Clay Sculpture
01 · Historical Records
Before the 1960s, more than three hundred peasant households in Liuying village and the surrounding villages produced clay sculpture; today only artisans such as Hu Shen, Hu Xinmin, Hu Yongxing, Han Suocun and Du Yin engage in clay-sculpture creation and production in their spare time from farming.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Fengxiang County lies in the western part of the Guanzhong Plain; pottery funerary figurines made of clay have been unearthed from tombs of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods and of the Han and Tang dynasties within its territory, testifying to the long history of its clay-sculpture craft. It was through these that the painted clay figurines of Liuying village, released from the mold (tuotai), became famous, and they have been handed down from generation to generation, becoming distinctive masterpieces of Chinese folk art and enjoying renown at home and abroad. Fengxiang painted clay sculpture has three main types: the first is clay toys, mostly animal forms, frequently modeling the twelve zodiac animals; the second is hanging plaques, including opera masks, tiger heads, ox heads, lion heads, the qilin bringing a son, and the Eight Immortals crossing the sea; the third is standing figures, chiefly images of characters from folk legends and historical stories. Fengxiang clay sculpture comprises more than 170 patterns and varieties, ranging from giant crouching tigers half a person's height and hanging tiger-face plaques down to rabbits and lions only a few inches square. Black clay, white powder and hide glue are used in its production; the form is fixed by molds, the modeling is concise and exaggerated, the ornamentation lavish and dense, the colors gloriously festive, and the shapes charmingly naive, giving the craft a distinctive place among the many folk clay sculptures of China.
The “clay goods” of Liuying village
Locally called “clay goods”, the craft centres on Liuying village, said to have been settled by Ming soldiers who returned to their pre-army pottery trade.
Toys, wall plaques and standing figures
Three types: animal toys mostly of the zodiac, wall plaques such as tiger heads and the Eight Immortals, and standing figures from legend and history.
Local clay, whiting and hide glue
The clay figures are built on very sticky local soil with dark clay, whiting and hide glue, mould-formed and brightly painted.
The clay horse and seated tiger
The first-batch national inheritor Hu Shen makes archaic, boldly exaggerated and vividly coloured work, including the clay horse and seated tiger.
Hu Xinming's mould innovations
Born in 1965, Hu Xinming created over 120 styles, improved the traditional material and renewed the moulds to stop the figures from breaking easily.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Fengxiang painted clay sculpture is a folk art of Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province, known locally as 'nihuo' (clay wares). In recent years Fengxiang painted clay sculpture has been distributed mainly in Liuying village of Chengguan town and the surrounding area. Legend has it that in the Ming dynasty six battalions of troops were stationed here, and the soldiers later settled as local residents; some of them returned to the pottery-making trade they had followed before enlistment, mixing and pinching the highly sticky local 'banban' earth into clay figures, casting them in molds and painting the figurines, which they then took to sell at the great temple fairs. Local people buy clay sculptures to keep in their homes, using them to pray for sons, protect life, ward off evil, guard the dwelling and bring in good fortune.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Fengxiang clay sculpture has a strong rustic flavor and considerable value for the study of folk custom, folk art and aesthetics, and is regarded with great interest by relevant experts. However, under the influence of the commercial environment, today's Fengxiang clay-sculpture artisans tend to produce according to sales and cater entirely to market demand; this has brought many traditional products close to extinction and has caused the Fengxiang clay-sculpture craft gradually to lose its original cultural connotations, undergoing constant mutation. Hu Shen (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1931, native of Fengxiang, Shaanxi. He was a representative inheritor of clay sculpture (Fengxiang clay sculpture), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the first batch, and a researcher in folk-art creation at the Chinese National Academy of Arts. Hu Shen's clay-sculpture works have archaic and plain forms, exaggerated images, bright colors, strong contrasts and flowing lines; they are pleasing and dignified in appearance. In the 1980s he was repeatedly invited to lecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Central Academy of Arts and Design. His representative works include 'Clay Horse' and 'Large Seated Clay Tiger'. Several of his children actively studied the art under him and are now all able to make clay-sculpture works independently. Hu Xinming (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1965, native of Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province. He is among the third cohort of national middle-aged and young literary and artists 'excellent in both virtue and art', and an expert in receipt of the special government allowance of the State Council. In 1976 he began studying Fengxiang painted clay-sculpture techniques under his parents. From 1983 to 1985 he was employed as a designer and creator at the Arts and Crafts Factory of Jintai District, Baoji City; afterwards he worked at home on traditional clay-sculpture creation. The painted clay sculptures he has created come in more than 120 styles and over 30 specifications. His works are simple yet beautiful in form, vivid and true to life, with gloriously festive colors full of folk artistic charm. He improved traditional materials and reformed clay-sculpture molds, solving the problem of Fengxiang clay sculpture being easily damaged and raising both production efficiency and product quality. His works have been exhibited and have won awards many times in China and abroad; his representative works include 'Twelve Zodiac Animals' and 'Seated Tiger'. He is a representative inheritor of clay sculpture (Fengxiang clay sculpture), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the fifth batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yu Xianglian 01-0108
- Wang Nanxian 01-0109
- Hu Shen 01-0110
- Wang Xuefeng 01-0111
- Wu Yucheng 03-1251
- Wu Guangrang 03-1252
- Xu Xingguo 03-1253
- Yang Qihe 03-1254
- Nie Xiwei 04-1791
- Shuangyan 05-2622
- Zhu Wenqian 05-2623
- Xu Shuzhang 05-2624
- Wu Weiqing 05-2625
- Wang Dengshu 05-2626
- Hu Xinming 05-2627
- Yang Jianian 05-2628
- Liu Chengyin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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