Where is the biggest root carving in China?

Ouyang Fanghui, a farmer from Chushan Village, Mutong Town, Shangli County, Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province, spent ten years creating a giant root carving art work "Dragon and Phoenix Becoming Lucky". This work is carved from a completely excavated camphor tree root. It is 4.7m long, 2.4m high and1.0m wide. From a distance, it looks like a big map of China, but from a close look, it is a gathering place for immortals, birds and beasts. According to Internet search, the scale of this root carving is bigger than the largest known root carving work "The Giant Elephant" in China. At present, relevant parties in Shangli are organizing to declare the Guinness World Record.

Root carving can be divided into figures and animals, and there are 180 individual figures in * *. On the front of the work are two dragons playing with beads, and on the back are two phoenixes catching stags. The layout of the whole work is designed according to historical allusions and astronomical constellations. The main characters are Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, Ten Lucky Stars, Seven Three Religion Poems, Cowherd and Weaver Girl, Seven Sisters and Yong Dong. Animals include more than 50 representative animals, such as East Dragon, West White Tiger, South Suzaku, North Xuanwu and the Chinese Zodiac.

The whole root carving has a unique and generous shape, and the figures and animals are lifelike, which means happiness and auspiciousness. It has high ornamental and collection value. After the work came out, many art collectors came. They promised to pay a high price, but they were politely declined. Ouyang Fanghui, the author, said that he would donate this work to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at an appropriate time to express the deep affection of a Chinese descendant for the motherland.