Traditional Handicraft in Beijing
cctv.com 10-27-2003 13:00
China is a multi-national country. The unique cultural heritage of each ethnic group is a vivid reflection of Chinese culture. Within these ethnic groups, traditional folk arts are carried on not by architectures or other physical entities; but by the industrious, honest and unsophisticated Chinese people, generation after generation.
Due to Beijing's long history as an agrarian society, a rich and vibrant cultural heritage has been preserved. One part of this culture is the indigenous folk art and traditional handicrafts. Folk art embodies different parts of the nation's indigenous culture, minority languages, and philosophy.
Every traditional art form displayed here is a part of the world cultural heritage. In the past, people never saw them from the perspective of cultural heritage, nor realized their great potential significance for future development as cultural resources.
Traditional handicrafts have been created and enjoyed by Chinese people for thousands of years. They are the expressions of the imaginations of talented Chinese throughout history. Beijing is home to many traditional handicrafts such as paper-cuts petit-point objects, palace lanterns, fan-making, carvings, dough figurines, and sugar figurines. Yet many of these crafts may soon disappear, if the next generation of artisans does not continue to make these ancient arts.
A Japanese writer says, 'The spread of modernization has pushed traditional craftsmanship away from us without being noticed. The communication between people and objects and the harmony between human and nature are also gone…' This issue bothers China too.
In a developing country like China, traditional culture is eroded and weakened with the encroaching influence of mass media and the global economy.
Shichahai, with its 800-year history, traditional courtyard, and long Hutong culture, is a sightseeing destination for tourists as well as Beijingers. However, the flourishing tourism does not strengthen its unique characteristics.
Making use of the invasion of modern civilization, several folk artists in Beijing show their skills here.
Nowadays, people pay particular attention to health and nutrition, therefore, those peddlers who sell food artworks are gradually disappearing, but the fantastic impressions they have created will never fade. Haunted by loneliness or emptiness, some elder Beijingers sometimes choose to stroll in the street. They know very well that they cannot come across those peddlers, yet recalling their childhood experiences will certainly bring back sweet and pleasant feelings.
In Beijing, a modern city, many traditional handicrafts can only be found in the nooks and crannies of the city that westernization has left untouched.
The skill of interior painting inside a snuff bottle originated in Beijing, with a history of more than 200 years. Beijing once was the capital of Ming and Qing Dynasties, so it was one of the most developed cities in China, culturally and economically. The rich cultural heritage helped painters to develop their unique style. Poems, books, paintings and seals with unique Beijing characteristics began to flourish.
Using a special hook through the top hole, skilled artists draw pictures such as figures, animals, flowers and calligraphies on the inner side of transparent opium bottles.
Materials as precious as jade, crystal or agate and as common as glass or plastic can all be used to make opium bottles with inside paintings. But these magnificent art wares can only be seen in rooms no larger than 2 square meters. You have to have a keen eye to find the good ones.
Because the makers are relegated to small hidden rooms to do their manufacturing, many traditional handicrafts do not leave any lasting impressions on the minds of the younger generations. It's foreseeable that in the next few decades, they may be forgotten by the whole society.
To promote the development of Beijing's traditional handicrafts, the Culture Industry Chamber of Commerce, which is a sub-branch of the Beijing Municipal Chamber of Commerce, cooperates with many of these service-oriented enterprises. Many folk artists will be hired by some companies to perform and show their skills in the shops. Each performance usually attracts a crowd of children and adolescents, and the artists can teach them some basic skills on the spot.
These activities create a favorable atmosphere for the development of traditional handicrafts, and they provide another way to further develop some folk arts on the verge of extinction. It also brings in some extra income for the folk craftsmen.
In the late Qing Dynasty, one day, in a traditional Chinese medicine shop in Beijing, two shop assistants accidentally made a monkey with four Chinese herbal medicines.
The assistants' 'originality' inspired the shopkeeper. Later, these four medicines were sold together and were called 'monkey medicine'. Monkey-making became a kind of folk art, but it was known only by a limited number of artists.
It is not difficult to make monkey toys. What is difficult is to have original ideas. Each monkey toy should possess human characteristics, which means that artists need to keenly observe life and people's movements, so as to produce more vivid monkey toys.
58-year-old Jiang Shouyu was born in Beijing. He had a special affinity for traditional handicrafts such as kites and clay figurines when he was a child. He has made monkey toys for several decades. He is now one of the only artists who still make monkey toys in Beijing.
Life in teahouses is an important part of Beijing's traditional folk culture. Based on his observation of life in the teahouses, Jiang Shouju has produced this masterpiece: more than sixty 'monkey tea-drinkers' have different poses, some jumping on the desk, some kicking the stools, some laughing, some fighting, and many more sipping tea with teacups in their hands. Their different gestures and poses indicate their inner emotions.
Ivory carving, jade carving, lacquer carving and cloisonné can best represent Beijing's folk artistic achievements. History, civilization and folk custom can all be seen in these handicraft skills.
Beijing is the cradle of the technique of coisonné. Beijingers like to decorate their rooms with cloisonné pieces such as desks, chairs, benches, chopsticks, ear rings, sugar jars and cigarette cases.
At some tourist spots in Beijing, it is easy to find a 2-Yuan cloisonné bracelet, a 5-Yuan cloisonné garnishry, or other cheap but coarse wares of inferior quality and poor artistic value. Although cloisonné originates in China, Japanese cloisonné skills are the best now. It is admitted that some carved wood wares can only be made in Beijing.
Beijing is home to numerous imperial palaces, many of which are made of wood. In the course of construction, so as best exhibit the supreme imperial power, the best wood-carving craftsmen were summoned to Beijing, and a special department in charge of construction was consequently established. The educated and painters were responsible for designing and constructing patterns exclusively for the royal palaces. Wood-carving craftsmen could only work according to the design. This broke with the common practice that craftsmen were responsible both for designing and carving. A unique imperial wood-carving art was thus formed, and the gap between imperial and folk wood-carving art was intensified.
In the early 20th century, China's last imperial power was overthrown. Many wood-carving craftsmen who used to serve the royal family had to turn their attention elsewhere. Later, they were organized by the Chinese government, and this present Wood-carving Firm was consequently established. After several-decade's development, the firm manages to preserve the imperial style.
Beijing's wood-carving technique is based upon Beijing's wood-structured architectures. Wood-carving and architecture go hand in hand. In construction, wood-carving must take into consideration the shapes of wood frames, wood components, and material quality, so as to achieve a sense of harmony and beauty among the architecture, decoration and structure.
Chinese interior design is an environmental art, in which furniture plays an important role. Since the Qing Dynasty, furniture turned away from the simple and lucid style that was dominant in the Ming Dynasty. A large number of complicated wood-carving patterns were added to the furniture. This marked the peak of Beijing's imperial wood-carving art. Now, the interior designs of many service industries in Beijing still choose imperial style.
In the era of the planned economy, China used to use a modern production line to make traditional art wares. This, unfortunately, resulted in the loss of the uniqueness of many traditional handicrafts. Furthermore, this easy method of reproduction has deprived traditional folk arts of the energy for further development.
The folk arts and crafts industry used to be the backbone industry of Beijing, but now they are facing serious problems such as having no qualified successors, arts being lost and dramatic slump in production. Less than one thousand people are still engaged in folk artistic industry now. More than half of the sixty crafts have been or are about to be lost. Six to seven folk arts firms have been gone bankrupt or are about to.
Because of the amount of time necessary to hand-make crafts, the low income of craftsmen, and the time it takes to really get a handle on the skill, young people are reluctant to devote themselves to the traditional handi-craft industry. Thus, the shortage of professional folk artists is inevitable, and the gap between modern civilization and traditional culture will continue to widen.
Many traditional art forms are in danger of being lost forever.
Jade bonsai are another of Beijing's traditional crafts. Taking the natural color, luster and texture of various kinds of jade into consideration, craftsmen then carve the jade into petals and leaves. Later, the leaves and petals are pieced together to make delicate jade bonsai. What's sad is that the youngest craftsman who is capable of this skill is over 30 years old.
How to stimulate the development of Beijing's folk arts and let them flourish has already become an issue open for discussion.
Why Chinese black pottery appeared after the emergence of ancient painted pottery is still a mystery. The technique for making black pottery was made known to the public in 1989. Analysis shows that 5000 years ago Chinese people had mastered the skill of carbonizing. In the airproof kilns, carbonic atoms in the smoke sink into the adobes.
It is unanimously agreed that when a traditional art form needs people to call for its preservation, it equals to announce its 'death'. Many folk arts in China are caught in this dilemma. If we do not do something to guarantee their development, we can only see them in the museums in the foreseeable future. But it is a relief to see that Chinese government is now taking effective measures to protect and develop these arts and crafts. Thanks for watching. I am Laurel, see you next time.
Editor:Guan Source:CCTV.com
