Introduction to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Sugar Blowers Introduction to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Sugar Blowers

1. Sugar blowing is an industry in Beijing in the old days, which is called "sugar blowing" in Beijing dialect, and it is one of the folk handicrafts in China. The vendors walked along the streets with a pick on their shoulders, and one end of the pick was a rectangular cabinet with a shelf, and under the cabinet there was a semi-circular open wooden cage with a small charcoal stove, and a big spoon on the stove was full of sugar thinning (obtained by melting maltose). According to legend, blowing sugar man child ancestor is the Ming Dynasty Chancellor Liu Bowen.

2, Introduction: The wooden frame is divided into two layers, each layer has a lot of small jacks, in order to insert the sugar man. This thing looks good, fun, after playing can also eat, the general children like, see on the go, not pestering adults to buy, is to run home to ask for money, there is no money also refused to leave, staring at these sugar people. Some children want to be quick, so they pay for a ready-made one; some specify the shape and ask for a ready-made one. At this time, the vendor will use a small spatula to take a little hot sugar, put on the talcum powdered hands and rub, and then use the mouth to hold one end, to be blown bubbles, and then quickly placed in a wooden mold coated with talcum powder, and then blow, after a while, open the wooden mold, the desired sugar man will be blown good. Then use one end of the reed stick to dip some sugar paste on the sugar man, it is finished. Sugar people have various shapes, what deer, goldfish, rats, lanterns, etc., the most popular with the children is the Sun Monkey. Sun monkey after the monkey is done, to knock a small hole in the back of the monkey into some sugar, and then in the monkey's buttocks to tie a small hole, so that the syrup slowly flow out, the following with a small bowl of rice followed by a small bowl of rice spoon to scoop the bowl of sugar to eat, until the thin flow of sugar or cooled solidified, it is even the sugar man monkey as well as the sugar bowl and rice bowl, spoon a piece to eat. This set of play is known as the monkey La Sai, the most popular among children, but the price is a little more expensive than other sugar people.

3, historical legends

Listen to the old man said, in the early years there are street blowing candy man, in order to make business, candy man can not use money to buy, but with toothpaste skin to exchange. Two tubes of toothpaste can be exchanged for a Sun Monkey or other small candies. This has been quite popular with children, often small children to the family did not use up the toothpaste squeezed out of the toothpaste skin to exchange for candy people to eat, even if the beatings also feel sweet. I think this is one of the rare benefits of a planned economy, but unfortunately now the economic development, toothpaste skin is not so scarce.

According to legend, blowing sugar man child ancestor is Liu Bowen. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang in order to his throne can be passed on from generation to generation, so they built the "merit cabinet" fire burning merit. Liu Bowen escaped by chance, was a pick sugar man child burden of the old man saved, the two switched clothes, from then on Liu Bowen incognito, every day to pick sugar man burden for rags. In the process of selling sugar, Liu Bowen creatively soften the sugar heating to make a variety of sugar man, there are chickens and puppies and so on, very cute, children compete to buy. On the way, many people to Liu Bowen please teach blowing sugar man, Liu Bowen taught them one by one, so, this craft is a pass ten, ten pass a hundred, passed to the present is said to have a history of more than 600 years.

4, heritage and development

In the early years, people who did this kind of livelihood was picking a stretcher and walking along the streets, and the fair was even less of their figure.

One end of the burden is a small cabinet, the size of a nightstand, nailed on both sides of a rectangular wooden frame, the frame in the middle of the copper ring attached to a short rope, used to wear the stretcher. Cabinet on the surface of a round wooden disk, painted with a wide and narrow from the center of the circle outward in a radial shape of the grid, written inside the "gourd", "rooster", "Guan Gong" and "monkey" and so on. "Monkey" and so on. Wooden disk center has a fixed in the spool of the rotating rod, length than the diameter of the wooden disk to be a little shorter than the top of the rotating rod hanging a small needle, the rotating rod stops rotating, the small needle pointing to which checker, which prize, the bigger the prize checker the narrower, the lower the odds of hitting the biggest checker on the four words: sugar peas two, the sugar peas than the Go son son of a smaller. There is a drawer underneath the round wooden tray, pulling out a marble slab for painting the candy man. There is a hole in the upper right corner of the cabinet for inserting grass handle, no matter blowing or painting the sugar man is inserted on the top.

The other end of the stretcher looks similar, but there is no panel, just a small charcoal stove supported by a copper pot, the inside of the simmering sugar, and then there are a few drawers underneath to put the raw materials, tools, bamboo sticks and charcoal.

Many craftsmen are both blowing and drawing candy people. Compared with the blowing candy man, drawing candy man to be a little easier, the first linoleum in the marble plate gently rubbed a little, a very delicate small copper spoon scooped on a little sugar, slightly tilted sugar on the slow flow, followed by the hand up a sugar line, with the wrist up and down the left and right to flap, a person or animal or flower appeared in the marble plate to be cooled to the stereotypes, the use of sugar in sugar on the body of the person points The two points, the bamboo stick towards the top of a stick on the pick up, and then to the grass handle on a plug is complete.

A few toothpaste skin for a happy

I remember when I was a child in the rural areas of my hometown, every time the village support theater singing, there will always be an old man blowing sugar man to support the stalls, the play has not yet begun, blowing the sugar man's stall has been full of people to watch, most of them are children. The children stared with big round eyes and had indescribable admiration for the old man. Whenever a "rooster" or a "piggy bank" was presented in the old man's hands like a juggler, a burst of joyful laughter would come from the children's group and then pestered the adults at home to buy them for the old man. I was one of those kids. I was one of those kids who had the most round eyes and the happiest smile, and of course I didn't stop pestering my mom to buy a candy man to eat.

In the early 1980s, in order to make a good business, the candy man could not be bought with money, but with toothpaste skins. A few toothpaste skin can be exchanged for a monkey or other small candy man, this is quite popular with children.

Now that the economy has developed, toothpaste skins are not so scarce. Now, I'm afraid that many old people can only throw the toothpaste skins into the garbage with a bitter smile.

In the past, the sugar man was very cheap and was a favorite plaything of children when they were not rich. At that time, if there was a "candy man blowing" in front of the house, it would be crowded with children.

Nowadays, children's playthings more, sugar man is no longer simply coaxing children's things, "sugar man" pick has long been forgotten, in the city streets and alleys is also difficult to find its traces. For today's children, "Sugar Man" is a strange term.

"Rattlesnake children windmill turn, glazed cackle blowing sugar man", whenever you look at the crystal clear sugar man, will always evoke the dusty childhood memories, that a long-forgotten joy and surprise.

Now I think there are no more people blowing candy people as a meal craft work. I hope that the blowing sugar man and paper-cutting, New Year's paintings, clay play and other things as a traditional culture and art, can be people's attention, can be inherited and carry forward their, to these ancient traditional crafts to preserve and pass on.