The Disappearing Folk Crafts in China

Many friends have seen the movie The Devil Comes starring Huang Hong, Wei Zongwan and Zhao Liang. There is a very interesting plot, that is, Shaozuo, the demon king, used Wei Zongwan's cotton playing tools as musical instruments, and Wei Zongwan and others played them. Wei Zongwan and others sang a song of playing cotton: "Playing cotton, half a catty of cotton should be played into eight taels ..."

The story in this movie is very interesting, but inadvertently or intentionally, Guan Zhong saw a disappearing folk handicraft-playing cotton.

The manual technique of playing cotton should have appeared since the historical records of China. At the end of Shang Dynasty and the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, the technique of playing cotton should be basically mature and basically unchanged. The tools for playing cotton are relatively simple, a wooden hammer and a cotton bow. When playing cotton, the bow is hung in the air with a rope, just above the cotton. The cotton player holds the bow in one hand and beats the bowstring with a wooden hammer in the other. Under the action of percussion instruments, the bowstring makes a rhythmic sound. In the past, the bowstring of cotton bow was generally made of cowhide rope or beef tendon, which had good elasticity. Under the beating of cotton players, the bowstring will be as fluffy as new cotton.

Later, the tools for beating cotton were gradually improved, but there were few cowhide ropes. The back of the bow is generally made of tough wood, and the bowstring is changed from tendon or elastic rope to steel wire rope, but the effect of steel wire rope can never reach the effect of tendon. Most of the cotton that has been beaten is old cotton that people have used for several years or raw cotton that has just been picked and dried. Cotton is dirty and has a lot of soil, so playing cotton is a dirty job. Cotton players wear masks, and after half a day, their mouths and nostrils are black and their hair is black. Adults generally don't let children watch nearby, but children just watch from a distance.

Nowadays, fewer and fewer people do this kind of manual work, and most of the tools for cotton beating have been replaced by electric tools. Although some places in the mountainous area are still beating cotton by hand, fewer and fewer people want to beat cotton. This craft may not disappear because it is not needed, but it will gradually disappear because people have no cotton to play with.

Hoop barrel:

The hoop barrel is a handicraft in Jiangnan area, especially in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The artists of hoop barrels are generally professional. Most of them are engaged in this business all the year round. They not only hoop wooden barrels, but also daily utensils such as bathtubs and toilets. But most of them are barrels. The business of hoop barrels originated in the Spring and Autumn Period in China. After that, Jiangsu and Zhejiang belonged to the territory of wuyue. Many nobles began to use wooden barrels at home, and this business began to flourish at that time, so that it continued to modern times. Since the 1980s, with the improvement of living standards, buildings have gradually replaced squares, and carrying water to eat has become a thing in people's memory. The road to the ancient business of hoop barrels has become narrower and narrower, and many skills of hoop barrels have also been lost. However, in some rural areas, there are also hoop artists who are still engaged in a business with a smaller and smaller market.

The hoop barrel is a delicate manual work. It takes many processes to make a bucket well. Cooper should be proficient in the work of bamboo, carpenter and painter. It is a complicated link to select wood before hoop, and then dry the material, and the dried plate should be shaped. Calculate the size of the bucket, calculate how many boards to use according to the size, then plane the boards into a long trapezoid with a planer, and then saw the bucket into a prototype with a wire saw after it is finished. Then began to hoop the vertical plate, and finally painted the hoop barrel. Although the hoop barrel is a household appliance, it is also a superb work of art. A good barrel can be used for many years. The tools of hoop barrels are very particular. Generally, the hoop master tells the blacksmith his own needs, and the blacksmith customizes them. Tools such as planers used by carpenters are inconvenient in the hands of hoop master. But now there are few blacksmiths, and even fewer blacksmiths can make hoops.

The hoop skill has not disappeared, but it is disappearing. I don't know how much longer I can hold on.

Lacquerware:

Some time ago, I saw a set of well-preserved eight-piece lacquerware of Han Dynasty on two sets of treasures of CCTV, which was really an eye-opener. After 2000 years of history, it is incredible that lacquerware is still as bright as new. Finally, I didn't listen carefully to the market price given by experts. I was just paying attention to this national treasure handicraft.

China's lacquerware technology should have matured in the Xia Dynasty or even earlier, but because lacquerware is difficult to preserve as a wood product, the earlier lacquerware has basically disappeared, but lacquerware has been found in archaeological sites in the late primitive society. This is enough to show that China's lacquer craft has a long history. But as the most traditional handicraft in China, we can still see the works of the Han Dynasty, which is undoubtedly a kind of enjoyment. Lacquerware was widely used in people's daily life in ancient China. "Because the paint has the characteristics of acid resistance, alkali resistance, heat resistance and corrosion resistance, it has been used for a long time. China is the first country to use lacquerware in the world. The article "Ten Links" states that Yu Shun made a food container and "painted ink on it". Jade is a ritual vessel, outside the ink painting and inside the Zhu painting. " It was quite common to plant lacquer trees in ancient China. Zhuangzi, a great philosopher in the Warring States period, once held the post of managing lacquer gardens. Early lacquerware was generally painted on simple wooden tires and bamboo tires, which could be both antiseptic and decorative. With the development of lacquerware technology, there are painting, painting, gilding, filling paint and so on. It has gradually appeared on various utensils, or painted the tire to a certain thickness, and then carved patterns on it. Some lacquerware is also inlaid with gold, silver, copper, mother of pearl, jade teeth and precious stones, forming gorgeous patterns, and the list goes on. The level of gold and silver in the Tang Dynasty, monochromatic lacquerware in the Song Dynasty, carved lacquerware in the Yuan Dynasty, inlaid treasure in the Ming Dynasty and bodiless lacquerware in the Qing Dynasty are all representative famous products of each generation. (Excerpted from Youth Palace Network, with some abridged parts) The ancient lacquerware found now is generally common in southern China, and it is difficult to preserve it in the north due to climatic reasons, but the earliest lacquerware found in the north can also be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period.

"Lacquer Lacquer is natural lacquer, also called lacquer. Lacquer comes from lacquer tree. There is a record of lacquer tree in Shangshu Gong Yu, which is called "Yanzhou Jue Palace Lacquer Silk", and "Shan Hai Jing ·Xi· Shan Jing" says: "Guo Shan, its wood is painted brown. The base of the English cymbal is covered with lacquer wood. "Rhus sumac is mainly distributed in eastern and central Asia. There are sumac trees in Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Myanmar and other countries, but the output and quality are not as good as those in China. Lacquer trees in China grow from southern Gansu to southern Shandong. The humid temperature and environment in these areas are very suitable for the growth of sumac. Rhus verniciflua is a deciduous tree with a height of 20 meters. In Tiankeng National Forest Park, Fangshan District, Beijing, there is a sumac tree about 30 meters high, and its leaves are oval, oval or oval-lanceolate. Yellow-green flowers in early summer, oblate fruit in autumn, smooth and yellow in appearance. Rhus verniciflua can cut lacquer liquid after eight years, and 40-year-old Rhus verniciflua can also cut lacquer liquid. The natural lacquer liquid cut from the lacquer tree is called raw lacquer, also known as lacquer and national lacquer, also known as gold lacquer. Cooked lacquer refers to the raw lacquer after sun exposure, stirring and oxidation with tung oil. The paint is cut from April to August every year, and the paint cut in dog days has the best quality, because in midsummer, the water evaporates quickly and the sunshine is sufficient, and the paint produced has the best quality! Every day before sunrise is the best time to cut paint. Lacquer agricultural mussel shell cut open lacquer bark to expose wood, cut into oblique knife edge. Insert mussel shells or bamboo chips under the knife edge, then let the paint flow into the barrel and seal it with oil paper. At this time, the paint liquid is grayish milky white, turns into chestnut shell color after contact with air, and turns brown after drying. " Snow-covered, red as blood and black as iron "refers to the process of natural paint from liquid to oxidative drying, from light color to dark color, and finally forms a solid paint film." When it comes to the color of paint, there is an ancient saying: "Anyone who paints without showing the color is black". Today, people describe the poor visibility in the dark, and often use it to describe the extreme darkness. I said that the primary color of the paint is chestnut shell. Why do you say that the paint is black at this time? "Zhumen wine meat smelly, road freezing to death. "In Du Fu's poems, Zhumen is still the official residence of Wang Fu and the gate of the government. At that time, red painted doors could not be painted casually. Except for the royal family, most people chose the black painted gate, which not only avoided the suspicion of trespassing, but also prevented the dignitaries from setting foot. The original chestnut shell paint turned into black paint, but also from the composition of the paint: the paint liquid cut from the lacquer tree contains urushiol, resin, nitrogen, moisture and trace volatile acid, of which nearly 80% is urushiol. Moreover, the more urushiol content, the better the quality of paint. Enzymes in nitrogen-containing substances in paint can promote the oxidation of urushiol, thus producing a unique taste of slightly sour paint. As for black paint, the ancients had two methods: one was to add ink smoke to the paint, which was black but had dregs; Secondly, when rust water is mixed into the paint, urushiol reacts with iron oxide, and after being evenly mixed, it is brushed on the object, and the color is as deep as ink. The black paint obtained by this method is also called black paint and black paint. Used in traditional furniture, it is called jet when polished and ebony when polished. After decorating furniture with black transparent paint, it is not polished but polished repeatedly. In traditional furniture, tables, desks and sofas are mostly polished. The specific method is: after the big paint brush is dry, dip the old sheepskin in sesame oil, and then polish it repeatedly with brick ash or magnetic ash. Moreover, hands can't have long nails, and there can't be sand in brick ash and magnetic ash to avoid leaving traces on furniture. The furniture polished in this way is simple and heavy, just like a mirror. If you paint the black paint with gold, it will look solemn and gorgeous. When decorating furniture with large lacquer oil, the drying method is different from other artificial paints. First of all, the furniture with big paint should enter the shady room to simulate the temperature and humidity in the rainy season in Jiangnan area. Only in a mild and humid environment can a large area of paint dry easily. In winter, water should be poured in the dry shade room, and in hot summer, grass curtains and water should be hung in the shade room to ensure the air humidity needed for drying paint. Although natural lacquer is natural and non-toxic, some people are allergic to natural lacquer and even get a rash when they smell it. In this case, the old masters will say that they have been bitten by paint, but they are actually allergic to paint. In the past, the word "lacquer" was also written as "qi", meaning seven days. Generally speaking, the symptom period of paint allergy is seven days. After seven days, most of them recovered naturally without special treatment. So the pronunciation of lacquer is qi. When we unpack the lacquer characters, we can see that the lacquer characters come from wood, people and water, which vividly shows the relationship among lacquer trees, people and lacquer liquid. When decorating furniture with paint, don't mix it with oil, vinegar and salt, which will affect the curing of paint. Interestingly, once the paint is dry, it is extremely strong, with strong acid resistance, heat resistance and corrosion resistance, and the furniture with paint is getting brighter and brighter, often new. (Excerpt from: Our Yangzhou)

Lacquer craft is protected as a national intangible cultural heritage project, but it is very different from the traditional manual lacquer craft. Workshop production makes the traditional handicraft lost, and the number of traditional lacquerware craftsmen is decreasing. How to explore, utilize and protect the traditional lacquer craft is still a difficult problem.

Cut the window grilles:

Window grilles are traditional Spring Festival decorations in China. In the past, most of people's windows were covered with paper. In order to show the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival, many people stick various paper-cut window grilles on their windows. "Window grilles not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also bring people beautiful enjoyment, integrating decoration, appreciation and practicality. Window grilles are a kind of paper-cutting, which is a very popular folk art and has been deeply loved by people for thousands of years. Because it is often pasted on windows, people generally call it "window grilles". Window grilles are rich in content and wide in subject matter. Because the buyers of window grilles are mostly farmers, window grilles have quite a lot of content to express farmers' lives, such as farming, weaving, fishing, herding sheep, raising pigs and chickens. In addition, there are myths and legends, drama stories and other themes. In addition, the images of flowers and birds, insects and fish, and the zodiac are also very common. With its unique generalization and exaggeration, window grilles show auspicious things and good wishes incisively and vividly, and decorate festivals with prosperity and celebration. (Online excerpts, with deletions)

However, cutting window grilles is different from ordinary paper-cutting. Cutting window grilles is not only cutting, but also carving. It is impossible to cut complex patterns of window grilles with scissors. Let's take a look at all the production techniques of window grilles:

1. Paper selection: The paper used for window grilles is very strict, usually very thin and tough pure wood pulp paper. Newsprint, rice paper, etc. Is not allowed.

2. Paper-cutting: Before cutting the window grilles, it is generally necessary to cut the paper into 32 inches and then align it. The paper needs to be watered a little, but there is no water or the paper is wet. In this way, the paper can be easily stacked together without scattering. Paper is usually stacked 20-30 times.

3. Fix the bottom sample of the window grilles on paper, and then start to cut out the outline of the window grilles with scissors. After cutting the outer contour of the window grilles, carefully cut the details of the outer edge of the window grilles with scissors.

4. After cutting the outside of the window grilles, it is necessary to start carving the details of the inside of the window grilles with a carving knife, such as the shapes, fur, expressions and other parts of animals such as tigers and chickens. When carving, it is required to cut through 20-30 layers of paper at a time, and it is not allowed to mend the knife, otherwise the upper and lower figures will be deformed. So this process can't be completed by everyone, so we must practice it many times.

5. It is very particular to color the window grilles after cutting them. They should be colored according to the shapes and expressions of people and animals, trees and crops. Lustrous window grilles should be dried, but not exposed to the sun. The dried window grilles need to go through the last process-peeling, that is, the pasted window grilles should be carefully peeled off with the carving blade, but they are not completely peeled off into single pieces, only half of them are peeled off, which is very easy to peel off when selling window grilles.

Selling window grilles is very special. Is to nail the window grilles to a black cloth. Against the background of black cloth, the color of window grilles is particularly beautiful. Therefore, children like to watch window grilles with adults when making new year's goods.

Woodblock new year pictures:

Woodblock New Year pictures began in Ming Dynasty, and the development of New Year pictures reached its peak before Guangxu in Qing Dynasty.

Yangliuqing, a thousand-year-old town in the western suburbs of Tianjin, is the most famous in the north, so it is also called Yangliuqing New Year Pictures. Yangliuqing New Year Picture is a famous folk woodblock New Year Picture in China. It inherited the tradition of painting in Song and Yuan Dynasties, absorbed woodcut prints, arts and crafts, opera stage and other forms in Ming Dynasty, combined woodcut overprint with hand painting, and created a unique style with lively, auspicious and touching themes. In the history of China printmaking, Yangliuqing New Year Pictures and the famous Suzhou Taohuawu New Year Pictures in the south are called "Peach Blossoms in the South and Willow in the North". Yangliuqing New Year pictures are a combination of block printing and painting. After nearly 400 years of history, they have placed people's hopes and longings, bringing people joy and enjoyment. His works are extremely rich in historical background, magnificent and unique in artistic achievements, which are really treasures of national culture. From the picture, the pleasing gorgeous colors, peaceful and joyful atmosphere, smiling figures, humorous inscriptions, funny story lines and composition structure suitable for people's appreciation habits all form the unique characteristics of Yangliuqing New Year pictures. Its perfect unity of form and content, decorative and symbolic techniques constitute endless artistic charm. Many thoughtful works of art can still arouse people's feelings. These have valuable reference and research value for the development of our national art and the textual research of historical reality today. The production method of Yangliuqing New Year pictures is "half-printing and half-painting", that is, the lines of the picture are carved out of wood, then printed on paper with ink, printed in monochrome for two or three times and filled with colored pens. Yangliuqing New Year pictures not only have the charm of prints, but also have the color of painting strokes, which constitutes the artistic characteristics different from ordinary paintings and other New Year pictures. Yangliuqing New Year pictures have diverse themes and rich contents, especially reflecting real life, current affairs and customs, historical stories and other themes, which are deeply loved by the masses. Some traditional masterpieces, such as More than One Year and Summer in the Lotus Pavilion, are not only widely circulated among the people, but also regarded as treasures by Chinese and foreign artists and collectors. Mr. Zhou once wrote a poem for Yangliuqing's New Year pictures, and made a vivid description: "The willow is picturesque, and the embroidery workers are all dressed in red. There are hundreds of Danqing landscapes, all of which are on the New Year picture wall. " As a national folk art, Yangliuqing New Year pictures have been exhibited in Japan, France, Britain, Italy, Thailand, Singapore and other countries.

Suzhou Taohuawu is the most famous in the south, and the woodcut New Year pictures in Taohuawu are named because they were once concentrated in Suzhou Taohuawu area. Door paintings, nave and screen strips are the main forms of Taohuawu woodcut New Year pictures. The contents of New Year pictures are distributed in fairy tales, operas, auspicious celebrations, folk stories, customs and human feelings, human life and other types. Taohuawu woodblock New Year pictures originated in the early Ming Dynasty and prevailed in the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty. Taohuawu woodcut New Year pictures are close to folk life, rich in decoration and low in price, which are not only widely circulated in Jiangnan and many parts of the country, but also spread to Japan, Britain and West Germany, especially to Japan's "Ukiyo-e paintings". The emergence and development of Taohuawu woodblock New Year pictures experienced a process from prosperity to decline. In the Qing Dynasty, the pictures of Ganjia New Year pictures are clear and distinct, and the description of Ganjia's prosperous city customs and the world is rich and vivid. After the Opium War, with the intensification of imperialist political, economic and cultural aggression, Taohuawu woodblock New Year pictures gradually declined. The works of this period, while maintaining the characteristics of woodcut overprint, are mainly practical in binding, with simple printing materials, low cost and cheap price, which is conducive to popularization. Thus forming an artistic style with full composition, bright colors, rough printing and strong decoration. Now Suzhou has established Taohuawu Woodcut New Year Painting Society and Suzhou Taohuawu Woodcut New Year Painting Research Institute.

Woodblock New Year Pictures of Zhuxian Town in Henan, Yangliuqing in Tianjin, Taohuawu in Suzhou, Weifang in Shandong and Zhu Jin in Sichuan are also called the five folk woodblock New Year Pictures in China.

(The above are excerpts from online documents, which have been deleted. )

Although woodblock New Year pictures have been effectively protected, they can only exist in museums as an art form now, and have lost their original meaning for the people. In addition, it is difficult to find folk woodcut New Year pictures artists now.