Jade carving is actually not simple. Do you understand such beauty?

The ancients said, "If jade is not carved, it will not become a useful object." In the long history of Chinese jade culture, people have long had a deep understanding of jade carving. Using different carving techniques will leave different traces on the jade, and these traces contribute to the beauty of jade. The more carving techniques are used, the higher the craftsmanship value will be, and of course the more precious the work will be. The more exquisitely carved the jade is, the higher its craftsmanship value is, and the more popular it is.

Carving technique 1: round carving

A round sculpture, also known as a three-dimensional sculpture, refers to a non-compressed three-dimensional sculpture that can be appreciated from multiple directions and angles. It requires the sculptor to carve from all directions: front, back, left, right, top, middle and bottom. The viewer can see all sides of the object from different angles.

Carving technique 2: relief

Relief is a decorative carving technique that appears after round carving, which uses the method of compressing volume to carve raised patterns or shapes on the surface of jade raw materials to express the three-dimensionality and spatial sense of the jade carving patterns. Depending on the thickness of the compression, relief can be divided into three types: deep relief, medium relief and shallow relief.

Carving technique three: openwork

Openwork carving refers to hollow carving, which retains the raised part of the object and partially hollows out the back part. On the basis of the relief, the background part is hollowed out, and the back is mostly expressed in the form of a screen. There are cross-shaped hollow carvings, circular hollow carvings, decorative hollow carvings, etc.

Carving technique 4: chain carving

Chain carving is a carving technique that hollows out a whole piece of material and carves it into a movable chain. This carving technique has very high requirements on the quality of jade. Generally speaking, chain carving is recommended only for raw stones with fine quality and no cracks. Because, in the whole process of chain carving, carving the ring is an extremely delicate and difficult technique. If you are not careful, the chain will break and the jade will be destroyed, and all the previous efforts will be wasted.

Carving technique five: hollow carving

Openwork carving is also called openwork carving. It is based on relief carving, but the background part is hollowed out. Some are single-sided carvings, and some are double-sided carvings. This carving technique can vividly express the shape and outline of the work, achieving an exquisite and delicate artistic effect. This carving technique is generally used on raw stones that contain many impurities and affect the overall beauty of the jade.

Carving technique six: negative carving

Yin carving, also known as Yin engraving or sunken carving, refers to a technique of concave carving. It was first commonly seen in the carving of text on seals and later developed into decorative carvings on various materials.

Carving technique seven: line carving

Line carving, also known as line engraving, is an ancient carving technique that refers to the use of single lines to carve patterns. There are two ways of expressing line engraving. One is negative line engraving, which is to engrave in the form of concave lines; the other is positive line engraving, which is to engrave in the form of convex lines.