Explore the story of Pingtan after the "Bei"

Source: Taiwan Straits Network

According to the Pingtan Times, nature has left human beings with the product of changeable textures - shells. According to records, as early as the Neolithic Age, shells were strung into shell chains as decoration. In China, from the Shang Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty, shellfish were used as currency for a long time after polishing and perforation. Today, shells are carved and combined into exquisite works of art in the hands of some skilled craftsmen in Pingtan. In this issue, let us walk into the "Pingtan Time-honored Brand" - Fujian Image Haitan Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd., and understand the story of Pingtan Shell Carving after "Bei".

Zhan Sheng is creating shell carvings

origin

Decoration of the ancestors of Pingtan 7,000 years ago

The island of Pingtan is rich in seafood such as shellfish, snails, mussels and clams, which have different forms and colors. The so-called shell carving is to use the natural color, texture and shape of the shell, through artistic conception, polishing, pasting, and finally forming handicrafts.

Talking about the origin of the emergence of Pingtan shell carving, it can be traced back to 7,000 years ago, archaeologists have found shell decorations in the Neolithic shell hill site - Pingtan Shell Hill Site. After the Qin, Han, Song and Yuan dynasties, the ancestors of Pingtan also widely used shells in architecture, shipbuilding and home decoration, which can be regarded as the predecessor of Pingtan shell carving.

The Pingtan shell carving is really well known from 1955. That year, Lin Guoqin, a teacher at Pingtan Experimental Primary School, led the students of the Red Scarf Shell Interest Group to make a topographic map of Taiwan by gluing the shells and sending it to Beijing for Chairman Mao Zedong, where he received a letter of commendation from the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. As a result, Pingtan Experimental Primary School began to establish a school-run enterprise, Pingtan Shell Factory, which created China's first shell carving enterprise with shell painting and shell decoration.

Pingtan is surrounded by the sea, and the subtropical oceanic monsoon climate has brought abundant shell resources to the island. According to the "Pingtan County Chronicle", there are as many as 169 species of shellfish in Pingtan. In the hands of shell carving craftsmen, the strange shells are carved into flowers, birds, landscapes, and figures, which are beautiful from a distance and vivid from a close range. Pingtan shell carving has also opened up a world because of its unique artistic style.

develop

Innovation in inheritance brings back the glory of shell carving

In the 1970s and 1980s, Pingtan Shell Carving enjoyed international fame, and its products were sold throughout the country and exported to more than 40 countries and regions. Pingtan shell carving techniques include flat collage, block relief, blank mold modeling, spiral inlay and other techniques, which is the crystallization of the Pingtan people's ingenious combination of the beauty of the sea and traditional culture, as well as the colorful shells and human wisdom.

However, after the 1990s, due to the impact of the market economy and the lack of follow-up of craftsmen, Pingtan Shell Sculpture experienced a period of decline.

With the continuous development of the experimental area, people's thinking has gradually shifted from material basis to cultural connotation, and Pingtan also urgently needs to find products that can prove its cultural self-confidence. Therefore, in 2012, some like-minded shell carving inheritors gathered again to carry out product research and development of shell carving craftsmanship.

In just a few years, the exquisite Pingtan shell carving has become famous and praised, and has won many honors. In August 2017, Pingtan Shell Sculpture was approved as the list of intangible cultural heritage of the district; in 2019, "Pingtan Shell Sculpture" was officially recognized as a national geographical indication certification trademark, and in the same year, it was included in the list of representative items of provincial intangible cultural heritage... Under the insistence of several generations of craftsmen, Pingtan shell carving interprets the revival and development of traditional folk art with its own unique posture.

future

Keep pace with the times to become a hot stamping business card of Pingtan

Walk into the Pingtan Strait Folk Art Museum in a small taiwanese town and enjoy thousands of shell carvings, as well as shellfish from around the world. This is the "Shell Sculpture Museum" of Zhan Sheng and his brother Zhan Lixin, which collects the fine works they have collected from various places for more than 20 years. Mr. Lu, a literary and art lover who has visited the Pingtan Strait Folk Art Museum, said that pingtan shell carving has its own characteristics and value, which is different from other places and is worth appreciating.

As a creator who adheres to the art and creator of shell carving, Zhan Sheng also constantly innovates in his carving techniques. In 2018, one of his works, "Live Crab", was also invited to be exhibited at the "Fujian Cultural Industry BRICS (Russia) Exhibition and Fujian Culture Day Event" held in Moscow, where a pair of crabs in the work can not only turn black eyes, but also extend their feet to clamp each other. Such a realistic modeling technique lies in Zhan Sheng's application of mechanical principles to the creation of shell carvings, which also gives the work a new soul, which in turn impresses the viewer.

If you want your skills to be passed on, you need to let more people understand the art of shell carving and tap the value of art, and Zhan Sheng knows this very well. "We set up the Pingtan Strait Folk Art Museum in the hope of building a cultural and tourism base that integrates exhibitions, marketing, experience and sightseeing workshops, and provide a research venue for schools across the country." Zhan Sheng said that the future of Pingtan shell carving is to sprint towards the "Chinese time-honored brand", in order to come as soon as possible, he will continue to adhere to this skill, so that Pingtan shell carving becomes the "gilded business card" of Landao, when people talk about shell carving, they can think of Pingtan. (Source: Pingtan Times)