As one of arts in China treasure house, the tree root sculpture stemmed from the craft of making various articles and tools of daily use out of tree roots. It is devoted now to the making of art objects for pure decorative purposes.

As a rule, roots selected for sculpture are from trees, which are hard in texture and thin in bark, such as the elm, the Chinese little leaf box and the azalea among others, because they will not shrink or warp with time. The artist digs up the roots at the juncture of fall and winter and, dictated by their natural shapes, conceives of the objects to be sculptured -preying lion, galloping horse, fighting bull, dancing girls… After being carved into the desired shapes, they receive a thin coat of Chinese wax, which gives them a nice luster with out concealing the natural veins of the roots.