Identity / Role
The embodiment of Chinese wood carving culture, guardian of Dongyang wood carving and boxwood carving. Wearing carpenter attire, holding a carving knife, with wood workshops and Dongyang behind him. Mu Diao guards the most wood-flavored craft in China — the being of "Dongyang wood carving, boxwood carving" — showing the beauty of wood carving and the excellence of craftsmanship.
Personality
Calm and exquisite, wood flavor — one of the most wood-flavored characters in Zhonghua Baixiang. Speaks gently and forcefully, loves using wood carving as metaphor, acts exquisitely and patiently. Has innate pursuit of wood flavor — he is the guardian of Dongyang wood carving, the inheritor of boxwood carving. Calm on the surface, but has the pursuit of craftsmanship inside — he is not only a craft, but also the guardian of wood flavor. Loves carving in the wood workshop, wandering in Dongyang, advancing in wood flavor. A bit calm, always maintains the focus of a carpenter, but his calmness is not coldness, but the persistence of craftsmanship.
Worldview Story
Wood carving is one of the oldest crafts in China, is the craft of carving patterns on wood with a carving knife. China is the hometown of wood carving, the invention of wood carving has a history of over 7000 years (wood carving remnants were found at Neolithic Age sites). Chinese wood carving has the four famous wood carvings: Dongyang wood carving (Dongyang, Zhejiang, known for relief carving, "hometown of carving"), boxwood carving (Yueqing, Zhejiang, known for round carving, boxwood has a fine texture, suitable for carving fine figures), longan wood carving (Fuzhou, Fujian, known for round carving, longan wood has a hard texture, suitable for carving simple and unsophisticated figures), gold lacquer wood carving (Chaozhou, Guangdong, known for relief carving + gold lacquer, resplendent). Chinese wood carving also has Chaozhou wood carving, Suzhou wood carving, Beijing wood carving, Huizhou wood carving, Jianchuan wood carving, etc. Mu Diao was born from a morning in Dongyang. The wood workshop shone in the morning light, the carving knife waved in the wood workshop, and a carpenter was carving in the wood workshop. His carpenter attire shone in the morning light, the carving knife sparkling in his hands. His wood workshop stood behind him, Dongyang stood in front of him, wood flavor弥漫 beside him. He was a carpenter, he carved in the wood workshop, wandered in Dongyang, advanced in wood flavor. His carving knife was the tool of wood carving, his Dongyang wood carving was the treasure of wood carving, his boxwood carving was the essence of wood carving. He knew the flavor of wood — wood carving is one of the oldest crafts in China, China is the hometown of wood carving, the four famous wood carvings (Dongyang wood carving, boxwood carving, longan wood carving, gold lacquer wood carving) are the representatives of Chinese wood carving, Dongyang wood carving is known for relief carving, "hometown of carving"; boxwood carving is known for round carving, boxwood has a fine texture, suitable for carving fine figures. That calmness and flavor of wood transformed into the spiritual form of Mu Diao. Since then, Mu Diao has walked the mortal world as the spirit of craft. He often appears in wood workshops, in Dongyang, at boxwood carving, guarding the flavor of wood and the excellence of craftsmanship. He carries a carving knife and a piece of wood carving — whoever he meets, he tells the craft of "Dongyang wood carving, boxwood carving." He often says: "Wood carving is one of the oldest crafts in China, China is the hometown of wood carving. The four famous wood carvings are our representatives, Dongyang wood carving is known for relief carving, boxwood carving is known for round carving. Wood flavor is our breath. Craftsmanship is our soul."
Character Profile
Cultural Origin
Wood carving is one of the oldest crafts in China, is the craft of carving patterns on wood (camphor, nanmu, boxwood, longan, red sandalwood, huanghuali, redwood, etc.) with a carving knife (chisel, saw, plane, etc.), also called "wood engraving". China is the hometown of wood carving, the invention of wood carving has a history of over 7000 years. ①Origin — a wood carved fish (dating back over 7000 years) was found at the Neolithic Age site (Hemudu site in Yuyao, Zhejiang), is the earliest wood carving object in China; Shang dynasty has wood carving remnants (painted wood carving fragments unearthed at Yinxu); ②Warring States wood carving — Warring States period wood carving developed, Warring States wood carvings were unearthed from the Mashan Chu tomb in Jiangling, Hubei (wood carved tiger base flying bird, wood carved tomb guardian beast, etc.); ③Han dynasty wood carving — Han dynasty wood carving has wood carved figurines (Han dynasty wood carved figurines unearthed from the Mozuizi Han tomb in Wuwei, Gansu, has wood carved horses, wood carved ox carts, wood carved attendants, etc.), wood carved architectural mingqi, etc.; ④Tang dynasty wood carving — Tang dynasty wood carving has wood carved Buddha statues (Tang dynasty wood carved Buddha statues unearthed from the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang), wood carved architectural components, etc.; ⑤Song dynasty wood carving — Song dynasty wood carving has wood carved arhats (Song dynasty wood carved arhats unearthed from the Baosheng Temple in Luzhi, Suzhou, Jiangsu), wood carved architectural components ("Yingzao Fashi" records the practice of wood carved architectural components), etc.; ⑥Ming dynasty wood carving — Ming dynasty wood carving has wood carved architecture (wood carved architectural components of the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Ming Tombs), wood carved furniture (Ming dynasty furniture, huanghuali, red sandalwood carving), wood carved ornaments, etc.; ⑦Qing dynasty wood carving — Qing dynasty wood carving has the formation of the four famous wood carvings (Dongyang wood carving, boxwood carving, longan wood carving, gold lacquer wood carving), Qing dynasty wood carving also has Chaozhou wood carving, Suzhou wood carving, Beijing wood carving, Huizhou wood carving, Jianchuan wood carving, etc.; ⑧Four famous wood carvings — Dongyang wood carving (Dongyang, Zhejiang, known for relief carving, "hometown of carving", Dongyang wood carving is known as the "number one scholar of carving", the characteristics of Dongyang wood carving are "multi-layer relief, scattered perspective composition, retaining flat decoration", representative works include "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", "Grand View Garden", etc.); boxwood carving (Yueqing, Zhejiang, known for round carving, boxwood has a fine, tough texture, suitable for carving fine figures, boxwood carving has the characteristics of "three-dimensional round carving, fine and subtle", representative works include "Hide and Seek", "Five Children Playing with Maitreya", etc., representative figures of boxwood carving include Zhu Zichang, Wang Fengzuo, Ye Runzhou, etc.); longan wood carving (Fuzhou, Fujian, known for round carving, longan wood has a hard, dense texture, suitable for carving simple and unsophisticated figures, longan wood carving has the characteristics of "simple and vigorous, concise knife method", representative works include "Tieguai Li", "Zhong Kui", etc.); gold lacquer wood carving (Chaozhou, Guangdong, known for relief carving + gold lacquer, resplendent, gold lacquer wood carving has the characteristics of "multi-layer hollow, resplendent", representative works include "Grand View Garden", "Investiture of the Gods", etc., gold lacquer wood carving is mostly used for architectural decoration, furniture decoration, shrines, Buddha statues, etc.); ⑨Other wood carvings — Chaozhou wood carving (Chaozhou, Guangdong, similar to gold lacquer wood carving, known for relief, through carving, sunken carving, gilded and colored, resplendent), Suzhou wood carving (Suzhou, Jiangsu, known for fineness, mostly used for architectural decoration, furniture decoration), Beijing wood carving (Beijing, known for court wood carving, mostly used for palaces, royal gardens), Huizhou wood carving (Huizhou, Anhui, known for brick carving, wood carving, stone carving "Huizhou three carvings", mostly used for residential architectural decoration), Jianchuan wood carving (Jianchuan, Yunnan, known for Bai wood carving, mostly used for architectural decoration, furniture decoration), etc.; ⑩Wood carving techniques — Chinese wood carving has rich techniques, such as relief (shallow relief, deep relief, multi-layer relief), round carving (three-dimensional round carving), through carving (hollow carving), sunken carving (intaglio), openwork carving (hollow), inlay carving (inlaid carving), etc.; the processes of wood carving include material selection, design, rough blank, fine blank, finishing, polishing, lacquering (or gilding), etc.; ⑪Modern wood carving — modern wood carving has the four famous wood carvings of Dongyang wood carving, boxwood carving, longan wood carving, gold lacquer wood carving, also has Chaozhou wood carving, Suzhou wood carving, Beijing wood carving, Huizhou wood carving, Jianchuan wood carving, etc., Dongyang wood carving, boxwood carving, Chaozhou wood carving are listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list; modern wood carving has also developed machine carving, computer carving, etc., but hand wood carving is still the most precious. Wood carving is one of the oldest crafts in China, is an important symbol of Chinese culture, the four famous wood carvings, Dongyang wood carving, boxwood carving, Chaozhou wood carving, etc. are important representatives of Chinese wood carving.
Craft & Commercialization
Recommended size 8-12cm (craft setting, size can be smaller). The carpenter attire is the main highlight: recommend calm design, attire may use pad printing or water-transfer printing (wood carving patterns/cloud patterns/geometric patterns/wood grain), attire may use segmented injection, attire may use brown/dark/red color scheme (wood carving color scheme). Carving knife is a separate part, may be detachable, carving knife may use metallic paint, carving knife may use carving knife/chisel/plane shape. Wood carving work is a separate part, may be detachable, wood carving work may use actual wood or simulated wood, wood carving work may use figure/animal/flower/landscape shape, wood carving work may use Dongyang wood carving/boxwood carving/longan wood carving/gold lacquer wood carving shape. Boxwood is a separate part, may be detachable, boxwood may use wood-grain paint, boxwood may use light yellow/cream white paint. Gold lacquer is a separate part, may be detachable, gold lacquer may use gold paint, gold lacquer may use resplendent texture. Wood plane is a separate part, may be detachable, wood plane may use wood/metal paint, wood plane may use plane shape. Saw is a separate part, may be detachable, saw may use metallic paint, saw may use saw shape. Headwear/scarf/hat is a separate part, may be detachable, headwear may use scarf/cloth wrap/work hat shape. Hands may hold objects (carving knife/wood carving work/wood plane). Base may use wood workshop/Dongyang/boxwood carving texture. Overall uses brown/dark/red/gold as main tones, conveying the calm exquisiteness of Mu Diao.
Licensing Fit
Suitable for cultural creative brands (wood carving/Dongyang wood carving/boxwood carving theme), cultural tourism (Dongyang/Yueqing/Fuzhou/Chaozhou/wood carving theme), home brands (wood carving/Chinese style/Dongyang wood carving theme), apparel brands (craft style/calm style), education brands (wood carving/traditional culture theme), gift brands (wood carving/gift theme), and furniture brands (wood carved furniture/redwood furniture theme). The calm wood flavor image of Mu Diao suits cultural creative and home collabs, forming the "wood carving-embroidery" Chinese craft pairing with Ci Xiu.
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Character Assets
Full set of commercially available assets: illustration, turnaround, extended content, art toys & merch, cultural gifts, and atmosphere art
