Wearing a golden helmet and armor, holding a pounding pestle, and a bright flag behind him; the pink face is dotted with mountain-shaped eyebrows and a three-petal mouth, and the two ears on the head are long and pointed; surrounded by sweet-scented osmanthus Trees, jade rabbits, lotus flowers, fish lanterns... The rabbit master sitting on the lotus seat in the middle is so majestic.
In a small shop on Yangmeizhu Xiejie Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, a statue of a rabbit with a human body, sitting or standing, and with different expressions attracts tourists.
"2023 is the year of the zodiac rabbit. Based on the design of previous years, this zodiac-themed rabbit baby has added elements of praying for the epidemic to dissipate and wishing good luck and well-being." Zhang Zhongqiang, the representative inheritor of Beijing colored sculptures, said.
According to Gao Wei, president of the Beijing Folklore Society, the Rabbit Master has been passed down for more than 400 years.
In the past, every Mid-Autumn Festival, every household in Beijing would worship the Rabbit Lord and hold a ceremony of worshiping the Rabbit Lord.
According to legend, the birth of Rabbit Master originated from the Jade Rabbit who pounded medicine in Guanghan Palace.
One year, the capital suffered from a plague, and Chang'e sent the jade rabbit down to the earth to treat the common people.
The Jade Rabbit turned into a human being, went door to door, treated every patient, until the plague in Beijing was driven away, and the image of the Jade Rabbit remained in people's hearts.
People have created Lord Rabbit, and pray to Lord Rabbit every Mid-Autumn Festival to pray for the health of the family members.
Rabbit masters vary in size. According to records, in the late Qing Dynasty, there were large rabbit masters with a height of more than one meter, while small rabbit masters were only about three or four inches. They were delicate and small, and adults and children loved them.
Among the late Qing clay rabbit masters currently in the Palace Museum in Beijing, there is one that is 31 centimeters high, 25 centimeters long and 8 centimeters wide.
This rabbit master appears in the image of a civil servant, wearing an official hat and uniform, holding a pounding pestle, holding an official belt with one hand, riding sideways on a sika deer, with a naive expression.
Because "Lu" and "Lu" are homophonic, they refer to "salary", and then extended to official positions, expressing people's desire to become officials at that time.
Today, there are almost no ceremonies to worship the Rabbit Master, and the various wishes carried by the Rabbit Master are still continuing.
The Rabbit Lord with local cultural characteristics has become a souvenir that people like to buy when they visit temple fairs and cultural and creative stores during the Chinese New Year. symbol.
Mud selection, soaking, beating, compacting, priming, painting... In traditional crafts, it is not a day's work to transform from a ball of mud to a rabbit.
In 2014, the clay sculpture (Beijing Rabbit Master) was listed in the fourth batch of representative items of national intangible cultural heritage. More and more people pay attention to and like Rabbit Master.
In recent years, Master Rabbit has also become an envoy of friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries, leaving a naive figure in France, Italy, Pakistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Estonia, Finland and other countries.
"Foreign friends watched Rabbit's cute shape and vivid intangible cultural heritage performances, and listened to romantic legends, and expressed their love for Rabbit." Zhang Zhongqiang said.
(Reporter Luo Xin) According to Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 22