Quyang Cultural Tour

On September 10, 2018, at the invitation of a friend, I started a cultural trip to Quyang.

From the highway lead, you can see the overwhelming stone sculptures on both sides of the highway. Quxin Road is Quyang's stone carving culture street. There are many stone carving companies. The huge sculpture of Huang Shigong, the originator of stone carving, is in the courtyard of the Art Tribe.

The animal sculptures come alive.

The rows of giant elephants are very majestic. The lion is carved with subtle micro-figures.

There are many stone card houses and the formation is grand. The figure sculptures are both beautiful in form and spirit.

These sculptures are made of fiberglass and have a unique flavor. FRP is actually resin, which is strong and durable.

Next to the Huang Shigong statue is the Shaorong Museum. On display in the museum are two-and-a-half mason stone carvings, which are Quyang’s sculpture art brand. Quyang stone carving began in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Yuan Dynasty. Two and a half stonemasons refer to Quyang stone carvings, one and two and a half stonemasons. Those who can paint and carve are considered one, those who can carve half of the rock, those who can only carve or can only paint are each considered half, and Quyang carving is two and a half stonemasons. It was these two and a half stonemasons who made Quyang the hometown of sculpture art!

This mountain south of Quyang City is the birthplace of Quyang sculpture. Most of the villages surrounding the mountains are masonry. Huang Shigong, the originator of sculpture, once lived here in seclusion, hence the name Huangshan. This mountain was originally called "Shaorong Mountain". According to legend, a Shang and Yin girl once lived here in seclusion, and her appearance remained unchanged for hundreds of years. The temple on Huangshan Mountain is called "Bahui Temple", named after its eight courtyards. It is a famous Buddhist holy place in central Hebei.

The Beiyue Temple in Quyang is another cultural attraction.

The temple gate is called Chaoyue Gate.

Entering the temple gate, you are faced with the Royal Incense Pavilion, with a large incense burner carved in stone.

Facing the Yuxiang Pavilion, on the left is the Beiyue Museum. Many ancient stone carvings are displayed in the corridors. The first exhibition room mainly displays the origin of the Five Mountains Sacrifice and the geographical location and cultural relics of the ancient Mount Hengshan; the second exhibition room displays the sacrificial activities of emperors of all generations since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. The third exhibition room mainly displays the thousand-year-old Beiyue Temple and its architectural art style.

The murals in the temple are symmetrical.

The second entrance is Lingxiao Gate.

The third gate is Sanshan Gate. There is a stone carving of Quyang ghost at the door. It is said that this ghost is Zhong Kui, also called Feitian Shen.

To the left and right of the two doors is the stele gallery, dotted with stele pavilions.

Behind the ruins of the Feilaishi Hall is the main hall of the temple. In the middle is the God of Beiyue Hengshan, accompanied by the God of Wind and Rain. The murals on the left and right walls are still clearly visible.

Another artistic highlight of Quyang is Ding porcelain. I went to the Chen Wenzeng Art Wood Exhibition Hall with my friends and saw the unique ceramic art of Master Chen and his disciples.

There is also a pavilion of Ding porcelain from the Song Dynasty, with many tea sets and they are very exquisite. Ding kiln is a white porcelain kiln that succeeded Xing kiln. In the Tang Dynasty, the main types of utensils were bowls, while in the Song Dynasty, bowls, plates, bottles, dishes, boxes and pillows were the main types. They also produced pure bottles, conches and other Buddha offerings. They were thin and light, hard in quality and white in color. Not very transparent. Ding kiln is made by lamination and re-firing, and most of the rims are not glazed, which is called "Mangkou". This is one of the characteristics of Ding kiln products.

Ding kiln porcelain is deeply loved by people for its rich and colorful pattern decoration. The main decorative techniques are white glaze printing, white glaze carving and white glaze scratching, as well as white glaze carving and gold color tracing. The printing is mainly based on flowers, including lotus, chrysanthemum, daylilies, peonies, etc., as well as animal patterns such as mandarin ducks, dragons, phoenixes, lions, etc. The pictures are rigorous, symmetrical, and neat and elegant. The white glaze printed set has always been regarded as a treasure in ceramic art. . In the early Northern Song Dynasty, Ding kiln's carvings, compositions and patterns were simple, mostly with heavy lotus petals, and decorated with the beauty of bas-relief. The carvings and decorations in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty are exquisite and unique. Use a single-tooth or double-tooth comb-like tool to carve out an image composed of main lines and auxiliary lines of different depths and shallowness, which are vivid and natural, with a strong three-dimensional effect. The decorative themes are flowers, fruits, lotuses, ducks, and birds. Birds, floating birds, cloud dragons, etc. are the main ones.

Small porcelain pillows were widely popular during the Song and Jin Dynasties. They ranged from the simplest rectangular shape to animal-shaped pillows, such as tiger-shaped pillows, and Ruyi-shaped pillows that resembled Ruyi clouds. The Ruyi pillows were chosen from their auspicious meanings for babies. The pillow is one of the more complex ones. Infant patterns were extremely popular during the Song Dynasty. Among the Song porcelains that have been handed down from generation to generation, designs featuring babies or children playing can be seen in the northern celadon series, Jingdezhen shadow celadon, the Cizhou kiln series with complex techniques, and the Ding kiln series to which this piece belongs.

Although Ding kiln was originally a civilian kiln, it once fired porcelain for the palace in the late Northern Song Dynasty, so it had a great influence and was copied in various places. There are "Tuding", "Xinding", "Beiding", "Nanding", "Funding" and other imitations.

Quyang stone carvings can be found all over the country, including the Monument to Heroes and the stone pillars of the Great Hall of the People. The Buddha statues in Yungang Grottoes are also recorded in Quyang stone carvings.

There are several parks in Quyang County. In the parks, lakes are rippling, lotus flowers are everywhere, and stone carvings can be seen everywhere, highlighting the characteristics of Quyang!

Thanks to old colleagues and good friends for their warm hospitality, I was able to enjoy the cultural feast of Quyang