Xu Shuzhang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Xu Shuzhang, Male, Han, from Huaiyang, Henan, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Clay Sculpture (Ⅶ-47). The tradition is documented in Huaiyang, Henan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Clay Sculpture in Huaiyang, Henan: The mud dogs, also called "ling gou" or "spirit dogs," are distributed across more than a dozen villages in Chengguan Hui Town and in Bailou and Dalian Townships east and northeast of the Taihao Mausoleum, transmitted mainly through social transmission and oral and physical instruction from masters to apprentices. The Taihao Mausoleum temple fair is historically known as the "Second-Month Fair"; according to the Chenzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, "there was already a shrine before the Han dynasty," and on the second day of the second lunar month residents go to the Taihao Mausoleum to offer incense and sacrificial animals, ceasing only on the third day of the third lunar month, so the mud dogs have spread along with the fair as its important ritual offerings. Artists use "rod brushes" or "stiff brushes" made from sorghum stalks, first outlining the basic form in white, then applying red, yellow, green, and pink in dotted and linear painted patterns. Huaiyang mud dogs, also called "ling gou" (LingGou) or "spirit dogs" (LingGou), are the collective name for Huaiyang clay toys. They originated in Huaiyang District, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, and are distributed across more than a dozen villages in Chengguan Hui Town and in Bailou and Dalian Townships east and northeast of the Taihao Mausoleum, with a history of several thousand years.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1951 in Huaiyang County, Henan Province. At the age of five he began pinching Ni Ni Gou (clay dogs) with his elders, and by the age of twelve or thirteen he had fully mastered the craft of making them. He repeatedly studied the samples and moulds left by his ancestors and travelled many times to Beijing and Zhengzhou to consult folklorists; with a persevering commitment to folk art he has recovered and mastered more than five hundred traditional Ni Ni Gou types and their pinching methods. The fantastic birds and beasts he models are conceived with striking originality and have archaic, mysterious forms, always preserving the traditional types, style and aesthetic interest of Huaiyang Ni Ni Gou. Within the documented technical tradition of Clay Sculpture in Huaiyang, Henan: Huaiyang was anciently called Wanqiu and Chen; it is the site of Taihao's settlement and one of the important birthplaces of the Chinese nation. The Taihao Mausoleum temple fair is historically known as the "Second-Month Fair" and has a long history. According to the Chenzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, "there was already a shrine before the Han dynasty"; on the second day of the second lunar month, residents go to the Taihao Mausoleum to offer incense and sacrificial animals, a practice that does not cease until the third day of the third lunar month. As important ritual offerings at the Taihao Mausoleum temple fair, Huaiyang mud dogs have been transmitted to the present through ancient religious sacrifices and folk activities, carrying the primordial ancestors' beliefs in fertility worship and totem worship. Huaiyang mud dogs have rich subject matter, centered on dogs and encompassing birds, beasts, insects, fish, and several hundred kinds of animals; their forms are plain and vigorous, visionary and mysterious. They come in four types — primordial, interpenetrating, spirit, and modern — with abstract and distorted varieties such as the nine-headed bird, human-headed dog, human-faced fish, monkey-headed swallow, unicorn, and cat pulling a monkey. The main production process for Huaiyang mud dogs is clay selection, pinching and shaping, air-drying, boiling and dyeing, and color painting. The color-painting tool is a sorghum stalk, called a "rod brush" or "stiff brush"; first white is used to draw the basic outline (form and color features), then red, yellow, green, and pink are applied in dotted and linear patterns. The forms of Huaiyang mud dogs are plain and grotesque, with singular conceptions and color painting on a black ground, displaying the artistic characteristics of mysterious abstraction, exaggeration, and primitiveness. Representative works include "Load-Carrying Turtledove," "Nine-Headed Bird," "Human-Headed Dog," "Ancestral Monkey," "Beasts Mating," and "Totem Pillar." They interweave and merge with the ancient ancestor-worship customs of the Taihao Mausoleum temple fair in Huaiyang, serving to remember the ancestors and honor the merit of the First Ancestor in multiplying humankind; they are vivid testimony to the spiritual pursuits of the people of Huaiyang and possess artistic, social, and cultural value. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Four formal types": Four types — primordial, interpenetrating, spirit and modern — cover hundreds of birds and beasts; famous pieces include the nine-headed bird and human-headed dog. "Sorghum-stalk brushes on a black ground": The painting tool is a sorghum stalk used to sketch the outline in white before dotted and linear patterns are added in red, yellow, green and pink. "The nine-headed bird and human-faced fish": Abstracted creatures such as the nine-headed bird, human-headed dog, human-faced fish and monkey-pulling-cat embody early fertility and totem beliefs. "The second-month temple fair": Chen, the ancient capital of the legendary Taihao, holds the great spring fair where the clay figures serve as offerings commemorating the ancestral founder.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Clay Sculpture (Huaiyang Ni Ni Gou), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. While practising the craft he has emphasised its artistic transmission and has continually trained new people; many of his disciples have become outstanding among clay sculpture artists.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Xu Shuzhang · National Representative Bearer Archive