The stone carving art of Xiao County began with the stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty, which has a history of more than 2,000 years. The stone carvings are made of bluestone in the mountains of this county. Bluestone is rich in reserves, fine in texture, hard and resistant to weathering, and suitable for carving artworks. The stone reliefs of the Western Han Dynasty had a rough surface, and most of them were flat intaglio engravings; in the Eastern Han Dynasty, as the content of the portraits became increasingly complex, techniques such as flat-ground bas-relief, high relief, and curved bas-relief came into being; the lines became smoother from being rough, and the carving of objects focused on freehand brushwork. From the Southern Song Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, Xiao County stone carving artists inherited and carried forward the tradition of Han Dynasty portraits, and paid attention to innovation and enrichment of techniques. First, the appearance of round sculptures in front of Tang and Song tombs made stone carvings develop from single plane carvings to three-dimensional carvings. The stone monkeys, stone sheep, stone horses, and stone men in front of the tomb of the Li family in the west of Li Shilin Village in this county have simple shapes and simple lines. The high reliefs of Xiao County in the Ming Dynasty, especially the new techniques of openwork, pushed the stone carving art of Xiao County to a higher level; the memorial arch of Taoxu Village, Zhuangli Township in the Ming Dynasty has 20 openwork double-sided carvings, including 4 hollow flower panels, which are exquisite and exquisite in craftsmanship; in the 5th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Xiao County rebuilt the main hall of the academy, and the middle of the steps in front of the hall was engraved with a super high relief coiled dragon, with a peculiar and beautiful shape, well-proportioned lines, and flexible and diverse knife techniques. Although most of the fine stone carvings in the county were destroyed by natural disasters, the art of stone carving has been passed down among the people. In recent years, Xiao County stone carving artists have either moved to other places or are old and frail, so protecting the art of stone carving has become a top priority. Information source: Anhui Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center Information source: Anhui Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center