Zhang Hongxia

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhang Hongxia, Female, Han, from Yangcheng, Shanxi, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Dough Figurines (Ⅶ-53). The tradition is documented in Yangcheng, Shanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Dough Figurines in Yangcheng, Shanxi: Yangcheng baked-flour dough sculpture is also called 'baked-flour dolls'; it is a traditional folk edible modeling art popular in the Yangcheng County area of Shanxi Province. Baked-flour dough sculpture has distinct local characteristics. Fine wheat flour is the main ingredient, supplemented by almond water, sugar syrup diluted as a coloring liquid, black beans, and prickly-ash seeds; after being modeled and baked, the resulting flour flowers are 'beautiful in shape, fragrant to the smell, and crisp to the bite', making them the most distinctive wheat-based food of Yangcheng. Yangcheng dough sculpture is divided into four types by method of making — raw, fried, steamed, and baked — of which the baked type is roasted in a special nested sand-clay pot. Baked-flour dolls mostly take opera figures and legendary tales as their themes, and are commonly used for offerings and as gifts on occasions such as the filling of the granary, weddings, birthday celebrations, and children's birthdays. The origin of flour flowers is closely related to the traditional dietary and belief customs of the people; Tang-dynasty dough-sculpture remains excavated from the Astana tombs in Turpan, Xinjiang, show that this folk art has a long history of development in China.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, of the Han ethnic group, born in October 1964 in Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province. Influenced by her parents from childhood, she learned to make baked-dough dolls. Through years of practice she has gained a proficient and comprehensive command of the key techniques and operational skills of Yangcheng baked-dough figurine making; she is especially able to render opera and legendary characters with effortless skill, and she has sought to bring forth the new from the old, giving her a representative standing and influence in the local figurine trade. Her works have repeatedly taken part in various exhibitions and won awards; her representative pieces include The Eight Immortals (Ba Xian Renwu), The Monk Mingyue Teases Liu Cui (Mingyue Heshang Xi Liu Cui), Chang'e Flies to the Moon (Chang'e Ben Yue), The Lotus Lantern (Bao Lian Deng) and Leizu Invents Silk (Leizu Fameng Cansi). For many years she has taught numerous disciples and has given demonstrations of her craft at the local cultural centre and art museum, devoting herself to transmitting the Yangcheng figurine making craft. Within the documented technical tradition of Dough Figurines in Yangcheng, Shanxi: Flour flowers, popularly called huamo (flower steamed buns), wowohua, and gaohua, and also known as dough sculpture, are a traditional edible modeling art popular in the northern regions of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, and Gansu, and at the same time a festival-custom art very closely tied to everyday life. In the northern regions, flour-flower modeling has deep roots among the people; at every traditional festival, each household makes flour flowers according to local customs and conventions. These flour-flower products come in a great variety of forms and postures; they serve multiple functions, including offering, display, and food, and can also be given as gifts to relatives and friends, becoming an important medium of social exchange among the people. The differing local conditions, customs, and ritual emphases of each region have given flour-flower art rich expressive forms and distinct regional characteristics; the distinctive shapes and brilliant colors of flour-flower products adorn the cultural space of traditional festivals with singular beauty. Yangcheng dough sculpture has a great variety of styles; according to differences in method of making, it is divided into raw-flour, fried-flour, steamed-flour, and baked-flour types. Baked-flour dough sculpture is the outstanding variety among Yangcheng flour flowers; it is made by baking in a special nested sand-clay pot. Yangcheng baked-flour dough sculpture is rich in content: legends and tales, opera figures, and even birds, beasts, flowers, fish, and insects can all serve as subjects. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The baked wa-wa": The baked wa-wa of Yangcheng is shaped from fine wheat dough and baked in a special sand-jacketed pot, crisp and fragrant. "Raw, fried, steamed and baked types": Yangcheng dough flowers fall into raw, fried, steamed and baked types, the baked being the most prized. "Zhang Hongxia and The Eight Immortals": The inheritor Zhang Hongxia, born in 1964, is noted for opera and legend figures such as The Eight Immortals and Chang'e Flying to the Moon.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of dough flower work (Yangcheng baked-dough figurines), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

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. Zhang Hongxia · National Representative Bearer Archive