The Sansheng Palace & The Wood Sculpture

By the end of the Qing Dynasty there lived in Tonghai a skillful wooden caver named Gao Yingmei, whose Carved Wooden Chequer Door kept in Sansheng Palace shows a high craftsmanship and has been regarded as a Unique of Huaxia.

Gao Yingmei (1861—1932), an outstanding wooden carver whose father was a skillful wooden carver, was born in the Hexi Town of Tonghai County. In his childhood, Gao Yingmei loved watching opera and drawing. He learned to carve from his father and became a useful assistant to his father after several years of practice. When he grew up, Gao Yingmei, being an apprentice to Lu Yishan who was a prominent wooden carver in Daying Village, was appointed to build the Jukui Garret.

Gao Yingmei practiced in Tonghai, Hexi, Gejiu and other places, leaving behind him four woodcarvings. The woodcarving in the Daxiong Palace of Yuanming Temple in Hexi was destroyed in 1983. One was kept in the cultural center. One was collected in a museum in France. One was kept in the Sansheng Palace in Xiaoxin Village in Tonghai. Sansheng Palace Woodcarving is a typical masterpiece by Gao Yingmei. Gao Yingmei not only could reflect the nature objectively, but also reappear history vividly and imaginatively. Visitors may feel pleasant and gain deep inspiration by watching the masterpieces.