Who in Tianjin used to be like clay figurine Zhang and brush Li? Tell us their stories.

Brush Li is a master of a construction factory on Hebei Avenue. Just draw one line and do nothing else. If he draws a room for you, don't leave it in the room. Sitting alone will be as beautiful as ascending to heaven. The most amazing thing is that he will wear a black suit when brushing the pulp, and there will be no white spots on his body after finishing the work. Do not believe! He also made a rule for himself that as long as there are white spots on his body, white brushes don't cost money. If he doesn't have this ability, won't he be hungry all the time?

But this is a legend. People don't believe everything Those who have never seen it don't believe it, and the industry is angry and doesn't believe it.

One day this year, Li accepted an apprentice named Cao. The beginning of being an apprentice is to serve tea and water, light a cigarette and carry things behind your ass. Of course, I have long heard of Master Cao's unique skills, and I have always been dubious. This time, he must see for himself.

On that day, I went out to work with my master for the first time and went to Workshop South Road in British Concession to brush mud for Li Xinjian's villa. When I got there, I chatted with the person in charge and realized that the master was full of demeanor. According to his rules, only one room can be painted a day. This building is the size of nine rooms, and it takes nine days to paint. Before going to work, he opened a small square bag with him. Sure enough, he was wearing black trousers and a pair of black shoes. Put on this black, and you will compete with a bucket of white pulp on the ground.

A room, a roof, four walls, first paint the roof and then paint the walls. It's particularly difficult to brush. Who can't drop a drop when the brush dipped in thin powder slurry goes up at once? If you drop it, it will definitely fall on you. You can finish it with one brush, but you won't dip it. But when the brush crosses the roof, it is even and solid, white, bright and refreshing. Some people say that this dipping technology is very clever, and some people say that the ingredients for sizing have a secret recipe. Where did Cao Can San Xiao tell you? I saw the master's arm swinging leisurely, swinging leisurely, and a good game was accompanied by drums and piano sounds. Every time you wave the brush, the long brush with pulp makes a clicking sound on the wall, which is very nice. In the crackling sound, the walls are seamlessly connected, and the wall brushed in the past really seems to open a white barrier. However, Cao is most concerned about whether there are white spots on the brush.

Li shuagong has a rule. After painting a wall, you should sit on the stool for a while, smoke a pack of cigarettes, drink a bowl of tea, and then paint the next wall. At this moment, Cao took advantage of the opportunity to pour water and light a cigarette for the master, and carefully searched the whole body of brush Li with his eyes. After painting every wall, he searched again. I cann't believe I didn't even find a sesame-sized powder spot. He really feels that this black dress has a sacred majesty.

However, when Li sat down after painting the last wall and Cao lit his cigarette, he saw a white spot on his trousers, the size of a soybean. Black in white is more striking than white in black. It's over! Master revealed that he was not a fairy, and the mountain-like image in the past collapsed. But he was afraid of the embarrassment of Master, and he dared not say or look at it, but he couldn't help but look at it.

At this time, Li, who was brushing, suddenly said to him, "Little Three, have you seen the white spots on my pants?" . You think the master's ability is fake and his reputation is deceptive, right? Silly boy, you take a closer look-"

Li's fingers brushed his trousers and gently lifted them up. The white spot disappeared immediately, and then when he let go, the white spot appeared again. Strange! He put his face together and looked at it again. That white spot turned out to be a small hole! I accidentally caught fire while smoking just now. The white underwear inside is exposed through a small hole, which looks exactly like the white spots falling from the starch paste!

Brush Li looked at Cao's puzzled look and smiled: "Do you think people's fame and fortune are all empty? Then you are lying to yourself. Learn technology well! " On the first day of Cao's career, I'm afraid others will never understand what they have learned!

The kite made by Wei Yuantai, a famous kite artist in Tianjin, is called "Kite Wei". Wei Yuantai, 1872, from Tianjin. He grew up as an apprentice in a vegetable shop and was interested in making kites. In order to improve the attainments of flying kites, he repeatedly studied the flying posture of birds and insects and the proportional relationship between their various parts, and applied it to kite making. In the past, kites were mainly hard-winged, simple in shape, monotonous in color and integrated. The kite he tied can be unfolded and folded. A big kite more than a foot long can be folded and put in a small envelope for easy collection and carrying.

Kite-making in Tianjin has a long history and exquisite craftsmanship, which can be confirmed by the Qing Dynasty Tianjin Yangliuqing New Year picture "Flying Ten Beautiful Kites". There are 65,438+00 kinds of kites, such as string lanterns, flying eagles, Tang Priest's scriptures and butterflies. Wei Yuantai (1872- 196 1), a famous kite artist, has made great contributions to the kite making technology in Tianjin. He has been engaged in kite making all his life, studying hard and making bold innovations. We have successively developed flat-shooting, three-dimensional, string-rope, integral and combined kites (that is, soft-wing kites), and also created folding kites. He has developed more than 200 kinds of kites in his life and is known as "Kite Wei".

Kites in Wei Ji are characterized by exquisite materials (the surface of kites is mostly silk, which is light and strong; The skeleton is made of fine-grained, long-jointed and elastic bamboo. ), with a variety of forms (shape, structure, size, etc.). ), exquisite craftsmanship (tenoning, color change, displacement stunts, etc. ), realistic painting (heavy color, dim, etc. ) and smooth flight. Wei Ji Kite won the gold medal and certificate of 19 14 Panama International Expo, and also ranked among the best in domestic competitions. Wiki Kites are collected and exhibited by museums in China and our city, and sold overseas.

Wei Yuantai's descendants Wei (nephew), Wei Yongchang (grandnephew), Wei Yongzhen (grandnephew) and Wei Guoqiu (the second son of Wei Yongchang) inherited the family business and developed kites, which made Tianjin kite folk crafts represented by "Kite Wei" develop continuously.

Brick sculptor Liu was born in Tianjin in the 16th year of Guangxu reign (1890), a Hui nationality. He is the grandson of the famous brick sculptor Ma Shunqing. I have been exposed to brick carving since I was a child. From the age of 15, he formally studied with his grandfather Ma Shunqing, and later with his uncle Ma. I can write independently at the age of 28. His works are rich in composition, content and structure. It is vivid, implicit and decorative, and has its own unique artistic power. ?

Liu is good at observing things, absorbing colorful paintings on buildings, masonry carvings on temples and tombs, Yangliuqing New Year pictures and figures, flowers and pavilions on old lanterns, and drawing nutrition from them. After a long time, many pictures remained in his mind. In daily brick carving practice, he hardly needs to draw pictures in advance, just needs to think and conceive a little. ?

On this basis, Liu also inherited and developed the original "sticking brick method" created by Ma and his son, and added a brick into several pieces, making the ups and downs of the brick surface bigger and more obvious, forming a "heap sticking". It also makes the three-dimensional structure of the work more prominent, giving people a beautiful feeling from both the front and the side. Nine Lions is his masterpiece of "overlapping and pasting". In this work, Liu skillfully uses carving techniques such as through carving, relief and hollowing out, which makes the work reflect the characteristics of multi-level, three-dimensional and decorative.

In old buildings, three-way courtyards or quadrangles are emphasized. Liu's carved Tiger Gate Tower, several high terraces and closed courtyard walls have played a three-dimensional decorative effect. For example, the big beast on the roof, the bucket boards on both sides of the eaves, the hanging building, the straight eaves, the lock demon, the stove mouth, the semi-trailer and the chimney on the roof are all carved very finely. Because of Liu's exquisite skills in brick carving, figures, animals, flowers and birds, houses and so on. There is no form of silhouette in his works. People's eyebrows, animal feathers, stamens and veins of flowers and plants are carefully portrayed, and his works have a unique artistic style in terms of strong expressive force and outstanding three-dimensional sense. His skill in brick carving won him the reputation of "Liu Brick Carving". Liu's representative works of early brick carving include Family Joy, Dragon and Phoenix Becoming Auspicious, Prosperity of Four Seasons, Ten Cranes and Ten Deer, and Fusu Flower Basket. Then there were nine lions and dragons and phoenixes. In particular, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is about 1 ft long, is made of seven bricks, with many figures and vivid images. Against the backdrop of dense jungles, towering castles and surging rivers, the works have a strong artistic appeal. ?

"Brick Carving Liu" has been engaged in brick building and brick carving for more than 70 years. He not only inherited Ma Shi's brick carving skills, but also developed and innovated them, leaving brilliant achievements for Tianjin brick carving art. In addition, during his tenure in Tianjin Arts and Crafts Factory, he also trained many artistic talents and made contributions to the successors of Tianjin brick carving art?

Liu died at the age of 89. Although his son Liu Shuru once worked as a bricklayer and carved bricks with his father. However, with the changes of the times, the social demand for brick carving as architectural decoration has gradually decreased, which has greatly reduced the number of brick carving artists in Tianjin and made the brick carving decorative art of Daxing Building a thing of the past. At present, you can also see the characteristics of Tianjin brick carving in the well-preserved Shi Jia Courtyard, the first residential building in North China in China.