New Outlooks on the Origin of Minnan-Style Cresting

Abstract

To answer the question of whether the decorative craftsmanship of "Minnan-style" architecture has artistic value, the historical evolution of the decorative craftsmanship is examined in this study through three types of evidence: historical literature, historical images, and architectural history, thus inferring that the "Minnan-style" cresting art is divided into two major artistic features: the "Quanzhou style" and the "Chaozhou style," as well as the fusion of two crafts: "Porcelain-cutting Sculpture" and "Jiaozhi Pottery." The "Minnan-style" cresting originated from Quanzhou Port during the Song and Ming dynasties, which merged with the Chaozhou cresting style during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty in the "Xianshui Temple, Taiwan County". The "Minnan-style" cresting art, which combines the ideas of ritual and music with inspiration from foreign art, was born from this.