【Explanation】Choose full and transparent rice, and use the rice paste to splice the head and tail to create pavilions, cattle, sheep, fruits, etc., each of which is exquisitely white and lifelike. This is what the reporter saw in Gaolou Village, Guhuai Town, Changle, Fuzhou on August 2. High-rise rice noodles, a folk technique that has been passed down for hundreds of years, has disappeared for nearly 70 years. Four years ago, Chen Guorui, a young man in the village, accidentally learned of the "unique skills" in his hometown, and he devoted himself to studying. With the appearance of works, the rice noodles of tall buildings gradually entered people's field of vision.
[Concurrent] Chen Guorui, the representative inheritor of high-rise rice noodles in Fuzhou
Why is it called the rice noodle? The reason is that the artwork made with rice as the thread was originally flat. After a diachronic evolution, a work of art pasted on a plate has gradually become semi-dimensional and three-dimensional. Wait for some works.
[Commentary] When I met Chen Guorui, he was working on a horse in front of the desk in the studio. I saw Chen Guorui carefully picked out the most suitable grains of rice, clamped a grain of rice with tweezers, dipped the rice paste at both ends, and garnished carefully.
[Concurrent] Chen Guorui, the representative inheritor of high-rise rice noodles in Fuzhou
If the rice is purchased from the market, the grains in it are broken, cracked, short, crooked, opaque, and incomplete. We don’t want it. We only choose the longest, and the average length is certain. It must be larger than seven millimeters, and the particles must be complete, transparent and white as a whole.
[Explanation] The origin of high-rise rice noodles can be traced back to the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. It was most popular during the Republic of China. It is used for ancestor worship in the first lunar month of each year. On the first lunar month, there are more than 300 households in the village, and each household has a work displayed in the ancestral hall. Due to historical reasons, this skill slowly faded from the village. Chen Guorui, who was born in 1987, was a young generation in the village, and he did not know that his ancestors had this "unlearned". In 2016, an old overseas Chinese who was nearly 90 years old returned to his hometown and chatted with the villagers of Gaolou Village about the story of Gaolou rice noodles. The old overseas Chinese sighed with the passing of this skill. Since then, Chen Guorui has decided to pick up the skill of high-rise rice noodles again.
[Concurrent] Chen Guorui, the representative inheritor of high-rise rice noodles in Fuzhou
I am a college student who graduated from art-related majors. I have the responsibility and obligation to pass on the excellent traditional culture in the village and the family. So I specifically visited this old overseas Chinese at the time and during the production process. Some of the problems encountered, as well as some small works of high-rise rice noodles that I tried to make, were constantly communicating with this old overseas Chinese and learning from him.
[Explanation] Kungfu pays off. After several years of exploration and hard work, Chen Guorui's works have come out one after another, and they were quickly recognized. In 2018, they were included in the Fuzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Project. Chen Guorui told reporters that it takes a lot of time and energy to complete a work. During the interview, he showed reporters a work called Xiongji Baoxiao, which takes an average of 8 hours a day to produce and takes nearly a month to complete.
[Concurrent] Chen Guorui, the representative inheritor of high-rise rice noodles in Fuzhou
The most time-consuming part of making high-rise rice noodles is the bonding part. The bonded part may even be bonded five or six times, or even sometimes it is not ideal, and it has to be knocked out and bonded again. Therefore, it is necessary to calm down by yourself and carefully craftsmanship.
[Explanation] At present, only Chen Guorui is the only one who can make high-rise rice noodles locally. How to pass it down is a problem. With the promotion and cooperation of many parties, the Guhuai Central Primary School established the Fuzhou high-rise rice noodle training base, and Chen Guorui served as the teaching teacher for the inheritance of this skill. Chen Guorui believes that this is left by the ancestors, and the most important thing is to pass it on smoothly.
Reporter Wu Shengwei reports from Fuzhou, Fujian
Editor in charge: [Chen Haifeng]