Traditional red sandalwood carving techniques, with unique style and characteristics, were mainly used in the imperial furniture production during Ming and Qing dynasties, representing the highest level of woodworking technology at the time.

The carving of red sandalwood is handcrafted, and its carving approaches are diverse, incorporating various techniques such as line carving (garland and diaglyph), low relief, high relief, flat-plane carving and hollow-form carving. These carvings are made of wood, carved instead of brush, and painted with knives. The compositions are complex, the knives are robust and bold, and the scenes are deep and profound. The works have a wide range of themes, mainly landscapes, flowers, birds and animals and other motifs. The patterns on the wood carvings usually carry good wishes for "good fortune", "the more children, the greater prosperity", "longevity", and "successful career".

The mortise and tenon structure used in red sandalwood furniture is even more elaborate and ingenious, without a single nail throughout the body, relying entirely on inseparable mortise and tenon joints. The precision of this technique and the tightness of the structure are beyond the reach of modern mechanical techniques. The making of red sandalwood carving artwork goes through more than a dozen steps, including wood drying, cutting, sawing, assembling, making adhesives by hand, carving, polishing, waxing etc. It may take one to ten years to make a sandalwood carving.

With the times changing and the development of large-scale industry, mechanical production has already penetrated every aspect of traditional furniture manufacturing, and the traditional red sandalwood carving craft is facing the crisis of extinction.

Translator: ZHAO Huinan