Linzi Brick Carving

Linzi Brick Carving

　　Brick Carving

　　The brick carving art of Linzi District blends the essence of ancient Qi State’s pottery-making, architecture, and sculptural arts.

　　The materials used for brick carving are typically blue bricks that have been fired with special techniques, producing a clear ring when struck and featuring pure, clean colors. The bricks are first finely ground into blanks, then the designs are outlined on them, with depths carved to establish layers of perspective. The carvings are then carefully refined along the contours, with certain areas “refined in detail” to gradually bring out the pre-designed patterns. In terms of form, brick carvings fall into two categories: blank carving and hard carving. In terms of technique, they are divided into four types: round carving, relief carving, flat carving, and openwork carving.

　　Linzi brick carvings begin with the design of a small-scale model according to the requirements of the work, which is then scaled up. The production process includes batching, fine grinding, clay refining, molding, designing, carving, polishing, drying, kiln loading, firing, kiln unloading, grading, and storage.

　　Linzi brick carvings have notable characteristics in both production techniques and artistic design: First, the special raw material formula enhances the hardness of the material, leaving no air bubbles in the middle; second, the high firing temperature gives the brick blanks greater strength; third, the rich color variation of the brick blanks enhances the expressiveness of the carvings; fourth, the designs adapt to local conditions, with color schemes that harmonize with the main structures.

　　Linzi brick carvings serve architectural purposes but are not confined to them, employing exaggerated and distorted forms for highly decorative effects.