《我眼中的北京非遗》系列节目第三期丨感受四百年前泥彩塑兔儿爷的非凡韵味

With a pair of long, pointed ears and a rouged face embellished with mountain-shaped eyebrows and a three-flap mouth, it is the Lord Rabbit, known as Tu'er Ye in Chinese. It usually sits upright on a lotus seat, carrying a vibrant flag of command on his back, wearing a golden armour, and holding a pestle for pounding medicine, which seems full of dignity and prestige. In the past, on the Mid-autumn Festival, every household in Beijing would make offerings to Lord Rabbit and hold a ceremony to worship it. Lord Rabbit symbolizes a lot of things and figurines with different mounts also have different meanings. As a unique cultural product of ancient Beijing, Lord Rabbit figurines were approved in 2014 as one of the fourth batch of national level intangible cultural heritage items, and since then more and more people have shown their interest in and love of Lord Rabbit.

Along the bustling Yangmeizhu Byway in Xicheng District of  Beijing stands a small shop that attracts people to pause and have a look. In this shop, Lord Rabbit figurines, in different shapes, with different looks, sitting or standing, fascinate tourists passing by. This is also the working place for Mr. ZHANG Zhongqiang, the fifth generation of inheritor of painted clay figurines in Beijing. Whether it is a foreigner or a child or a young person, Mr. Zhang will always greet the tourists who stop to watch in a friendly manner. He can make a vivid of animal clay figurine with only a piece of clay and a pencil. Production in such a short time has already make tourists feel the charm of clay scripting.

Jovana, a Serbian student from Beijing International Studies University walked into the shop with great expectations‌. After seeing Lord Rabbit figurines with various postures and vivid expressions, she was eager to ask, "I'm very curious about what superb craft is needed as to create such vivid painted figurines. Could you please tell me the story about Lord Rabbit? I'm so curious!" Mr. Zhang held a figurine in his hand and recounted the history of Lord Rabbit... Lord Rabbit derives from Jade Rabbit who pounds medicine in Guanghan (Moon) Palace of the Heaven. Once a deadly plague was rampant in Beijing. The Chinese moon goddess Chang'e sent Jade Rabbit down to the Earth to save people. The Rabbit spared no effort to visit thousands of households and treat the disease until the plague was expelled, which helped the image of Jade Rabbit deeply rooted in the hearts of Chinese people. Since then, people created the image of Lord Rabbit. On Mid-autumn Festival people usually worship Lord Rabbit and pray for the safety and health of their families.

The production of a Lord Rabbit figurine is complicated and delicate, including the steps of material selection, sun-drying, hammering, adding cotton, shaping, repairing, polishing, painting, decoration and so on. It takes by no means only one-day's effort to change a piece of clay into an exquisite Lord Rabbit figurine. Mr. Zhang held a writing brush and gently drew a few strokes on the face. A benign-looking Lord Rabbit with a leisurely and detached air came into view. It was so lifelike! Seeing this, Jovana also picked up a writing brush and drew out a Lord Rabbit of her own by following the suit of Mr. Zhang. In the process of sketching lines and matching colours, Jovana deeply felt the charm of Lord Rabbit and was marvelled at the exquisite craftsmanship.

During the conversation, Jovana learned that Mr. Zhang got involved with Lord Rabbit sculpting when he was a child. He said, "I was born here. There were more than thirty households in the neighborhood. In the past, whoever owed any toys was the king of the kids. I always kneaded the knick-knacks with clay and I became the king of the kids." Out of interest since his early years, Mr. Zhang often made some painted clay figurines. As he made more of them, he began to sell his works as commodities to tourists in Beijing and surprisedly found his works deeply loved by those people, so he ran a shop and became a craftsman of painted clay figurines.

During this period, Mr. Zhang encountered a variety of challengings which were in production, design, operation and sales. The difficulties once made him frustrated. Instead of giving up, he persisted in working as a craftsman, hoping to ‌inherit the culture of Lord Rabbit. He often said: "It's impossible to do anything without any difficulty. When you are caught in a dilemma, the key is to have a faith in what you are doing, which would guide you in the future direction." It is precisely because of such belief and persistence that he has been slowly refining his skills and works. He believes that when his works are excellent enough, more people will love Lord Rabbit as well as the excellent Chinese traditional culture.

As an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage, Mr. Zhang often goes around the world for cultural exchanges. Whenever he introduces the rich culture of Lord Rabbit to foreigners, they are amazed at and admire it. Since some of them are from countries with a history of only a few hundred years, yet the craft of Lord Rabbit sculpting has been passed down from generation to generation for more than 400 years. Mr. Zhang believes that he has the responsibility and obligation to pass on the traditional production craft and methods and spread the culture of Lord Rabbit to a wider world.

Talking about the future plan, Mr. Zhang said, "Now my goal is to build a Beijing Museum of Lord Rabbit Figurines, so that more domestic and foreign tourists will see not only the scientific, technological and social development of Beijing, but also the continuation of our traditional culture in Beijing." He believes that in today's world featuring cultural diversity and the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, it is the most important social responsibility of intangible cultural heritage craftsmen that is protecting, developing and inheriting excellent traditional culture. Moreover, he hopes that through his efforts, more people will love and understand the culture of Lord Rabbit and make it better received worldwide.