(Chinese New Year walks to the grassroots) The ancient city of Quanzhou has beautiful lanterns and non-hereditary inheritance
Chinanews.com, Quanzhou, February 4th (Wu Guanbiao Zeng Fuzhi) In the world, the prosperity of the world, the prosperity of the lights, does not exceed the middle of Fujian.
The Lantern Festival is approaching, and more than a thousand exquisite lanterns are hung on the streets and alleys of the ancient city of Quanzhou, Fujian. People walking in the streets and alleys are like swimming in a painting.
On the 4th, Huang Lifeng, the national intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Quanzhou Li Yaobao Carving Paper, was still busy in the studio, making lanterns with her son Zhang Zhiquan, sharing years of experience in making lanterns.
"Quanzhou boneless paper-carved silk lanterns are a major display form of Li Yaobao's paper-carving." Huang Lifeng told reporters that this kind of lantern, which was first created by her grandfather and paper-carving master Li Yaobao, has no skeleton in the whole body and is partially decorated with paper-carving techniques. It also includes the characteristic color painting of ancient buildings and ancient furniture in southern Fujian, and is inlaid with glass filament technology, which is very exquisite and unique.
Li Yaobao paper carving is a traditional folk art in southern Fujian Province.
Photo by Wu Guanbiao
For Huang Lifeng, who lived in a traditional arts and crafts family since childhood, paper carvings and lanterns are "toys" that accompany her since she was a child, and they are also a family memory.
"When we were young, we lived with my grandfather. I helped my grandfather and mother make gold foil carved paper silk lanterns when I was 10 years old. My grandfather taught me how to stick gold foil. That was probably one of the happiest times in my life."
Later, under the guidance of her grandfather and mother, Huang Lifeng, who had a quiet personality, gradually learned the essentials of family learning; she also delved into various painting techniques and arts and crafts, and made innovations in lantern materials, exterior decoration, and structural modeling: using Western The three-dimensional painting method of gouache painting depicts dragons, phoenixes, lions and other auspicious animals with a more modern flavor.
"Spirit of the Bird" by Huang Lifeng.
Photo provided by the interviewee
"But Li Yaobao's paper carvings are always rooted in the traditional culture of southern Fujian." Huang Lifeng said that in her spare time, she likes to observe the exquisite decorative patterns on ancient buildings and old furniture in southern Fujian, and innovatively apply these patterns into lanterns and paper carvings .
In the stage design of "Hundred Birds Returning to Their Nests" for CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2023, the design team combined her lantern work "Spirit of the Bird" with elements of Quanzhou ancient houses, and the effect was shocking.
In Huang Lifeng's eyes, good carving and painting are indispensable to make boneless paper silk lanterns.
She told her son Zhang Zhiquan not to stop at "learning crafts" since she was a child, but also to pay attention to cultural accomplishment and the improvement of artistic concepts.
Whenever she is free, Huang Lifeng will take her son to visit the ancient city of Quanzhou to absorb the essence of southern Fujian culture and get more creative inspiration from it.
Huang Lifeng and her son Zhang Zhiquan made lanterns together.
Photo by Wu Guanbiao
Zhang Zhiquan is the fourth-generation inheritor of Li's lanterns and the fifth-generation inheritor of Li's paper-cut paper. Under the influence of his mother and grandmother, he also has a special liking for lanterns and paper-cut paper since he was a child.
Today, as a new generation of Quanzhou native, Zhang Zhiquan has a new thinking about traditional art after returning from studying abroad.
"We have to inherit the core part of traditional skills. But in new scenarios, we can try to combine lanterns with modern art concepts to achieve unexpected effects." Zhang Zhiquan, who majors in industrial design, said that one of his lantern works "Broken Frame" draws on the concept of Western deconstruction, decomposes and reconstructs the palace lanterns, shows the wonderful structure of boneless lanterns, and at the same time changes the appreciation of lanterns from "appreciation" to "experience".
In addition to teaching and supporting her son, Huang Lifeng wants to be like her grandfather to better protect and spread the intangible cultural heritage skills of paper carving and lamp making through her own actions.
As a new generation inheritor, Zhang Zhiquan has made more innovations after returning from studying abroad.
The picture shows "Broken Frame" by Zhang Zhiquan.
Photo provided by the interviewee
Since 2007, she has joined forces with some local schools in Quanzhou to bring paper-cutting skills and lamp-making skills into the classroom, turning "Li Yaobao's paper-cutting" from a family tradition into a "school tradition".
This year, the school-based textbooks "Carved Paper of Our House" and "Flower Lanterns of Our House" compiled by her will be released soon, bringing children and teachers a more professional teaching basis.
Generations of hard work and inheritance and innovation have made Li Yaobao's paper carvings and Li Yaobao's lanterns famous.
"Now, what I look forward to most is that my son can stand on our shoulders and produce more dynamic and creative works; I also hope that more and more young generations will fall in love with Quanzhou engraved paper and Quanzhou lanterns, These excellent traditional skills will be passed on.” Huang Lifeng said.
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