This article**: People**Overseas Edition.
The sixth generation of Tianjin's "clay man Zhang Shijia":
Traditional intangible cultural heritage rejuvenation (splendid Chinese New Year, the new year to the grassroots).
Reporter of this newspaper Wu Shaomin.
People** Overseas Edition (2024-02-22 Edition 02).
Looking at the clay figure in his hand, he slowly picked up the carving knife, gently cut off a small piece of mud, and then kneaded and smoothed it with his hands, and the figure head was more angular......edged and angularIn the Spring Festival, walking into the clay figure Zhang Shijia studio located in a corner of Tianjin Ancient Culture Street, Zhang Yu, the sixth generation of the "clay man Zhang Shijia", is concentrating on creation.
This work is called "Confucius Fuqin", which inherits the traditional skills of the clay figure Zhang Shijia, and also incorporates my innovation, and the market response is good, and the relevant orders have been scheduled until 2025. Zhang Yu introduced.
It seems to be an ordinary clay figurine, but the production process is not simple. From the beginning of soil selection, it also has to go through multiple processes such as shaping, repair, drying, grinding and refinement, firing, and coloring, which basically takes several months or even longer. Zhang Yu said that creating clay figurines is a painstaking work, but also a careful work, and the overall and detailed works must be refined, and sometimes they will be reversed.
Zhang Yu, who was born in March 1978, walked out of his home at the age of 18 to start a business. "When I first started my business, I only rented a small courtyard in the middle of nowhere, where I researched and created day and night, not only to inherit the craftsmanship of my ancestors, but also to adapt to the market to support myself. Almost all year round, in the yard. In his opinion, it was this hardship that gave him a deeper insight and understanding of artistic creation, and created a new world for the clay man Zhang family.
As the inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage, Zhang Yu has been engaged in the creation and teaching of painted sculptures, as well as the comparative teaching and research of Chinese and Western sculptures, in order to promote innovation and inherit skills.
At the invitation of Tianjin University, Zhang Yu opened an elective course "Clay Figure Zhang's Centennial Skill Inheritance and Business Practice", so that more students can understand the history, culture and development of the Maison over the past century. On September 1 last year, the exhibition of Zhang Shijia's works of the clay figure "The Way of Appearance" opened in the library of the Beiyang Park Campus of Tianjin University. Cao Lei, a Ph.D. student from the Faculty of Management and Economics of Tianjin University, said: "Seeing the unique colors of traditional Chinese skills in the exhibition also inspires me to cherish the beauty of intangible cultural heritage in front of me with the eyes of discovery and discover the artistic brilliance around me. ”
Since 2014, Zhang Yu has carried out the "10,000 Clay Figures and Zhang Xiaochuan" learning program, established in-school learning rooms in many primary and secondary schools in Tianjin, and taught students traditional clay sculptures on a voluntary basis, and has trained more than 3,000 enthusiasts so far, and has achieved good social results.
I have a deeper understanding of the clay figurine", "our younger generation should shoulder the responsibility of intangible cultural heritage", ......Some students expressed their hope that more intangible cultural heritage items would be brought to campus.