Wheat-straw Collage
01 · Historical Records
Wheat-straw painting was introduced to Mianyang (present-day Xiantao City, Hubei Province) during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty. According to records, in the early period the brothers Deng Xiucheng, Deng Zhihong, and Deng Zhilie used “wheat carving” in Mianyang Prefecture to make wedding couplets and birthday banners; thereafter the technique was passed down hereditarily within the Deng family and spread to surrounding areas through the master-apprentice system. To this day it has both family and master-apprentice lines of transmission, represented by the Deng family lineage.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xiantao wheat-stalk appliqué, also called “wheat carving,” is an art of wheat-stalk appliqué made ingeniously from wheat stalks as the main raw material, using carving knives, branding irons, wax trays, and scissors as tools; it is distributed in Xiantao City, Hubei Province, and the Jianghan Plain region. According to records, wheat-straw painting was introduced during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty; in the early period the brothers Deng Xiucheng, Deng Zhihong, and Deng Zhilie used wheat carving in Mianyang Prefecture (present-day Xiantao City, Hubei Province) to make wedding couplets and birthday banners. The production process of Xiantao wheat-stalk appliqué includes composition, making wheat-stalk appliqué pieces, transferring the design, carving, branding, mounting, and framing, and employs techniques such as hollowing, contrasting backing, layered color, silk inlay, openwork, plate duplication, stippling, picking and carving, piling up, and hot- and cold-branding, while also absorbing artistic methods such as carved papercutting, branded painting, appliqué, Chinese painting, woodblock printing, and relief. The works have clear layering, reasonable perspective, and natural light effects, rich in decorative beauty; subjects include flowers, birds, insects, and fish, dragons and phoenixes, landscapes and figures, scenery and architecture, and calligraphy, among which the auspicious motifs of flowers, birds, insects, fish, and dragons and phoenixes reflect the character of Jingchu culture and fully express the features of Jingchu culture and the Jianghan water country. Its figures are portrayed vividly; it absorbs many artistic methods and is inclusive in character; it makes skilled use of piling and similar techniques, adding three-dimensionality to the picture. Apprentices taught through the master-apprentice system are found across many regions. Xiantao wheat-stalk appliqué fully embodies the heritage of Jingchu culture and the character of the Jianghan water country, while absorbing the methods of Chinese painting, woodblock printing, and papercutting; it has an elegant taste, its works are clearly layered and lifelike, visually striking, and possess ornamental and collection value.
The Deng brothers' straw-cut wedding and birthday panels
After the craft reached Mianyang in the Daoguang era, the Deng brothers used straw carving for wedding couplets and birthday hangings, its earliest local application.
Composing, transferring, carving, branding, pasting and mounting
The working sequence: preparing straw sheets, then transferring the drawing and moving through carving, branding, pasting and mounting.
Openwork, reversed lining, layered colour, silk inlay and through carving
A group of distinctive techniques that, with transfer printing, stippling, picking out, stacking and hot and cold branding, give the picture depth, perspective and a natural sheen.
Chu themes of flowers, dragon and phoenix
Its stock subjects of birds, fish, dragon and phoenix carry auspicious meaning and draw on paper-cutting, branding, collage, painting, printmaking and relief.
Deng Youpu
Born in Xiantao in 1947 and a national master of arts and crafts, Deng Youpu is known for lifelike figures and won gold at the eighth China Art Festival craft exhibition.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xiantao wheat-stalk appliqué, also called “wheat carving,” is distributed in Xiantao City, Hubei Province, and the Jianghan Plain region. Its subjects include flowers, birds, insects, and fish, dragons and phoenixes, landscapes and figures, scenery and architecture, and calligraphy, among which the auspicious motifs of flowers, birds, insects, fish, and dragons and phoenixes reflect the local character of Jingchu culture and the Jianghan water country; Deng Youpu is a master of Chinese arts and crafts, particularly accomplished in portraying figures, and his works won the gold award at the National Exhibition of Exquisite Arts and Crafts of the Eighth China Art Festival.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wheat-straw Collage · Wheat-straw Collage · Wheat-straw Collage.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Xiantao wheat-stalk appliqué has both family transmission and master-apprentice transmission. Family transmission is represented by the Deng family lineage. Wheat stalks are environmentally friendly, easily obtained, and renewable, reflecting and practicing the concept of sustainable development; related productive protection has driven employment and promoted local economic and cultural development. Deng Youpu (record from the official inheritor archive): Male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1947, from Xiantao City, Hubei Province. He is a master of Chinese arts and crafts. His wheat-stalk appliqué pictures draw on subjects such as flowers, birds, fish, insects, landscapes, figures, and auspicious patterns, and are particularly accomplished in portraying figures. His expressive forms incorporate references to carved papercutting, branded painting, appliqué, Chinese painting, woodblock printing, and relief, and comprehensively employ techniques such as hollowing, contrasting backing, layered color, silk inlay, openwork, plate duplication, stippling, picking and carving, piling up, and hot pressing and cold branding; the compositions are well arranged, the layers clear, the visual effects striking, and the works are rich in traditional Chinese cultural atmosphere. He is a representative inheritor of wheat-stalk appliqué, a fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project. His works won the gold award at the National Exhibition of Exquisite Arts and Crafts of the Eighth China Art Festival, held by the Ministry of Culture, as well as awards such as the Hundred Flowers Award of Chinese Arts and Crafts.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ma Wenxia 05-2679
- Jiang Yunhua 05-2680
- Nie Yuanzheng 05-2681
- Deng Youpu 05-2682
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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