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With his long hair and full beard, Zhou Xinxing, a carving artist from central China's Jiangxi Province, was conspicuous among the tens of winners at the eighth annual Shanhua award ceremony in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
His work, an ivory brush pen with the 2008 Olympiad patterns carved microscopically on it, has won the Shanhua prize, the most prestigious award for folk literature and art in China. The pen is 20 cm long and 1 cm in diameter, and holds the Beijing Olympics logo, a greeting poem, the mascots of 38 Olympic events, and the events in both Chinese and English on its 5 cm×1 cm surface.
"On the one hand, the Beijing Olympics theme is hot among artists in China," Zhou told Beijing Review. "On the other, my hometown Wengang is widely regarded as the center for Chinese brush pens, with a history of making brush pens for more than 1,600 years. My work combines the two."
It took him almost two months -- starting from May this year -- to finish the work.
Zhou told Beijing Review that he used to serve at Wengang Hospital as a surgical doctor since the 1970s, and did some microscopic carving work in his spare time. In the early 1990s, he left the hospital and took along the carving knife instead of the surgical one, hoping to become a carving professional. His skill level improved gradually with study, frequent visits to exhibitions, and meetings with fellow artists, etc. His creations, namely miniature engraving on bamboo and wood slips, came to be recognized by the Guinness World Record and granted design patent by the State Intellectual Property Office.
A more open mind
Zhou said that he is now teaching three students besides creating his own work; and the teaching is totally free of charge. The reason for this is simple: the art needs continuity, or it will vanish with the passing of the artists.
Zhou's work won the 8th Shanhua Prize
"Microscopic carving is a kind of comprehensive art that combines creation, calligraphy and carving," said Zhou. "It requires a high level of sight, but the sense and feelings of the artist are more important.
"As far as I know, there are less than 300 micro-carving artists nationwide, while the masters only number eight. In the past, artists tended to be conservative; they were unwilling to teach students and were cautious about fellow artists as well. But now, things have changed. We are friends rather than enemies; we can learn from each other and share information. I believe that only with a more open mind can microscopic carving improve, as with other folk arts."
He continued, "I'm now 58 and my students are 30 years younger than me. The education level of artists in my generation is relatively low, and the study or exploration of our art was done by and large independently. Given their educational advantage I'm sure that my students will surpass me in the near future as long as they study hard."
Zhou's standpoint is echoed by Lu Yunshan, a 57-year-old Mongol pokerwork artist from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The pokerwork trilogy on artificial leather by Lu and his student Wang Caixia won the Shanhua golden prizes in previous ceremonies.
"The trilogy we produced is based on the Mongols' life in Erdos -- featuring the day of birth, wedding, and a birthday celebration, in that order," Lu told Beijing Review. "It has taken us almost 18 years to finish it. Wang Caixia is a good girl with high potential and enthusiasm for art. Her performance is better than mine, although she is only 28 years old."
"More importantly, 'art without boundaries' is what I believe in and adhere to. So, my student is not a Mongol, but comes from the Han ethnic group."
Incidentally, Luo Yang, head of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Society (CFLAS), also spoke about how the art could be passed on from generation to generation.
"The award aims to improve the quality of Chinese folk literature and arts on the one hand, and stimulate folk artists' creativity on the other hand," he said. "However, problems such as how to inherit, develop and pass the art on, always exist and need to be addressed sooner or later. Otherwise, the art will vanish along with the passing of the artist, since there are few textbooks or print materials available on the subject.
"We have set up a mechanism to prevent such a situation, as some 166 artists, in June, were named the national distinguished folk art inheritors, with 18 of them being 80 years or above."
Never too late
A project to protect folk art legacy has been initiated by the CFLAS since 2003, according to Luo. It will survey, register, categorize folk art legacy, and publish related materials in 10 years. In addition, the State Council issued the first national intangible heritage list in May 2006, which covers 10 major categories and 518 disciplines. These, according to Luo, aim to protect Chinese folk art as best as they can.
With regard to the rescuing and protection of folk art, Jia Zhenbang, a teacher at a primary school in Wuqiang County of Hebei Province, is worth a mention. In October 2003, Jia and his two brothers rescued all the 155 Wuqiang New Year painting boards they inherited from their ancestors, and donated them to the local museum. The boards, according to experts, span the period from mid-18th century to early 20th century; 15 of them were the first-ever discovered relics of that period in China.
Feng Jicai, President of CFLAS, was all praise for the Jias, and called for greater awareness of folk art protection among the masses.
"In the past, people saw the family heirloom as their private property," said Feng. "Now, their minds are more open, and they see that it not only belongs to them, but to the whole nation. More and more people, like the Jias, are now aware of the need to rescue and protect China's folk art; they have realized the cultural value behind the legacy in the era of globalization."
According to Luo, the project has already made some progress, including the release of the Wei County Volume of Collection of Chinese Folk Paper Cutting, the launch of the survey on painted clay sculptures, etc.
A recent exhibition on rescuing and protecting Tibetan folk art kicked off at the Capital Museum in Beijing. Amazingly, more than 480 relics being exhibited come from one person -- Ye Xing, a 60-year-old researcher from the Center of Tibetan Studies. As early as in 1999, Ye has donated over 2,300 relics over the space of 30 years to Tibet.
"The relics are just like children," he said, speaking about his motives behind the donations. "I raise them and return them to their own parents -- the people in Tibet."
Background information
The eighth annual Shanhua Award Ceremony, the most prestigious event for folk literature and art in China, was held in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, on Friday, November 30, 2007. It is the first time that the ceremony was held outside Beijing. The Xiangcheng District of Suzhou, renowned for its folk art, has been selected as a permanent base for the award ceremony.
The award ceremony has been co-organized since 1999 by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Society. |
