Ｆｏｌｋ　Ａｒｔ：Ｃｌａｙ　Ｆｉｇｕｒｉｎｅｓ（Ｐａｒｔ　ＩＩ）

ＨＵＯ　ＪＩＡＮＹＩＮＧ

Afew years ago, Beijings Summer Palace put together a unique exhibition that featured neither the precious antiques and works of art collected by successive imperial families, nor the sumptuous knick-knacks and everyday utensils used by the emperors and their empresses. On display, rather, were clay figurines usually identified as “folk art” — that is, art made by and for the lower classes. However, these particular clay artifacts were unique in that their collector was none other than Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), the last of Chinas absolute imperial rulers (excluding the “Last Emperor,” Pu Yi).

Clay figurines as an art form have a long history in China. In the past, they were commonly fashioned to serve as toys, home ornaments, or symbols of particular spiritual significance, and they were almost exclusively to be found in ordinary peoples homes, having been shunned by the upper classes as being too rustic. The only exception came during the late Qing Dynasty when a clay figurine artist popularly known as “Clay Figurine Zhang,”whose real name was Zhang Mingshan (1826-1906), was introduced to Empress Dowager Cixi, who became an avid collector of his work (see Part I in the July issue).

A Clay Art Legend

Zhang Mingshan was a native of Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province. While still a boy, he left home with his father to seek a living wherever one could be found, and together they ended up in Tianjin. The father dug clay for the kilns, and in his spare time made and sold small figurines to get by. Life was difficult, and the young Zhang was forced to drop out of school after a few years of study to become his fathers apprentice.

Tianjin in the late Qing Dynasty was a bustling commercial city, made prosperous by virtue of its status as a trading port and hub for Chinese-Western exchange. It was in that cosmopolitan environment that Zhang developed his lifelong fascination with Western culture, using it in later years as a source of inspiration for his art. At the time, clay figurines were for the most part cheap, rough, cartoon-style toys, or as they were then known, “big-headed dolls.” Influenced by Western realism, Mingshan began to pursue realistic clay figurines.

Noting that Western artists often sketched scenes from real life as a basic preparation for good painting, Mingshan would stand on streetcorners, observing people and studying the ancient sculptures found in temples and ancient buildings. His favorite pastime was to sit in a traditional theater, his eyes glued to the various Peking Opera characters on stage as he busily molded their likenesses out of wet clay. He would then take home the “sketches” he considered worthwhile for further artistic refinement.

Like the ancient ink-wash masters, Zhang Mingshan tried to achieve verisimilitude not only in the form, but also in the expression and attitude of the character he was depicting, and contemporary admirers described his works as resembling “whatever and whomever he molds.”

In 1844, Yu Sansheng, a Peking Opera star, was on a performance tour in Tianjin. Zhang Mingshan came to watch him perform on several occasions, and produced an exquisite figurine of him. In no time, word spread that Zhangs clay figurine was an exact miniature replica of the real Yu Sansheng, the only difference being that it could not breathe like the real one. The episode established Clay Figurine Zhangs fame at the early age of 18.

On another occasion, clown role master Liu Gansan was performing in Tianjin. No sooner had he got on stage than he got off, reemerging soon after to tell the audience: “I saw Clay Figurine Zhang sitting among you, and I was so worried that he might knead his clay into an unflattering image of me.” The audience burst into laughter. Liu Gansan was beloved by Peking Opera fans for his wit and humor, but his little quip also spoke to the popularity of Clay Figurine Zhang.

Among his many innovations, Zhang Mingshan also introduced into his works the heavily colored fine brushwork technique of traditional Chinese painting and the rough folk art approach seen in New Year woodblock prints, applying each in turn depending on the social status and personality of the character he was trying to capture. His skilled handling of both intellectual and rustic, as well as Chinese and Western artistic styles was admired by the highly acclaimed contemporary Chinese artist Xu Beihong, who saw two of Zhangs works in Tianjin in the 1930s and commented that they were “exceptionally precise in proportion, accurate in bone structure and vivid in expression.”

A legendary art career inevitably led to a storied life. Zhang was summoned to Beijing to serve as an “imperial artisan,” and he received privileged treatment from the imperial family, who gave him a courtyard house complete with servants and assistants. Noble and high-ranking officials would respectfully ask him to do their portraits,and many of his works can still be found in the imperial collections in Beijings Palace Museum and Summer Palace. As an imperial artisan, however, Zhang lost the freedom he once had as a simple folk artist, although he never lost his artistic integrity.

He once did a sculpture for Li Hongzhang, an important historical figure who negotiated most of Chinas unequal treaties with the Western powers in the late Qing Dynasty. Li sat lazily in his armchair, being unpleasantly rude and arrogant toward Zhang. Feeling annoyed, Zhang exaggerated the sitters arrogant posture, and while Li was extremely unhappy with the result, he could not deny that the image was a realistic representation of him. The episode was cited by Xu Beihong in one of his writings as an example of Clay Figurine Zhangs upright and unbending character.

After many years, Zhang finally managed to leave the capital, giving up all imperial favor and the material rewards that went along with it. He stayed for some time in Shanghai with Ren Bonian, a great artist of the time, before returning to Tianjin. His art has had a great influence in Beijing and Tianjin, and is now being carried on by his sixth-generation descendants.

“Big Afu,”

a Chubby Clay Boy

Images of children have always been a dominant motif for clay figurines. During the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), Zhuanjie Lane, in its capital city Hangzhou, was a gathering place for clay figurine artists. They mainly made and sold clay dolls, and the small street gradually became known as “Dolls Lane.” The name has survived to this day as testimony to its once booming clay doll business, although clay toys are no longer to be seen.

In later centuries, principally during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Hui-shan, in Jiangsus Wuxi, developed into a major clay figurine-making center, and it has remained one until the present. Early Huishan clay figurines were mainly toys for children, such as “Big Afu” and the “Cat.” Later, theatrical figurines were also developed. Big Afu is representative of Huishan clay art, and is a stereotyped image of a lovable, chubby little boy named Afu, which means “happy.”

As always, there is a story behind Big Afu. Legend has it that a long time ago a fisherman and his wife caught a ball of sand in their net. They broke open the sand ball and out jumped a little boy, calling them “Grandpa” and “Grandma.” The couple was very happy and named the boy “Sandy.”

Sandy grew up quickly. He learned to read and write and was also skilled in the martial arts. One day, a monster descended on Huishan and wanted to devour all the small children as a feast for the Spring Festival. Sandy fought bravely with the monster and finally subdued it, restoring peace and happiness to the village.

To express their gratitude, all the families wanted to invite Sandy to dinner, but Sandy could not attend them all. Someone thought of the idea of having local artisans make clay figurines modeled after Sandy, so that the villagers could place them inside their homes to express their gratitude to Sandy, and also to seek his continued protection against evil spirits. Instead of addressing their icons as Sandy, they referred to them as “Big Afu.”

Big Afu usually sits cross-legged, sporting long ears that reach down to his shoulders, cradling a lion in his arms and wearing a big smile and an ancient hairstyle. The Chinese tend to represent things in pairs, so a similar girl Afu was added later.

Huishan clay cats are also known as “Silkworm Cats,” because they were originally used by silkworm raisers to keep rats away from their silkworms. So the artistic approach is more realistic. Silkworm cats mostly sit on their hind legs, eyes open wide, and with yellow and black tiger-like stripes on their coats. Their realistic white whiskers serve both as decoration and to scare away rats when they sway in the breeze.

Wuxi neighbors Kunshan, where Kunqu Opera originated, and there are many Kunqu fans in the Wuxi area. As a result,Huishans theatrical clay figurines are also highly developed. Local clay artisans depicted episodes and characters from their favorite Kunqu operas in clay, and such works became known as “hand-shaped operas.”