Walking into the workshop of Yandu Copper Sculpture Company in Yixian County, Hebei Province, the artists are busy with enthusiasm, and the forging sound of "ding-dong" is endless. The bronze carving and casting are all hand-tapped by the artist, and with meticulous craftsmanship and patience, each bronze carving work forged is vivid.
Yixian bronze carving has a long history and is a continuation of ancient bronze craftsmanship. The Warring States bronze people and the first ring of the large copper shop excavated from the Yanxiadu site are all "national treasure" level art treasures. When the Yongzheng Emperor built the Qingxi Mausoleum in Yi county, the court bronze carving technique began to be passed on in Yi County, forming a unique style of Yi County copper carving forging art. The lineage of Yixian copper carving and engraving techniques can be traced back to the Light Years of the Qing Dynasty. In 1976, Niu Zenglu, the third generation of Yixian bronze carving heirs, was invited to participate in the forging and gilding project of chairman Mao's memorial hall plaque.
In 1996, Liu Guijun, the inheritor of bronze sculpture, founded Yandu Copper Sculpture Company. Under his continuous improvement, the traditional skills have been revitalized, and the company has become a leading enterprise in the copper sculpture industry. In 2016, yixian bronze sculpture was rated as Baoding municipal intangible cultural heritage.
Nowadays, more than 600 people from more than 1,100 people in Yuanquan Village, where Liu Guijun is located, are engaged in copper carving craftsmanship, which has driven the development of copper carving industry in 8 surrounding villages such as Qilizhuang Village and Lianggezhuang Village. There are hundreds of enterprises in Yixian county that carry out copper art production, forming an industrial cluster, and there are 15,000 copper carving craftsmen.
As a traditional skill, what is the unique charm of Yixian bronze carving? Liu Guijun introduced that Yixian bronze carving, also known as engraving, has very distinct technical characteristics, "The copper plate forged by copper sculpture needs to choose more than 1.2 mm of copper or brass, annealed at high temperature when satin is played, and the hammer is forged after cooling, in order to ensure that the toughness and ductility of copper reach the best state." Especially when forging high relief products, it is necessary to repeatedly calcinate and anneal anneal, so that the relief forging can achieve a three-dimensional and vivid effect. ”
The complex process of Yixian copper carving forging is all completed by hand, including creative design, unloading annealing, forging and engraving, rubber forging, polishing and polishing, color protection and other links, each link is controlled by the artist with rich experience and skilled feel. The main expression techniques are relief and circular carving, the relief pattern is mainly landscape flowers and birds, lotus vines and branches, dragons and phoenixes, etc., and the circular sculpture is mostly in the form of indoor ornaments, urban sculptures, temple Buddha statues and so on.
"I used modern craftsmanship to replace some of the backward processes in traditional processes. In the past, due to the limitations of production levels, gilding and sulfuric acid with potassium cyanide and cleaning with sulfuric acid, and heating copper plates with coal fires, these processes will cause harm to artists. Liu Guijun said that in his view, inheriting the traditions of his predecessors, not sticking to the tradition, and daring to constantly improve and innovate the process, can make the traditional skills more vital.
Liu Guijun admitted that although it is well-known in the industry, Yixian bronze sculpture is still relatively unfamiliar to the general public. "The vitality of Yixian bronze sculpture comes from the profound cultural connotation, we combine the bronze sculpture artwork with rich history and culture, and at the same time keep pace with the times, narrow the distance between Yixian bronze sculpture and the aesthetic concept of the times, highlight the artistic level, and make Yixian characteristics." We also want to go out and participate in various sculpture and bronze sculpture art exhibition and exhibition activities, and promote Yixian bronze sculpture in various forms, so that everyone can know and like Yixian bronze sculpture. ”
Growing up in the sound of "ding-dong" forging, Liu Guijun heard and had a deep affection for bronze sculpture. As the fourth generation of inheritors of yixian bronze carving forging technology, he believes that he has the obligation and responsibility to protect, inherit and develop this intangible cultural heritage skill well, so that the ancient art can be rejuvenated, and the bronze carving industry can benefit the township.
At present, Liu Guijun's Yandu Bronze Sculpture Art and Culture Co., Ltd. has more than 300 employees and a technical core team of more than 60 people, including 3 internationally registered arts and crafts masters and 6 folk arts and crafts masters in Hebei Province. Since its establishment, the company has completed hundreds of large-scale bronze carving projects at home and abroad, and won a number of national awards, which makes Liu Guijun very pleased, gives him great encouragement, and also makes him forget his hardships.
"Bronze engraving is my unchanged profession for nearly 40 years, and it has been deeply integrated into my life. It has enriched my life, cultivated my sentiments, and the incomparable love for it makes me happy to live up to it, and I am willing to live up to the inheritance and live up to myself. Liu Guijun said.