Liu Bangyun: I want to be a scholar-type non-genetic person

Mentioning the "four absolutes" of Tianjin folk crafts, three of which are yangliu youth paintings, clay figure Zhang, and kite Wei, are still known, but "carved brick Liu" seems to have disappeared, and even some Wenbao scholars believe that "carved brick Liu" has broken off. However, the reporter learned that there are successors to the "carved brick Liu" craft, and the blue is out of the blue.

Walking into the workshop, I saw a young woman wearing a mask, goggles, holding a hammer cone, clanging, the air was filled with ash, and the green bricks under her hands slowly turned into relief artworks. As famous as his person, Liu Bangyun is like Jiangnan in the smoke and rain, but his ancestors have been authentic Tianjin Wei for several generations.

The past and present lives of "carved brick Liu"

The ancestor of "carved brick Liu" is Ma Shunqing during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. His grandson Liu Fengming was the first generation of professional brick carving craftsmen in Tianjin, and his invention of the "brick sticking method" was widely used by later Tianjin brick carvers. The brick carving works of the "Carved Brick Liu" family are widely used in famous historical buildings in Tianjin. At present, Tianjin's Shijia Courtyard, Xujia Courtyard, Guangdong Guild Hall, Beining Park, Halal Grand Temple, Halal Nanda Temple, Great Compassion Zen Temple and other famous architectural remains, you can also enjoy these fine brick carving art.

After Liu Fengming's death, the brick carving skill was passed on to the fourth son, Liu Shuru. In the early years, Liu Shuru was hired by his father at the Tianjin Arts and Crafts Factory, and when he built the Gulou Block, Liu Shuru carved the elements of the times such as bicycles and Young Pioneers on green bricks, which were used in ancient times and modern times, so that tradition and modernity complement each other.

In the later period of the Arts and Crafts Factory, Tianjin gradually became a modern city with high-rise buildings, and the brick carving art of ancient buildings slowly withdrew from the market, and even the green bricks used for brick carving were nowhere to be found. Liu Shuru, who is armed with extraordinary skills, has no bricks to carve, and can only do some work of receiving and sending in the communication room.

"Carved brick Liu" gradually disappeared from people's vision.

Liu Bangyun is the granddaughter of Liu Fengming's eldest son, Liu Shulin. When she was born, brick carving was no longer fashionable. But the brick carving works in the Confucian style of the fourth grandfather Liu Shu still left a deep impression on her.

Master's degree in classical literature made Liu Bangyun really interested in brick carving. She proposed to the fourth grandfather to learn brick carving, but Liu Shuru rejected her. Liu Shuru persuaded Liu Bangyun that it was useless to learn brick carving, and it was better to take the time to learn a little money-making skills.

Liu Bangyun understood the fourth grandfather's bitterness: "He didn't want to give up, but because he loved too much." He would only do brick carving all his life, but brick carving was eliminated by society, and he was very miserable. Later, the old man relaxed, and he told Liu Bangyun: "You go to find the green bricks for brick carving, and I will teach you." ”

At that time, there was no brick kiln for firing green bricks in Tianjin, and Liu Bangyun embarked on the road of finding bricks. Carrying a carving knife, she found the south from the north, and finally found the soft and hard green bricks in Suzhou. Liu Shuru touched the green bricks found by Liu Bangyun, already discouraged, facing the persistent niece, his heart lit up with hope, and decided to accept this apprentice and pass on the "carved brick Liu" craft.

Under the careful guidance of Liu Shuru, Liu Bangyun gradually grasped and understood the artistic essence of "carved brick Liu", and she opened a studio in her attic. Tea trays, guqin, rowing machines for fitness... The furnishings in the studio are "mixed", which also makes it clear that the owners here are young people who love traditional art. Liu Bangyun, who sat in the corner, was also mixed: satin cheongsam with long hair, but a gray head and a dirty face. She wore a transparent mask, held a carved knife and mallet in the dust, clanged, and sat all day. Brick carving is a hard work, and Liu Bangyun after 85 already has cervical spondylosis. She laughed that her hands were like the hands of an old lady, and she did not wear any ring jewelry, and it was common for her hands to be scratched.

While immersing himself in the study of brick carving skills, Liu Bangyun is also committed to making "carved brick Liu" known to the world again. She systematically sorted out the works of the four generations of craftsmen of the "carved brick Liu" family, collected a large number of text and video materials, and successfully declared the intangible cultural heritage, which surprised the Tianjin cultural security community to see that the "carved brick Liu" stunt reproduced in the jianghu.

When Liu Bangyun declared the intangible cultural heritage, Mr. Li Zhibang, president of the Tianjin Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association, was overjoyed. "Are you 'carved brick Liu'?" Are you the descendant of the 'carved brick Liu'? Li Zhibang encouraged Liu Bangyun, "It is better to come late than not to come, you have to work hard, you have to refuel." ”

When she gave Liu Shuru the certificate of intangible cultural heritage, the old man was very happy. He passed on to Liu Fengming the carved brick tools of more than a hundred years of history, and the only works he had ever had in his hands, including the materials he had collected before, were passed on to Liu Bangyun.

In 2020, the 82-year-old Liu Shuru passed away, and after experiencing the glory and trough of "carved brick Liu", Liu Bangyun gave him relief and hope.

"I want to be an academic mason"

"Art is eternal, a painting, a brick, as long as it is preserved, it will always be there." It is the experience of art auction that makes Liu Bangyun understand the value of art better, and when she looks back at the works of her ancestors, the sense of pride and responsibility in her heart becomes stronger.

As a non-hereditary inheritor of the younger generation, she is not only thinking about inheriting the skills of her ancestors, but also exploring how to find the value of brick carving art in today's society and revitalize brick carving in development.

Because he was a halfway monk and the traditional handicraft lacked systematic theoretical support, Liu Bangyun decided to go to the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts to study Western sculpture techniques.

During her time at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, she realized that the traditional brick carving technique is to do subtraction, only the result has no reason, while Western sculpture is to do addition, and there is a reason before the result. While adhering to traditional skills, she also groped to incorporate some Western techniques into her creations. She pondered how to make brick carving move from solidified architectural decoration to vivid daily life and return to popular art. Liu Bangyun carved out pen holders, tea bearings, Yantai and other works with green bricks, which have both classical cultural charm and novelty. "Although we can't see such exquisite brick carvings on the beams, we can put it on the desk."

Let young people know "carved brick Liu". Liu Bangyun has given lectures in tianjin university, Tianjin academy of fine arts, Tianjin polytechnic university and other universities many times, which also brought her a lot of pressure: she can not only be a craftsman, but also become a researcher of brick carving.

Liu Bangyun traveled to Gansu, Shanxi, Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong and other places where brick carving art flourished. During the visit, Liu Bangyun learned that tianjin in the Qing Dynasty developed water transport, not only brought goods from Jiangnan, but also brought craftsmen and crafts from the south. The development of water transport and shipping has brought together many wealthy merchants and giants in Tianjin, who have overhauled their mansions, imitating the Jiangnan salt merchants to use brick carving as architectural decoration, doing their utmost to do the most complicated things, in 1907 to build the Tianjin Guangdong Guild Hall, Liu Fengming as a brick carving craftsman, and many wood carving craftsmen from Guangdong work side by side for several years, the southern carving techniques have a profound impact on Liu Fengming, who is only 18 years old. Led by the "carved brick Liu" family, Tianjin brick carving has formed technical characteristics such as north-south compatibility, rich layers, and fine carving, especially the "pile-and-paste carving method" is unique in the country.

Because of the experience of looking for green bricks in those years, Liu Bangyun kept in touch with brick carving factories in Shanxi, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places, and more and more brick carving artists knew that Tianjin "carved brick Liu" had a female descendant, mastering the brick carving skills that could not be reached by these machine carvings and molds of high relief carving. When they have a need, they will contact Liu Bangyun, so that Liu Bangyun will receive some orders intermittently. She carved each work for two or three months, and the income was not enough to support her life, so she sold the calligraphy and paintings she had collected before, and used the proceeds to collect brick carvings from all over the country.

Liu Bangyun also has a plan, that is, to save the data of the works of the ancestors of the "carved brick Liu" in the form of holographic scanning, and then through high-tech reproduction, so that these brick carving works that have been weathered in the years can be preserved and can be restored to a certain extent.

(Guangming Daily all-media reporter Liu Qian, Chen Jianqiang)

Contents: Guangming Daily all-media reporter Liu Qian Chen Jianqiang

Editor-in-charge: Wang Zimo

Editors: Chang Ying, Zhu Xiaofan, Zhang Yongqun