Clay Sculpture
01 · Historical Records
The birthplace of Clay Figure Zhang art is Tianjin; it was named after Zhang Mingshan, who used clay to mold vivid, lifelike figures, and has a history of nearly 200 years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Beijing Clay Figure Zhang is a traditional handicraft that uses highly plastic clay and the tool called a "presser," employing the modeling methods of patting, cutting, pressing, and rolling to produce fine clay-sculpture works. The Beijing Clay Figure Zhang follows the painted-sculpture principles of working top before bottom, inside before outside, progressive refinement, and coloring according to type, inheriting the artistic tradition of the unity of form and spirit and of form and color; it also emphasizes advancing with the times and keeping pace with the era, broadening its subject matter, expanding its materials, and varying its forms in artistic practice, gradually forming a contemporary painted-sculpture art style of simple and unadorned forms, clear and bright colors, and harmonious unity of form and color. The works of the Beijing Clay Figure Zhang cover diverse subjects, rooted in the folk, gathering classical literary masterpieces, folk legends, folk customs, and much other content, and are deeply loved by the people. Its works often see greatness within smallness, with rich content; image, posture, character, movement, drapery lines, and color are all rendered rigorously and vividly, remarkably true to life, colored according to type, and harmoniously unified. The Beijing Clay Figure Zhang excels at the expressive method of combining modeling and painting, pursuing spirit and verve, portraying feeling, purifying image, and transforming color, striving for the ideals of "the clay works for the color, and the color serves the clay" and "form never disrupts color, and color never overwhelms form," presenting both the external beauty of form and highlighting the inner beauty of artistic conception in painted sculpture. The Beijing Clay Figure Zhang, as an important component of painted-sculpture art, occupies an important position in the history of Chinese sculpture. It is a typical representative of Chinese ethnic folk art, embodying the cultural lineage of traditional Chinese culture. At the same time, it has progressed and expanded through historical change, providing inspiration for contemporary painted-sculpture artistic practice.
The press tool and four forming actions
Fine plastic clay is worked with a press tool by patting, paring, pressing and rolling, then finished from top down and outside in with colour to suit each part.
Clay treated as colour, colour as clay
Modelling and painting interlock so that neither form nor colour overwhelms the other, uniting outward beauty with inner meaning.
Zhang Jinghu's move to Beijing
On the eve of 1949 only Zhang Jinghu kept the craft alive; after moving to Beijing he trained the core of the city's clay-figure tradition.
Jiang the gate-keeper and other works
Drawing on classical novels, legend and street life, works such as Jiang the Gate-keeper and Divination are largely held by museums.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The birthplace of Clay Figure Zhang art is Tianjin; after Zhang Jinghu was transferred to work in Beijing in the 1950s, he traveled between Beijing and Tianjin teaching apprentices and transmitting the art, cultivating the backbone force of the Beijing Clay Figure Zhang. In former times master-apprentice transmission was the main mode, and it has been handed down through six generations to the present. The Beijing Clay Figure Zhang uses highly plastic clay and the tool called the "presser," modeling by the methods of patting, cutting, pressing, and rolling, following the principles of top before bottom, inside before outside, progressive refinement, and coloring according to type, and gradually forming a contemporary painted-sculpture art style of simple, unadorned forms and clear, bright colors.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the transmission of Clay Figure Zhang already faced the desperate situation of the art dying out with its practitioners, with only Zhang Jinghu struggling to sustain it. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Jinghu was transferred to work in Beijing, where he not only created numerous painted-sculpture works reflecting the new life but also traveled between Beijing and Tianjin teaching apprentices and transmitting the art, training large numbers of newcomers who later became the backbone of the Beijing Clay Figure Zhang. Its artistic expression conforms to the national aesthetic; discerning "truth, goodness, and beauty" from life and using form to convey spirit through embodying principle in objects, it reaches a realm of unity of form and spirit and has excellent ornamental value; representative works such as "Jiang Menshen," "Fortune-Telling," and "The Eight Eccentrics of Old Beijing" are mostly held in museum collections. The Beijing Clay Figure Zhang formerly relied mainly on master-apprentice transmission and has been handed down through six generations to the present. After Zhang Jinghu entered Beijing, its transmission took on a more socialized character.
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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