The scene of bamboo carving or bone carving may be like this. In the evening, when the tribal chronicler planned to record the day's work on the rock wall with mineral pigments as usual, he found that the mineral pigments had been used up, so he began to write notes on the rock wall with tools such as stone knives and axes, but the hardness of the rock wall was similar to that of the stone knives and axes in his hand, so he could not record the next day's deeds on the rock wall smoothly. Just when he was in a hurry, the smooth bamboo stick in his hand fell off. Inadvertently, he found that there were many traces of friction on the smooth surface of the bamboo stick, so he made a hard stroke on the bamboo stick with the stone tool in his hand and scratched a soft bamboo stick.
Bamboo-carved lotus incense cone in Ming Dynasty
The reporter found that it is much easier to write notes on bamboo with stone tools than on the rock wall, and bamboo sticks are much easier to carry and fetch materials than on the rock wall, so the bone carvings on bamboo carvings are similar, but compared with bone carvings, bamboo carvings are difficult to preserve, so it is difficult to see bamboo carvings and Oracle Bone Inscriptions at the same time in later archaeological excavations. However, the way of taking notes with bamboo lasted for a long time, and the function of taking notes with bamboo gradually faded after the invention and popularization of paper after the Han Dynasty.
Bamboo Carving and Bamboo Pen Container in Ming Dynasty
In the process of historical development and evolution, although the way of bamboo notes has been eliminated, the works of art carved by bamboo have ushered in spring. Since then, bamboo has continued to exist in the form of water boards, bamboo fans, bamboo boxes and bamboo carvings held by officials. According to Dai Sheng's Etiquette Jade Algae in the Han Dynasty, some water boards (also known as hand boards) held by courtiers at the court meeting were made of bamboo pieces. "Where there are finger paintings in front of the monarch, books are written in the water, emperors use ball jade, princes use ivory, and doctors use fish, asparagus, bamboo and wooden elephants." Later, a large number of bamboo carvings began to appear, such as the carved bamboo spoon with dragon lacquer unearthed from the tomb of the Western Han Dynasty in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan.
Ming dynasty bamboo carving dish pine cup
As late as the Jin Dynasty, bamboo pen holders appeared. According to historical records, the pen container of Wang Xianzhi, a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was carved from bamboo. After the Tang Dynasty, bamboo carving gradually became familiar to scholars and began to be sought after. Then in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, bamboo carving and bamboo carving prevailed. Their carving skills are far ahead of their predecessors, and their exquisite craftsmanship has become a symbol of the status of the royal family and government officials. Some famous bamboo carvings are even hard to find a dollar. Because of this, bamboo carving has become a major category in the art history of China and China, and its cultural content still needs modern cultural scholars to study and learn ~