Early news, Jiaokou County has a often go to the mountains, specifically looking for tree roots, exploring the wild interests of mountains and forests, with a unique perspective, relying on innate endowments, self-taught root carving art, the pursuit of aesthetic value, selfless dedication to society, unremitting inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, won the title of "Shanxi Province's most praised root carving art master of urban and rural masses".
It is also heard that Jing Wenyu is still a non-hereditary person, and his footprints are all over the mountains and rivers of Jiaokou. Xingyun Dream Mountain, explore the mysteries of ghost valleys; visit the Thousand Buddhas Temple, look for Buddhist wonders; climb the peony cave and pick up the story of white peonies; three outlines, four drafts, eight years of pen cultivation, and compile a long narrative poem "The Legend of White Peony".
Approaching Jing Wenyu, Fang knew that he was a 75-year-old and spirited old man, and also a multi-talented folk artist who combined root carving, Qingshui painting, sheepskin drum, I Ching, calligraphy, writing, and painting.
The good impression left to me by the first acquaintance with Jing Wenyu is: Happy to live in the countryside, send love to the landscape, have a wide range of interests, are proficient in everything, adhere to the original intention, willful persistence, full of enthusiasm and unremitting pursuit, he uses wisdom, hard work and perseverance to write the ordinary and great life of grassroots artists, highlighting the beautiful artistic feelings and life pursuits.
—— Inscription
In the year of Xin Ugly, during the MengChun Festival, accompanied by Comrade Kong Cuiping, chairman of the Jiaokou County Federation of Literature and Literature, I walked into the back water and approached Jing Wenyu.
Walk into the "paradise" outside Jingwenyu's solitary village, which is far away from the village and quiet and natural. In an empty courtyard with only a gate and no wall, there are four bungalows and a large workshop in the north, and the huge courtyard is scattered with dozens of primitive tree roots of different shapes, discarding them to burn matches, and carving them are works of art, as if telling me about their past and present lives, telling the dream stories of jinglao artists.
Walking toward the hut, Elder Jing was already waiting in front of the house. Seeing Jing Lao, who had heard his name for a long time but had never met, shook hands with each other and greeted each other, and then invited us into the house, busy making tea and handing over cigarettes. After stopping, we talked face to face, and while I listened to Jing Lao's endless telling of his story, I occasionally looked through some materials, hoping to find the life feelings of Jing Lao's artists.
(i)
On September 2, 1945, Japanese imperialism signed the Instrument of Surrender, marking the complete victory of the eight-year War of Resistance against japanese aggression Chinese. On October 19 of the same year, Jing Wenyu was born in an ordinary peasant family in Houshuitou Village, Jiaokou County. As Jing Wenyu's long narrative poem "White Peony" continues: "Born in 1945, my family was very poor. Skinny as wood can be lit, yellow-skinned skinny little boy Lang. Grandma was afraid that I would lose it early, and went to burn incense in the peony cave. In the temple, an old woman lived, and she offered idols and farmed fields. She said she was from Papaya Ridge and had lived in the cave for several years. She said it was a big mountain, and the demons and ghosts were hidden inside. She said that the great temple was very magical, and the night gods were in the language. She said to manage the temple and ensure that she would grow into a kenro. She said that she tied the baby to the Buddha's body, and there was no disaster or illness and peace..." Childhood was full of hardships, but fortunately, the good family influence stimulated his vague interest in literature and art. His mother was a rural paper-cutting artist, and his grandfather liked to read traditional cultural books, witnessed his mother's paper-cutting skills when he was young, felt the cultural influence of his grandfather, and cultivated his love of reading and painting. As early as the Primary School of Shangshuitou Commune and the Middle School of Suixian County, he often flipped through books and listened to the commentaries of old artists, such as concise language such as "Big Eight Righteousness", "Little Eight Righteousness", "Monkey Ruan Ying", etc., with a bright rhythm, the reading was catchy, the listening was interesting, he invisibly liked extracurricular reading, and gradually liked to take notes with stick figures, and subtly developed a love for folk literature, which in turn influenced the genre and style of his later folk literature creation, especially good at expressing emotions with seven-word poems.
After graduating from the county middle school, 17-year-old Jing Wenyu returned to the village. He has participated in the collective labor of the agricultural society, not only did a good job in agricultural work, but also learned a lot of folk etiquette and folk skills, pay attention to traditional festivals, red and white happy events, and customs into customs, he is familiar with it, use it freely, and for a while he has become a rare "small manager" of red and white happy events in the village. At the age of 20, he participated in the affairs of the village and worked from accountant to production captain for more than 10 years. Since childhood, he loves to read, loves literature and art, and has a special life experience, which has made him indissoluble with folk anecdotes and folk skills.
In 1971, the "three-line construction" gave birth to Jiaokou Jianxian County, and Jing Wenyu served as the drilling team leader of the county water conservancy bureau and the technician of the county second light bureau. In 1974, he joined the Communist Party of China with honor and served as the secretary of the party branch of the jiaokou commune enterprise, the captain of the houshuitou production team, the director of the brigade, and the secretary of the village branch. With these rich work experiences and a wide-eyed living environment, he gradually realized that it was not enough to develop the jiaokou economy by excavating limited underground resources, because resources are limited and will be exhausted one day. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on rich cultural resources to continuously excavate, protect and inherit traditional cultural and tourism undertakings. The germination of this concept can be said to have dominated his life choices throughout his life. The love and persistent pursuit of art have created an unusual Jing Wenyu and interpreted the colorful life path of an old party member and retired rural cadre.
(ii)
Speaking of root carving art works, it is important to borrow nature skillfully, skillfully use natural forms, and recreate them through art to create a wonderful artistic image and create a work of art with both shapes and gods. For the folk artist Jing Wenyu, it is not easy and valuable to learn the root carving technique by teaching himself the root carving technique and embarking on the road of root carving artist.
Talking about the original intention of his love for root carving, Jing Lao said with great interest: "I often walk in the mountains, and I often see many tree roots discarded in the wilderness, which is full of interesting rewards, and it is a pity to abandon them." Whenever you encounter different shapes of tree roots, beautiful and interesting roots, always stop to watch, see more and think more, thinking about how to make use of it? Make some gadgets and entertain yourself for people to watch. ”
With his innate painting endowment and unique aesthetic perspective, Jing Wenyu slowly discovered the artistic value of the tree roots. Walking back and forth, and finding out again and again, he brought home some interesting and malleable roots. Then, according to the natural form of the tree roots, he began to ponder and study the root carving, and then taught himself Yangzhou carving. On the basis of self-study and research, he often communicates and discusses with Wen Yugui, another root carving artist in Jiaokou. Slowly, the roots of the trees were transformed into exquisite works of art by hand.
In fact, root art creation takes a long time, from material selection, modeling, conception and production, until the naming can be completed. The production of root carving can generally be divided into 8 steps, such as degreasing treatment, peeling and cleaning, dehydration and drying, shaping, finishing, quenching, coloring and painting, and naming. The conception of root art creation must focus on maximizing the protection of the shape and beauty of nature, and all traces of man-made art re-creation should be hidden in the beauty of nature. In the conception, the root material should be comprehensively observed from multiple angles, and the shape can be fixed after repeated speculation. A tea table, a book case, a character, a bird and beast, etc., under the insight of Jing Lao, carefully conceived, carefully carved, and skillfully recreated, have formed a piece of exquisite and lifelike root carving artwork. This seemingly simple process condenses Jinglao's painstaking efforts and wisdom; this seemingly simple work highlights Jinglao's unremitting pursuit of art. I remember a philosopher who said: The flower of success, people often envy its current brilliance, but at the beginning, its buds were soaked with the tears of struggle and sprinkled with the blood rain of sacrifice.
During the conversation, Jing Lao smiled and untied the knots in his heart. Elder Jing said, "Be frank, be happy." I will be in good health, sleep up to carve a root carving, play a sheepskin drum when I am bored, go to the water to write and paint when the sheepskin drum is bored, or go to sing a paragraph. When talking about a character root carving work, Jing Lao held his hands and said with deep affection: "We Zhongyuan people have thick lips, large foreheads, and honesty, you see that he does not have a little malice, not that kind of laughter, but his heart is more sincere, it is mainly natural, firmly grasp the psychology of the characters, you see the back of its head, its face and mouth, its eyes are drooping, it is really Buddhist." This kind of rough workmanship, can not be too careful, can not use sandpaper to knock it off, knock off the process is not worthwhile, want this piece, want this hole, you see this is the good material of the intersection, the pride of the intersection, unique. As a 47-year-old party member, he believes that all this is the embodiment of the party's values, outlook on life, and worldview.
Unique artistic concept, not afraid of hardship and tired persistence, Jing Wenyu finally realized the desire to turn the roots of waste trees into treasures, and passed it on to others. He said: "Life is originally an art, look at the world with the eyes of art, the world is full of beauty; with the art of running life, life is full of harmonious beauty." This passage is quite thought-provoking.
Kung Fu pays off. In 2009, Jing Wenyu was jointly named "The Most Praised Root Carving Art Master of Shanxi Province by the Editorial Committee of Shanxi Provincial Guide, The Editorial Department of Shanxi Province urban and rural areas and the Shanxi Provincial Urban and Rural Literary and Art Exchange Association"; in 2010, he was rated as "the second batch of outstanding rural practical talents" by the Jiaokou County Party Committee and the Leading Group of Talent Work of the County Party Committee; in 2012, he was rated as "the third batch of representative inheritors of provincial intangible cultural heritage" by the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture.
(iii)
Speaking of Jing Wenyu's love for literature and art, it is not limited to the art of root carving, his love for art is more derived from the inheritance of art. In 1994, he began to investigate the Peony Cave, and has returned to the Peony Cave hundreds of times. Jing Lao knows that culture is the soul of tourism, and tourism has culture to be thick. Legends and stories highlight the vitality of tourism, repairing the peony cave requires a lot of funds, Jing Lao exceeded his own economic affordability, and still spared no effort. In the process of walking the peony cave, constantly pick up folk tales and discover the legend of white peony. Since 2005, he has spent up to 8 years visiting and investigating, collecting and sorting out materials, three outlines, four drafts, hard work, and finally completed the long narrative poem "The Legend of White Peony" at the age of 74. Talking about the hardships of creation, Lao Jing smiled and said, "I can't use a computer, I can't type, I rely on handwriting, let my grandson and nephew enter the computer, but it's laborious." All the young people in the village who can type have begged." The simple language reflects the hardships of an old artist's creation. Not only that, my wife is also very opposed, often chanting: "Don't make tickets, engage in culture every day, can you eat and drink?" Elder Jing replied, "I am a farmer, and I just want to leave something for future generations!" In this way, he has been willfully insisting. In 2018, "The Legend of White Peony" and the "Sheepskin Drum" mentioned in the work were declared intangible cultural heritage at the same time. In December of the same year, the Lvliang Municipal People's Government and the Lvliang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued the honorary certificates of "Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage - Legend of Jiaokou White Peony" and "Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage - Jiaokou Tujing Sheepskin Inspiration".
Peony Cave, also known as Chaoyang Temple, is located on the cliffs of Huanghualing Mountain, four or five kilometers west of Jiaokou County. According to the reconstruction stele, it was built in the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in the 24th year of the Wanli Calendar (1586), and the historical site is a relic of the Ming to Qing Dynasties. The layout of the building is divided into upper and lower courtyards, the front hall is a five-hole stone arch coupon cave; the apse is a three-hole stone arch coupon cave, the Ming dynasty is a natural stone cave, the Ming Dynasty carved stone door, the memory Ofctic Ming Dynasty stele 2 passes, a stone door. According to the inscription of Ming Jiajing's twelve-year reconstruction, the Peony Fairy of the Tang Dynasty sat here, so it was named "Peony Cave".
According to the inscription of the remains of the Peony Cave, the story of the white peony in the Tang Dynasty was circulated in the folk. According to the time calculation of the "papaya old man", it has been more than 130 years. At present, the fifth generation of heirs, Jing Wenyu, has compiled a long narrative poem "The Legend of White Peony" based on this legend and story.
"The Legend of White Peony" tells that in the last years of the Sui Dynasty, when wars were frequent and soldiers were in chaos, Bai Youshan and his wife, who lived in Xiaoyi BaibiGuan, fled with their daughter Bai Peony to Jiaokou (around the present-day Shuitou Village in Jiaokou County) in Yuzhou to avoid the deep mountains and cultivate land. One day 3 years later, Bai Youshan rescued Wang Rui, who was in a coma and dying, by the side of the well, and then recognized him as a righteous son and made a living by farming and hunting. Bai Peony and Wang Rui get along day and night, and they are in love. Once, on the way to the market, Bai Peony encountered the ground squirrel Ma Lai, envious of Peony's beauty, and wanted to seize it as his wife, but Peony did not follow. Ma Lai repeatedly failed to harass, so he killed a beggar, hung his head at the gate of the Bai family, and framed the Bai family for killing people. Bai Youshan let Wang Rui marry Bai Peony and escape. The next day, Ma Lai learned that Bai Peony had escaped, and set fire to Baijia Mountain, and Bai Peony's parents were buried in the sea of fire. Ma Lai also colluded with Zhi County to arrest Wang Rui for murder, and after sentencing him, he was also sent to Yulin to repair the Great Wall.
It is said that when Bai Peony fled to the Chaoyang Cave of Jiaokou to hit the stone ditch, he accidentally fell to the bottom of the cliff ditch and was unconscious, but fortunately encountered the Chaoyang Cave Nunshi who went down the mountain to fetch water, and Bai Peony was saved. After learning about the unfortunate encounter of the white peony, the nun left the peony in the cave to teach the scriptures. However, Peony thought deeply of Wang Rui. When the nun traveled to the clouds, he learned that Wang Rui was exhausted and died on the Great Wall, and told Peony that Peony was full of ashes. Soon, the nun died, and Peony was alone in the cave. In accordance with the master's instructions, Peony will prepare to rebuild the temple's hidden silver, and take advantage of the night to distribute it to 1 disaster victim in several times, and give 30 taels of silver to 6 disaster victims. Some of the victims felt that the silver sent by the Mao Ghost God did not dare to ask for it. The last time it was given to Shi Changrong, he asked for silver and distributed it to other victims according to Peony's orders. As the days went on, the poor people around them went to the Shi family to receive the divine gifts, and at the same time followed Shi Changrong to the peony cave to thank the white peony.
In a certain year, the plague broke out, and the funeral procession continued every day in the villages of dozens of miles. Bai Peony was so anxious that he spent the night reading medical books, going into the mountains to collect medicines, boiling medicinal soups, saving the people, and finally defeating the plague. At this point, the people built a temple to commemorate and sacrifice every year. When the Jade Emperor heard the news, he was very pleased. He renamed the "Chaoyang Cave" to "Peony Cave", gave the peony flower the world's flower king, and ordered Wang Rui to be the messenger of the flower protection, guarding the peony cave day and night.
"The Legend of white peony" is narrated in a seven-word poetic style, with more than 48,000 words, 274 pages long, and rhymes with rhyme, which has high literary value. In particular, the poem runs through many humanistic memories of the integration of Tujing and Han cultures, Taoist rituals and figurative descriptions of Buddhist thought, with the storyline of Bai Peony's kindness and bravery as the main line, starting from diet, folk farming, sacrifice, marriage and funeral, etc., using local colloquialisms to tell the story, showing readers a picture of the hundred states of folk life, which can be described as a living fossil of Jiaokou folk culture, folk customs, customs and customs, and has high reference value for the study of Jiaokou and even Lüliang folk culture. This long narrative poem is like a modern version of the ancient long narrative poem "Peacock Flying Southeast", which has attracted great attention from many people, and in March 2018, "The Legend of White Peony" was rated as the intangible cultural heritage protection project of Lvliang City.
Due to the creation of "The Legend of White Peony", Jing Wenyu and the sheepskin drum have an incomprehensible relationship. In 2013, Jing Wenyu joined hands with Li Zhiyong and Hou Jinping of the Jiaokou County Musicians Association to embark on the road of protection and inheritance of the soon-to-be-lost "Tujing Sheepskin Drum".
The sheepskin drum is a dharma instrument of "Shibi", not an instrument; drumming, dancing, and singing the Tantra are the basic forms of "Shibi" in doing rituals. Shibi recites the scriptures, which are divided into "Upper Altar Sutra", "Middle Altar Sutra", and "Lower Tantra Sutra". When singing with drums, the drums cycle back and forth in a relatively single rhythm, with fewer dances and less movements. When dancing with drums, the rhythm of the drums is calm and warm, rich and changeable. Sheepskin drum, the drum frame is wooden, covered with sheepskin on one side, the drum frame is about 11 cm high, the diameter of the drum surface is 38 to 40 cm, and the drum frame is placed with beams inside. The drum body is attached to a bow-shaped wooden handle with a sheep's head carved at the upper end and a double silk spike tied at the lower end. Made of rattan or fir wood (qiang for "erzhute"), the drums are hook-shaped, about 58 cm long, with a silk cloth wrapped around the head and adorned with colored spikes on the handle. After the reform, the Qiang leather drum is covered with double sheepskin on one side, the appearance of the drum frame is painted with stripes, and the drum frame is decorated with silk colored spikes. The sheepskin drum has a long historical heritage, saying that Jing Wenyu took a sheepskin drum and put on his own carved mask to beat it for us.
(iv)
"What is wealth? To have culture is to be rich, old age has nothing to do, old age is good to spend, you rest will rest, we two old men will make drums, make three or four sides we broke. Elder Jing said.
In life, if you are afraid, you are afraid of the word "serious"; the difficulty lies in the word "persistence". In fact, on the road of life, you have your dreams, and I have my pursuits. Elder Jing said confidently: "Your own values should be reflected by yourself, the party gives you a lot of pieces to learn to the end, you are not obedient, is it not without values?" Right? You don't know that to do a good job is to be a party member? The party is in the heart, the heart is naturally good, the party members must do it hard, do what they want to do, and dare to do it. ”
Approaching Jing Wenyu and admiring the root carving works, I saw the fine works of art, felt shocked and shocked, and thought of great beauty. Jing Lao's life was honest and honest, approachable, had a wide range of hobbies, and loved the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. He has persevered for decades, from root carving to sheepskin drum, from picking up folk tales to long narrative poems, from painting to painting and calligraphy, which can be described as proficient in everything, such as several family treasures, eloquent, admirable and touching. As the saying goes: you insist. In life, as long as you pour out your true feelings, work hard, as long as you stick to your original intention and unswervingly, there is nothing that cannot be done, and there is no mountain that cannot be climbed. As the saying goes: "There is nothing difficult in the world, but I am afraid of those who have a heart." "Where the heart goes, it is poetry and far away." "Where love comes in, it is human feelings." Life always yearns for the beautiful, in fact, life is inherently beautiful; life always chases the beautiful, in fact, every moment is beautiful enough. The journey of life is like a series of footprints of different shades and twists and turns, measuring the mountains and rivers of the years, chasing the yin and yang of time, and practicing the joys and sorrows of life. Step by step of the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, every place is clear of dreams, rain washes shadows, and every time contains inadvertent beauty. Xin Zhiyi has a word: "I see how feminine Qingshan is, and I see qingshan, and when I see it, I should be like this." In fact, Jing Wenyu compiled "The Legend of the White Peony", studied history and humanities, delved into the art of root carving, and pursued artistic value, not only to highlight the glory of his past life, nor just to seek today's benefits, but more importantly, he wanted to find his own humanistic feelings, artistic feelings and life feelings; so that the feelings of the roots carving in the past were no longer the glory that overflowed on the face and the pride hanging on the mouth, but through the unremitting pursuit and promotion of intangible cultural heritage such as root carving, sheepskin love, peony love, calligraphy and painting. Bring everyone into the artistic hall and cultural long river of intangible cultural heritage, enlighten philosophical thoughts, and thus trigger the great beauty of loving my friendship and building my homeland!