Folk artist Zhang Songjia sculpture "Three Stars". Photo courtesy of Zhang Song
Zhang Junxiong, a provincial non-hereditary heir, is carving Burmese tomatoes.
Burmese eggplant carving pays attention to one knife kung fu, all in one go.
Exquisite Sculptures of Burmese Tomatoes.
The art of Burmese eggplant carving enters the middle school classroom.
The sculptures are small and exquisite, and they are very ornamental.
Entering the Ziyuan Garden of Gaozhou Culture and Art Village, the flowers and trees in the garden are verdant, the flowers are competing to open, the gray screen wall, the red brick exposed main building wall, the red wooden windows... A literary and artistic atmosphere swept over the face.
The studio of Zhang Junxiong, the inheritor of the provincial intangible cultural heritage of Burmese eggplant carving technology, is located here, and the works of Burmese eggplant carving (hereinafter referred to as "eggplant carving") of different qualities, sizes and forms are displayed. Zhang Junxiong's sculptures of dragons and phoenixes, lions and tigers, characters, scenic spots, scenery and other beautiful shapes, small and exquisite, realistic forms, etc., have high artistic value, and are cherished by collectors and connoisseurs.
Behind each folk handicraft, there is the painstaking effort and wisdom of the craftsman; every exquisite moment condenses the infinite meaning of years and life. Whether it is inheritance or innovation, ten fingers are flexible, exquisite craftsmanship has the most sincere persistence and the most beautiful dreams.
More than 400 years of heritage
It is unique in Lingnan folk handicrafts
As a micro-carving art, eggplant carving integrates artistic elements such as fine art, carving and literature, and is a delicate and rare work of art, which is a unique and exquisite craft accumulated by Gaozhou Burmese eggplant carving artists for hundreds of years.
In the past, when men and women married in Dafan Village, they all liked to use Burmese eggplant carving crafts as gifts. A poem is widely circulated in Gaozhou folk: "Nusheng west bank near the lotus pond, married to the South Bridge He surname Lang, ashamed of my press makeup nothing else, Burmese eggplant carved two mandarin ducks." ”
In the village of West Bank of Gaozhou City, there is a 490-year-old Burmese eggplant tree that is known as "Peerless in Middle Earth". Gaozhou folk artists used its seeds for carving, making seals or exquisite crafts. Among them, the landscape pavilion, exquisite patterns, exquisite craftsmanship, birds and animals, meticulous, vivid image; story characters, exquisite, vivid.
For more than 400 years, eggplant carving handicrafts have been loved by the masses, or hung on the body to ward off evil spirits, or collected, or decorated, or given to relatives and friends. The content of the art of Sculpture originates from the folk and is based on life; its miniature carving knife method is the creation of beauty and the pursuit of art. After successive generations of inheritance, reform and development, the miniature carving process of Burmese eggplant has formed a unique style, which is unique in Lingnan folk handicrafts.
In the 1950s, Zhang Wenzi, a Gaozhou craftsman who had been awarded the title of National Craftsman, carved a work of art with Chinese characteristics from five Burmese eggplants and presented them to foreign DIGNITARies as a national gift. In 2011, the Burmese eggplant carving was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Guangdong Province.
The ancient Burmese eggplant carving not only retains the original form of Gaozhou folk art and craftsmanship, but also enriches the value and content of the eggplant carving in the long-term inheritance and development, and forms a folk art craft with local characteristics and historical value, artistic value, folklore value and cultural exchange value.
More than 30 years of perseverance
Give your life to the art of Burmese sculpture
"Burmese sculpture not only requires superb and delicate carving skills, but also requires deep cultural attainments." Zhang Junxiong, the nephew of Zhang Wenzi, began to learn eggplant carving from his uncle at the age of 13, and has been for more than 30 years, and many works have won national and provincial awards.
In 2007, Zhang Junxiong's sculpture of the "Five Sheep Statue" was collected by the Guangdong Provincial Museum.
"When I was a teenager, I stayed at home and had nothing to do, so I watched my father and uncle carve, sometimes helping them to clean up the oil and carve the blanks, and then hand them over to my father or uncle to finish." Zhang Junxiong recalled the scene of learning Burmese eggplant carving, which is vividly remembered. The carving process of Burmese eggplant has been passed down from generation to generation by the Zhang family for hundreds of years. To this day, the handmade Burmese sculptures on the surface of Gaozhou City are basically the works of the Zhang family.
After formally studying art, Zhang Junxiong's life seems very boring to outsiders.
Get up at 6 a.m., clean up first, and then start carving slowly. The hand was worn, but the heart was getting heavier. Every day, I "discussed" with the Seeds of Burmese Eggplant for more than 10 hours, with abdominal drafting, rough molding, molding, trimming, and oiling, and each step was a practice.
Grasping the carving knife in his hand, every time he carved a knife into the Burmese eggplant seed, Zhang Junxiong's heart was always tense and excited - the Burmese eggplant seed was very small, each knife must be careful, a little careless, and the careful thinking that took a long time may have to be torn down and restarted because of the mistake of a knife.
"When I conceived a piece of Burmese eggplant, I would walk, eat, and even think about it in my sleep. Once suddenly enlightened, the joy of climbing through the peak is unimaginable to others. ”
After years of polishing, Zhang Junxiong's skills are now pure fire. Now he hardly needs to type a draft when carving, and after communicating with the guests, the brain will conceive the pattern. After that, he began to use the knife and was able to carve a work that satisfied the customer every time.
Some complex eggplant carvings have very high technical requirements. For example, the carving of beads in "Double Dragon Play Beads" requires a knife to be accurate. First, the round mouth knife, the small hook knife and the oblique knife must be used to remove the excess part little by little, leaving the bead rolling position; then carefully trim with the cone knife and the round mouth knife, the process should be very careful; and finally by careful polishing and polishing, oiling, it is completed.
"Living" heritage
Multiple initiatives to help Burmese tomato carving "go out"
After the glory, the inheritance and development of eggplant carving also encountered a bottleneck period.
"Over the years, there have been many young people who have come to learn from their teachers, but after a year or two, they can't stick to it." When it comes to the inheritance of eggplant carving skills, Zhang Junxiong frowned, revealing concern.
Burmese eggplant carving along the way, there are hardships and brilliance, but now it is facing a test - the degree of attention of Burmese eggplant carving has weakened, and there are very few people who can insist on learning this skill, how can the Gaozhou Rice tomato carving process be benignly inherited and developed?
Jade carving, stone carving, wood carving, etc. have a fairly high market share in Gaozhou, and their carving technology belongs to large carving. Although it is different from the micro-carving technique of Burmese eggplant carving, the spirit of excellence is contained in the fine carving.
If burmese eggplant carving can be developed together with other local handicrafts, such as the development of a four-piece set of jade carving, stone carving, wood carving, and eggplant carving as representative tourist souvenirs of Gaozhou, it can ensure the continuation of the Myanmar carving technique to a certain extent. By learning other carving crafts, eggplant craftsmen can also increase their own income and continue their artistic heritage.
"Through media publicity and the promotion of e-commerce platforms, the market for Gaozhou Burmese eggplant carving can be broadened and its own viability can be enhanced." Zhang Junxiong authorized Zhongfu Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. to sell his own handicrafts on the e-commerce platform.
"To rescue and protect the Burmese eggplant carving, we must not only treasure the treasure in the cultural center, but also promote it to the society." Wu Xianji, director of the Gaozhou Municipal Cultural Center, said that at present, mainly through the introduction of intangible cultural heritage projects into campuses and other activities, including universities, junior high schools, primary schools and even kindergartens, comprehensively excavate and support Burmese tomato carving folk artists, cultivate new people, and do a good job in inheritance. At the same time, through the construction of the Myanmar Park, we will strengthen publicity and promotion.
Author: Deng Meiyun Photography (except for the signature): Feng Zhang