Deep Three-Dimensional Pierced Camphor Wood Sculpting: Multi-Layered Relief in Huizhou Niutui

Among the 'Three Carvings of Huizhou' (Huizhou Sandiao—wood, stone, and brick), woodcarving achieved an unrivaled level of technical and artistic virtuosity. Within this tradition, no single architectural component displays greater sculptural complexity than the Niutui. While exterior stone arches and brick gateways were subject to weathering and required monumental handling, interior timber brackets—sheltered beneath overhanging courtyards—allowed carvers to push wood to the very limits of its structural and spatial potential through the technique of tongdiao (通雕).

Tongdiao translates as 'pierced openwork' or 'through-carving'. Unlike ordinary relief carving, which treats the wood block as a flat surface with raised figures, tongdiao treats the timber as a three-dimensional theatrical stage. Master carvers excavated the block from the front, sides, and underneath, creating five to seven overlapping spatial planes within a single piece of timber. Figures, horses, pavilions, and bridges are carved almost fully in the round, appearing to float weightlessly within a delicate lattice of clouds and foliage.

Executing five layers of delicate pierced openwork without catastrophic breakage requires a timber with extraordinary physical characteristics. Huizhou carvers worked almost exclusively with aromatic camphor wood (Cinnamomum camphora / zhangmu 樟木), harvested from ancient forests in the rugged mountains of southern Anhui.

Camphor wood is a medium-density hardwood with an exceptionally fine, uniform texture. Crucially, its growth rings do not feature the sharp alternations between soft earlywood and brittle latewood found in conifers like pine or fir. It possesses an interlocked, cooperative grain that can be carved across, along, or diagonally to the fibers with equal ease, without chipping or splintering. When sliced by a razor-sharp chisel, camphor wood leaves a crisp, glassy facet that catches the light like polished marble. Furthermore, the wood's natural aromatic oils act as an organic lubricant for the carver's tools, allowing the blade to glide smoothly through the dense fibers.

The creation of a master-level Niutui is a disciplined, multi-stage journey requiring hundreds of hours of labor. The process begins with Da Pi (打坯 / roughing out). The artisan draws the full-scale cartoon on the face of the squared camphor block, then uses heavy iron augers to bore clearance holes through the primary negative-space voids. With broad, heavy gouges (yuangou) struck by heavy wooden mallets, the carver rapidly removes bulk waste wood, blocking out the primary volumes of figures, horses, and buildings.

The second stage is Loukong (镂空 / deep undercutting). Using long, slender cranked chisels and bent spoon gouges, the carver works around and behind the blocked-out figures, severing them from the background plane. Finally, in the Xi Diao (细雕 / fine detailing) phase, the master assumes sole control. Using miniature veining chisels and micro-skews, the artisan sculpts expressive theatrical faces, fluttering silk sleeves, individual dragon scales, and delicate pine needles, creating an astonishing illusion of life, movement, and atmospheric depth.

The aesthetic genius of a Huizhou Niutui lies in its interaction with natural light. In a traditional Huizhou residence, the interior is illuminated primarily from above through the central skywell (tianjing 天井). As the sun moves across the sky, shafts of daylight enter the skywell at changing angles, striking the pierced openwork of the Niutui brackets overhead.

Because the carving features multiple openwork layers, the light penetrates deep into the interior voids, casting dramatic, dancing shadows across the figures and pavilions. Foreground figures are brilliantly illuminated, while background figures recede into mysterious, soft half-light. As air currents drift through the courtyard, the shadows appear to flicker, bringing the carved opera scenes—tales of legendary generals, immortal sages, and filial daughters—to vivid, kinetic life, transforming the structural ceiling brackets into a permanent, frozen theatrical performance.