Clay Sculpture： The Modern Existence of Niche artworks

賀小云

【Abstract】Like many traditional arts， Clay sculpture is faced with difficulties in this new era， it is far from being enough to just have one cavity warm blood， without market， the inheritance and protection of culture will never happen.

【Key words】clay sculpture change inheritance and protection

Hu Pengfei， a post-80s， left Fengxiang， Shannxi province for Beijing in 2000. Fengxiang Clay Sculpture， Clay Figurine Zhang（Tianjin） and Huishan Clay Sculpture（Wuxi， Jiangsu） are regarded as the three main schools of Chinese Clay Sculpture. Before coming to Beijing， Hu Pengfei was determined to earn a living with his craftsmanship on clay sculpture.

All things on earth come from clay. And there is a Chinese fairy tale about Nv wa， a goddess who created human beings with clay， which establishes close contacts between Chinese people and clay. Purely loving clay sculpture， Hu Pengfei still remembered the description about the creator of Clay Figurine Zhang： when he makes clay figurines， he just sits there， talking and smiling， with his figurine finished in a moment. Besides， he can hold the clay in his sleeves and silently makes his lifelike figurines.

However， as Hu came to Beijing， he discovered that things were different. “Beijing is filled with all kinds of high-end and classy things. Therefore， in terms of raw material， clay sculptures have neither economic value nor collecting value. ” says Hu Pengfei to Oriental Outlook as he recalled his confusion at the beginning.

Now， Hu wraps clay sculpture in a stylish way and promotes the industrialization development of this traditional handicraft. As a result， the annual sales volume of his products amounts to 2 million yuan.

Like many traditional arts， Clay sculpture is faced with difficulties in this new era. There are many craftsmen like Hu Pengfei and they all， in their own way， bring new life to this ancient art.

Photos are allowed.

Inside a small yard in Tongshou， Beijing， Hu Pengfei is busy in instructing several workers to make the face of the Rabbit Master， a clay figure for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Each year， when Chinese Traditional Festivals， especially the Mid-Autumn Festival， are approaching， he will be extremely busy.

As the founder of a clay sculpture workshop called Lucky Rabbit， Hu told us that Rabbit Master was a famous toy for Chinese traditional festivals in Beijing. As a colored clay-made sculpture with a rabbits head and a humans body， it goes to the market in large amounts before every Mid-Autumn Festival.

Lao She， a famous Chinese writer， has described Rabbit Master in a vivid way in his book the Yellow Storm： his cheeks are not rouged but there is a red line on his three-lipped mouth. His long and white ears are painted light red. Therefore， he looks handsome， just like the Huang Tianba of his group. He is in a red robe decorated with shiny green leaves and red flowers that are dyed with vibrant and uniform colors.

The traditional manufacturing process of Rabbit Master is characterized by elaborate workmanship. At first， Hu Pengfei needs to select clay carefully. After taking shape， the sculpture takes several days to dry. Then it will be polished and painted white. Next， Hu will draw the face， cloth and mount of the rabbit master in different colors with a soft brush. Among these dozen steps， the most important one is the painting which requires the craftsman to control his strength perfectly and draw meticulously and skillfully. And this step usually takes a week.

Only the choosing of raw material is rather difficult， for there are various kinds of clay and the craftsman needs to select the one that is sticky and flexible with few impurities.

Then the craftsman needs to dry the selected clay， removes the stone and the weed inside the clay and sifts the clay with a two millimeter sieve for fine clay particles. After a long time， the clay can be used to make the sculpture.

Next， the craftsman needs to add some water to the clay and filter the slurry to remove the impurities. After 24 hours， the water and the clay will be separated. At this time， the particles cannot be seen with naked eyes. They can be found only with a magnifier.

The clay is not stable as the temperature and humidity changes in the four seasons so that the most serious problem is that the clay sculpture will break. Therefore， cotton fiber needs to be added to the clay so as to make the clay stickier. The clay and the cotton fiber will be mixed with each other after being beaten by human for 5 to 6 hours.

As for Hu Pengfei， the production process of clay sculpture is “extremely wonderful”. “Some people are afraid that this process is seen by others， but we has a sign at the door that reads ‘photos are allowed.”

Hu holds that folk arts need to be inherited in a way that combines arts production， exhibition， exchanges and communication together.

Change the traditional craft.

In the first three years， Hu Pengfei didnt give up his clay sculpture. And one accidental business opportunity brought a turning point for him.

“When I was selling the Tiger Head， a clay toy of Fengxiang， someone asked me whether I had the Rabbit Master. Then I asked the local people what Rabbit Mater was. After knowing that one Rabbit Master could sell at over 100 yuan near the Guozijian Street， I thought it was pretty good. ” says Hu Pengfei.

Since then， Hu Pengfei began trying to make Rabbit Master. “The elderly in Beijing are very friendly. They give me suggestions on the Rabbit Masters I make and tell me the stories about this clay rabbit. I keep improving my sculpture and finally I become an expert in this field. ”

Nowadays， Hu Pengfei can make more than ten kinds of Rabbit Master： on a calabash， one on a Kylin or on a white elephant. There are also a kind of Rabbit Master resembling the fat A Fu and a couple of clay Rabbits dressed as a bride and a groom.

In fact， ordinary consumers always neglect the cultural value of the handicrafts， simply holding that compared with modern crafts， they are more expensive. So consumers are not willing to buy these handicrafts.

According to Hu， the reason why his Rabbit Masters are popular is that he takes a brand strategy. “I follow a commercial way， combining this traditional art with modern fashion and aesthetic needs of modern people. Through my packaging， character and pattern design， I make consumers feel that my Rabbit Master， both cultural and fashionable， is a decent gift. ”

It is not easy for them to develop this traditional figure in a fashionable way. Hu Pengfei told us that in the first years， they were faced with huge pressure as they designed their Rabbit Master.

Traditional Rabbit Master Looks serious and mighty， for its mouth， like a triangle， is downward. However， the mouth of Hu Pengfeis sculpture is upward at the corners so that his new kind of Rabbit Master looks happy and kind with pleasant smiles.

Many people say Rabbit Master shouldnt smile but Hu sticks to his way of making Rabbit Master. “Now， even experts accept this kind of Rabbit Master.”

At present， Hu Pengfei has established workshops in Beijing， Hebei and Shannxi to meet the needs for Rabbit Master in Chinese traditional festivals including the Mid-autumn Festival and the Spring Festival. Each year， his workshops will produce nearly 100000 Rabbit Masters.

There is also another person who keeps improving this traditional clay sculpture. His name is Hu Xinming.

Hu Xinming was born in a family of clay sculpture makers in Liuying village in Fengxiang in 1965. His parents are local makers of clay sculpture there and Hu Shen， a master of clay sculpture， is his grandpa. Hu Xinming began learning to make clay sculpture when he was a little boy.

As the 7th generation inheritor of Fengxiang Clay Sculpture， Hu Xinming witnessed the ups and downs of this traditional art. Since the Ming Dynasty， Liuying village has been rich in clay sculpture which entered its golden era in 1970s and 1980s when each family in this village could make clay sculpture. Whenever there was a temple fair， there would be many vendors selling plenty of clay sculptures.

However， in the late 1980s， Fengxiang Clay Sculpture， with its sculpt remaining the same for several decades， could not keep pace with the development of society. At that time， the clay sculpture was very thin and couldnt afford a gentle pinch. Because of this， Hu Xinming suffered a lot.

Hu Xinming still remembered that in 1988， he exported 8600 clay sculptures to Singapore. He delivered these sculptures by himself. When he arrived in Xian， he needed to put the sculptures in special boxes for exporting. As he changed the boxes， one fifth of the sculptures were broken. And when he arrived in Singapore， there wasnt an intact sculpture left.

Deeply shocked by this experience， Hu Xinming was determined to upgrade the clay sculpture. He told us that the original clay sculpture were frail and had a low production， which couldnt go global at all.

Since then， Hu Xinming took several years and， through hundreds of trials， managed to develop his “unbroken clay sculpture”.

According to Hu Xinming， the original handicraft industry serves people in their daily life. However， many products disappear in modern times. So it is necessary to integrate handicrafts to modern life so that they can be accepted and used by people.

Before inheriting this traditional art， earn a living first.

Hu Xinming has been made clay sculpture for nearly 40 years， having over 100 apprentices. His workshop has a history of 10 years. At first， there were only several people but now there are more than 200， including designers， colored sculpture markers and manufacturing workers. It seems that the clay sculpture art can be inherited， but Hu Pengfei is not optimistic， for many traditional arts including clay sculpture and paper cutting cannot find young inheritors.

“We can only find older handicraftsmen and they just want to have a job. ”says Hu Pengfei. Clay sculpture is an art relying on serenity but few young men are willing to devote themselves to this art with patience.

He Bin， the inheritor of Nanjing Clay Figurine， an intangible cultural heritage of Nanjing， makes clay sculpture totally by hand. Even the thin lines on his sculpture are made with hands so that all of his sculptures are different from each other in sculpt.

He Bin told us that he could receive orders for tailor-made clay sculptures. However， he alone couldnt make it. Though he had apprentices， they often gave up soon.

Different from The Bins de-massified way， both Hu Pengfei and Hu Xinming would like to follow an industrialization route. They make clay sculptures through mass production with molds. Obviously， even though they have molds， they still need to create designs， turn the mold， modify， paint， sinter and polish the clay sculpture.

Hu Pengfei sells his sculpture both online and off. “As long as you ask at Hou Hai， you can find our distributor. You can also find our products easily online and a Rabbit Master only costs 30 to 40 yuan. ”

In order to speed up his production， Hu Pengfei recruits more people and refines the division. “The biggest number of clay sculpture makers reaches about 50 or 60. Each of them can make over ten sculptures a day. On this basis， they are divided into three groups. Some are responsible for the pinching， some for the painting and others for the packaging. ”

In 2010， his workshop could produce more than 100 Rabbit Masters one day.

Hu Xinming further upgrades the traditional mud mold which has low production efficiency， high costs and short production period， replacing it with modern gypsum mold. Thus the production period of clay sculpture is largely shortened and the daily output changes from 10 to 100.

Currently， Hu Xinmings workshop produces 100000 clay sculptures one year and his annual sales reach 5 million to 6 million yuan.

No matter they have a small market for tailor-made products or choose industrialized operation， craftsmen firstly rely on their craftsmanship to earn a living， and then they can pay attention to the inheritance of arts. “it is far from being enough to just have one cavity warm blood， without market， the inheritance and protection of culture will never happen. ” says He Bin.

*原文來源：《瞭望東方周刊》特約撰稿查沁君