Dough Figurines
01 · Historical Records
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 · Core Techniques & Process
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.
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 · Regional Records & Related Items
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.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dough Figurines · Dough Figurines · Dough Figurines · Dough Figurines · Dough Figurines · Dough Figurines.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
This spontaneous flour-flower modeling activity fully demonstrates the aesthetic ideals and artistic talent of the people, allowing the cultural traditions contained in folk custom to be naturally transmitted and displayed. At present, under the influence of modernization, the human and natural environment of the Yangcheng area has changed greatly; the traditional customs on which baked-flour dough sculpture depends have suffered severe shocks, and, with the successive passing of elderly people who mastered the traditional modeling techniques, this special folk edible modeling art faces the danger of being lost, making strengthened protective measures urgently needed. Zhang Hongxia (according to the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in October 1964, a native of Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province. She learned to make baked-flour dolls from childhood under the influence of her parents. Through many years of practice she has skillfully and completely mastered the key techniques and operating skills of Yangcheng baked-flour dough sculpture; she is especially able to render opera and legendary figures with ease, and has also attempted to develop the new from the old, being representative and influential in the local dough-sculpture field. Her works have been shown in various exhibitions and performances and have won prizes; representative works include Figures of the Eight Immortals, Monk Mingyue and Liu Cui, Chang'e Flies to the Moon, The Lotus Lantern, and Leizu Invents Sericulture. For many years she has taught widely and conducted skill demonstrations at local cultural centers and art museums, devoting herself to the transmission of Yangcheng dough-sculpture techniques. She is a representative inheritor of Flour Flowers (Yangcheng Baked-Flour Dough Sculpture), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the fifth batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Hongxia 05-2649
- Dong Qiaolan 05-2650
- Li Chengxiu 05-2651
- Yuan Jianhua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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