Wuxusheng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wuxusheng, Male, Ewenki, from Genhe, Inner Mongolia, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Huashupi Making Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-83). The tradition is documented in Genhe, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Huashupi Making Craftsmanship in Genhe, Inner Mongolia: Geographically, the Ewenki hunters of the Aoluguya area are the main bearers of this craft; objects such as deer saddles, skis, and infant cradles all come from the hands of the hunter households, with practicality placed before ornament. Wu Xusheng successively apprenticed himself to the hunters Gerilesike and Lajimi to learn making, and to the hunter Wei Jia to learn carving; the more than ten process steps of cutting-peeling, braiding, matching-joining, prick-patterning, and edge-pressing were thereby established. His students can now independently make birch-bark boxes, baskets, tubes, and shoulder bags. The Greater Khingan Range area where the Ewenki dwell is covered with white birch groves, so raw material has never been lacking; yet the selection of material is particular: only trunks that are straight, glossy, and free of knots are considered superior, and the stripping season is fixed in May and June each year. The stripping method is also particular: first score a circle at top and bottom of the trunk, then a vertical cut down the middle; with a light lift the whole sheet of bark falls away. Whether this cut is clean determines the success or failure of the subsequent softening-by-boiling and cutting.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Evenki ethnicity, born in December 1974 in Genhe City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He is a national representative bearer of Huashupi Making Craftsmanship (Evenki birch bark making), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a birch bark boat making technician. He studied Evenki birch bark making successively under Gelisike and Lajimi, Evenki hunters of Aoluguya, and learned carving from the hunter Weijia. During his apprenticeship he mastered the distinctive skills of birch bark work, including cutting and peeling, weaving, joining and matching, incising patterns and pressing edges, and learned to make birch bark boxes, deer saddles, skis, baby cradles and various other birch bark articles. He often leads his students in live demonstrations of birch bark making and carving for Chinese and foreign visitors who come to Aoluguya for tourism and sightseeing, and has held several solo exhibitions of his birch bark articles and carvings. He has conducted training courses in birch bark making. His students have all come to command the traditional birch bark skills proficiently, and each of them can independently make birch bark boxes, baskets, tubes, shoulder bags and other birch bark articles. Within the documented technical tradition of Huashupi Making Craftsmanship in Genhe, Inner Mongolia: The Ewenki are a quintessential forest people; the Greater Khingan Range region they inhabit is everywhere dense with flourishing white birch forest, providing abundant resources for birch-bark products. The Ewenki birch-bark craft has distinctive making methods. The first step in making is selecting the birch-bark raw material. May and June each year are the best season for stripping birch bark. In selecting material, one must first choose trees with straight trunks and comparatively glossy, knot-free surfaces; then, according to the needs of the intended object, measure out the length, score a circle at top and bottom of the trunk, then a vertical cut down the middle, and with a slight lift the whole sheet of birch bark peels off. After peeling away the uneven, hard inner layer of the birch bark, boil it in water or steam it to soften it for cutting; next, stack the birch bark and press it flat, then cut and make it as needed. At seams one commonly stitches with thread made from roe-deer or deer sinew, or from horse-tail and hemp twisted together; finally, at the joints one coats on animal fat and bakes it over fire to make it firm. Through more than ten process steps—cutting and peeling, braiding, matching-and-joining, prick-patterning, and edge-pressing—one can make birch-bark products that are supple in texture, soft in color, rot-resistant and moisture-proof, varied in form, and durable. The Ewenki birch-bark craft is a precious gem of ethnic handicraft; it inherits more than three thousand years of fine ancestral tradition, becoming a cultural symbol of the Ewenki people, and holds research value in many respects such as ethnology, historical culture, and the history of ethnic handicraft. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Record of Process Steps": Through more than ten process steps—cutting and peeling, braiding, matching-and-joining, prick-patterning, and edge-pressing—one can make birch-bark products that are supple in texture, soft in color, rot-resistant and moisture-proof, varied in form, and durable. "Choosing and stripping the bark": May and June are the best months; the tree is judged by shape and surface, measured, then opened with a ring above and below and one vertical cut. "Boiling, steaming and flattening": Once the knobbly inner face is pared away, the bark is boiled or steamed soft, stacked flat and only then cut to size. "Stitching, greasing and baking": Seams are sewn with sinew or twisted horsehair and hemp, and the joints are greased with animal fat and baked to set.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2018, Wuxusheng was announced in the fifth batch of national representative bearers for Huashupi Making Craftsmanship, with Genhe, Inner Mongolia as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Huashupi Making Craftsmanship in Genhe, Inner Mongolia: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Genhe, Inner Mongolia as its declared area, and Genhe Cultural Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Wuxusheng · National Representative Bearer Archive