The New Year of the Tiger is coming, and Cai Tiejun, a seal engraver in Jinzhong City, has carved 100 tiger seals of the Chinese zodiac with Burmese eggplant to express his expectations and blessings for the Year of the Tiger.
It is a rare tropical fruit that resembles a lychee core, but has an unusually hard "wax head" on its core, which is waxy in color. This "wax head" can carve beautiful patterns such as landscape figures, pavilions, flowers, birds, fish and insects, making it an exquisite work of art. Use it to engrave a stamp, which is both beautiful and durable. As a unique carving art in China, Burmese eggplant carving has a history of more than 300 years, because the Sound of Burmese Eggplant is the same as "avoiding evil" and can be worn as a talisman, so Burmese eggplant crafts have always been cherished by people. In May 1957, Guangdong Gaozhou Burmese eggplant carving crafts participated in the National Arts and Crafts Exhibition and won awards, and was later compiled into the book "Chinese Native Products", listed as one of the famous souvenirs in the country, and then became famous.
Cai Tiejun is a researcher at the China Buddha Image Printing Art Research Center, and in recent years, he has devoted himself to the creation and research of the Burmese Shadow Seal. The reason why he is obsessed with Burmese eggplant seal carving is that one stems from the scarcity of Burmese eggplant; the other is that as a seal carving material, compared with stone, the price is not high, and it can be created in large quantities, and the people can afford it. Creating works of art that the people can afford and popularizing the traditional culture of the Chinese nation has always been the goal of Cai Tiejun's efforts.
Cai Tiejun is creating the "Hundred Tiger Seals". Photo by Cao Wei
Cai Tiejun used Burmese eggplant to carve the Zodiac Hundred Seals, which began the year before, and this year is the third year. Before the Spring Festival in 2020, Cai Tiejun tried to design the seal engraving of the Burmese eggplant "Hundred Rat Seal"; before the Spring Festival in 2021, he created the "Hundred Cow Seal". Before the Spring Festival this year, Cai Tiejun learned the lessons learned from the creation of the first two zodiac hundred seals, referred to the atlas of many tigers, and completed the creation of the "Hundred Tiger Seals" after several months of conception. A few days ago, when the reporter interviewed Cai Tiejun, he saw that the 100 Burmese zodiac tigers were either long or young, or standing or lying down, or mighty or funny, and each tiger was flexible and natural, lifelike, and vividly showed the domineering and strength of the tiger king. The printing surface is virtual and real, simple and orderly, properly opened and closed, each with its own characteristics, and the world can be seen between the square inches, and the subtleties are clean.
Chinese tiger culture has a long history and profound historical accumulation. In the fields of literature, sculpture, painting, folklore, etc., the image of the tiger is everywhere and has become an indispensable part of Chinese culture. With the image of the tiger and the theme of "living dragon and living tiger", "tiger and tiger vitality", "dragon leaping and tiger leaping", etc., the "Hundred Tiger Seals" symbolizes the prosperity of the country, the prosperity of the economy, and the harmony and beauty of society. (Wang Wen'an, Zhou Junfang)