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Dough figurine, also known as miansu in Chinese, is a traditional folk art that uses flour, glutinous rice flour, and honey as the main ingredients. Artisans then shape these components into various characters. This art form has been perpetuated for over 2000 years.
In Nanshan, Shenzhen, there resides an intangible cultural heritage conservationist of dough figurine art, named Zhang Minzhong.
Passion ignites the radiant charm of intangible cultural heritage
During Zhang Minzhong's childhood, his grandfather would mystically create numerous characters to amuse him. The young Zhang found the transformation of ordinary dough into lifelike figures an enchanting process. Thus, at the age of seven, he officially began learnIng miansu craftIng from his grandfather.
"Dough figurine crafting requires techniques such as kneading, pinching, plucking, pricking, pressing, rolling, and more, completed in steps for detailed portrayal, ensuring seamless connections between body parts as well as fluid movements," Zhang said. He once grew anxious because he couldn't perfect a certain form, dedicating all his time to mastering it beyond necessary rest and meals. It is this fervor that has propelled him further in the field of dough figurine crafting.
In 2002, 31-year-old Zhang brought his craft to Shenzhen. In 2009, he successfully pushed for the inclusion of his project in the list of intangible cultural heritage in the Nanshan District, Shenzhen, and it was subsequently included in the city-level list in 2021.
Marrying traditional skills with the contemporary era
"Each generation has new aspects worth exploring and showcasing. IncorporatIng contemporary culture into one's work is essential for better growth," Zhang said. He adjusts the creation process of his dough figurines accordingly, such as crafting popular animation characters beloved by children, or exploring local themes to keep his works in the common touch.
2020 marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Zhang created a set of works named "Fisherman's Family". He also made the work named "A Pioneering Ox", symbolic of Shenzhen's spirit of reform and opening up, hoping to narrate Shenzhen's story through his fingers.
Additionally, Zhang exhaustively researched and finally overcame the challenge of preserving dough figurines for a longer duration through a series of processing steps so as to adapt to Shenzhen's humid climate. The new dough wouldn't mold even in damp weather.
Enabling intangible cultural heritage to shine in its preservation
In recent years, Zhang has actively participated in two projects of intangible cultural heritage in communities and schools in Nansha District, teaching dough figurine crafting in numerous primary and secondary schools. Concurrently, he is committed to promotIng traditional ChInese culture. In 2013, Zhang was invited to Australia for cultural exchanges and demonstrated his dough figurIne craftIng skills. While in 2019, he was again invited to France for the promotion of traditional Chinese culture.
He shared with the interviewee that foreigners often refer to dough figurine crafting as "Chinese sculpture". They were astonished to see how a piece of dough could be kneaded into various human and animal figures. What was originally planned as a three- or four-hour demonstration unknowingly extended to over six hours.
"In the future, I plan to take on more apprentices to pass on the craft of dough figurine molding and step onto a larger platform through excellent works," he said.
視訊丨面塑非遺傳承人：指尖捏出大千世界“非遺”傳承綿延不絕
面塑是一種以面粉、糯米粉、蜂蜜等為主要原料，再通過手藝人創作，進而形成各種人物形象的傳統民俗藝術，至今已延續2000多年。
在深圳南山，就有一位深圳面塑非遺傳承人，他就是張民忠。
熱愛讓非遺綻放迷人光彩
在張民忠兒時，他的爺爺總會像變戲法一樣變出很多不同的人物逗他開心，那時的他覺得将一個平凡的面團揉捏成活靈活現的人物是一件很神奇的事情。7歲時，他正式跟随爺爺學習面塑。
“面塑創作需要用揉、捏、揪、挑、壓、搓、滾等技法，分步驟完成對人物的精細刻畫，并做到肢體間無縫連接配接，動作行雲流水。”張民忠表示，他曾因為捏不好一個形态非常焦急，除了吃飯睡覺都在鑽研。正是這樣的熱愛，讓他在面塑領域越走越專。
2002年，31歲的張民忠帶着捏面人這項手藝來到深圳。2009年，張民忠成功推動該項目列入深圳市南山區非物質文化遺産名錄，并在2021年列入深圳市市級非物質文化遺産。
讓傳統技藝與時代相結合
“每一代人的生活都有新東西值得挖掘展現，把當代文化融入進自己的作品裡，才能更好的發展。”張民忠在捏面人的創作過程中也會進行調整，比如捏一些孩子們喜歡的動畫形象，或者探索本土題材創作，讓作品更加“接地氣”。
2020年，恰逢深圳經濟特區建立40周年，他制作了一組名為“漁夫一家”的作品。他還臨摹象征深圳改革開放精神的“拓荒牛”等，希望通過“指尖”的技藝，記錄深圳故事。
此外，為了适應深圳的潮濕氣候，張民忠反複研究，通過系列工藝處理，終于攻克了面人無法長久儲存的難題，經他處理過的面團在潮濕天氣下也不會發黴。
讓非遺在傳承中綻放光彩
近年來，張民忠積極參與深圳市南山區開展的“非遺進社群”“非遺進校園”兩大項目，在多所中國小教授面塑。與此同時，他緻力于推廣中國傳統文化。2013年，張民忠受邀到澳洲進行文化交流，現場展示面塑技藝；2019年，他再次受邀到法國進行中國傳統文化宣傳。
他告訴記者，外國人稱面塑為“中國雕塑”，他們看到用一團面粉就可以捏出不同的人物和動物形象而驚歎不已，原本三四個小時的展示，不知不覺延長到了六個多小時。
“未來，我還想多收徒弟，将面塑手藝傳承下去，通過一個個作品走進更大的平台。”(更多新聞資訊，請關注羊城派 pai.ycwb.com)
文、圖、視訊丨羊城晚報全媒體記者 李藝戈 顔業宏 實習生 陳婕
視訊加工丨黎傑文
翻譯丨陳萱
來源丨羊城晚報·羊城派
責編丨古司祺
校對丨趙丹丹