He saw that those who did business in the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce often came back rich and spent a lot of money. He was so greedy that he bought a brick kiln and went to Huai'an to do business. Ba

He saw that those who did business in the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce often came back rich and spent a lot of money. He was so greedy that he bought a brick kiln and went to Huai'an to do business. Bao Si started his business in the past few years and made countless money, becoming the richest man in Huizhou. He was very proud and showed that he was rich everywhere. He built the Baosi Temple in Huai'an, sculpted a full-length statue of himself, and announced plans to build a Baosi Street, saying that he had countless money. At this time, a middle-aged woman holding a long-necked vase with willow branches in her hands came to Bao Si and said with a bow: "Boss Bao, don't brag. There is only endless skill in the world, but there is no infinite money." Bao Si. After hearing this, Si blushed and said, "What skills do you know!" The middle-aged woman said, "I can make lotus flowers." Bao Si didn't believe it, so he made a bet because he had a lot of money. Put a lotus flower and decide the winner. The woman agreed, took a step forward, pointed to the ground with her hand, and a lotus appeared on the ground. Bao Si followed and placed a gold ingot. Step by step like this, half a mile down the road, the woman's lotus flower was still there, but Bao Si's ingot was not. Bao Si had no choice but to admit defeat. The Huai'an people used the ingots on the ground to build a street house on the road where the lotus flowers were placed, and named it "Lotus Street". Bao Si was penniless, so he had to smash the statue of himself in the temple, collect some money, and return to Huisan, where he had to go back to his old business of burning kilns. Someone told him that the woman who gambled with the lotus flower was Guanyin. Bao Si understood that "money is limited but skill is infinite" is the teaching of the gods. From then on, he returned home to bake bricks. Because he was so impressed by the lotus, he started to bake lotus bricks, and gradually started to bake bricks. Flowers, trees, insects, fish, figures, and pavilions were carved on the bricks. Three years later, Bao Si gradually became more proficient in his skills and recruited several disciples to study brick carving. At that time, after some Huizhou merchants became rich, they returned to their hometowns to build large-scale construction projects, build poetry halls, and build residences, often without hesitation. Beautiful, fresh and elegant brick carvings are widely used. From then on, Huizhou brick carving developed and became famous throughout the country. Brick carvings include flat carvings, relief carvings, and three-dimensional carvings. The themes include feathers and flowers, dragons, tigers, lions, elephants, forest landscapes, dramatic figures, etc., which have a strong folk color. The style of brick carvings in the Ming Dynasty became too rough, clumsy and simple. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, due to the pursuit of luxurious life by wealthy businessmen, the style of brick carvings in the Qing Dynasty gradually became more delicate and complex, focusing on plot and composition, and deepening the layers of openwork. A complex, multi-story scene is carved out of bricks that are no more than square feet but no more than an inch thick. From close-up to long-range, front and back perspective, the layers are clear, with up to about nine levels, creating an exquisite sense of beauty.

The materials and production of Huizhou brick carvings are extremely sophisticated. Generally, blue bricks fired with special techniques, with a solid sound and pure color are used as the material. They are first ground into blanks, on which the parts of the picture are outlined, the depth of the objects is chiseled out, and the distance and level of the picture are determined. The outline is carefully carved, and some parts are "out of detail" to make the pre-designed pattern stand out. Brick carvings can be seen everywhere in Shexian, Yixian, Wuyuan, Xiuning and Tunxi. The brick carvings inlaid on ancient houses, feeding halls, temples and other buildings are still exquisite and thought-provoking despite being tempered by years and eroded by wind and rain. The Jixian County Museum has a brick sculpture of the Kitchen Temple. On the brick surface, which is only one foot square, is a round sculpture of a Bodhisattva wearing a golden helmet and armor and holding a steel mace in his hand. According to research, this exquisite brick sculpture cost With 1,200 craftsmen, it can be called a classic work of Huizhou brick carving art. In the 1980s, with the establishment of Huizhou Ancient Building Materials Company, brick carving regained its vitality as a practical decorative art. Huizhou Three Carvings

Stone carvings are widely distributed in urban and rural areas of Huizhou, and there are many categories. They are mainly used for decoration of pillars, door walls, archways, tombs, etc. of temples and houses. They belong to the art of relief and round carving and are well-known. high. The themes of Huizhou stone carvings are limited by the carving materials themselves and are not as complex as wood carvings and brick carvings. They mainly include images of animals and plants, ancient patterns and calligraphy. As for characters, stories and landscapes, they are relatively rare. In terms of carving style, the relief carvings are mainly shallow openwork carvings and flat carvings. The integration trend of round carvings is obvious. The knife skills are refined and simple, and are not as delicate and cumbersome as the wood carvings and brick carvings of the Qing Dynasty.

The mountainous areas of Huizhou are rich in wood. Most of the buildings are made of bricks, wood and stone. The wood is especially used, which has become a place for wood carving artists to show their talents. Huizhou wood carvings are used to decorate old buildings and household appliances throughout the country. Its wide distribution in urban and rural areas is one of the few in the country. The elegance of wood carvings can be seen on the screens, window lintels and railings in the courtyard, as well as the beds, tables, chairs, desks and study utensils used in daily life. They can be found in almost every village. Huizhou wood carvings cover a wide range of themes, including figures, landscapes, flowers, animals, insects and fish, cloud heads, fretwork, eight treasures, ancient Chinese characters and tin couplets, and various auspicious patterns. Huizhou wood carving uses expression techniques such as round carving, relief carving, and openwork carving based on the needs and possibilities of the components of the building object.

The "Three Carvings of Huizhou" are extremely closely and securely coordinated with the overall building. Their layout, ingenuity of structure, beauty of decoration, refinement of construction, and depth of connotation are breathtaking. Whether it is wood carving, brick carving or stone carving, various techniques such as relief, openwork carving, round carving, and line carving are used together. From this, we can see the inheritance of my country's architectural decorative carving art since the Han and Tang Dynasties, and it also reflects other arts in Huizhou culture. Categories such as Xin'an Painting School, Hui School Printmaking, Hui School Seal Engraving, Huizhou Inkstone Carving, Ink Mold Carving and other artistic styles have an influence on Huizhou architectural decoration and carving style.