Yang Fengyan, 57, is a traditional hairy monkey craftsman and the third-generation inheritor of Jinan's hairy monkeys. Photo by Jinan Times New Yellow River client reporter Wang Qian.
Half-inch monkey dedication to Kyoto, vivid painting Xi. The white depiction is subtle and innovative, and the two-flavor decoction pieces are better than the pearls. "Mr. Hu Jieqing, the wife of Lao She, once described an old Beijing folk craft - the hairy monkey. In Jinan, 57-year-old Yang Fengyan is a traditional hairy monkey craftsman and the third-generation inheritor of Jinan's hairy monkeys. For more than 30 years, he has been obsessed with the creation of hairy monkeys, using Xinyi and cicadas to shape the form of "seventy-two changes" of hairy monkeys.
At the age of 6, I first met the hairy monkey and loved to take root and sprout
Walking into Yang Fengyan's studio, in a basement of less than 15 square meters, the plaques of "Jinan Hairy Monkey" and "Hairy Monkey Yang" are impressively visible. On the large table are two table lamps, a few sticks of white latex and 502 glue, and boxes containing tools such as scissors, tweezers, and bamboo sticks, and boxes of Xinyi and cicadas are placed on the shelves next to the table.
Yang Fengyan told the New Yellow River reporter that the hairy monkey is also called the half-inch monkey, which is a kind of folk handicraft, which originated in the late Qing Dynasty, because it is covered with hair, looks and forms similar to monkeys, so it is called "hairy monkey".
This is the bud of magnolia, which is called 'Xinyi' in traditional Chinese medicine, and is generally used as the monkey body of the hairy monkey'Cicada molt' is to know the shell, use its head to make a monkey face, the thick front legs are used to make the lower limbs of the hairy monkey, the hind legs are used as the upper limbs, and the tentacles are used as monkey ears, and some of the hairs on the cicada can wet the hair of the monkey, which is very realistic. He said that in ancient times, four kinds of medicinal materials, namely Xinyi, cicada, Mutong and Baiji, were used as "monkey feed", and later, Mutong used to make hats and Baiqi used as a binder had a more suitable material substitute.
Speaking of the indissoluble bond with the hairy monkey, Yang Fengyan's memory goes back to when he was 6 years old. According to him, his grandmother often had nosebleeds at that time, so she drank Chinese medicine to regulate her body. Whenever the medicine is boiled, grandma picks out a few flavors of Chinese medicine such as Xinyi and makes him a "hairy monkey". "When I was younger, the first time I saw this thing, I thought it was very interesting. Since then, the hairy monkey has left a deep impression on the young Yang Fengyan.
Later, Yang Fengyan "stared" at the hairy monkeys made by his father, and rearranged and combined those little monkeys every time. Whether it's the set or the hairy monkey, he can't put it down. "When I was a child, I liked to follow my father to the suburbs to find the shell, and then come back and stick the 'hairy monkey' by myself. Yang Fengyan said that although his unfamiliar methods were often "provoked" by his father, his love for hairy monkeys has not diminished by half.
The scene is crucial The size ratio is the most difficult to control
There is a saying in our line called 'seven points of scenery and three points of monkeys', that is, to do a good job of hairy monkey works, seven points are in the props, and three points are in the monkey. Yang Fengyan further explained that the traditional hairy monkey is good at expressing folk life, and the construction of the scene is very important.
According to the normal proportions of the human body, it is generally short and long legs, but because of the limitation of materials, hairy monkeys have short legs and long bodies, and it is not easy to take into account the size, proportion and beauty in the props. In order to make the details more exquisite and make each scene more vivid, Yang Fengyan also studied the skills of dough sculpture and miniature carving.
In the living room of Yang Fengyan's house, the display cabinet of more than one person is full of his proud works, and "The Great Sage's Marry" is one of his proudest works. The 27 hairy monkeys vividly restore the ancient marriage scene of old Jinan, carrying sedan chairs, beating gongs, and playing drums, and the mighty honor guard is vivid. This work was inspired by a wedding attended by Yang Fengyan. At that time, when he saw the sedan chair that the bride was sitting on, he wanted to use the hairy monkey to show it, so he checked a lot of information, which lasted more than two months, and finally restored it.
You see this bamboo curtain, I specially learned Xi ancient weaving method to make, although it is small, but it can be rolled up. Yang Fengyan pointed to a bamboo curtain only two or three centimeters long in the "Market Map" and said. In order to restore the style of old Jinan, he is very particular about making old objects. These seemingly inconspicuous props take a disproportionate amount of effort to their size.
The hairy monkey has no eyes and expressions, and can only rely on body language to express joy, anger and sorrow, and tell the story clearly. Yang Fengyan gave an example, "For example, this sugar gourd seller wants to shape a hairy monkey carrying a rock sugar gourd grass target with both hands, and the two arms of the hairy monkey have different movements, so they must carefully compare and select among dozens or even hundreds of cicadas." Whether the hairy monkey's hand rises or falls also has to be determined according to the scene, not just stick one. He said that it is not enough for the hairy monkey to be expressive, and the size of each sugar gourd must be made according to the proportion of the hairy monkey. "I knead the small round balls with miniature dough molds, string them together with a very thin bamboo skewer, and finally stick them one by one into the grass targets. To complete a good hairy monkey work, ingenuity and skillful hands are indispensable. ”
Lead students to explore "intangible cultural heritage" and look forward to infinite possibilities in the future
Up to now, Yang Fengyan has made more than 100 kinds of hairy monkey themes. In his works, the tricycle driver shouts and solicits customers on the streetside, the children in the courtyard eat 5-cent popsicles, and the two play against the spectators scratching their ears and ......cheeksThe vivid images all come from his childhood memories, which are also the memories of old Jinan.
In 2017, the hairy monkey of Jinan was recognized as a "municipal intangible cultural heritage". In Yang Fengyan's view, intangible cultural heritage cannot be separated from life, and he puts his precious memories in it, so that every hairy monkey is contaminated with the breath of time. "Many people look at the hairy monkeys I make, and they will have a kind of common emotion, because many scenes are ** in life, and the hairy monkeys in them are the epitome of everyone in ordinary life. ”
All along, Yang Fengyan's works have kept pace with the times, nostalgic and innovative at the same time. During the Beijing Winter Olympics, he created a skiing hairy monkey to help the Winter Olympics athletes, and after posting it on social platforms, it was loved by many friends. "A work of art is to follow the footsteps of the times and serve the people, so that it can be meaningful. ”
Sometimes for a work, Yang Fengyan will spend a lot of effort. "Like checking information, drawing drawings, and selecting materials, these are actually quite boring to repeat, and they require perseverance and the spirit of craftsmanship that can endure loneliness. Yang Fengyan said that after the completion of the work, he will have a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from the heart, not only because of the birth of a "hairy child", but also because the intangible cultural heritage culture has added a bit of color at that moment.
Compared with other intangible cultural heritage, there are too few people who care about hairy monkeys. I hope that through my efforts, more people will understand and approach hairy monkeys. To Yang Fengyan's gratification, in recent years, through the activities of intangible cultural heritage into the campus, he has brought hairy monkeys into the campus, and more and more children have learned to make Jinan hairy monkeys.
Talking about his "** person", Yang Fengyan said that he has always longed for such a person who can love this intangible cultural heritage skill from the bottom of his heart. "I believe that more and more people will appreciate and inherit the beauty of Jinan hairy monkeys and intangible cultural heritage, and there will be infinite possibilities for the spread and promotion of Jinan hairy monkeys. ”