Master Skills——Hu Ruyun’s Complex Of Paper Horses And Flowers
Source:Shaoyang International CultureWriter:Liu QiguiTime:2014-03-22Clicks：次
Hu Ruyun,aged 63 this year, lives in Shifeng Village, Liuduzai Town of Longhui County. From his childhood,he loved painting and was interested in handcraft and good at knitting. Little schooling as he received, he is clever in mind and persists in whatever he does.Now he is outstanding in making paper horses and paper houses for the diseased, without any rivals in the field.He won praises and a fame with his matchless handworks. Last year he was acknowledged by Shaoyang Municipal Government as the successor of Meishan paper horses and flowers of the second patch of intangible cultural heritage.
To be a master of paper horses and flowers, one must first learn to make the paper house for the diseased.It is a gold signboard.Only when he is able to make a colorful paper house, can he do whatever he wants to in this field and show his ability freely. Beautiful paper houses of novel designs will win him a good popularity,bring him better business and earn him more money.And there is no problem to support his family by making paper horses and flowers.
The paper house for the dead to live in is a representative work of a paper-horse-and-flower craftsman. The handcraft has a long history. The legend is that when he traveled to the hell in his dream Emperor Tangming saw his diseased family members roaming about, crying sadly and suffering a lot because they had no houses of their own. When he woke up, he remembered the scene clearly as if it appeared just before his eyes.So he instructed that everyone under his rule offer sacrifices and burn paper houses to comfort the diseased soul.
The houses are different in size and design, and its price is also different according to its size and design.The house may be so large that it has two stories with many rooms and monks can get in to perform religious rituals.
To make such a house, many kinds of tools are required,such as knives of different sizes and shapes, saws, scissors, pliers, brushes, threads, starch glue, Chinese brushes, painting brushes, and so on. The materials needed are thin bamboo strips, paper of different colors,such as white, red green yellow, golden, and a lot of colorful sheets of paper. All these must be fully prepared. None of the tools or materials can be short.
The process is complex. First, there is no fixed size or design. The size and design are determined according to the host’s demand, which in turn determine the materials to be needed. And the decoration also depends on the host’s demand. Only when the size, the design and the decoration are decided on, does the craftsman begin to make a plan.Second, decoration is difficult because of different and complex decorates. For example, on the walls are pictures painted. Each picture demonstrates a wonderful story like “Set Brotherhood In The Peach Garden”, “Eight Immortals Crossing The Sea”, “Five Sons Perform Filial Piety”. And on the sides of the front gate there can be an antithetical couplet.Third, different kinds of work must be done.The worker must cut the bamboo into pieces and strips to make post,roof beams,rafters, joists and so on,which are trussed to make a frame of a house. When the frame is finished, colorful paper is sticked on the frame with paste and glue so that the whole looks like a real house.At last,the decoration is done to make the house beautiful. So it is difficult to make such a craftsman. He must know how to cut bamboo into thin strips, how to carve sculptures, how to cut paper, how to paint pictures and how to write calligraphy. Therefore, such a handcraftsman has to be versatile.
For decades,Hu Ruyun has visited many a master to learn from them in addition to his family workmanship in order to do better to best.Early, he heard that a master with his family name Zhang in Xinhua County could make very wonderful paper horses and flowers and his deeds were even reported in Hunan Daily.He decided to have him as his teacher.He paid a visit with presents to him. But Master Zhang was stubborn and refused to teach him his skills.Hu Ruyun rented a house opposite to Zhang’s.Every day he went to talk with Zhang and helped him fetch water,gather firewood,dig earth and fertilize crops.When Zhang went out to do business, Hu carried the load for him without receiving any pay.Consequently,Master Zhang was moved by his sincerity and agreed to pass his craftsmanship on to him. Zhang spared nothing but taught him everything.Skills added up little by little to a thorough inspiration so that Hu Ruyun’s paper horses and flowers got out of the fixed pattern and began to show an extraordinary artistic quality. His original creations, added to his inherited three-dimensional flowers, are more than twenty kinds, such as “two dragons fighting for a pearl”, “ two phoenixes worshiping the sun”, “two dragons surrounding the peony”, “plum blossom-wax gourd window”, “tower gate and flower window”, “magpie-lotus square with circling lines”, and so on. All these are fine and unique. The pictures are beautiful with flowing lines.The patterns are mainly symmetrical and realistic. Form merged with spirit, the pictures are true to life.
To be a master of paper horses and flowers, one must first learn to make the paper house for the diseased.It is a gold signboard.Only when he is able to make a colorful paper house, can he do whatever he wants to in this field and show his ability freely. Beautiful paper houses of novel designs will win him a good popularity,bring him better business and earn him more money.And there is no problem to support his family by making paper horses and flowers.
The paper house for the dead to live in is a representative work of a paper-horse-and-flower craftsman. The handcraft has a long history. The legend is that when he traveled to the hell in his dream Emperor Tangming saw his diseased family members roaming about, crying sadly and suffering a lot because they had no houses of their own. When he woke up, he remembered the scene clearly as if it appeared just before his eyes.So he instructed that everyone under his rule offer sacrifices and burn paper houses to comfort the diseased soul.
The houses are different in size and design, and its price is also different according to its size and design.The house may be so large that it has two stories with many rooms and monks can get in to perform religious rituals.
To make such a house, many kinds of tools are required,such as knives of different sizes and shapes, saws, scissors, pliers, brushes, threads, starch glue, Chinese brushes, painting brushes, and so on. The materials needed are thin bamboo strips, paper of different colors,such as white, red green yellow, golden, and a lot of colorful sheets of paper. All these must be fully prepared. None of the tools or materials can be short.
The process is complex. First, there is no fixed size or design. The size and design are determined according to the host’s demand, which in turn determine the materials to be needed. And the decoration also depends on the host’s demand. Only when the size, the design and the decoration are decided on, does the craftsman begin to make a plan.Second, decoration is difficult because of different and complex decorates. For example, on the walls are pictures painted. Each picture demonstrates a wonderful story like “Set Brotherhood In The Peach Garden”, “Eight Immortals Crossing The Sea”, “Five Sons Perform Filial Piety”. And on the sides of the front gate there can be an antithetical couplet.Third, different kinds of work must be done.The worker must cut the bamboo into pieces and strips to make post,roof beams,rafters, joists and so on,which are trussed to make a frame of a house. When the frame is finished, colorful paper is sticked on the frame with paste and glue so that the whole looks like a real house.At last,the decoration is done to make the house beautiful. So it is difficult to make such a craftsman. He must know how to cut bamboo into thin strips, how to carve sculptures, how to cut paper, how to paint pictures and how to write calligraphy. Therefore, such a handcraftsman has to be versatile.
For decades,Hu Ruyun has visited many a master to learn from them in addition to his family workmanship in order to do better to best.Early, he heard that a master with his family name Zhang in Xinhua County could make very wonderful paper horses and flowers and his deeds were even reported in Hunan Daily.He decided to have him as his teacher.He paid a visit with presents to him. But Master Zhang was stubborn and refused to teach him his skills.Hu Ruyun rented a house opposite to Zhang’s.Every day he went to talk with Zhang and helped him fetch water,gather firewood,dig earth and fertilize crops.When Zhang went out to do business, Hu carried the load for him without receiving any pay.Consequently,Master Zhang was moved by his sincerity and agreed to pass his craftsmanship on to him. Zhang spared nothing but taught him everything.Skills added up little by little to a thorough inspiration so that Hu Ruyun’s paper horses and flowers got out of the fixed pattern and began to show an extraordinary artistic quality. His original creations, added to his inherited three-dimensional flowers, are more than twenty kinds, such as “two dragons fighting for a pearl”, “ two phoenixes worshiping the sun”, “two dragons surrounding the peony”, “plum blossom-wax gourd window”, “tower gate and flower window”, “magpie-lotus square with circling lines”, and so on. All these are fine and unique. The pictures are beautiful with flowing lines.The patterns are mainly symmetrical and realistic. Form merged with spirit, the pictures are true to life.