Guangxi Guibei Mask: A "Divine Phase" Carved from a Piece of Wood

Guilin, 9 September (ZXS) -- Topic: Guangxi Guibei Mask: A "Divine Face" Carved from a Piece of Wood

Authors: Tang Weiqing, Ou Huilan Li Wei

"The ancient legend of Lei Gong is a mythical figure with a sharp-billed monkey face image, so when I made the mask of the Qi, I made Lei Gong into the image of a sharp-billed bird face, using dark brown to represent solemnity as the overall paving color of Lei Gong's mask, golden yellow to represent auspiciousness to decorate the official hat and nose, red to represent majesty as ears and eyebrows." Tang Jiangfeng, the representative inheritor of Guibei mask making skills, recently described the three-sided Lei Gongfu mask to reporters at the "Guilin Xiufeng Non-genetic Inheritance Experience Station".

The city of Guilin, Guangxi, was once a very prosperous place in China's Pi culture, and the masks made in Guilin during the Song Dynasty were even more famous in the capital. Lu You, a patriotic poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, once mentioned in volume 1 of the "Notes on Lao Xuean": "Zhenghe Zhongda, Xiaguifu into the mask, than into the in, called 'one pair', at first surprised that there are few, but with 800 pieces as a pair, old and young Yan are not similar, it is a shock." So far, those who have done this in Gui Fu have become rich, and neither the world nor the outside world can reach them. ”

The mask of the "Thirty-six Gods" of Guibei is based on 36 characters from folklore and historical stories, including Pangu, Linggong Li Jing, Lu Ban, Wu Po, Kailu Shenjun and other characters, according to each priesthood, status, skill, character and people's praise and disapproval of them, classified according to each demeanor, the main tone of the complexion is red, white, gold three layers to represent majesty and solemnity, benevolence and kindness and fierceness. The facial shape uses fangs to represent the beast gods in nature, the mutated facial contours represent mythological characters, and the exaggerated facial features are deformed to distinguish the unique temperament of occupations and characters, that is, the so-called "old and young, none of them are similar".

On September 9, Tang Jiangfeng, the representative inheritor of Guibei mask making skills, was carving a mask. Photo by O'Huilan

Tang Jiangfeng grew up in a family of carpenters in Shaoshui Town, Quanzhou County, Guilin City, Guangxi Province, and his ancestors mainly used carpenter craftsmanship, furniture and flower and bird carvings and other folk handicrafts. Since he grew up, Tang Jiangfeng has been engaged in the wood carving industry in various places, and the precipitation over the years has also allowed him to accumulate a superb wood carving craft, and in 2011 he chose to return to his hometown Guilin City, Guangxi to start a business.

"I hope that the mask with the traditional folk culture of the northern Guibei region can be sorted out." Tang Jiangfeng sighed. At the 2014 China (Guangzhou) Folk Craft Expo and the <>rd Guangdong Folk Craft Expo, Tang Jiangfeng brought his own wood carving works to the exhibition, and the Peking Opera face displayed at the expo gave Tang Jiangfeng a great inspiration, "Because I know masks, I thought that we also have masks in Guilin." So Tang Jiangfeng began to organize and make the mask of Guibei.

Since 2015, Tang Jiangfeng has spent more than three years going back and forth to his hometown of Quanzhou County many times, asking old folk artists and "masters" for advice, and when he is lucky, he can still see their used masks. After taking a lot of photos and searching for information, Tang Jiangfeng completed the carving of the masks of Guibei based on 3 characters from folklore and historical stories, and named these masks the "Thirty-Six Gods" masks of Guibei.

On March 2018, 3, the mask of the "Thirty-six Gods" of Guibei was displayed at the 24rd "National Arts and Crafts Fair" held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Photo courtesy of interviewee

Through continuous exploration and creation, the arts and crafts work "Lei Gong of Guibei Mask Mask" created by Tang Jiangfeng and others won the bronze award of the 2016 Guangxi Arts and Crafts Works "Eight Gui Tiangong Award", and the whole set of Guibei Qiao masks has also been exhibited in Nanning, Xi'an and other places.

Since traditional masks are only used in traditional festivals, sacrifices, performances and other scenes, the market demand for masks is small, and making traditional Guibei "Thirty-Six Gods" masks is only a side business of Tang Jiangfeng. In his spare time, Tang Jiangfeng also makes some customized "special masks". Tang Jiangfeng recalls that a customer in Haikou once customized about 30 Chinese masks and traditional ethnic masks with African culture. Another Beijing customer was traveling in South Korea and saw a three-layer mask made in Guilin, China, and took a picture for him to replicate.

"The mask belongs to the 'unpopular' intangible cultural heritage." Tang Jiangfeng sighed, "It is not realistic or commonly used for young people to wear this mask to play with now. In the future, he wants to make the mask into a small souvenir such as a keychain, so that everyone can buy and carry according to their favorite mythological characters. (End)