New Year painting dolls on sleighs, paper kites sparkling curling fluttering. The gourd sent Jian Erfu, and the ancient rhyme popped out of the five rings.
When the Beijing Winter Olympics opened in The land of China, the elements of the Winter Olympics from the world and the intangible cultural heritage of China underwent a warm fusion and collision, and traditional Chinese images such as New Year painting dolls "crossed" centuries into the ice and snow arena.
Yangliu Qing woodblock prints, "Kite Wei" traditional kite, "HuluLu" craft gourd... China's "intangible cultural heritage" innovated ancient skills, recorded the Winter Olympics with ancient laws and new styles, and conveyed new blessings to the world.
Poster Maker: Fang Jinyang
Year painting doll sleigh
During the Spring Festival holiday, in the Tianjin Yangliuqing Painting Society, the inheritor Gao Yan was still polishing his new work. Look closely, his New Year painting doll does not hold a big fish in her arms, but a sleigh or skate, gliding rapidly.
"The Winter Olympics is an important historical moment in the country, and the inheritors of the New Year painting have the obligation to record it and show it, and my work integrates snowboarding, alpine skiing and curling, using ancient New Year paintings to paint a new picture and express their feelings for the Winter Olympics." Gao Yan said.
Yangliu Qing woodblock prints have been inherited for more than 400 years, known as the "encyclopedia" of the people, with the function of recording history, and have distinct characteristics of the times under the premise of unified style.
"The traditional auspicious elements of New Year paintings should be left behind, and the doll shape should be slightly improved, and then integrated into the Winter Olympic elements." When creating "Welcoming the Winter Olympics", Wang Yan, the inheritor of Yangliu Youth Painting, took a lot of thought. The two dolls in the painting are still chubby, but their faces are obviously a little more handsome, they are dressed in red and yellow thick coats, and one of them also reached out to make a "victory" gesture.
Members of the young inheritors of Tianjin Yangliuqing Painting Society are creating Winter Olympic-themed New Year paintings. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Zishuo
In order to present the Winter Olympics, the 6 "post-80s" inheritors of Tianjin Yangliuqing Painting Society formed a team and began to immerse themselves in the studio every day from the end of 2021, sometimes laughing and sometimes arguing fiercely, and 6 Winter Olympics-themed New Year paintings have been created so far.
In order to quickly modify and adjust the work, the art club also used technical means this time, and the inheritor He Shuran was responsible for computer graphics. "Using computer drawing, spray printing and other means, you can make each of your own design ideas, everyone can look at it together, and adjust it at any time."
After the composition was determined, when the New Year painting was really made, this group of young people "slowed down" again, and adhered to the five processes of "hooking", "engraving", "printing", "painting" and "mounting" of YangliuQing woodblock prints. "Only by adhering to this traditional technique can Yangliu youth painting be passed on from generation to generation." Gao Yan said.
During the winter vacation of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the painting club also specially prepared interest painting activities for children, teaching children to use the method of New Year painting to depict pandas, skateboards, sleds and other Winter Olympic elements. "In the process of sketching the Yangliu Youth Painting by hand, the children will have a better understanding of the Winter Olympic culture and ice and snow sports, and the connotation and skills of the ancient New Year paintings have also reached more people." Heir zhang Kai said.
Paper kites flutter in curling
Wei Bowen, who loves ice and snow sports, has integrated this hobby into his job - making kites. As the fifth generation of "Kite Wei", the 27-year-old is innovating with his father to make a Winter Olympics-themed kite. In the square in front of the Drum Tower near the old city of Tianjin, where their studio is located, whenever he experimented with flying his new works, there were always children playing on the side shouting: "Look, there are curling and sleds on the kite!" ”
Although skiing is swooping down from the high mountains and flying kites is rising from the ground to the sky, in Wei Bowen's view, the happiness brought to him by the two has a lot in common. "Athletes cannot stand on the podium without the persistence and perseverance of ordinary people, and our traditional skills cannot be passed on without painstaking adherence and the belief that 'no one will sniff'." Wei Bowen said.
Tianjin "Kite Wei" production technology has a history of more than 160 years, the founder is Wei Yuantai, who lived in the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic. Before that, Chinese kites were mainly hard wings and had simple shapes. Wei Yuantai innovated in this regard, applying the mortise and mortise structure used by carpenters to the skeleton of the kite, so that the kite can be folded, and the kite, which is more than one foot long, can be placed in a small envelope after folding, which is easy to collect and carry, and "Kite Wei" is also famous in the industry.
Wei Guoqiu, the inheritor of "Kite Wei", is making a kite skeleton. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Zishuo
In 1915, 11 of Wei Yuantai's works went abroad and won the gold medal of the Panama International Exposition. In 2008, Tianjin Kite Wei production technology was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage, continuing to write the story of intangible cultural heritage in the new era.
"What we are doing now is a tile kite, using traditional production techniques, but innovating in the material, extremely light, and a kite is only about 10 grams." Wei Bowen's father, Wei Guoqiu, the fourth generation of "Kite Wei", said that he also likes to make Winter Olympic-themed kites, but unlike his son, who loves ice and snow sports, he wants to express a heartfelt sense of pride.
"China has hosted two Olympic Games, one summer and one winter, which is very proud!" I want to integrate Olympic elements into traditional kites, cheer for Olympic athletes, and let more people understand traditional kite skills. Wei Guoqiu said.
"Kite selection is very important, Sichuan's moso bamboo, soft and hard, flexible and moderate, Fujian silk, light and thin and easy to follow-up painting design." During the conversation, Wei Guoqiu used a sharp knife to split the bamboo strips into thin strips, evenly coated with white glue, and then covered with silk, "It is not difficult to make a kite, everyone can try to make a Winter Olympics theme kite." ”
The gourd sent a blessing to the athletes
At the beginning of the new year in 2022, Zhao Wei, a "gourd craftsman", officially donated his works, a gourd called "Cheers for the Beijing Winter Olympics", to the collection of the Overseas Chinese Ice and Snow Museum in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City.
"The eyes of the whole world are focused on Beijing and Zhangjiakou, and I want to send blessings to the Olympic athletes through our skills, and also show the world China's traditional culture, so that our intangible cultural heritage can go to the world." Zhao Wei, the inheritor of Tianjin gourd making skills, said.
Gourd harmonic "Fulu", the ancient Chinese believed that it can drive away evil spirits and pray for happiness, so one gourd after another is transformed into exquisite works of art in the hands of craftsmen. Tianjin gourd making technology originated during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, and was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage in 2021.
Zhao Wei creates gourd paintings in the workshop. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sun Fanyue
In the Tianjin "Hululu" workshop, thousands of gourds of different shapes are placed, making people feel like they are in the fields of autumn, and the walls are full of tools needed to make gourds.
In anticipation of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhao Wei, who is over 50 years old, began to conceive and computer draw with his apprentices a few months ago, using branding techniques to show the elements of the Winter Olympics on the gourd. "The temperature of the gourd painting should be moderate, and the temperature should be adjusted according to the color depth of the picture, and the temperature will not be burned when it is low, and the surface of the gourd will be destroyed when it is high." Zhao Wei said that in the past, the method of burning incense was usually used to burn incense on the gourd, and the temperature was not easy to control, but now with the electric burning pen, the temperature is well controlled, and the lines on the gourd are clearer.
In addition to branding, gourd crafts have many more difficult skills, such as "Fan gourd" - the juvenile gourd is placed in a mold engraved with a pattern (called "Fan"), as the gourd grows, gradually fills the space of the mold, and when it is taken out, the graphics of the mold are displayed on the gourd.
"The long and dissatisfied gourd will shrink in the corner of the mold, but it will grow too big and will explode the mold. To have a full and clear pattern gourd, this year's effort is not in vain. Although he often faced failure, Zhao Wei has always insisted on being a model gourd.
"It is not easy for a good gourd to grow, it is even more difficult for athletes to train day after day and win gold and silver on the field, and we non-heritage people use traditional crafts to make Winter Olympic gourds, just to cheer them up!" Zhao Wei said.
Source: Xinhua Net