At 5:00 a.m. on February 14, 66-year-old Shan Feng and his wife Guo Chengkai were already sitting in front of the living room, preparing enough materials for the lanterns of the Lantern Festival the next day.
As the inheritor of Jiangsu Province's intangible cultural heritage, rugao kites and flower lanterns, this year's Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, the husband and wife craftsmen are really busy. From the first to the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year, the old couple moved the lantern production site to the lively shopping mall.
"Lantern Festival, lantern planting, lantern viewing is a traditional custom of the people for thousands of years. There are many varieties of Rugao flower lanterns, most of which are mainly 12 zodiac shape lamps, which pinned on the expectations of the local people for a happy life. Talking about the non-heritage flower lamp, Shan Feng suddenly opened the conversation box. Since marrying her husband Guo Chengkai at the age of 25, she was first exposed to Rugao flower lanterns, and since then, she has been "obsessed" with them for more than 40 years.
Dressed in black stripes and posing with a roaring posture, in the center of the exhibition hall of Rugao Wenfeng Great World, a 1.3-meter-long, 85-centimeter-high golden tiger flower lantern came to life, which made many citizens clap their hands and marvel.
This is the proud work of Shan Feng and his wife who spent nearly 20 days. Years ago, in order to catch up with the tiger lantern, the couple refused all social activities, in addition to eating and sleeping, the most discussed topic between the two was the selection of flower lanterns.
"From the drawing design, to the installation and drawing, the entire production process of the flower lantern was completed by our husband and wife." Shan Feng told reporters that in order to pursue realistic shapes, the tiger's body skeleton and head were specially made of several versions with different postures and different angles. "According to the naturalness of the posture, the neat beauty of the lines, etc., it is combined into a version, and then adjusted in details, and finally made into the tiger flower lamp in front of you."
In the production of flower lanterns, Shan Feng and his wife have a "stubborn" energy, often "tossing" for a detail for a long time.
For example, the tiger flower lantern in front of you not only looks imposing, but also unambiguous in the details and has unique ingenuity. In the mouth of the large open tiger, the fangs are sharp, the grooves are neat, and the white is yellow, and just by looking at it, you can feel the oppression of the tiger as the king of the hundred beasts.
"This tiger head looks simple, and we have changed it several times before and after in the selection of the brow bone and teeth." Shan Feng said that when making tiger teeth, they tried a variety of materials including cloth, paper, and foam plastic, but they were not satisfied, and later they came up with a special material, dough for dough. "We went to Find Cai Xiaoxia, the sixth-generation inheritor of nantong's intangible cultural heritage 'Cai's Face Sculpture', and asked her to give us some materials for kneading the face, and came back to knead the teeth of the tiger to complete the production of this flower lamp."
It is adhering to the spirit of excellence that the flower lanterns made by the husband and wife will always be appreciated by people and are quite famous in the local area. In addition to this tiger flower lamp, the couple also made peacocks, rabbits, goldfish, lotus flowers and other styles of flower lamps, each exquisite and lovely.
"The traditional flower lantern making process first wraps paper on the strips that make the skeleton, and then ties it, and after it is tied and formed, it also has to be ribbed. The fabric for making the lantern is a small piece, which should be pasted by hand, and then the excess cloth on the joint side is cut clean, and then the tendons are walked. After walking the ribs, a flower lamp is basically formed. Walking through the ribs of the flower lamp, the overall skeleton is straight, looking particularly spiritual. "When it comes to the traditional flower lantern making skills, the single edge is like a family treasure.
"Just making a little rabbit lantern takes more than four hours." As Shan Feng said, making flower lanterns is not only a technical work, but also a physical work. As the couple grew older, the inheritance of this craft became a piece of their heart disease.
In order to make the Rugao lanterns better inherited, the couple actively contacted the local education department and the intangible cultural heritage center, promoted the lanterns into the institutions and campuses, and successfully held a number of lectures on the production of intangible cultural heritage lanterns, and the intangible cultural heritage was like a spring breeze.
Nowadays, as soon as they have free time, the old couple pick up tools to make lamps at home, and there is an endless stream of people who come to buy flower lanterns and learn from teachers. "Men, women and children, as long as they are willing to learn, we are willing to teach." In the depths of their hearts, the couple is looking forward to this folk craft to embark on a bigger stage and enter the lives of more people.
Wen 丨 Reporter Chen Jiayi Correspondent Han Xun
Picture 丨 reporter Chen Jiayi correspondent Li Long
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Source: Nantong Release Editor: Wang Ting
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