Who are the modern kite design masters in China?

Chen Shanting, or Chen Zachai, commonly known as Chen Mute (1822~1874), was a famous kite artist during the Tongzhi period. Chen Shanting specialized in figure kites. He changed his specialty of character kites to poultry and animals, and made various kinds of kites known to the public as "12 zodiac" kites that sent the simple and deep feelings of the working people. The most skillful ones are Tiger, Rabbit, Pig, Horse, Ox, Sheep, Monkey, Rat and so on in the twelve Chinese Zodiacs, giving each kite a certain meaning and symbol, which not only expresses the interest of life, but also reflects the wishes of the laboring people. Kites with this kind of theme are very popular among the public. Chen Shanting's kite works are characterized by their rich flavor of life and traditional styles, and his ****paperwork still has kite drawings of "Leizhenzi" and "Crane Boy" in folklore.

Zhang Yanlu Zhang Yanlu's kite craftsmanship in general, he was able to be among the eleven kite family, is to benefit from his kite store. He opened the kite store at the age of 20, and the interesting thing is that while selling kites, he introduced kite stories and taught kite-making techniques, and the customers listened and looked before they bought, so everyone was very familiar with him and trusted him. Over time, Zhang's kite store became the distribution center of Weifang kites, and all kinds of Weifang kites flowed to all parts of the country. Zhang Yanlu also studied the techniques of Weifang famous kites and developed the technique of tethering the center line by applying the principle of mechanics according to the wind condition in the spring of the north. His technique of tethering the center line was adopted by famous kite-flying artists, which played a great role in the development of kite-flying techniques and the easy maintenance of balance when kites were flown later on.

Mou Xiulan, the daughter of Weifang folk artist Mou Hengguan, is a masterpiece of barrel-shaped kites. Among them, painting peonies is her specialty, so people send her the nickname "Mou Dan". The "Peony Fairy" she made was designed according to the drawing she had already painted, and it is actually a kind of kite with combined strings, also called a combined kite. The shape of the kite is made according to the shape of the figures and objects, and it is also painted with brushstrokes. The skeleton of the kite is a figure and a flower basket full of peonies. When the kite is flown, the figures are first sent up to the sky, and then the string is tied to the main skeleton behind the flower basket kite, which is brought to the air by the "butterfly touch" and can be swayed back and forth, up and down. The kites made by Mou Dan were very popular, and because of their unique craftsmanship, people called her kites "Peony" kites, but the method of making them was lost.

Guo Thuxin (1902.12.20~1978.3.4) was a Chinese painter, craftsman and artist. Chinese painters, arts and crafts, Weicheng District city people. He was born in a family of books, since childhood by the family love of art. 1919 December in Jinan Shandong Province, the first secondary school after returning to Weifang, with classmates and friends He Baozhen, Fu Liuping formed a study of Chinese painting "Yishe", and worship Weixian famous painters Ding Dongzhai, Liu Chidong as a teacher, and participated in the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts correspondence studies. 1922 in the "Yishe" in the "Yishe" in 1902.12.20~1978.3.4, the word Lanchun, the word line. In 1922, "Weixian Comrade Painting Society" was established on the basis of "Yishe", of which he was one of the main members. He was one of the main members of the club, which nurtured many art talents and had a far-reaching social impact. He specialized in brushwork figures, following the example of Chen Laolian, and also painted horses and birds and flowers with a beautiful brushwork. His figures are realistic without losing the traditional style, and his brushwork is as fine and coiled as a silk worm spitting out silk. His favorite works include "Water Margin Characters Embroidered Portrait of One Hundred and Eight Generals", which was selected for the First National Painting Exhibition in 1952, and "Ling Yan Pavilion of Merit", which is a representative work of the artist. His representative works also include the embroidered portrait of the ministers of the Lingyan Pavilion, the picture of the displaced people, and the picture of the six steeds of the Zhaoling Mountain, etc. He is also a master of inlaid silver on mahogany. He is also skilled in mahogany inlaid silver lacquerware and kite design. 30's, his family opened the Songyinzhai inlaid silver, designed by him, rich in content, beautiful image of the pattern, participated in the National Railway General Administration of the National Government in Beiping, Qingdao, organized by the Railway Product Exhibition, were awarded. 1956 for Weifang inlaid silver factory for steeds, figures, birds and flowers pattern pattern more than 600 pieces. 1959, the Chinese people **** and the 10th anniversary of the founding of the country, for the Chinese people ****, the Chinese people *****, the Chinese people ******* and the Chinese people ******* and the Chinese people *******. In 1959, the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shandong Hall for the Great Hall of the People for the inlaid silver double phoenix pattern, highly acclaimed. He was invited to attend the "National Symposium for Old Artists" held by the State Administration of Handicrafts and the All-China Handicrafts Co-operation Association in Beijing in 1957. The kites he designed were mostly made by his brother, Nai Fu (字椒林). In the early 1930s, the Guo brothers changed the traditional hard-winged kites into folding movable kites, such as the live-winged butterfly kites, which were made with folding wings. Such as the butterfly kite with wings inserted in the abdomen, extremely dexterous, and with the high painting skill, it was even more wonderful.In April 1941, an exhibition of Guo Lanchun's kites was held in Weixian County High School, displaying more than one hundred pieces of kites of all kinds of historical figures, birds, grasses and insects, with beautiful shapes, bright colors, and a thousand shapes, all of them were very vivid and lively. His kites were not only flying entertainment, but also ornamental works of art, contributing to the development of kite art in Weifang County. 1925-1945, he served as a teacher of Weifang County middle and elementary school, and principal of an elementary school; after the liberation of Weifang County, he successively served as a teacher of Weifang High School, a designer of Weifang Handicrafts Administration's art room, a teacher of Arts and Crafts School, and a designer of Arts and Crafts Research Institute. 1958, he was wrongly classified as a rightist. In 1958, he was wrongly categorized as a rightist, but in 1979, he was corrected and his political reputation was restored.

Hu Jingzhu (1893~1964). A famous kite artist in Weifang, he learned to tie kites at the age of 11. The first kite he tied was a dragon-head centipede style, with a beautiful form, exquisite craftsmanship and distinctive coloring. His masterpiece is the string kite, which is very delicate in terms of waist section, material, size and thickness. He paid attention to the symmetry of the bamboo joints to ensure the take-off effect, coupled with the appropriate degree of looseness and tightness of the mask, easy to fly. According to the recollection of Tianjin kite artists, the production method of Hu Jingzhu's string kite was once copied by a kite artist with a record book and widely circulated in the hands of kite enthusiasts. Hu Jingzhu in his middle age in Weifang dragon lanterns also have unique characteristics, and is a "fast hand".

Yang Tongke. Yang Tongke is one of the representative figures of kites in Yangjiabu. Yang Tongke inherited and developed the creative method of Weifang Yangjiabu kites. On the one hand, he studied in detail the relevant data of Yangjiabu New Year paintings and kites, summarized the essence of the folk tradition of the old-style woodblock three-color kites, maintained the tradition of Yangjiabu woodblock three-color kites, and innovated and developed the themes and varieties of kites.

Yang Wanshan. He was once known as Huanan, Dashan, a native of Weifang City. People used to distinguish him from the kites of Yangjiabu: Yangjiabu's kites were called "Granny Shoes Kites", and Yang Wanshan's kites were called "Wanshan Kites". The kites he made were mostly of the hieroglyphic type, mainly of the plate and barrel type. One of Yang Wanshan's major contributions was to innovate and develop the production technique of "Weifang Kite Touch". He had a collection of more than twenty kinds of kites from the north and the south, and the kites he made were based on the old frame structure and tied with bamboo strips, which could go up to the sky and scatter flowers, and could also return to the ground. Yang Wanshan's kites are characterized by good tying work and deep work. Especially the kite skeleton, strict requirements, bamboo scraped smooth, no burrs, where the curved parts, it is difficult to see the traces of the fire baked.

Han Lianxi. Weifang city people, from a family of handicrafts. He has never had a teacher, but is very good at "stealing". He was influenced by the Mou family kite technology, with the jewelry making skills mastered since childhood, set the strengths of each family at that time, to create their own style. He made hard-winged kites with peculiar compositions, and his masterpieces were "Eight Immortals Floating in the Sea", "Su Wu Shepherding Sheep", "Zhong Kui Catching Ghosts", "Li Kui Visiting Mother", "Immortal Crane" and "Fairy Crane". ""Immortal Crane Child" and so on. In a kite competition in Weifang in the spring of 1993, he made a hard-winged kite, which was tied up chicly and took off smoothly, stirring up the venue. After the flight, five of his kites were given to "kite fans", and his reputation has since grown.

Kang Wanxiang (1899~1964). He was a native of the back door street of Dongguan, Weifang. He was able to create a variety of different shapes and colors of the dragon's head, and many folk artists praised him for his creation and design of the dragon's head, "unique ideas and appropriate colors. Most of his kites are dragon strings. From the shape and color of his dragon centipede kites, it seems to be visible in the folk kites with big color block and heavy color work, but also the realistic style of Weifang kite masters, which is known as "Kang School".

Sun Yongchun, born in 1924, his grandfather Sun Wencai was a colorful artist, who lived by being a painter and a coppersmith, and his father Sun Deshao, born in 1883, was an influential folk kite artist in Weifang, and in 1928, the whole family opened the "Qingchun Kite Shop" outside the Wuge in Dongguan Town, Weifang. At the age of 12, Sun Yongchun began to learn how to tie kites from his father, and he was the best at stringing kites. His works are made of a wide range of materials, vivid shapes and brilliant colors. Based on life, he pays attention to accumulation, observes more everywhere, imitates the objects in nature and conceptualizes and processes, absorbs the method of "the intention is first in the brush" which is traditionally emphasized in pictorial paintings, "does not seem to be like", "gets outside the elephant", and does not muddy the ancient and not the ancient. "He does not stick to the old ways. He took this aesthetic psychology of "getting it with intention" as a basic foothold of his creation of kites, or forgetting the form with intention, or taking the god with the appearance, forming his own style.

The natural beauty of our country's beautiful rivers and mountains nourishes Sun Yongchun's art tree. He does not copy the natural objects as they are, but incorporates the characteristics into the rules of kite forms.

Zhang Xiaodong, a native of Hanting District, Weifang City, Shandong Province. Since childhood, he learned carving, painting and kite making from his grandfather. He is highly perceptive, good at exploring and learning from the best. He has innovated the dynamic kite with sound, light and electricity, which is one of the best kites in the world. He has won many prizes in the Weifang International Kite Festival and has been awarded the title of "Weifang Kite Star" and "Weifang Arts and Crafts Master", etc. In 1995, he was awarded the title of "Chinese Kite Expert" by the Ministry of Culture of China. "In 2003, his name was included in the Dictionary of Hanting District Records and the Who's Who of Weifang Fine Arts. He has been invited to Seychelles, Mauritius, Singapore and other countries to give lectures, inherit kite skills, cultural and artistic exchanges. He has been praised and inscribed by Aixinjueluo Yuyan, calligrapher Qigong, Ouyang Zhongshi and Dong Shouping. His kite-making work "Golden Rooster Announcing the Dawn" was selected by the Ministry of Postal Service of China and issued as a stamp. He has been interviewed and reported by domestic and foreign news media for many times, calling him a "kite geek", a generation master and the most influential representative of the kite industry, who has made outstanding contributions to the dissemination of folk culture and the creation of kites. Some of his works have been collected by major kite museums at home and abroad.