source: China News Network
Zhang Bingzheng carefully sculpted new works.
gourd, because of its homophonic "blessing", has been regarded as mascot by many people in Ji'nan. From the gourd decoration at the top of the ancient architecture to the gourd ornaments hung in the interior during festivals, Jinan people like to see the gourds. In Ji'nan folk, there is an art master specializing in gourd carving. He has carved out one thousand characters on a 40 cm high gourd. By virtue of this work, he won the highest prize in Chinese folk literature and Art Award, the folk arts and crafts prize. In January 12th, the reporter walked into the home of Zhang Bing, the gourd carving master, and witnessed the shock of the gourd carving.
[b] from the name of the street and village to the house building decoration [/b]
[b] Jinan, who was born in 1960, was born in Shandong College of Arts and Crafts and studied in the Shandong College of Arts and Crafts. He studied in the mural major. After graduation, he had been engaged in the development of tourism products in the tourism department, and then resigned special research. Look at the carvings of the gourd.
speaking of the hobby of the gourd, Zhang Bing said, like many Jinan people, the homophonic "Fudu" gourd symbolizes auspicious and beautiful life, especially in the folk, many people have the preference of collecting and playing Hulu utensils. To the present, Ji'nan is the most important Hulu commodity trading market in Shandong Province. In the land and distributing centers, there are few cities in the North besides Beijing and Tianjin.
Zhang Bing once made a special statistics, in Ji'nan, the village or the street name, including the gourd two words, the total number of more than 20, "for example, several villages are called cucurbit, cucurbit, before, and the cucurbits named street."
in addition to the name, on the roof of some ancient buildings on the front street of provincial capital, the ornaments of the gourd shape are often seen. "It can be said that the people of Zan have a unique feeling for the gourd. Even now, whenever I go to a few Hulu utensils shop under the hero hill, I can see many people choose to buy. Zhang Bing said gratified.
gourd splicing, "elephant"
[b]40 centimeter high gourd engraved with thousands of Fuke [/b]
[b], which made him take the highest prize for folk literature and art [/b]
into Zhang Bing's studio first, on the wall The hanging works of exquisite calabash: Facebook, ox head, bird nest... This room, which is less than 10 square meters, is the place where he conceived and created.
Zhang Bing began to inherit and develop the traditional gourd carving skills from 2001. According to the natural shape, color and quality of the gourd, using the techniques of line carving, carving, relief and combination, a piece of exquisite gourd engraving art is created.
"thousand Fu", which has been completed for more than three months in many works, is one of Zhang Bing's most satisfying works. On this 40 centimeter high natural gourd, Zhang Bing carved out 1000 different shapes of seal character "Fu" with a knife and a stroke. At the same time, the center of the gourd has been hollowed out. The whole work looks exquisitely delicate, but simple and natural.
Zhang Bing told reporters that the work was created in 2006. Three months after that, he would sit in the bed every morning, sit in front of the table, take out a small electric drill and give the gourd an eye. Then, with a special knife, he outlines the general pattern of the work, so busy at 10 o'clock in the evening, and even before sleep, how to put the gourd on the gourd. Carved into an extraordinary work. "Later, the arms, shoulders and arms were injured, and now they often ache."
is this piece of work, in 2007, from hundreds of pieces of work stand out, won the Chinese folk arts and Art Awards - the mountain flower prize? Folk arts and crafts awards. Before the award, a media reporter gave Zhang Bing a special call to ask his feelings, and he said, "the mood is not so exciting now, the most exciting moment is the moment when my creation was formally converted into a work, that is the most successful moment. As for winning a prize, it is a matter of course.
works "crabs" "crab basket"
[b] from the insect grasshopper to the car's fine hanger [/b]
[b] rare miniature gourd one can sell hundreds of yuan [/b]
"according to my understanding, in Ji'nan special play gourd insider, conservative estimate also Thousands of people, walking on the street, often see people hanging a small gourd, or in the car hanging a gourd adornment, you can see that people still like this unique mascot. Zhang Bing said that people like gourd, in addition to homophonic, but also related to people's plant worship. "A common gourd can be almost a hundred small gourds, plus many seeds inside, is a symbol of vigorous vitality, so this unremarkable object will be loved by everyone."
in addition to accessories and other ornaments, many people use gourd to make adult worms. "Like the market on the side of the mountain, many people hold grasshopper, crickets, all are made of gourds. Through special moulds, they are set on the non plucking gourds. They will grow in different shapes and can be used as mature ones." Insects. "
Zhang Bing told reporters that at present the Ji'nan market is mainly a deal of gourd works, and the planting of gourd, Liaocheng occupies the vast majority of the Shandong market. "Every time we go to the selection of materials, we will get from the mountain gourd of the growers. According to the needs of their own creation, we choose different sizes, different shapes and different colors of the gourd. The more uniform and smooth gourd, the higher the price, the larger the size, the higher the price. And some small gourd varieties, the smaller the price is the higher, like the kind of small gourd that can not be sought, it is possible to get one hundred gourds, the price is very high, a three to five hundred dollars! "
line carving "Water Margin characters"
[b] his all works are non sell [/b]
[b] someone bid tens of thousands to buy its representative to decline [/b]
and like many artists, Zhang Bing is strict with his own artistic creation. The bottom line of art is that art is art and will never be a machine for making money. It is just a simple reproduction of art, and has lost the value and vitality of art.
for his masterpiece, "thousand lucky", once a collector offered to buy at a high price of tens of thousands of dollars, Zhang Bing was declined. He said that all the works he created were not for sale. Similarly, he had no shop of his own, and he was always happy to create. "Recently, I also created a.Quot; Fu Shou Lian.Quot; in the two conjoined gourd, one engraved 100 words, and the other more than 80 life words."
since 1995, Zhang Bing has won the honorary title of "folk craft artists", "Arts and crafts masters in Shandong province", "the ten best folk artists in Ji'nan" and so on. In October 2010, Zhang Bing's gourd carving was included in the third batch of Ji'nan's intangible cultural heritage list. Today, he has been employed as the vice president of the Ji'nan Folk Artists Association, and is busy with the collation and rescue of folk art.
Zhang Bing was eagerly looking forward to a suitable disciple to inherit and carry forward his own craft, but there had been no suitable candidate.
Zhang Bing was very strict with his disciples. "In the process of being a judge, there are often players who ask me directly, what kind of work can you win the prize? That look makes people feel uncomfortable, realistic and utilitarian, not for art at all. In his view, can endure loneliness, resist the temptation, have a good character is the most important, of course, must have a great love of the gourd carving, in order to better inherit and carry forward.