Pingxiangxiangdongnuomianju
01 · Historical Records
The extant carving techniques of Xiangdong Nuo masks were transmitted from Hunan during the Qing dynasty and have been passed down through three generations in Xiangdong; they are mainly Song-dynasty Nuo-mask carving techniques.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xiangdong Nuo masks are an outstanding traditional folk carving with a long history. Xiangdong is administered by Pingxiang, the 'coal capital of Jiangnan', and is the western gateway of Jiangxi. According to the account of the scholar-hermit Lai Mingde, the carving techniques of Xiangdong Nuo masks are divided into Tang-style and Song-style methods; the Tang style is relatively crude, and the Song style relatively refined. Masks carved with this method are of a simple yet refined style, with complex and exacting workmanship; the current inheritor is able to carve 440 complete Song-dynasty human-form Nuo masks. There are many varieties of Xiangdong Nuo masks, and from raw-material processing to finished product more than ten sets of procedures are required. The expressions of the masks and their headdresses carry specific cultural connotations and meanings; the carving is exquisite, the masks have a simple, archaic bearing, the technique is exaggerated, and they have a distinct regional style. Because hand-carved Nuo masks are technically difficult and time-consuming, and most young people are unwilling to learn, Xiangdong Nuo mask carving now lacks successors. At present, modern mechanized production methods are entering the Nuo-mask making industry, pushing Xiangdong Nuo masks further toward marketization and causing many distinctive handcraft techniques to move toward extinction. In addition, most traditional Nuo-mask pattern books were destroyed in various historical upheavals; only one complete Nuo-mask pattern book survives, and because of its age it too is severely damaged.
The hereditary spirit register of Nuo masks
Working from the family's register of Nuo mask deities, Lai Mingde and his sons reproduced 440 Song-style human masks, a feat unique in Chinese mask carving.
The 440 Song-style Nuo masks
Song-style carving yields delicate, archaic masks; the inheritors can now complete 440 of them, and their output dominates the Nuo temples of Pingxiang.
Over a dozen stages from timber to mask
Xiangdong Nuo masks pass through more than a dozen stages from raw material to finished face, all executed by hand and demanding long hours.
Headdresses and expression as local style
The expressions and headdresses of Xiangdong masks carry fixed meanings and, together with archaic modelling and exaggeration, define the region's style.
The loss of the mask pattern books
Most traditional mask pattern books were destroyed in periods of unrest; only one complete copy survives and it is badly damaged.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xiangdong Nuo mask carving is concentrated in the Nuo temples and artisans' workshops of the Xiangdong District area of Pingxiang City, with the Lai Mingde family lineage as its main thread. According to his account, the carving methods divide into Tang-style and Song-style branches; the Tang style is relatively crude, and the Song style relatively refined. The extant techniques are mostly Song-dynasty human-form carving methods transmitted from Hunan during the Qing dynasty; the masks have a simple, archaic bearing, the technique is exaggerated, and they have a distinct regional style.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
From all of the above circumstances it can be seen that the carving techniques of Xiangdong Nuo masks are already in an endangered state and urgently need rescue and protection. Lai Mingde (record from the official file of an associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1956, from Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province. Through many years of study and practice he has inherited his family's Song-dynasty Nuo-mask making techniques and mastered every process step from carving to painted-color work; the Nuo masks he makes rank first in number among the Nuo temples of Pingxiang, and are sold far and wide both at home and abroad. Based on the records of the family-inherited Register of Nuo Mask Deities (Nuo Mianju Shenpu), he and his sons and disciples Lai Guanghua and Lai Taiping completed reproductions of 440 Song-dynasty human-form Nuo masks — still the only achievement of its kind in the field of Chinese Nuo-mask carving. He actively passes on his art and has taken on more than forty disciples. Representative inheritor of Pingxiang Xiangdong Nuo masks, a fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project. Works including Duke of Thunder (Lei Gong) have won awards or been collected by the Hubei Mass Art Center.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lai Mingde 05-2618
- Peng Guolong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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