The origin of 400-character dough sculpture in the composition of traditional culture

Dough sculpture, commonly known as flour flower, steamed bread, flower cake and dough mixer, is one of the traditional folk arts of the Han nationality that originated in Shanxi. With glutinous rice flour as the main material, mixed into different colors, various vivid images are created by hand and simple tools. In the old society, dough sculptors "walked around in tears just to make a living", carrying boxes and walking around towns and villages, which were deeply loved by the masses, but their works were regarded as gadgets and could not be put on the elegant stage. Nowadays, dough sculpture art is valued as a precious intangible cultural heritage, and gadgets have also entered the art hall. The dough kneading artist takes materials at will as needed, and after several times of kneading, rubbing and lifting in his hands, he skillfully uses a small bamboo knife to place, cut, carve, describe and shape his body, hands and head, and puts on hair ornaments and clothes, so that he can get rid of the vivid artistic image in an instant.

During the Spring Festival this year, my mother and I visited Dongguan Street and saw dough sculptures for the first time.

Pig Bajie, the Monkey King, robot cat, bird, fish, rabbit ... The grass shelf of the booth is full, and the most wonderful thing is that there is a bee on a dough sculpture flower. It must be the master's skill that attracts all the bees.

I chose a pink bird and asked the master to make a wolf on the spot. I saw the master open a drawer, which was filled with dough of various colors and packed in plastic bags. The master chose the gray dough to knead in his hand. Soon, a model of the wolf was made. Only the master took out other colors of dough and kneaded it into various strips with a small memory knife to beautify the wolf's face. Haha, under the skillful hands of the master, Grey Wolf's head succeeded, and the master actually finished the scar and patch on his hat.

It's beautiful. I looked around with a dough sculpture. The onlookers also gave a thumbs-up to the master.