Ninghai Qingdao woodcarving Buddha statue is a kind of Buddha statue art sculpture. It is one of the two major Buddha sculpture art schools in the history of my country, coexisting with Fujian School of Buddha statue art sculpture. Its origin can be traced back to at least the era of popularization of Buddhism, and Ninghai woodcarving Buddha was born from this. According to the Ningbo Buddhist Chronicles and the History of Japanese Buddha Statue, in 983 AD, a Japanese monk came to China and brought back to Taizhou (Ninghai was under the jurisdiction of Taizhou at that time) a sandalwood statue and sixteen venerables carved by the Zhang brothers (now in the Qingliang Museum), which became the model of Japanese statues at that time. In the Southern Song Dynasty, a group of famous Buddha carving artists such as Ninghai Chen Heqing were invited to Japan to rebuild Todaiji Temple, etc. Later, many Ningbo Buddha statues were brought to Japan. A large number of Buddha statues carved by Ningbo people can still be found in Japan today. Ningbo Buddha sculpture art began to move towards South Korea and Southeast Asia during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was not until the late Republic of China to the "Cultural Revolution" that it gradually declined. Ninghai Qingdao woodcarving Buddha statues are mainly made of poplar, cypress, apricot, cypress, beech, nanmu, boxwood, sandalwood and other raw materials. The works are pure white in color, clear in texture, pure and powerful in carving, and strong in texture. If they are slightly colored and inlaid with gold and silver, they will be more solemn. However, the production process is complicated. It can be divided into eight steps, including preparing materials, splicing, roughing, finishing, digging, inlaying, polishing, cutting gold and coloring. There are dozens of processes, and special tools for fine wood are required, so it is very difficult to master the whole skill. In 1980, Huang Cailiang, a Ninghai native, established Ningbo Oriental Art Company to re-explore, protect and operate this unique skill that was about to be lost. He also taught more than 50 artists, opened up domestic and foreign markets, and carved a large number of Buddhist and Taoist statues such as the Thousand-handed Guanyin, the Twenty-eight Tribes, the Ten Great Disciples, the Eleven-faced Guanyin, and the Ksitigarbha in Putuo Mountain and Tianhua Hall. However, no new apprentices have been recruited in the past decade, and there are concerns about succession. The local government will try its best to protect this heritage by investing in the construction of a heritage base, a statue museum and relevant art archives. Information source: Ningbo Cultural Center (Ningbo Exhibition Hall Ningbo Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center) Information source: Ningbo Cultural Center (Ningbo Exhibition Hall Ningbo Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center)