Folk Arts
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Ice Carving
Ice carving,a seasonal art in the far north of China,is also calledice lanternsand has its origin in local life.To prevent lights from being blown out by the winter wind,people started long,long ago to use hollowed ice blocks as lantern bulbs,giving...
Dough Figurines
Sculpture with dough is a folk art known to few countries,if any outside China. It is interesting to see how a few coloured pieces of dough are turned in a matter of minutes into expressive and lively figurines by the trained hands of a folk artist,...
The God of Longevity
The God of longevity,better known as Laoshouxing in the country,is a favourite subject with the Huishan clay figurine moulders of Wuxi.His image is also frequently seen in ivory and porcelain objects of art. The god,created out of the human wish to...
Clay Figurines
Clay figurines represent another type of folk art in China.They are much liked for their vivid and amusing expressions and,for this reason,make good indoor decorations and welcome presents between friends. The principal material for making these fig...
Ivory Carving
Ivory scuptrue is an old art in China dating back to prehistoric times.From the ruins of the yin Dynasty capital of 3,700 years ago knives and rulers made of ivory have been unearthed.The Record of the warring States,a history written 20 centuries a...
Jade Carving
Jade is loosely understood in China as the collective name for most precious stones,and jade carving in this sense constitutes an important part of Chinese arts and crafts.The love of jade ware,according to Dr.joseph Needham,the noted British natura...
Microscopic Carving
The art of micro-carving refers generally to the engraving of infinitesimal characters on ivory or human hair.The artist engaged in this unique craft,when he applies the graver,cannot see the work he is doing but has to rely on feel.The art is theref...
Tapestry Weaving
Kesi is special type of weaving peculiar to China.It is different from embroidery but rather similar to the making of tapestry. It is done on a wooden handloom with raw silk as the warp and boiled-off silk as the weft.The weft threads are usually of...
The Luminous Cup
Yeguangbei(literally,the night-glittering cup)is a special jade product of Jiuquan,Gansu Province. Since very ancient times,the Qilian Mountains of Gansu have produced a beautiful jade of brilliant white,green,black and yellow colours.Local artisans...
Hair Embroidery
Hair embrodiery,a traditional Chinese art,is a special needle-work of making patters on silk with human hair as the thread.As Chinese hair is mostly black,it used to be known also as moxiu(black inkembroidery). Today the art excels by far its past a...