Elephant News reporter Qiu Yanbo
Editor's note: Walk henan, read China.
In Henan, in Zhengzhou, there are many intangible cultural heritages (referred to as intangible cultural heritage), these excellent traditional cultures not only constitute the profound cultural connotation of the Chinese nation, but also carry the cultural origin and inner cultural genes of the Chinese nation. Intangible Cultural Heritage, born from the agricultural civilization. With the rapid development of urbanization, some intangible cultural heritage is losing the space for inheritance. In the process of irreversible urbanization, what is the current status of these intangible cultural heritages? How do they respond and adapt to this process? In the inevitable trend of urbanization, these non-heritage people will naturally become urban people. How to let intangible cultural heritage survive and develop in the city, and how can intangible cultural heritage be perfectly integrated with the city, take root and rejuvenate new life?
To this end, Elephant News, together with the Zhengzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, combed through the intangible cultural heritage of Zhengzhou, launched a series of reports on "urban intangible cultural heritage", unveiled the current situation, dilemma and opportunities faced by urban intangible cultural heritage, focusing on the inheritance and promotion of the future, speaking out for the intangible cultural heritage, and continuing the pulse of culture.
More than 2,000 years ago, monkey opera was born in Xinye County, Henan Province; more than 200 years ago, on the basis of the Xinye Monkey Opera and the "Dancing Jiaguan" (the dance program added at the beginning of the old opera or when a dignitary appeared in the performance), "Monkey Jiaguan" was born; 80 years ago, Wei Yimin, a 15-year-old Nanyang native, learned "Monkey Jiaguan" with a deaf and mute person in Xinye County and became the inheritor of "Monkey Jiaguan"; more than 40 years ago, wei Yimin, after retirement, regained his old craft and resumed the production of "Monkey Jiaguan". Until 2011, Wei Yimin was the only inheritor of the "Monkey Plus Official". In 2009, "Monkey Jiaguan" was rated as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in Henan Province. Under the recommendation of British artist Tom Krockett, "Monkey Plus Officer" has been collected by the Folk Museum in London, the French Folk Museum, and many private museums in Norway and Germany.
The 95-year-old hero made "Monkey Plus Official" by hand
On the morning of March 10, 95-year-old Wei Yimin took a needle in his left hand, a thread in his right hand, and put the thread into his mouth to get wet, and then he squeezed it again, aimed at the eye of the needle, and put it on at once. The old man began to sew clothes for the "monkey plus official", which was originally scheduled to be held in Zhengzhou on March 21, and he received a notice a few days ago: to make a batch of "monkey plus officials" and display it at the annual meeting of the intangible cultural heritage.
"Monkey Plus Officer" is a combination of "Jumping Plus Official" and "New Wild Monkey Play" expression form creation, is a very festive traditional educational toy, known as the moving "living mud monkey". This toy gives the monkey a mask, and the opening and closing are very similar to the face change in Sichuan opera, also known as the face change mud monkey. The monkey harmonic sound of "monkey plus official" is "hou", and the monkey wears a mask official hat, which means "to seal the marquis and add the official".
Wei Yimin said that when he was 15 years old, he saw an old man holding a strange toy in his hand and was attracted on the spot. The old man gently turned the small stick in his hand, and the monkey hanging from the small stick put on the mask for a while and took off the mask for a while. Wei Yimin, with his father's consent, followed the deaf and mute old man in Xinye to learn "Monkey Plus Official", Wei Yimin said, that year was 1942. After studying for more than two years, Wei Yimin fully mastered the skill of "monkey plus official", and even surpassed his own teacher. Soon, the Japanese occupied Nanyang, and Wei Yimin was exiled to Zhengzhou, selling "monkeys and officials" to make a living. In September 1949, Wei Yimin joined the People's Liberation Army after the Chengdu Uprising in Sichuan. In 1951, Wei Yimin learned to drive a car while participating in the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway. In March 1951, Wei Yimin participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, driving a car on the Korean battlefield to the front line to deliver ammunition and supplies, and pulling back the wounded of the volunteer army and PRISONERs of war of the US army from the front line.
Wei Yimin said that during the armistice to resist us aggression and aid Korea, he also borrowed the old cloth of the old Mother of the DPRK and made a "monkey plus officer" to perform for his comrades-in-arms and the DPRK military and people.
In May 1955, Wei Yimin was demobilized to zhengzhou bus company and drove a bus. After retirement, Wei Yimin, under the persuasion of his lover, resumed the production of "Monkey Plus Official".
"At that time, my face was thin, because I was driving a bus in Zhengzhou, I was afraid that everyone would know me, and I didn't dare to sell it on the streets of Zhengzhou, so I ran to Kaifeng on foot to sell." While Wei Yimin was talking, he sat on the edge of the bed and made "Monkey Plus Official".
In 2009, "Monkey Jiaguan" was rated as the intangible cultural heritage of Henan Province. Wei Yimin said that since being rated as a provincial intangible cultural heritage, the relevant departments will invite him to participate in any activities every year.
The Chinese folk handicraft "Monkey Jiaguan" is collected by foreign folk museums
Only the national is the world. Although "monkey plus official" is a folk handicraft, it has been collected by many foreign folk museums.
In 2015, British artist Tom Krockett saw "Monkey Plus Officer" from China in a Western photography magazine and suddenly recalled his memories. In 1930, Gladys Aylward, the sister of Tom Crockett's great-grandfather, went to Yangcheng, Shanxi, China, to preach and engage in charity activities, and she took in hundreds of Chinese orphans. In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, after the Japanese captured Yangcheng, in order to protect these orphans, she waded alone with a hundred orphans and escorted the children from the war-torn Shanxi to Xi'an. After returning home, Gladys Ewelld wrote an autobiography, My Heart in China, and her efforts to protect hundreds of Chinese orphans shocked all of Europe and the Americas. Later, the famous British writer Alan Birsch wrote a biographical novel "Little Women" based on the story of Gladys Everider's life. In 1958, after an American writer adapted Alan Birsch's "Little Women" into a screenplay, the film "Leofoo Inn" was filmed by the famous Hollywood director Mark Robson and the "First Lady of Hollywood" Ingrid Bergman into the movie "Leofoo Inn", which won the 16th American Film Golden Globe Award for "the most able to promote international understanding".
Tom Crockett vividly remembers that as a child, there was a photograph of Gladys Ayvaid playing with several Chinese children with this "pretty oriental monkey", the "monkey plus official".
Tom Crockett follows in gladys Eweed's footsteps to China in search of this mysterious Chinese monkey, which has only been seen in photographs before. After learning that "Monkey Plus" is an intangible cultural heritage, Tom Crockett is even more fond of "Monkey Plus".
Under the enthusiastic recommendation of Tom Crookett, "Monkey Plus Officer" has been collected by the London Folk Museum, the French Folk Museum, and many private museums in Norway and Germany.
Tom Crockett's admiration for "monkey plus official" also made Wei Yimin re-examine his craft, and he realized that this was a cultural treasure handed down from his ancestors.
Two failed factory productions
Wei Yimin said that the "monkey plus official" is more troublesome to make. "Monkey Jiaguan" uses clay as the main raw material, using mud to make monkey heads, monkey faces and Peking Opera faces, and then dyeing cotton wool or rabbit hair with colorful colors into "monkey hair". After drying, apply the base color twice, then carry out a delicate painting, and then glue the monkey's head and four claws into a whole with cloth and fur. The production of traditional "monkey plus official" is almost everything pure handmade, and the materials are exquisite. For example, with mud, it is necessary to select a good glue mud, sift off impurities, repeatedly beat, and add cotton to the mud to increase the toughness of the mud. When all the parts are ready, the mask is connected to the monkey body with a thin line, and the two thin lines are worn in the small holes in the monkey's hands and ears, and connected to a Peking Opera face, and finally the thin line is fixed with a T-shaped wooden stick using the principle of leverage. After the production is completed, turn the wooden stick, and the little mud monkey will keep putting on and taking off the mask. People who have seen "Monkey Plus Official" say that this is a handmade art work that perfectly combines traditional art, facial masks, clay sculptures and fabrics, and has a treasured significance.
Can the handmade "Monkey Plus Official" expand the scale of production? Wei Yimin's son, Wei Tianjun, said he tried in 2004, investing more than 100,000 yuan, buying machines, making "monkey officials" into semi-finished products, and then letting workers integrate various parts and components. However, because the yield rate was too low, coupled with poor sales, it soon failed.
In 2015, a businessman who had worked in real estate in Xingyang saw the business opportunity of "Monkey Plus Official" and found Wei Yimin, hoping to take the road of large-scale production. In the end, due to yield and market sales problems, coupled with poor management, the "Monkey Plus Official" expansion attempt failed again.
Because it is handmade, coupled with the fact that it is a provincial intangible cultural heritage, the price of "monkey plus official" even exceeds the general remote control car and other toys. Wei Yimin's son, Wei Tianjun, said that the current monkey plus official, he made one is about 100 yuan. Made by father Wei Yimin, one is about 300 yuan. Such a price is not easy to be accepted by ordinary consumers.
Xu Jinsong, Wei Yimin's apprentice, said that the current "monkey plus official" sells art and feelings, which cannot be measured by price, and people who buy it are generally used for collection.
It is hoped that artist cards will be issued and intangible cultural heritage will be taken to the streets
Xu Jinsong said that "monkey plus official" is a traditional folk handicraft, whether from the origin of the new wild monkey play, or from the auspicious meaning of "jumping to add official", it has a rich and profound historical and cultural connotation. The monkey face of "Monkey Plus Official" is playfully and cutely painted, and the face is also exquisitely painted, which has high artistic value. However, the inheritance of "monkey plus official" in modern cities is not ideal, mainly because the living space is small and not closely connected with modern urban life.
"Intangible cultural heritage must be materialized, and without materialization, it will inevitably disappear." Xu Jinsong said that the materialization he said meant that the intangible cultural heritage should have a production place, a display place, and a sales place, and if it was only at the time of the meeting to invite the non-genetic inheritors to come and show for a day and a half, "the time is long, it is false." "Simply by holding a few meetings a year to show it, it will not allow the intangible cultural heritage to be passed on well."
There is a saying in the intangible cultural heritage circle: if there is no sale, there is no inheritance. Only when intangible cultural heritage products are sold can intangible cultural heritage people survive and live well, and can this craft be truly passed on.
Xu Jinsong hopes that Zhengzhou's intangible cultural heritage can learn from Shanghai, and the relevant departments will issue "street artist certificates" to non-genetic inheritors, so that they can legally sell on the streets and give craftsmen a living space. Only by taking intangible cultural heritage to the streets and integrating intangible cultural heritage with urban life can we benefit the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.
"We need high-speed rail, we need the countryside. The pace of modern people's life is too fast, and intangible cultural heritage is to let everyone slow down, feel the traditional culture, give the soul a place to rest, and also give the intangible cultural heritage a living space. Xu Jinsong said.
Expert reviews
Ge Lei, Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Theory Department of Henan Academy of Culture and Art:
"Monkey Plus Official" as a traditional folk toy, by its production process and market restrictions, it is currently difficult to produce on a large scale, Monkey Plus Official to better develop, in addition to doing a good job of inheritance, you can also try to combine with modern toy design and production, such as learning from Sichuan's "face changing doll". Sichuan opera as an intangible cultural heritage, in which the face-changing skills have a great influence, now people who travel to Sichuan, many people will buy a kind of "face-changing doll". This kind of "face changing doll" extracts the Sichuan drama face change element, press it, the doll will change a face, full of childlike fun, the price is not expensive, so the sales are very good, this idea "monkey plus official" can be learned.
The issue of certificates raised by the inheritors also provides new ideas for the spread of intangible cultural heritage in the city. In urban management, can we provide a legal identity and a fixed public space for all kinds of artists through standardized management? This can not only ensure its inheritance, but also add color to urban culture, increase the interest of people's lives, and make the city warmer.