Woodcarving (Gaochun woodcarving) is an extension of the traditional art category of the third batch of Nanjing Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Woodcarving, brick carving and stone carving are the characteristics of Gaochun folk handicrafts, among which woodcarving is the first of Gaochun's "three carvings". Gaochun woodcarving skills were popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. According to the "Gaochun County Chronicles", the two brothers Xing Xianzhi in the Ming Dynasty could carve "Eighteen Arhats" on a walnut shell, which not only had vivid expressions, but also had houses, pine and bamboo and inscriptions. Gaochun woodcarving reflects the style of the times in different periods and embodies the regional characteristics of "Wu Feng Chu Yun". In the Ming and Qing architectural complexes in Gaochun Old Street, woodcarvings can be seen everywhere: the lintels, diagonal braces, beams, brackets, eaves, window sashes, etc. of the houses are everywhere; woodcarving works can be seen in the ancient architectural complexes in Gaochun villages. There are also many exquisite woodcarvings in household utensils and ornaments. The raw materials of Gaochun wood carvings are mainly camphor, basswood, pine and cypress. Small carvings are also made of precious woods such as sandalwood, rosewood, nanmu and boxwood. The wood carving production technique uses high-level, far-reaching and flat dispersion to deal with the relationship, and combines the scattered points of traditional Chinese paintings to fully display the content of the picture. There are four main characteristics: First, ancestral craftsmanship. Most woodcarving artists come from woodcarving families, and their craftsmanship is passed down from generation to generation; second, Gaochun style. Gaochun woodcarving artists have absorbed the skills of Fujian and Guangdong styles, as well as the skills of northern woodcarving, and integrated them to form their own style, mainly relief "ground brocade", combined with more than ten techniques such as positive carving, negative carving, hollow double-sided carving, fighting carving, and tree root carving, referred to as "Chun style"; third, folk characteristics. Gaochun woodcarving embodies the folk auspicious and festive folk content and traditional aesthetic concepts, such as dragons and phoenixes, auspicious beasts, cranes, bats and other animal shapes and patterns such as eight treasures and ancients, with dynamic and vivid images; fourth, the subject matter is extensive, including historical stories, folk legends and drama characters, as well as landscape villages, flowers, birds, fish and insects, birds and beasts, and various geometric figures, with exquisite content. It has high historical value, artistic value, practical value and economic value. Today, Gaochun, as the "hometown of architecture" in Jiangsu, has made new developments in woodcarving art. For example, woodcarving master Ma Yunian from Qiqiao Town, famous woodcarvers Zhu Zhiqiang and Huang Fusheng from Gubei Town, and Wang Guangrong from Dongba Town, all of them are ingenious in repairing ancient buildings and making antiques, which fully reflects the contemporary level of Gaochun woodcarving. Today, these woodcarving artists have trained a large number of inheritors by teaching their skills to apprentices, which has effectively promoted the inheritance and development of Gaochun woodcarving production skills. Information source: Jiangsu Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center Information source: Jiangsu Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center