The children in line for vaccinations have their eyes wide open due to nervousness; the old man who plays chess shows a look of determination to win; in front of the kissing palanquin, the bride is flanked by a smiling and bent groom and a matchmaker with a happy face... In a courtyard of Xiaoyaotou Intangible Cultural Heritage Town in Xinghualing District, Taiyuan City, a miniature "live-action drama" is being staged wonderfully, and Jia Yinyong, a master of arts and crafts in Taiyuan City, is the general director of these "plays".
A pair of skillful hands kneaded and pressed on the mud ball, using a wooden knife as a pen to portray thousands of looks, a bunch of dirt, after Jia Yinyong's shaping, had its own emotions and stories. Between the square inches, the dull soil comes alive, from the corners of the eyes to the top of the eyebrows to the costume props, carefully arranged, one after another clay sculpture actors are about to appear on the scene, Jia Yinyong called it "the mud of resurrection".
Jia Yinyong created clay sculptures. Courtesy of respondents
"The heavens and the earth have been opened up, and there are no people, and Nuwa has created man by cutting the soil." The power of the drama is not flawless, but it is led to the mud, and it is held up as a person. "This is a legendary story about the origin of mankind recorded in the "Customs and Customs". In mythology, Nuwa used yellow clay to pinch out the ancestors of human beings, and the children and grandchildren have multiplied endlessly in the yellow land for generations, and the meaning of the loess soil has had an extraordinary significance since the emergence of human beings. In real history, the ancestors of the Neolithic period have begun to use clay to knead pigs, sheep and other livestock, developed to the Han Dynasty, clay sculpture has become an important art species, so far, this ancient art has been passed down in the land of China for nearly 10,000 years.
Jia Yinyong was born in 1983 in Qingxu County, Taiyuan City, and is the fifth generation inheritor of "Jia's Clay Sculpture". When he was young, his father often used mud to pinch out various toys for him, and the seemingly inconspicuous mud could always be turned into various interesting objects through a pair of skillful hands of his father. Under the influence of the ear, kneading mud became Jia Yinyong's favorite childhood game, from pots and pans, cats, dogs, pigs and sheep, to tables and chairs and benches, seeing interesting, he pinched it out and placed it on his own window sill, when he was young, he did not know that his future self would be with the soil for life.
Jia Yinyong clay sculpture "Hide and Seek". Photo: Peng Ke'er
In 1999, Jia Yinyong was admitted to Yangquan Culture and Art School, began to study painting, and after graduation, he was admitted to peking university training college to study advertising design, and then did advertising design work in Taiyuan for more than a year. Originally, I thought that Huang Niba did not have much intersection with his life, but interest still quietly influenced Jia Yinyong's life.
In 2008, by chance, Jia Yinyong met a folk artist engaged in clay sculpture of Buddhist statues in temples, and his interest and love for clay sculptures instantly illuminated his heart.
"When I was a child, most of the clay sculptures made by my father were children's toys such as tumblers and birds whistles, which were more practical." In Jia Yinyong's heart, learning Buddha statue clay sculptures can make him go further from his childhood sculptor dream.
At this time, Jia Yinyong, who was 26 years old and married, did not hesitate at all, resolutely quit his job, and began to learn art with this clay sculpture master. However, after studying for a year, Jia Yinyong found that being an apprentice was not at all what he thought.
Jia Yinyong clay sculpture "The Next Is Me". Photography by Peng Ke'er
"The master had many apprentices, seventeen or eighteen of them, and at that time I was the oldest of the apprentices, but I could only start with the apprentices." Jia Yinyong told reporters that even if he did the hardest and most tired and muddy work every day, he felt that if he could learn the craft, it didn't matter if he was a little hard. "After the disciples have sculpted the Buddha statue, there are some places where they need to be smeared, and even the work of smearing the light cannot be done by me." Recalling the scene at that time, Jia Yinyong slightly regretted, "It is not that the master does not teach, clay sculpture is a skill taught by the body, to learn the art first as an apprentice, the apprentice must work for 3 years to be qualified to really learn technical things." ”
At that time, the monthly salary of a small worker on the construction site was about 1500 yuan. As an apprentice, Jia Yinyong can get paid 300 yuan a month. "My salary is not even enough to support my own livelihood, and I rely on family subsidies. Every morning at 6 o'clock, I started to work on the construction site, and I had to work until 11 o'clock in the evening, except for eating, when there was almost no rest. Forced by his livelihood, Jia Yinyong gritted his teeth and insisted on saying goodbye to his master to work in the south after a year, relying on his art foundation and the technology of "stealing teachers to learn art" during this year, and began to pinch clay statues to make a living.
Jia Yinyong clay sculpture "Playing Chess". Photography by Peng Ke'er
Following the work team from the south to the north, this state of work continued until the birth of the child in 2010, in order to stabilize and take care of the family, Jia Yinyong returned to Taiyuan. In his hometown, he met the "guide" in his clay sculpture career - the arts and crafts master Fan Yongliang. He saw Jia Yinyong as he was, and since then he has been a teacher and friend, becoming the most important guide in Jia Yinyong's clay sculpture art.
The clay sculpture works with the theme of "The Return of Jin Shang" were introduced by Fan Yongliang with the help of Fan Yongliang. This is the first time that Jia Yinyong has used a large number of clay sculptures to express a theme, including camels, horses, goods, dart masters, merchants, mule carts, horse-drawn carriages, and shops along the street, which together deduce a lively picture of the return of Jin merchants from outside Saiwai.
Later, the invitation of themed clay sculptures from the Anze County Museum inspired Jia Yinyong to make one of the most important series of works so far - the "Childhood Memories" series, in which the naughty child riding the "Er8" bicycle won him the honor of the gold medal of the "Golden Phoenix" Innovative Product Design Grand Prix at the 50th National Crafts Fair.
Jia Yinyong spends all day with clay sculptures. Photography Nie Xingming
The works "Tug of War" and "Eagle Catching Chickens", which were once sent to participate in the National Arts and Crafts "Hundred Flowers Award", are also components of the clay sculpture with the theme of "Childhood Memory". In the creation of the "Eagle Catches the Chicken" group of shapes, the original kneaded mud dolls lined up, Jia Yinyong always felt the shortcomings of what, after several thoughts, he decided to design the last mud doll as a little girl who slipped and fell on the ground and sat on the ground and cried, and in an instant the whole group of works "lived".
In 2018, in an exhibition at the Shanxi Agricultural Exhibition Hall, Jia Yinyong showed several sets of childhood-themed series of works, and some viewers inadvertently sent the 18th China Arts and Crafts Association Golden Phoenix Silver Award winning work "The Next is Me" to a short video platform, and the number of clicks soared to millions in just a few hours, and many netizens left a message saying, "This is exactly the same as the scene when I was a child."
Jia Yinyong told reporters that this group of works reflects the scene of his own vaccination when he was a child. There are six children lined up to get needles in the work, and each child's demeanor and movements are unique and intriguing. He laughed that the second child with the most exaggerated and terrified expression was a true portrayal of him at that time.
Such as cutting, such as grinding. Photography by Peng Ke'er
In the vivid expressions and different looks of the clay people, Jia Yinyong's countless painstaking efforts are condensed, and it is they who give the clay people a "living" soul. Jia Yinyong said: "It may only take a day to pinch a clay man, but it takes a lot of time to conceive. "In a clay sculpture sitcom, the works that seem to be handy, but in the details, they are full of his ultimate pursuit of art.
"Sometimes when I do too much, I will inevitably lose inspiration, and I will go back to my hometown to find my childhood memories." At night, with my eyes closed and reminiscing about some interesting things that happened when I was a child, the inspiration slowly came out. Jia Yinyong said.
In recent years, Jia Yinyong has made more than 20 sets of "childhood memories" theme clay sculptures. Time passed, and he retained his childhood in this way. A bunch of dirt, a woodcut knife, and a clay sculpture that could not speak, through Jia Yinyong's skillful hands, became a living soul that pinned on the happy memories of a generation.
Jia Yinyong created "The Door of the Old Courtyard". Photography Nie Xingming
In the thousands of days and nights of polishing, Jia Yinyong's works have also continuously highlighted his unique characteristics.
"Because the local laterite in Shanxi is particularly rough, I reflect my own style according to this characteristic, such as doing some old farmers and old ladies, you can use this rough technique to express the old coarse cloth clothes she wears, but the facial expression must be in place, there are fine and thick, and the combination of the two will be more vivid." The retro style, with exaggerated expressions, makes each clay person look very different, and the little people smile or move, playing their respective roles in the old house and courtyard, just like the epitome of the times.
Jia Yinyong's clay dolls not only tell the story of childhood, but also the story of wine culture, the story of vinegar culture, the story of Qingxu Shehuo, and the story of Wanli Tea Road. "In ancient times, our ancestors used such soil to build the Great Wall and resist foreign invasions. Nowadays, I hope to use the soil of my hometown to tell more stories of Shanxi and pass on more Shanxi style. Jia Yinyong said that in the way of expressing life with clay sculptures, he is still constantly exploring and moving forward.
Jia Yinyong clay sculpture "Playing Marbles". Photography by Peng Ke'er
With the continuous maturity of his personal style, Jia Yinyong now no longer has to worry about his livelihood. He told reporters that recently, completing clay sculpture orders from cultural exhibition halls and enterprises is his main task.
"The customer hopes to use the artistic techniques of clay sculpture to show the local characteristic culture or product production skills. I had also received an order from Hebei to make a set of clay statues for local traditional sports. "Carrying skills with skills and interpreting intangible cultural heritage with intangible cultural heritage, more and more people have begun to have a vivid and intuitive encounter with colorful history and culture through Jia Yinyong's clay sculpture works."
Three years ago, Jia Yinyong moved his studio to Xiaoyaotou Village, located in Xinghualing District, Taiyuan City, which was the first listed "Intangible Cultural Tourism Town" in Taiyuan, and in addition to "Jia's Clay Sculpture", there are more than 20 intangible cultural heritage projects. The gathering of culture has allowed more tourists to enter Jia Yinyong's studio, "In the summer, there will be schools to organize students to study, and more and more young people will begin to understand the intangible cultural heritage of Taiyuan." Jia Yinyong was relieved by this.
"But there are still too few people who are really willing to calm down and do clay sculptures." When it comes to inheritance, Jia Yinyong's tone carries a hint of helplessness. He told reporters that many people had expressed their desire to learn the craft, but none of them finally persevered.
"It's really not a profitable thing, and it takes at least four or five years to make a decent work, and it's difficult to learn art and 'keep art'." In the future, he hopes that someone will continue to pass on this ancient skill.
Recently, Jia Yinyong once again began to form a new "Jinshang Caravan", from one person to a group of people, this team is growing day by day.
In the end, the "big treasurer" will ride on a high-headed horse, with a silver cart and horse camel caravan of family members, more than a hundred people will slowly "come" from history.
About the author: Sun Ruisheng, director of the Shanxi reporter station of China Daily.