Hui 'an woodcarving flourished in the Tang and Five Dynasties, matured in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the popularity of famous teachers rose, and high-quality products appeared one after another. After the founding of New China, industry rose and shined brilliantly. The early Hui 'an woodcarving was mainly the relief decoration of Buddha statues and buildings. With the spread of traditional architectural woodcarving and religious belief, it is widely used in various carving decorations. Later, boxwood carving, gold carving, simulation carving and tree root carving were developed, which became the pillar industry and cultural tourism brand of local economic development.

During the Tang and Five Dynasties, the palace-like large-scale traditional residential buildings in southern Fujian rose, which promoted the wide application of Hui 'an woodcarving based on this. At the same time, since the Tang Dynasty, Quanzhou has been known as a Buddhist country near the sea. For a long time, religious sculpture is the main content of sculpture art, which complements architectural sculpture and has been passed down to this day.

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hui 'an woodcarving gradually matured, and its artistic pursuit and expression techniques also changed from simple to complex, from coarse to fine, from clumsy to refined. According to the Zhang Family Tree of Jianhu, the earliest existing woodcarving works in Hui 'an are 24 "flying musicians" (also known as "birds") sculptures that Zhang Shixun participated in rebuilding the roof of the Daxiong Hall of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty. It combines religious culture, exquisite sculptures and architectural sculptures in an extraordinary and exquisite artistic carrier. Hui 'an Confucian Temple, which was founded in Yuan Dynasty, still retains complete "big wood" carving components such as bucket, lintel and bucket arch.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hui 'an woodcarving became more mature, and its artistic style began to change from rough and smooth to fine, becoming the representative of Hui 'an carving art. 1888 (14th year of Guangxu in Qing dynasty), Wang Yishun and his son, the respected "first woodcarving master in Bamin", built the Phoenix-flavored Dongyue Temple, designed and manufactured the cobweb caisson with all wood structure, and carved various patterns. Once this original technology came out, it became famous for a time. Later, in the famous temples of Fujian and Taiwan, such as Longshan Temple in Taipei, Nanputuo Temple in Xiamen and Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, the artistic treasures of architecture "big wood" combined with sculpture and painting were left. During this period, folk artists began to go out of the countryside, form teams, move forward with traditional bodies, quickly complete the selection and digestion of foreign cultures, and successfully carry out unprecedented artistic practice of multicultural integration in limited religious space. At this time, Huian woodcarving has been widely used in architectural sculpture. In the construction of temples, ancestral halls and ancient houses, wood carving decorative patterns are widely used in wooden building components such as beams and columns, archways, sparrows, piles, pockets and hanging flowers.

After the founding of New China, the theme and social content of Hui 'an woodcarving became richer and entered a brand-new historical development period. Some architectural carving projects with great influence and historical significance have condensed the hard work and wisdom of Hui 'an sculptors and artists. Woodcarvers in Hui 'an began to go from small family workshops to enterprise factories, and slowly went to professional schools for formal training. During this period, a group of design professionals emerged. The reform and opening up since 1980s has created a good opportunity for the development of Hui 'an woodcarving, and the spread of Hui 'an woodcarving has entered a peak period. The works of sculptors and artists in Huian are all over the world, leaving countless masterpieces and artistic treasures.