Weifang kites, Laiwu tin carvings, Cao Zhou noodles, Yellow River estuary straw weaving, Hou’s fire face… This morning, at the opening ceremony of the “Shandong Province Day” event of the 2019 Beijing World Garden Fair, 15 intangible inheritors performed “unique skills”, which surprised the world and won enough attention.
Weifang kite
Yang Hongwei, representative inheritor of the second batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage items in Shandong Province and descendant of Weifang’s “Kite King” Yang Tongke, is busy showing the production process of Weifang kites to Chinese and foreign guests.
Kite flourished in the early Ming Dynasty and flourished in Qianlong, with a history of more than 600 years, and its main production place is in Weifang, Shandong. Its skeleton is made of bamboo and masked with high-grade silk, and painted by hand, which is a perfect combination of craft and fine art. The works are mainly hard-winged kites, with long strings of “centipedes” as the most, soft-winged kites as ingenious, and tube kites as wonders, and the kites made of tie-up are beautiful in shape, colorful and take off high.
Since 1984, Weifang City has successfully held the International Kite Festival. In 1988, Weifang City was selected as the “Kite Capital of the World”. In 2006, Weifang kites were announced as the first batch of items on the national intangible cultural heritage list.
Weifang Yangjiabu woodblock print
Outside the opening ceremony, Yang Futao, the representative inheritor of Weifang municipal intangible cultural heritage items, is displaying the production of Weifang Yangjiabu wooden panel paintings. Weifang Yangjiabu woodblock prints are a kind of folk prints spread in Yangjiabu in Weifang, Shandong, flourished in the early Ming Dynasty, flourished in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, and has a history of more than 600 years, together with Tianjin Yangliuqing and Suzhou Peachblossom Wood is known as “China’s three major woodblock prints”.
It is produced in the form of woodblock overprinting, and the production process is unique, and its annual painting production method is simple, exquisite craftsmanship and wide range of subjects. In its heyday, there were hundreds of art shops, thousands of paintings, and most of China. In 2006, Weifang Yangjiabu woodblock prints were announced as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage items.
Yang Futao is the representative inheritor of Weifang municipal intangible cultural heritage items. For more than 30 years, there are more than 600 sets of engraved plates, with exquisite craftsmanship, and the line color version is just right. His work “Map of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms” won the gold medal of Shandong Collection Expo.
Weifang nuclear sculpture
Nuclear carving has a long history and was awarded at the Panama Exposition in the early 20th century. Weifang nuclear carving uses walnut as the material, skillfully using the disorderly and uncertain texture on the nuclear embryo to carve a lifelike scene image.
There are not only three-dimensional shapes of landscapes, characters, flowers and birds, but also depictions of historical figures, mythological stories, and Jiyu seals. Nuclear carving works integrate all things in the world and inches, and through generations of inheritance and development, excellent masterpieces continue to emerge. In 2008, Weifang nuclear sculptures were announced as the second batch of items on the national list of intangible cultural heritage.
Tan Wanhai, the inheritor of Weifang nuclear sculptures who displayed nuclear carvings at the scene today, is the representative inheritor of the fifth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage items in Shandong Province.
Xiguan Village Wang family tin carving
Wang Xuxian is the representative inheritor of Jinan municipal intangible cultural projects and the ninth generation of “Fengwangxiang Tin Carving”. Tin carving craftsmanship has a long history and a long history. The art of Laiwu tin making was highly developed during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, when artists engaged in tin carving processing and production were widely distributed in Laiwu, and the higher artistic level was the Wang family tin carving in Xiguan Village.
Wang Jia tin carving is made of fine tin as raw material, file, hammer and knife as the main tools, through more than a dozen processes. His works can be divided into ceremonial utensils, drinking utensils, lamps and candles, smoking utensils, smoking utensils, stationery and so on according to categories. In 2008, it was announced as the second batch of items on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Wang Xuxian has been inherited by the seventh generation of Wang Zhen and the eighth generation of Wang Shengliang since childhood, and has been engaged in tin carving production for more than ten years. In 2013, his work “Harmony and Prosperous World” co-created with Wang Shengliang won the gold medal of the “National Art Cup” of the China Arts and Crafts Fair, and in 2016, his work “Golden Melon Pot” was collected by the China Academy of Art.
Painted by Lu Paine
Lu Pai Nei painting originated in the late Qing Dynasty, the main production area is Boshan District and Zhangdian District of Zibo City, Shandong Province, and has the reputation of “the sleeve is really big, and the sun and the moon in the pot are all-encompassing”. Today, the Lu Painei painting performance was performed by Wen Jing, representative inheritor of Zibo municipal intangible cultural heritage items and master of arts and crafts in Shandong Province.
Wen Jing learned the art of inner painting from her father Wen Xiangjun since childhood, and her works are similar to her father’s style but innovative. His works have novel composition, grand scenes, accurate and vivid shapes, fresh and elegant coloring, good at characters, flowers, birds, insects and fish, etc., and have won the Australian and Singapore Art Achievement Awards, and his works have won awards in domestic and foreign exhibitions for many times.
The inner painting is painted on the inner wall of the frosted pot, and the brushwork is delicate and the technique is exquisite. Landscape figures, flowers, birds, fish and insects are drawn between square inches, and articles of writing grass and poems are written. The composition is full, layered and elegant. In 2014, it was announced as the fourth batch of items on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Cao Zhou noodles
The Cao Zhou Mian people have a long history, developed on the basis of the ancient “flower offering” of worshiping heaven and earth and worshipping ghosts and gods, and have a history of nearly 2,000 years. The development of modern Cao Zhou noodle people, centered on the Peony District of Heze, Shandong, covers the eight counties and one district of Heze, especially Zhencheng and Cao County, affecting the surrounding provinces of Hebei, Yu, Anhui and Jiangsu, and gradually spreading throughout the country and involving overseas.
Li Xiaopu, a native of Caozhou, is the representative inheritor of the municipal intangible cultural heritage project in Heze City. On the basis of inheriting the skills of Cao Zhou noodles, his works have absorbed the skills of other disciplines, forming an artistic style that sees the big in the small, has both shapes and gods, and is vivid and changeable, and his works have won the “Mountain Flower Award”, the highest award of Chinese folk art.
Cao Zhou noodles come from life, and the local atmosphere is rich. It has the characteristics of shape summary, concise and vivid, image conveyance, exaggerated proportion, and combination of work and writing. In 2008, it was announced as the second batch of items on the International List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Kenli County Yellow River Estuary folk straw weaving skills
Straw weaving is a traditional hand-knitting technique that uses a variety of flexible herbs as raw materials. Zhang Kuishan, as the representative inheritor of Dongying municipal intangible cultural heritage items, he used the superb fire skills of folk traditions to develop three-dimensional appreciation straw artworks, and was known as the third batch of Qilu cultural stars and high-skilled talents in the cultural industry of Shandong Province.
The production of straw products is all by hand, and the production process is roughly divided into seven links: material selection, coloring, soaking, weaving, fumigation, drying and painting. His works are realistic, lifelike, environmentally friendly and pollution-free, and never fade and deform. In 2009, it was announced as the second batch of items on the provincial intangible cultural heritage list of Shandong Province.
Lu embroidery
Lu embroidery is a representative embroidery in Shandong, one of the “Eight Great Ming Embroidery” in China, and is an earlier embroidery species recorded in historical documents. It flourished in the Spring and Autumn period and was quite popular in the Han Dynasty. After the interpretation and sorting of Lu embroidery artists, a modern innovative Lu embroidery coexists with techniques such as “drawing, embroidery, weaving, locking, strangle, picking, mending and carving”, forming a unique style of embroidery pattern rough and majestic, rich color, perfect composition and novel craftsmanship.
In 2009, it was announced as the second batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage items in Shandong Province.
Tian Shike is the representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage projects in Weihai City, a national technical expert, the chief technician of Shandong, and a celebrity of arts and crafts in Shandong Province. He combined some classic carving, drawing, strangling, weaving, buckling and other crafts in Lu embroidery with meticulous doped needle embroidery to form a unique embroidery style.
Yantai paper cutting
Luan Shujuan is the representative inheritor of the fifth national intangible cultural heritage project, a master of folk handicrafts in Shandong Province, a master of traditional skills in Shandong Province, and a winner of the “Taishan Literature and Art Award”. Today, she is demonstrating her Yantai paper-cutting skills.
Yantai paper-cutting has a variety of styles, including monochrome paper-cutting, sketch-dyed paper-cutting, color-color paper-cutting, and color-lined paper-cutting.
Yantai paper-cutting shows the characteristics of compact picture and straight and smooth lines in the overall style, which has important historical and practical value. In 2008, Yantai paper-cutting was announced as the second batch of items on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Ningyang Qin clan feather sticky painting
Ningyang Qin’s feather sticky painting is made of pure feathers and pure handwork, and the feathers used are not stained or painted, so they will never fade. The development of its production skills is inherited from the people, reflecting people’s production and life, landscape characters, flowers, birds, fish and insects, birds and animals.
In terms of artistic style, it not only pursues the similarity of painting effects, but also pays attention to craftsmanship and decoration, which is a strange flower in traditional arts and crafts.
The works integrate painting, calligraphy and seal carving, with unique artistic style and auspicious cultural characteristics, which not only have high cultural value and economic value, but also have strong national decorative meaning and unique artistic value.
Ningyang Qin’s feather sticky painting is now a municipal intangible cultural heritage list item in Tai’an, and the representative inheritor Qin Luning is the sixth generation inheritor.
Hou’s Society Fire Mask
Li Xiaolan is the sixth generation inheritor of the Hou Society’s fire face mask, and also the representative inheritor of Jinan municipal intangible cultural heritage. The painted face has both gods and shapes, rich colors, reasonable lines interspersed with layout, obvious symbolic meanings of grains, and bold and warm expression techniques, which provides important information for the study of Qilu She’s fire mask culture.
Hou’s fire mask has a long history and rich content, which evolved from the ancient temple festivals to worship gods and face dressing in social fire activities, and has the cultural characteristics of warding off evil spirits and praying for blessings.
Its artistic expression is extremely strong, and the image vividly reflects the conceptual beliefs, customs and habits, life ideals and aesthetic tastes of the people of Qilu, inherits the essence of Qilu culture, and plays an important role in the research and development of Qilu fire culture. The Hou Fire Mask is now on the Jinan Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Mahogany carved folklore
Peach wood carving folklore, with a long history and rich cultural connotation, is taken from the people, spread to the people, and has a wide area and a large range of influence. The work adopts manual processing technology, chiseled, carved, carved and polished, the processing process is complex, time-consuming, no cracking, no fading, no deformation, no peculiar smell.
Its color is simple and elegant, the shape is exquisite and chic, the lines are smooth and natural, there are many styles, the variety is complete, the size is different, the pattern is different, and it has different symbolic meaning and ornamental value.
In 2006, peach wood carving folklore was announced as the first batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage items in Shandong Province.
Traditional gourd carving technique in Zhangqiu City
The little gourd carves out the “big world”. The traditional gourd carving technique in Zhangqiu City has a long history, unique selection of materials, extensive content, exquisite design, and a unique production technique.
According to the shape of the gourd, it was created at will, from the original only carving with a knife, to the current needle knife combined use, soldering iron and so on. When creating, he pays attention to “intention to come first, drop the knife to form”, not only using Chinese painting methods such as hook, strangle, dot, dyeing, erasing, white drawing, etc., but also shifting from the original flat pattern to three-dimensional pattern.
The carvings are rich in layers and have a strong sense of three-dimensionality, giving people a simple and elegant artistic enjoyment with endless aftertaste.
Wang’s egg carving
Wang’s egg carving is a superb folk miniature carving process in Xintai City, Tai’an, through egg selection, emptying egg liquid, cleaning and disinfection, using pencil to draw a sample on the eggshell, carving and packaging, these five steps to complete a lifelike egg carving work.
Complex egg carvings require more than 1,000 different carving knives, and the fine carvings are thinner than a hair, and the technique is exquisite.
Egg carving works include the Great Man series, the Zodiac Series, the Ten Marshals Series, the Liangshan One Hundred and Eight Generals Series, etc., and the carved characters and animals are vivid and lifelike, giving people a sense of wanting to come out.
Wang Qingzhong is the fourth generation inheritor of Wang’s egg carving, which is a municipal intangible cultural heritage list item in Tai’an.
Zibo engraved porcelain
Zibo porcelain engraving is the art of carving porcelain on the surface of fired porcelain using special knives. Originated from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it was most prosperous at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and became famous in China and abroad in the early 80s of this century, which is a traditional craft in China.
Zibo carved porcelain is based on porcelain, with a knife as the pen, painted on the porcelain glaze with a crisp texture and bright as a mirror, which is a comprehensive art integrating calligraphy, painting and seal carving. In 2013, it was announced as the third batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage items in Shandong Province.