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Jin qi mu diao, gilt woodcarving

Carved, then lacquered and gilded: gold over the whole surface, used on hall beams, the panels of a god’s palanquin and the lids of offering boxes.

Pronunciation　jīn qī mù diāo｜Craft and performance｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary

Gilt woodcarving, lacquered and gilded after carving, gold over the whole surface
Carved, then lacquered and gilded, so that the whole surface is gold. Photograph: veronicakkk, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

What it means

Chaozhou woodcarving is also called gilt woodcarving. The carving comes first, then lacquer, then gold, and the finished piece is gold all over: the gold is not the material but the last stage of the work.

The cutting is best read through the tools: dozens of chisels, knives and hammers with edges of different widths, and the depth of a pierced carving is produced by changing tools rather than by pressing harder. The order is to block out the timber, then cut away the waste, then finish the surface.

Gilt carving on the beams of Ji lue Huang gong ci, with figures, birds and animals stacked on one member
Gilt carving on the beams at Ji lue Huang gong ci: figures, birds and animals stacked on the same member. Image: Douyin @王东鹏, 31 May 2025.

Where it is used

The beams of an ancestral hall, the panels of a god’s palanquin, the lid of an offering box, the back of a door plaque. Anywhere a blade can reach there is work, and most people only look at the front — the back is carved too.

A gilt carved lion under a beam
A gilt carved lion under the beam. Image: Douyin @王东鹏, 31 May 2025.
The shrimp and crab basket, a single block pierced through to show a woven basket and crabs
The shrimp and crab basket: one block of wood pierced through, a bamboo basket and its crabs cut out of it. Image: Douyin @J, 22 August 2022.

Words easily confused

Gilt woodcarving is another name for Chaozhou woodcarving, two faces of one object: the carving is the work, the gold the finish. It is not the same line as porcelain mosaic — one is worked in wood, the other on a roof ridge.

Read next: Chaozhou woodcarving: piercing and gilding.

Same group: porcelain mosaic, Chao embroidery, ancestral hall.

Home › Glossary › Craft and performance › Gilt woodcarving

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Last revised: 3 November 2026