Chenjiaci integrates Lingnan woodcarving, brick carving, stone carving, gray carving, pottery sculpture, painting and other decorative arts. It is a folk decorative art museum in itself, so the brand of Guangdong Folk Arts and Crafts Museum was added to 1994.
The roof of Chenjiaci is decorated with a lot of brick carvings. As a famous tourist attraction in Guangzhou, it is difficult to go out if you are not a professional or practitioner. Most tourists just come to watch the fun.
Because the roof is at least 10 meter from the ground, when you stand on the ground and look up at the roof, you can only see the general outline of the brick carving. Without the help of telescope tools, it is difficult to see more details such as the shape on the work.
Although there is no professional telescope, the functions of smart phones are too rich now. When the telephoto function of the camera is used as a telescope, you can clearly see all kinds of brick carving animals, figures and flowers with a magnification of 5- 15 times. The name, author and age of each brick carving work can be seen, and even some works are engraved with couplets on both sides. (All the pictures in this article were taken by mobile phone to 5X or beyond. )
Unexpectedly, the close-up brick carving works are vivid and lifelike, which not only has a high decorative effect, but also has high artistic attainments and appreciation value. It can be called the treasure of Lingnan folk decorative art, so that even the layman who is a "bystander" can gain a lot of knowledge about brick carving while accepting the artistic edification of beauty.
Carve the surface depth of the finished blue brick with chisel and wooden hammer, and drill out various figures, flowers and other images as decoration in a certain part of the building.
From the subject matter, brick carvings mainly include dragon and phoenix, He Erxian, Liu Hai drama Jin Chan, Sanyang Kaitai, Guo Ziyi's birthday, Kirin's gift, lion rolling hydrangea, pine and cypress, orchid, bamboo, camellia, chrysanthemum, lotus, carp, Fulu's birthday and so on.
Brick carving began to be popular in Guangfu area in the middle of Qing Dynasty, and reached its peak in the late Qing Dynasty, forming a unique brick carving with Lingnan characteristics. In terms of technical performance, compared with some large-scale brick carvings in the north, Lingnan brick carvings are meticulous and changeable, with regular lines and smooth lines, which are more exquisite and interesting through garden carving, high relief and hollowing out!
The brick carving of Chenjiaci is a masterpiece of Lingnan brick carving. It is exquisite, using refined water mill blue bricks as materials, and is often called "hanging line brick carving". Brick carvings in Chenjiaci mainly appear in several parts: external walls, lintels, corridors (archways, plaques), stilts and so on.
The brick carvings in Chenjiaci are mostly flowers and birds with auspicious symbolic significance, with rich and varied materials and colorful expressions. Some patterns are taken from historical masterpieces and allusions, such as the Juyi of Liangshan in Water Margin, the scene of Jiang Ziya's offering sacrifices to the gods in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the debate among Confucian scholars in The Scholars.
For example, this "Liangshan Juyi" is based on the stage in the play, with a tall and majestic Juyi Hall in the middle and a pavilion behind it. On the wooden pillars on both sides of Juyitang is a pair of couplets, which read, "Heroes through the ages walk in the universe, and loyalty through the ages." Classical stood in the middle of Juyi Hall, and Wu Yong stood under Classical with a feather fan, followed by Lin Chong and others. ***52 characters, standing in the attic of all parties, with different shapes and rich expressions, are all poking around and looking around, not knowing what to look at.
Some designs combine symbols and homophony, such as the homophony of "Buddha" and "Fu" of bergamot, which means that Xiantao is long-lived, and bergamot and Xiantao are carved together, which means happier and longer life; The patterns of the big lion and the little lion symbolize promotion and wealth, and the apprentice.
For example, this picture is the complete picture of Wu Lun. There are five kinds of birds engraved on it: phoenix, crane, mandarin duck, owl and warbler. The inscription says, "The wind is dancing and the birds are singing in spring." "Five virtues" means "the righteousness of monarch and minister, the affection between father and son, the difference between husband and wife, the order of age and the trust of friends".
Some patterns are accompanied by well-known poems, such as brick carvings on the top of stalls in the main hall and carp patterns. Meng Haoran's Spring Dawn: This morning in spring, I woke up easily, surrounded by birds singing. But now I remember that night, that storm, and I want to know how many flowers were broken; Li Bai thinks at night: the foot of the bed is bright, and there is frost? . I looked up at the moon and looked down, feeling nostalgic.
Some patterns are also a combination of Chinese and western pearls, such as the little angel pattern. The little angel has a bun, a small belly pocket and small underpants on his head. The images of China boys and Christian angels appear in the decoration of Lingnan architecture, which embodies the spirit of tolerance and multiculturalism in Guangzhou.
Some brick carvings skillfully integrate safety into some parts of the main characters. For example, the tentacles on the head of this carp are very vivid. They are not only a part of carp, but also can be used as lightning rods.
Through the above cases, the brick carving of Chenjiaci is worthy of being an artistic treasure of carving technology and Lingnan decoration.