Clay sculpture (xunxian nigugu)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: clay sculpture

Applicant: Jun County, Henan Province

Item No.: 346

Project No.: Ⅶ - 47

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Henan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Jun County, Henan Province

Protection unit: Junxian people's Cultural Center

Brief introduction of clay sculpture (xunxian nigugu)

Applicant: Jun County, Henan Province

Xunxian county is located in the north of Henan Province, under the jurisdiction of Hebi City. According to Zizhitongjian, at the end of Sui Dynasty, the peasant uprising army and the Sui army fought for liyangcang (called Liyang in Junxian county at that time). Li Mi, the leader of Wagang army, had a general named Yang Di stationed his troops here and got the name of Yang Di village. At that time, some soldiers in the army could knead clay figurines. To commemorate the soldiers and horses who died on the battlefield, they used local clay to knead clay figurines and clay horses. Later, some military personnel were resettled on the spot, and this skill was handed down. Xunxian clay sculpture is small in shape, the big one is less than 20 cm, and the small one is only 4-5 cm. Because there are two small holes in its tail, it makes a sound of "Goo Goo" when blowing, so it is called "mud Goo Goo". Yangdi village in Liyang Town is the main producing area of nigugu.

The basic content of mud Goo Goo in Xunxian county includes three kinds of people, animals and birds, more than 100 varieties. The tools are very simple, mainly plastic bamboo tubes and sticks. By using these tools, the local yellow glue clay is molded into works, dipped in rosin (now changed to ink), foreign color (now changed to gouache pigment), and painted on the molding blank with self-made hemp pen (now changed to brush). Most of the works are based on black, then red and black Yellow, blue, green and other bright colors to draw a variety of patterns, forming a strong contrast with the black background, and then covered with a layer of varnish, baked in a brick kiln about one meter high and wide. Nigugu's works mainly include historical figures, opera figures, twelve Zodiacs, small animals, birds, horsemen and so on.

Xunxian nigugu has a long history, with strong folk characteristics. Its shape is simple, exaggerated and chic. It is highly praised by the masses and experts, and is called the living fossil of history by folklore experts. At present, the main inheritors are Wang Xuefeng, Wang Antan, song Xuehai and others. However, modern young people are unwilling to continue to learn this craft. There is no successor to the traditional craft, which is gradually lost and in urgent need of rescue.