Yan Hong: A National Artisan Who Went Abroad (New National Tide)

　　Xu Maonan

　　Using 68 discarded cans, it took 60 days to imitate the Miao headwear; it took 45 days to make "gold" armor with 3,000 nut shells; the Qing Dynasty fingertip armor was made with copper wire mesh; the Ming Dynasty Diancui was imitated with goose feathers Zhai Guan... Douyin creator "Yanhong Aimee" often makes hot searches with his own handicrafts.

Netizens sighed: "I didn't expect such exquisite national style handicrafts to be made of common household items or even discarded materials, which are environmentally friendly and beautiful!"

　　From re-enacting "Strategy of Yanxi Palace" and "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" and other costume drama headwear that became popular on the Internet, to learning traditional crafts such as velvet flower, filigree inlay and other traditional crafts for original design, flexibly selecting daily items such as cans for technological innovation, "post-85s" Sichuan girls Yanhong made a video of the production process and posted it on social media platforms such as Douyin, which has been sought after and loved by netizens at home and abroad.

　　From craft lovers to craftsmen

　　"The finished bridal headdresses that I bought were not very delicate, so I tried to design the headdresses myself," said Yanhong.

Because of his love for handmade creativity since childhood, Yanhong resigned from his job as a nurse in 2015 and turned to be a wedding makeup artist, and began to get in touch with makeup styling and learn to make wedding headwear.

　　In September 2018, Yanhong released the first video work on Douyin - using a velvet stick to imitate the velvet flower headdress worn by Queen Fucha in "Story of Yanxi Palace".

Unexpectedly, she has no fan base because of this video, she has won the attention and likes of many netizens, "I feel very encouraged, and suddenly I found that so many people like videos with traditional handicraft production as the content. ." Yan Hong said.

　　In order to improve the level of creation, from basic knowledge of painting, color matching, ancient culture, etc., to commonly used ancient handcraft skills such as glue, imitation velvet, origami, Yanhong constantly learns by herself, because she feels that she is not a professional, so she wants to There is a lot of tutoring stuff.”

Later, she successively re-engraved many national style headdresses, such as Yu Concubine's wishful crown in "Farewell My Concubine", the nine-dragon and four-phoenix flower hairpin crown worn by the Queen of Song Dynasty in "Qing Ping Le", "Do You Know It Should Be Green, Fat and Red" In "Slim", the phoenix crown that Sheng Minglan wore during her wedding, many netizens began to call Yanhong "handicraft god".

　　However, the professional comments of some old craftsmen who inherited traditional handicraft skills reminded Yan Hong.

"I have been using 'imitation dot emerald' as headwear before, which is a method I discovered through self-study, but from the point of view of professional filigree inlay craftsmen, what I do can only be regarded as handmade, and compared with traditional craftsmanship, there are still Rough and unprofessional place."

　　After being questioned, Yan Hong was not discouraged, but accepted the criticism calmly and began to actively seek to learn from a teacher.

Through the local intangible cultural heritage management department, she got in touch with Ni Chengyu, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage project of Sichuan Province - Chengdu silver filigree production skills.

Ni Chengyu was moved by Yanhong's work and talent, and officially accepted her as an apprentice in May 2021 to teach the traditional skills of filigree inlay. Then the two worked together to complete works such as filigree inlay step and crown.

　　From "handmade enthusiast" to "craftsman", Yanhong is on the way.

"After learning filigree inlay from the master, I gradually came into contact with and learned the real intangible cultural heritage skills. So far, what I have learned is still the tip of the iceberg of this skill, but it also gives me a sense of mission. Next, I I want to thoroughly study the traditional intangible heritage technique of filigree inlay and bring more works to everyone." Yan Hong said.

　　proud of traditional culture

　　In Yanhong's video works, in addition to showing the production process of headgear, it also adds an introduction to traditional Chinese culture such as traditional costumes and handicraft skills.

In addition to finding inspiration through TV dramas and paintings, Yanhong will also draw more inspiration from mythological books, ancient murals and cultural relics.

　　For example, in the "Book of Mountains and Seas" series of works, Yanhong designed makeup and jewelry with artistic personality based on the myths and legends of the baby spoon, husband and other animals.

There are also headwear and makeup inspired by Jingwei, Sanxingdui Bronze Sacred Tree, Mogao Grottoes murals, etc., which also left a deep impression on netizens.

　　Today, Yanhong's video production has been viewed nearly 20 million times on the entire network, and has been shared abroad by many enthusiastic netizens.

In 2019, Yanhong was invited by Oxford University to give a speech. With the theme of "10,000 Possibilities of Chinese Creation", she shared the creative concept of Guofeng handicraft works and her unique experience with international friends.

She also said: "I want to share the beauty of our traditional culture and at the same time learn things that I can't see in China." Soon after, Yanhong was invited by an Indonesian designer to cooperate in the design of 2021 Clothing from Milan Fashion Week.

At Milan Fashion Week, Yanhong combined his 11 sets of handmade headdresses, belts, skirts and other 11 sets with fashion, and the stunning show effect attracted the attention of major foreign fashion magazines.

　　In the face of praise from foreign media, Yanhong is proud of traditional culture and national craftsmanship. "With the development of the economy, people prefer things with warmth and depth. I believe that traditional craftsmanship must have great potential." She said .