buddhist and Taoist temples, the woodwork is sculptured with sacred scenes and figures enclosed in scrolls of flowers, intermingled with the series of conventional emblems distinguishing the two religions. The introduction of Buddhism soon after the Christian era had a profound and far-reaching influence on the glyptic art of China. The earliest Buddhist pilgrims, who came overland from India, are said to have brought with them images of Buddha, as well as pictures of saints and Sanskrit manuscripts, and these images were taken as models, in connection with sketches drawn from measurements recorded in the ancient canon upon spaced diagrams with square-inch sections.

The early missionaries coming from northern India introduced what is known as the Gandhara school of sculpture with its joint contribution of Persepolitan and ancient Greek influences, and Chinese Buddhist figures have retained to this day a marked Aryan physiognomy and an arrangement of folds in their drapery suggestive of their origin.

They were made of gold, gilded bronze, jade, ruby, coral, and other precious materials, but the first Buddhist image is said by early tradition to have been carved in white sandalwood, and the fragrant wood of the Santalum album is still imported from India into China for the purpose. Its old Chinese name chantan, derived from the Sanskrit chandana, is now generally contracted as tan hsiang, or “sandal perfume,” and it is offered in a pile of aromatic chips on the Buddhist altar, burnt as incense, or pounded into dust to be moulded into the perfumed joss sticks which are periodically lighted at every sacred shrine. The art of sculpture in China was born, cherished, and developed in the service of religion. Buddhist and Taoist shrines are lavishly decorated from end to end, and the demand for idols and images, for private homes as well as temples, gives occupation to a special class of workmen throughout the country.

China possesses a rich and abundant flora, the wild and cultivated varieties of which supply the favourite art motifs of the carver. Some of the flowers are selected for their religious associations. The lotus, or lien hua, a rose-coloured variety of the Nelumbium speciosum, is sacred to Buddhism. It is the hieratic emblem of purity as it develops its delicious jade-white rhizomes under the mud and lifts its rosy blossoms unsullied in the air. The happy entrant into paradise is seated upon its broad calyx; it therefore forms the resting-place of Buddha. Its peltate leaves are usually gemmed after every shower with sparkling rain drops, which are taken by the devout Buddhist as emblematic jewels of his enlightenment, although the Japanese poet protests.

“Oh! Lotus leaf, I dreamt that the whole earth held naught more pure than thee, -held naught more true: why, then, when on the rolls a drop of dew pretend that ‘tis a gem of priceless worth?”

HEUZEN, 835-856.

The Taoists take as their sacred plants the manifold floral emblems of longevity, the summum bonum of their mystic cult. The most prominent position is given to the peach, the tree of life of their Kunlun paradise, whose fruit, ripening but once in 3,000 years, is celebrated as conferring on mortals the coveted gift of immortality. Another constant emblem is the sacred branching fungus called ling chih, the Polyporus lucidus of botanists, distinguished by its brightly variegated colours and by its durability. Next come the grouped trio Sung, Chu, Mei, the Pine, Bamboo, and Prunus, the first two because they are ever green and flourish throughout the winter, the prunus because it throws out flowering twigs from its leafless stalks up to an extreme old age.

This magnificent screen would have been prominent in one of the reception rooms in a Chinese mansion. Its position may have varied according to the nature of the occasion, for it has designs on both sides. Such brilliant and impressive pieces were frequently presentation items.

Here, the celebratory theme is the popular scene of the birthday party of the Royal Mother of the West, (Xi Wang Mu), who is being given the peaches of everlasting life by the Eight Immortals.

The technique is one peculiar to China, used during the 17th century but not often after that. The picture elements were carved through the built-up coats of dark lacquer on each wooden screen panel. Tinted lacquer and oil paints were then applied to the cut areas, producing a polychromatic effect on a black ground.

The wild plum, Prunus Mumei, is the ordinary floral emblem of winter; the tree peony, Poeonia Mutan, of spring; the lotus, Nelumbium speciosum, of summer; and the chrysanthemum, C. indicum, of autumn. These flowers are constantly associated in decorative work as the Ssu Chi Hua, “Flowers of the Four Seasons.” So, again, are the “Flowers of the Twelve Months,” although this group varies in different parts of China. One series of these monthly emblems is artistically rendered in the floral sprays which decorate the lower border of the lacquered screen, the tale of which, proceeding in Chinese fashion from right to left, is:

1. February. Peach Blossom. Tao hua. Amygdalus persica.

2. March. Tree Peony. Mu tan. Pæonia Mutan.

3. April. Double Cherry. Ying t’ao. Prunus pseudocerasus.

4. May. Magnolia. Yü lan. Magnolia Yulan.

5. June. Pomegranate. Shih liu. Punica granatum.

6. July. Lotus. Lien hua. Nelumbium speciosum.

7. August. Pear. Hai t’ang. Pyrus spectabilis.

8. September. Mallow. Ch’iu k’uei. Malva verticillata.

9. October. Chrysanthemum. Ckü hua. C. indicum,

10. November. Gardenia. Chih hua. Gardenia florida.

11. December. Poppy. Ying su. Papaver somniferum.

12. January. Prunus. Mei hua. Prunus Mumei.

Another series of these floral emblems is displayed in a corresponding position on the back of the screen.

There are two of these screens, of similar character, which are magnificent examples of Chinese decorative art of the 18th century. Both are of lacquered wood, in twelve folds largely decorated on both sides with incised and raised details painted with coloured and gilded lacs, set in a background of lustrous black.

The rest of the broad border is filled with vases and baskets of flowers and fruit, interspersed with censers, bells and sacrificial vessels shaped after ancient bronze models. The border is defined around the edge of the screen by a running line of rectangular fret, succeeded by a narrow band of floral diaper; and, inside, by a band of trellis interrupted by medallions containing alternate phoenixes and longevity (shou) characters. This last band, which suggests a conjecture that the screen was made for an empress of the period, serves as a frame for the central picture, which is a Taoist scene representing the well-worn theme Chu Hsien Citing Shou, “The Taoist Genii worshipping the God of Longevity.”

The two central panels of the screen show Shou Lao with protuberant brow. A deification of Lao Tzu, the founder of the Taoist cult, he holds a jui sceptre tipped with an effulgent jewel. Three youthful attendants stand nearby, holding his pilgrim’s staff, book, and towel. Close at hand are a handmill for pounding the elixir vita, a dish of peaches, a vase of branched coral, and a clump of fungus (Polyporus lucidus) growing on the rocks. A pair of deer and of storks, his familiar animals, stand in front. The two figures in friendly conversation in the middle of the panel represent the familiar Arcades ambo of the cult, the “Twin Genii of Union and Harmony,” one holding a palm-leaf with a gourd tied to his girdle, the other with a manuscript roll and a besom. Below them stands the shepherd hermit Huang Ch’u-p’ing changing stones into sheep with his magic wand for the edification of his brother, who is leaning on his staff behind.

The group at the top of the right-hand panel seems to be Lao Tzu with pilgrim’s staff, Buddha holding a book, and Confucius in front, with a fourth figure in a questioning pose at the side. Below that, we see the well-known group of the eight genii, Pa Hsien, so constantly depicted in Chinese art as the eight Taoist immortals, the members of which are distinguished by their attributes. Among these attributes, the feather fan of Chung-li Ch’uan, the sword of Lü Tungpin, the gourd of Li “with the iron crutch,” and the basket of flowers held up by Lan Ts’ai-ho are conspicuous in the picture.

The reverse of the screen is decorated in the same artistic style with a succession of oblong panels containing landscapes, scenes with figures, pictures of birds, flowers and fruit; the apparatus of the four liberal arts, writing, painting, music, and chess; and sacred relics and emblems of the Taoist and Buddhist religions.

To get a better insight into Chinese Art, please continue this exciting adventure by clicking on:

Ebook

Hardcover

You can see our Chinese Porcelain title below:

---

Let’s explore our Asian Art collection:

Furthermore, you can view Chinese and Asian’s artworks in the exhibitions below:

• Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia in Los Angeles County Museum of Art (11 May – 12 July, 2026)
• Chinese Galleries in Philadelphia Museum of Art (Ongoing)
• Mythical, Divine, Demonic: Animal Imagery in South Asian Art in Philadelphia Museum of Art (Ongoing)
• Arts of Asia Galleries in Denver Art Museum (Ongoing)
• Promise of Paradise: Ancient Chinese Buddhist Sculpture, Art and Industry: China’s Ancient Houma Foundry: Chinese Bronzes, Center of the World: China and the Silk Road in Smithsonian Institution (Ongoing)
• Asian Lantern: Elemental in Art Gallery of New South Wales (Ongoing)