Since ancient times, Lingnan has had the custom of “committing friends with dragons”. “Picking dragon boats” on the Dragon Boat Festival is not only a traditional folk activity, but also an important ritual for people to visit relatives and friends. The dragon head is regarded as the “soul” of the dragon boat. It is a detachable independent component. The dragon head with different shapes and unique charms gives each dragon boat team a unique meaning. At the same time, the dragon head is vigorous and beautifully carved, and has become the object of people’s focus.
A craftsmanship, a craft, and a perseverance. They use a dragon boat bow to carve traditions, and also carve the spirit of craftsmanship and life.
Zhang Weichao has carved dragon boats with dragon heads and tails for more than 20 years. Liu Zhuonan Photo by Liu Zhuonan
The “head” who appeared at the Winter Olympics comes from this “post-80s” in Guangzhou
Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Liu Zhuonan Guo Siqi
In Xiasha Village, Huangpu District, Guangzhou, there is a special ancient ancestral hall. When you walk in, you can see that the blue brick wall is full of oars for dragon boats. On the other side, exquisite dragon heads are arranged scattered, with longan eyes wide open, with flowing beards and majestic and domineering. Walking further, I saw a wide variety of woodcarving tools such as planers, chisels, saws, files, etc. on the ground. Wood chips floated in the air, and the sounds of machines and knocking sounds came one after another. This is Zhang Weichao’s dragon boat carving studio Babaylan.
Zhang Weichao is a “80-year-old Cinema”. He is 35 years old this year. He has been carving dragon boats with dragon heads and tails for more than 20 years. At the opening ceremony of this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics, in the countdown session set by 24 solar terms, a leader with great Chinese traditional characteristics surfaced with splashes. This is Zhang Weichao’s leading work. From his childhood “playing around” to now moving to the world stage, Zhang Weichao has grown into a well-known dragon boat dragon head and tail carving craftsman in Guangdong, and is also the inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage. He said: “Behind the dragon boat and dragon head skills is our folk culture, our roots and soul.”
Zhang Weichao’s works by the head of the head of the head of the head of the dragon boat. Photo provided by the interviewee
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“Dragon boats are the most important cultural marks of my childhood”
Talking about the origin of the dragon boats, Zhang Weichao said that this is the most important cultural mark of his childhood. “Since I was a child, I loved watching dragon boat racing in the village. Children will make some small plays by themselves. The little dragon boat model is one of them. “Zhang Weichao’s father is an old carpenter with a complete range of woodcarving tools in his home. Under the influence of his eyes, he also learned some carving skills. With his interest and talent, he became the “ceiling” of carving dragon boats among his childhood playmates.
At the age of 12, Zhang Weichao sold his first dragon boat model. When he was in junior high school, people from other villages asked him to customize and buy it. Gradually, Zhang Weichao became famous. When <a When Cinema was still in school, he could only use his holidays to work. A model often took a summer vacation. In order to understand the shape of dragon boats in more ways, when the Dragon Boat Festival comes, Zhang Weichao took a ruler and a picture book to read the dragon boats in the surrounding villages and record the data. During other times outside the Dragon Boat Festival, the dragon boats were sunk under the surging water, and Zhang Weichao often dived to understand the shape of dragon boats. "Komiks At that time, it seemed that he had entered another small world. If he liked these things, he wanted to study them. My own works have been recognized and I am particularly proud. “Zhang Weichao said.
Zhang Weichao is carving the dragon head Liu Zhuonan Photo
Turn:
Transfer to the “iron rice bowl” and carving the ” dragon head” full-time
Babaylan2009 was a turning point for Zhang Weichao. At that time, he graduated from the auto repair major of vocational school and had been staying at the school as a practical teacher for more than a year. It was difficult to take into account both teaching and carving, so he decided to resign and concentrate on dragon boat carving. “It would seem like the whole world was opposing it. “At that time, there were only six or seven dragon boat production factories in Guangzhou, Babaylan, and craftsmen who worked as hand-carved dragon boat dragon heads.There are only a handful of them, and most of them are over 50 years old. In the eyes of many people, Zhang Weichao, 22, made this choice. But, soon, he proved himself.
One month before the Dragon Boat Festival in 2010, Zhang Weichao received a difficult order, and Luntou Village, Haizhu District urgently needed to become three new leaders. He had never carved a dragon head before, and he had to make three dragon heads in a month, and he was unsure. “The dragon head is the ‘soul’ of the dragon boat and an important symbol of a village. They trust me and I will do it no matter what.” For this reason, Zhang Weichao worked day and night at home, and finally handed over three exquisite dragon heads on time. At that time, the news spread all of a sudden, and many people rushed to watch after hearing the news, “They were all surprised that I, who made the dragon boat model, actually made three dragon leaders.” This also ushered in a turning point in his career – from dragon boat model carving Cinema to leading carving, he also became a well-known industry star, with orders coming one after another.
Caring a faucet is a very meticulous and complex task. Zhang Weichao introduced that handmade faucets require more than ten tedious processes such as wood selection, cutting, outlining, carving to polishing, polishing, and lacquer mounting. The cycle of completing a leading leader is as short as one week and as long as ten or twenty days, but the early work often takes several months or even several years.
“Every time I receive an order, what I have to do first is not carving, but to go on a field trip and understand the history and culture of the village. I will let the villagers participate, especially young people, ask them to put forward some ideas for making the leader and make them in combination with their opinions. A dragon boat leader may take decades or hundreds of years. While the villagers participate in the production, they also understand their own village history and culture and increase their cultural pride. Such a leader is particularly warm and has a story.” Zhang Weichao said.
Zhang Weichao is carving the dragon head Liu Zhuonan. Inheritance:
Find the cultural roots behind the dragon boat head
In 2020, the “Dragon Boat Dragon Head and Dragon Tail Production Technique” was successfully applied for World Heritage, and Zhang Weichao became the inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage project. Zhang Weichao’s mentality has changed some changes from a craftsman to a inheritor of intangible cultural heritage. “I used to be a craftsman, but I thought about how to be a leader and do my job well. But now I have more responsibility and responsibilityCinema. Intangible cultural heritage is a very precious and relatively rare thing. It may be a slowly disappearing culture. When we protect it, we want to disappear slowly and slower. It is a great honor and great responsibility for me to shoulder the inheritance of this historical and cultural heritage. ”
Now, Zhang Weichao often appears on major campuses and in intangible cultural heritage inheritance activities. When teaching courses in schools, Zhang Weichao not only teaches students how to carve, but more importantly, lets children understand the dragon boat and understand the cultural significance behind it. “Dragon boat skills cannot be learned at once, but they must become interested in dragon boats. Cultivate their recognition of Chinese traditional and folk culture since childhood. This is our root and soul. “Zhang Weichao said.
Chen Zhijun and his leading works Photo provided by the interviewee
The post-60s craftsman uses the dragon boat to carry the spiritual beliefs of the people
Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Zhou Cong
Select materialsBabaylan, cutting materials, rough carving, fine carving, polishing, lacquer… “From the dragon’s mouth, dragon whiskers to the dragon scales, in key parts, every time the knife is cut, it must be accurate, and it will be difficult to remedy if it fails. “Chen Zhijun, who started learning art at the age of 15, has carved dragon heads for more than 40 years.
Chen Zhijun was born in Xiancun Town, Zengcheng District, eastern Guangzhou. The river network is crisscrossing here, and it is the most prosperous hometown of the Dongjiang water dragon boat system. Dragon head carving (traditional dragon boat Komiks) is a traditional carving technique in Xiancun Town, Zengcheng.
As a district-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor, Chen Zhijun recalled that since he was 15 years old, he learned carpentry with his father, and he often stayed with his father at the age of 18. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Cinema learned the craft of carving dragon heads by watching. It was not until the age of 22 that Chen Zhijun began to carve the first dragon head.
It is understood that in the early 1980s, after the revival of folk dragon boat activities, dragon boat production had not yet entered the shipyard production. If the village collective wanted to order dragon boats, it would hire a shipbuilder to come to the village.When building a ship, you also need to find a master to carve the faucet. Because the Chen family has a certain reputation for carpentry craftsmanship, many local and surrounding people will hire Chen Zhijun’s father to carve the dragon head. Chen Zhijun also developed excellent carving skills under such a background.
With the development of dragon boat activities, the dragon shipyard began to appear, from Komiks shipbuilding to carving faucets, the shipyard took all the steps. The craftsmen of folk carvings began to fade out of the people’s view, and Chen Zhijun was one of them.
Until in recent years, the local youth dragon boat team in Xiancun customized a new dragon boat. The dragon boat team hoped to carve a new dragon boat in accordance with the traditional old dragon head. They inquired with the elderly in the village and learned that Chen Zhijun, the owner of the furniture factory in the town, was the inheritor of the Chen family’s dragon head carving, so they came to ask Chen Zhijun to “come out” again. When Chen Zhijun studied with his father, he was taught to understand the dragon boat culture contained in the dragon boat head. Only in this way can he carve a dragon head with outstanding craftsmanship and both spirit and form.
“Traditionality cannot be lost, and the foundation cannot be missing. The essence of the Dongjiang dragon boat lies in the dragon boat’s bow! I hope to carve a vital dragon boat’s bow, and I will use it as a work of art.” Chen Zhijun has his own unique view on carving dragon heads.
The dragon head of a dragon boat represents the image of a village, especially the old dragon head left behind before, which records different stories of each village and is the carrier of dragon boat culture. Therefore, the essence of dragon boat lies in the dragon head. In the Dongjiang River Basin, dragon head is a major feature of dragon boats.
Whenever a villager comes to make a dragon boat bow, Chen Zhijun will ask about the historical folk allusions in the other village, and then integrate the characteristics of the gods believed in in each place into the creation of the dragon head, so each dragon head is unique. “The villagers are satisfied with the leader, and I am also BabaylanJust be happy. “Chen Zhijun said.
Chen Zhijun told reporters that in the carving process, he should also integrate his imagination and recreate the dragon boat’s bow in all aspects, which should be similar in spirit and shape. A dragon boat with outstanding craftsmanship should show exquisiteness and convexity, and every angle has a beautiful shape. When the dragon boat is lifted up on the river, it will feel like it is flying. The dragon head should also feel like it is jumping out of the water and flying, and it should be vital.
In Chen Zhijun’s view, the traditional culture behind the dragon boat reflects the spiritual beliefs and emotional support of the people. What he adheres to is the dragon boat spirit that works together and never gives up, and the folk vitality of uplifting and uplifting. The material carrier of this spiritual civilization is the “dragon boat’s bow”.