Clay sculpture (Huishan clay figurine)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: clay sculpture (Huishan clay figurine)

Applicant: Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province

Item No.: 346

Project No.: Ⅶ - 47

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Jiangsu Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province

Protection unit: Wuxi Folk Art Museum

Brief introduction of clay sculpture (Huishan clay figurine)

Applicant: Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province

Wuxi is located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province. It was established as a county in 202 B.C. and became a state in 1295. Wuxi clay figurine production and sales are concentrated in Wuxi Huishan nearby, so Wuxi clay figurine is also known as "Huishan clay figurine". The production of Huishan clay figurine in Wuxi began in the late Ming Dynasty, which is recorded in the collection of ancient and modern books. In the Qing Dynasty, professional clay figurine workshops began to appear in Huishan. Dozens of clay figurine shops and more than 200 clay figurine workshops were set up in wulichang street and shangxiahetang, forming a famous "clay figurine Street". At the beginning of the 20th century, there were no less than 120 clay figurine shops in Huishan Town, which has continued to this day.

Wuxi clay figurines are divided into two categories: coarse goods and fine goods. Coarse goods are mostly represented by happy and auspicious themes, such as da'afu, canmao, laoshouxing, yuweng, etc., which express the people's good wishes of praying for auspicious omen, dispelling evil spirits, accepting happiness, and having enough food and clothing. Their shapes are rough and simple, their colors are bright, they are freehand brushwork, and they have both shape and spirit Based on the traditional opera characters, myths and legends, folk customs, the figure paintings are vivid and vivid with beautiful colors. Wuxi hand clay figurine has strict requirements on material quality, so it needs to take black soil from a meter deep in the local paddy field as the material. The traditional crafts are very complicated, including rubbing, kneading, picking, kneading, printing, patting, cutting, color, pressing, pasting, inlaying, rowing, pulling, inserting, pushing, wiping, pasting and assembling. As a kind of painted sculpture, the technique of painting occupies a high proportion in the whole clay figurine production, so it is said that "three parts of sculpture and seven parts of color". Wuxi clay sculpture is loved by people from all walks of life at home and abroad for its unique artistic form, distinctive national and folk color and strong local flavor in the south of the Yangtze River. It is known as one of the "three treasures of Wuxi". Its "hand pinched drama" and "da'a Fu" are well-known all over the world, and are regarded as the most oriental folk colored sculpture.

In the process of inheritance and development, Wuxi clay figurines have emerged one after another, many of which are collected by national museums and experts, and many of which have won many national awards such as "mountain flower Award". At present, Wuxi hand-held clay figurines are faced with serious problems, such as infringement of intellectual property rights, soaring cost of handmade production, brain drain, and increasing scarcity of Huishan clay.