Lin Hongkui: Peking Opera Masks tell stories

文章来源: CHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NEWS
发布时间: 2017/7/26 14:22:00

  Changchun Temple, once famous as the No.1 Buddhist temple in Beijing, now situates the Beijing Xicheng Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center. Here, Lin Hongkui, the 5th generation of intangible cultural heritage bearer for making painted clay-sculpture Peking opera masks was busy with his work.


  According to Lin, painted clay sculpture Peking opera masks were invented by a Peking opera fan surnamed Gui around 1894. Different from other Peking opera masks craftsmanship, painted clay sculpture Peking opera masks highlight the complicated character images with abundant imagination in exaggerated ways, which fully manifests fascination of the quintessence of the Chinese traditional culture. In 2009, painted clay sculpture Peking opera masks technique was listed in the Beijing intangible cultural heritage lists.


  Thanks to his mother, Tong Xiufen, the 4th generation of intangible cultural heritage bearer for making painted clay sculpture Peking opera masks, Lin Hongkui, a post-80s young man, forms ties closely with this 100-year old technique. After graduation from university, Lin Hongkui started his new career.


  Lin says that compared with drawing Peking opera masks for stage performances, it is much stricter to make painted clay sculpture Peking opera masks. You have to make semi-finished products first, then color them white and draw up the face contour in thin black lines. At last, fill the closed area with various colors. “Simply speaking, there are three steps in short: first, draw patterns, second, guarantee symmetry and third, ensure vividness. Crossing the threshold is not difficult, but mastery is another question. It usually takes a technician two to three years to finish each step, but so many people give up halfway. Only those who hold up until the last could make vivid and exquisite masks, ”says Lin Hongkui.


  With his technique growing more and more sophisticated, Lin Hongkui decided to enrich this traditional technique with modern technique. Lin says that in the past technicians used to draw on uniform semi-finished products. But with this method, the masks fail to demonstrate the most vivid expression. Together with his mother, Lin creatively crafts masks featuring a series of top opera performers. “We make semi-finished products in accordance with Peking opera masters and try our best to restore and freeze-frame their classic characters on the stages,” says Lin Hongkui.


  “I attend international fairs a lot and I do hope that more and more people will know about and like painted clay sculpture Peking opera masks, enabling friends from abroad to have an initial understanding about the traditional Chinese culture,” says Lin Hongkui. (by Li Qian)


  (Editor Li Xingyi)


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