Characteristic intangible cultural heritage takes root in the Jilin campus: students touch the beauty of art in the classroom

Wang Yetong is in class Photo courtesy of the interviewee

Jilin, 9 Jan (China News Network) -- The winter vacation has begun, but the "kiln mouth" of the First Experimental Primary School in Jilin City still has to play a role. The Lunar New Year is approaching, and primary school students should use the special molds here to make their own New Year gifts with the unique technique of "Jilin Xishan Pinch Carving". These elegant colors, with "birds and animals" as the main prototype of the pottery products, in the local area has a good meaning of auspiciousness and robustness.

Kneading is a very old traditional skill, originating from the Neolithic period and flourishing in the Tang Dynasty. Mainly by hand, the soft clay material is kneaded into various images, which can be independently made into objects, and can also be glued to the appropriate parts of the utensils, which gives full play to the natural beauty of the material.

Jilin City has the reputation of "The Pottery Capital of Northern China", and the clay produced has the characteristics of good plasticity and heat resistance, which is welcomed by customers at home and abroad. In addition, the local area is also one of the birthplaces of Manchu culture, and ceramic products show the living habits and aesthetic characteristics of the Manchu people.

Wang Yitong, 50, is a native of Jilin and has "grown up in the mud" since childhood. Today, she is a full-time pottery teacher at the First Experimental Primary School in Jilin City, and the only inheritor of the "Jilin Xishan Pinch Carving".

"Jilin Xishan Pinch Carving" originated from a mountain village under the Xishan Mountain in Jilin City, which mainly produced animal images on the eaves of Manchu buildings, and has developed into a very rich form of expression, involving ornaments, tea sets, literary plays, utensils, etc.

With the support of the local education department and the school, Wang Yitong teaches this traditional skill in the classroom, and the school is also equipped with professional classrooms and "kilns". In the past 10 years, more than 5,000 students have been exposed to this skill, and more than 1,000 works are produced every year.

Clay selection, molding, kneading, trimming, glazing and firing, primary school students immerse themselves in the classroom, and due to the special course, the course time can be as long as several hours. In Wang Yitong's view, this skill first represents a piece of history. The carving artist "passed on by hand", using the soil around him to shape the animals, plants and characters in life, legends and myths, and then imagining and creating, pinning ideals and hopes, with unique artistic value.

At the beginning of the winter vacation, 10-year-old Liu Jiaqi made two works with the support of his parents, and the unique dark green color was also praised by the elders. Cai Haoyan, also 10 years old, made a flower pot, and Wang Yitong helped it attach a pattern to represent "thriving".

In recent years, many outstanding intangible cultural heritage projects have continued to blossom on campus, and students have the opportunity to touch the beauty of Chinese art in the classroom. This trend involves not only urban areas, but also rural campuses.

In the willow weaving exhibition room of Chundeng Central School in Kouqian Town, Yongji County, Jilin Province, children with an average age of less than 13 weave hundreds of works using wicker as raw material.

The school is located at the foot of the mountain. According to the school, raw materials are readily available in life, and there are a large number of poems involving willow trees in textbooks, and you can "compile a work to memorize an ancient poem" in teaching.

The school's art teacher, Liu Zhimin, is a non-hereditary inheritor of willow weaving, and according to him, the beauty of folk art is expressed through labor. "Only by touching with your own hands can you feel the truth of life and the beauty of art."

A few days ago, Jilin Province announced the fifth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage representative projects, involving ten categories such as folk literature, traditional music, traditional dance, traditional drama, qu art, and traditional skills. It is foreseeable that more cultural treasures will be found in local classrooms in the future. (End)