What is dough sculpture?

Dough sculpture refers to the manual skill of making dough with flour, glutinous rice flour, glycerin or cooked flour, and then kneading it into various specific images of flowers, birds, fish, insects, landscapes, utensils, figures and animals by hand and various special molding tools.

Dough sculpture, commonly known as flour flower, flour sheep, gift steamed buns, mutton steamed buns, flower steamed buns, dough mixer, etc. It is one of the traditional folk arts in China, which originated in Shandong, Shanxi and Beijing. Noodles are all kinds of small figures and things made of flour. The dough sculpture needs to master the technique of "one letter, two rubs, three inlays and four rolls", but it is not easy to have both form and spirit.

That is, flour is used as the main material, mixed into different colors, and the dough kneading artist can use his hands and simple tools to draw materials at will according to his needs. After rubbing, rubbing, pressing, rubbing and lifting in his hands several times, he skillfully cut, carved, cut and molded into a skilled leader with a small bamboo knife, and put on hair accessories and clothes. A vivid artistic image was obtained in an instant.

China's dough sculpture art was recorded in writing as early as the Han Dynasty, while Yibin's dough sculpture began in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, with a history of 100 years.

The origin of development:

According to historical records, China's dough sculpture art was recorded in writing as early as the Han Dynasty. After thousands of years of inheritance and management, it has a long history. It has long been a part of China's culture and folk art, and it is also an indispensable material in the study of history, archaeology, folklore, sculpture and aesthetics.

Judging from the dough figurines and piglets unearthed from the tomb of Astana Tang in New Zealand, it is at least 1340 years ago. There is also a record about the dough mixer in Tokyo Dream in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Make a smiling face with molasses on the oil surface." At that time, all people could eat was dough, which was called "fruit food".

There is also a folk legend about kneading dough. It is said that during the Three Kingdoms period, Kong Ming conquered Nan Man, and when crossing the Lujiang River, he was suddenly confronted with a strong wind. The quick-witted Kong Ming immediately made a cloth head, which looked like a sacrifice to Jiang Shen. Strangely enough, the troops crossed the river safely and successfully pacified the Na Man, so from then on, all people engaged in this industry worshipped Kong Ming as their ancestor.