Wuxi Huishan Clay Man Factory is located in the ancient town of Huishan in the west of Wuxi City, in the rice fields around Huishan, there is a layer of 40-100 cm thick brown-black clay below 1 meter below the surface cultivation layer, which is the raw material used to shape Huishan Clay Man, commonly known as Huishan black soil.

This black clay has an extremely fine fineness and excellent plasticity, which is very suitable for kneading and molding, and its plasticity index is twice that of other clays, reaching 8.2. The texture is delicate and clean, rubbed without lines, bent and continuous, dry but not cracked, and has good strength and hardness without burning after natural drying.

Wuxi's ability to produce "fine goods" such as "hand-pinched opera" is related to the natural clay with these physical properties, and it is inexhaustible.

Huishan Ancient Town is a unique living space for Huishan Niren, where time, geography, people and people are blended together.

The ancient town has the victory of gardens, and the nine peaks of Huishan are meandering; "The second spring in the world" for more than 1,200 years; Famous places of interest such as the famous foothill garden "Jichang Garden".

Second, there are temples, such as the Huishan Temple of the Northern and Southern Dynasties; There are dozens of Buddha and Taoist temples such as the Sanguan Hall in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The third is the ancestral hall is a group, and there are 108 ancestral halls, ancestral halls, ancestral halls, and Zen ancestral halls.

There are as many academies as there are, including nearly ten places such as Shangde Academy, Erquan Academy, and Purple Academy. Moreover, cultural activities such as Huishan temple fairs are very frequent and abundant, forming a vigorous consumer market of Huishan niren and promoting the development of the industry.

In 1954, a group of terracotta figurines of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty were unearthed in the Huishan area, some of which are very similar to the early clay figurines "Da Ah Fu", "Hehe Two Immortals", and "Guess the Fist". Huishan clay sculpture may have had its primitive artistic life as early as about 2,000 years ago. However, due to the fact that the clay figurines are not easy to preserve and are easy to weather, the objects that are hundreds of years old still exist now, and they are not seen for thousands of years.

According to the genealogical records of the old artist Wang Shiquan, the development history of Huishan Niren has been more than 400 years. In the earliest written record of the "Ancient and Modern Books Collection" (years of merit) Ming, the twenty-second volume of the New Year's Day part, which recorded the New Year's Day customs of Wujin County: "Buy clay figures, grimaces, fight soil to make figures, work and Xiao, only Liangxi, Yushan people make more of it." The grimace is the cloud mask of the old people, and the children of the two compete for the laughter of the afternoon".

This record shows that in the Ming Dynasty, there were Liangxi people (Wuxi), Yushan people (Changshu) specialized in clay people, and said that "many creations" means that it has become a place of origin.

And Wuxi clay people have a certain popularity in the Ming Dynasty, there are Wuxi clay people for sale in Wujin County, which is dozens of kilometers away, and there are many varieties, not only all kinds of characters, but also faces, masks, etc., "work and Xiao", indicating that the clay people have reached a considerable artistic level at that time.

Shaoxing people in the Ming Dynasty, literary scholar Zhang Dai, Tao'an, in his "Tao'an Dream Memories" volume seven Yugong Gu Tiao recorded: "Wuxi to the north of the county five miles for Mingshan (Xishan), into the bridge shop on the left bank, the shop is elegant, selling spring wine, water altar, flower pot, Yixing jar, wind stove, pot cup, clay figure and other goods", it can be seen that the clay man at that time has become a commodity into the shop.

However, when the author describes this elegant shop, he puts the clay figurines at the end, I don't know whether the clay figurines are inconspicuous in this shop, or because the clay figurines are not necessities of life, so they start from the important household utensils wine, cans, stoves, and basins, and then end up with the clay figurines playing. This is unknown. However, it shows that the clay figurines have developed to a certain level at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were many records and descriptions of Huishan mud people. According to Xu Ke's "Qing Barnyard Banknotes" volume 45 "Craft Record, Clay Man Article" records: "Gaozong South Tour, drive to Wuxi Huishan, there is Wang Chunlin under the mountain, sell clay people shop, the work is exquisite, the skills are endless, so far the life of the number of people in the mud, decorated with brocade, gold leaves and the like, into the royal it, great praise, give the brocade very rich. When the period came to Guangxu, there was still a Buddha incense pavilion in the Summer Palace, and the Gengzi rebellion was carried away by the Westerners. ”

It can be seen that Wang Chunlin was an outstanding professional artist in the Huishan clay sculpture industry in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. From here, we also understand that during the Qianlong period, the skill level of Wuxi clay figures has been very mature, and the works have reached a very perfect realm. At that time, Zhou Hao, a native of Wuxi, said in his poem "Yonghui Mountain Mud Beauty": "The slender waist is treasured in the palm, and Langjue is the bone and water is the god......"

In the eleventh year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1885), when the Empress Dowager Cixi celebrated her 50th birthday, the Wuxi magistrate specially went to Huishan to customize a set of refined "Eight Immortals Shangshou" large-scale hand-pinched clay figures to pay tribute to the court, and Huishan clay figures were introduced into the palace again.

In the second year of Xuantong (1910), the clay figurine products selected by Hu Wancheng's Dafang store won the silver medal at the "Nanyang Industry Association", and in the report of the association (the twenty-fifth edition of the Republic of China) said: "There are clay figurines in the handicraft industry, most of them are poor and rich, and the spirit and posture describe the abundance, and the aspect, looking at the sidelines is short-sighted, like a living person." It can be seen that at that time, Huishan Niren had high artistic attainments and a growing reputation.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Huishan clay people have been recited by many famous artists, and the words of praise are rich and colorful.

The Ming Dynasty writer Zhang Dai wrote in the "Tao'an Dream Memories" volume 7 "Yugong Valley": "Wuxi goes to the north of the county for Mingshan (Xishan). Entering the bridge, the store is on the left bank, the shop is elegant, selling spring wine, water altars, flower pots, Yixing jars, wind stoves, pots, clay figurines and other goods.

Du Hanjie of the Qing Dynasty (1686-1749) "One Hundred Songs of Liangxi Bamboo Branches" has "a pill twisted to make Chanjuan, attracting tourists to love and pity." Often put the Taohuawu (Huishan second dock) in the earth, in exchange for a few more money for the ladies. The poem describes that the early Qing Dynasty Huishan mud people have made visitors "absolutely love and pity".

Qing Xu Ke's "Qing Barnyard Class Seconds. "Craft Record" "Clay Man Strip" describes: Gaozong toured the south, drove to Wuxi Huiquan Mountain, there is Wang Chunlin under the mountain, and the clay figure shop is also sold. The work is exquisite, and the skills are exquisite. So far, the order to make the number of clay plates, decorated with brocade, gold leaves and the like, when entering the palace, the great reward, give the gold very abundant, its things to Guangxu fashion in the Summer Palace Buddha Xiang Pavilion, Gengzi rebellion for the Westerners to carry away". It can be seen that in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were many shops for the clay figurines, and the works had been "greatly appreciated" by Qianlong, and the foreigners also appreciated them very much, and took away the clay figurines.

Wuxi poet Qin Qi (1766-1821) wrote "One Hundred Poems of Huishan Bamboo Branches", "The mud boy wins in Suzhou, and the eyebrows are all from a good stroke." "Phrases; The contemporaneous Zhou Hao's "Huishan Mud Beauty" has "Suspicion, the predecessor is Gillian, Langjue is the bone, and the water is the god." The beautiful sentence of appreciation.

From the 20s to the 40s of the 20th century, the domestic warlords were fighting, the Japanese army invaded China, Huishan was bombed indiscriminately by the Japanese invaders, the clay figurines closed down one after another, 80% of the employees and artists were unemployed and exiled, and the market was almost completely lost. On the eve of liberation, the Huishan clay people were on the verge of extinction.

The academic research work of Huishan clay figurines has also made very gratifying achievements, and in 2004, "Huishan Clay Rhyme" compiled by Shen Dazhu was published.

In December 2011, the exhibition area reached 140,000 meters, marking the official completion and opening of the "China Clay Figure Museum", the highest hall of Chinese clay figurines, giving Huishan clay figurines and even clay figurines from various regions of China a platform for display, exchange and publicity.

Wuxi Huishan Niren Factory is located in the ancient town of Huishan in the west of Wuxi City, located at 31°34'N, 120°16'E, Huishan in the west, the old city in the east, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the north, and Taihu Lake in the south.

The shape is novel, the idea is ingenious, the humanistic connotation, the craftsmanship is exquisite, the black mud of Huishan, the outline is clear, the color is harmonious, the spirit is expressive, the light is clean, the decoration is elegant, delicate and elegant, and it is rich in the local charm of the south of the Yangtze River.

Wuxi has developed industry and commerce in the past 100 years, at the beginning of the last century, the economic center of the Jiangnan region was not yet in Shanghai, but in the Suzhou-Xichang area, merchants from all over the country gathered, and the trading place was along the river in Beitang, Wuxi.

Opposite the canal near Wuqiao, there is a five-mile river pond that can directly reach Huishan Baoshan Bridge, and the vendors take a small boat to Huishan for tourism and leisure in addition to business, and contact customers with feelings. This undoubtedly brings business opportunities to the sales of Huishan clay people, some high-end gifts, hand-pinched drama and literature are also brought to various places by these rich people, in order to give gifts to relatives and friends and guests in their own business, and some take them home and display them to appreciate.

It is said that among the customers, there are sometimes foreign merchants who come to buy silk.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the famous families in Wuxi, in order to show off their family background, like to build ancestral halls in Huishan. There are more than 100 ancestral halls of different styles and sizes at the entrance of the mountain, straight street, upper and lower river ponds, Huishanbang, etc., and the two sides of the straight street are lined up one after another, almost one next to each other is an ancestral hall.

The clay figurine shop is opened at the gate of the ancestral hall, the front door is the shop, and the back room is used as a workshop. Every year in the spring and autumn lunar calendar in February, August on the next day is the period of sacrifice, at this time Huishan people are full of people, shoulder to shoulder, the descendants of the families of each surname, men, women and children are flocking to Huishan, plus the common people who come to the mountain to worship and sweep the graves in the spring and autumn, add infinite liveliness to Huishan Town, every family prays for the blessing of the ancestors, shelters the safety of future generations, and prospers from generation to generation. At the end of the sacrifice, each family inevitably brought some mountain goods and clay figurines home.

Huishan's Yingshen temple will be second to none in southern Jiangsu, Huishan Xiangxun in March of the lunar calendar every year, flourishing for a while, especially on March 15, the birthday of Zhang Xun of the Great Old Man's Palace, March 28 Dongyue Temple Huang Feihu's birthday, prevailing to welcome the gods (also known as the old eight Xie temple fair).

The incense worship meeting of the suburbs of the county and the township, dozens of miles away, crowded and crowded with Wuli Street, Dade Bridge, the so-called "three steps and one worship wooden fish knock, worship incense to Dade Bridge." ”

The sturdy man carried the flag and the umbrella, carried the divine bridge, and went into battle shirtless, majestic. Dramas, bands, and "eunuchs" with weapons in their hands, "four open picks, eight horses blowing", compete for victory, which is staggering.

On this day, every household in Wuxi City poured out of the city, and thousands of empty alleys were immense, and the streets were vying for a look. The old women take the boat zigzags and twists, swaying and leisurely, from the north gate Huishan Bang into Huishan burning incense Bang, Baoshan Bridge, the Longtou River is full of incense boats.

This upsurge of observation and participation not only flocked to the ancient city of Liangxi, but also pilgrims and merchants from Shanghai, Suzhou, Changzhou and neighboring Jiangyin, Shazhou, Yixing and other places along the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway.

Xianghui and Xiangxun have formed a large-scale festival in Huishan, and Huishan has become a place for large-scale theatrical performances in the county during the festival, and the local specialties of the four regions are sold, and the street vendors gather, and the folk acrobatics are colorful.

There are grass stage troupes, acrobatics, singing beach springs, small heat dusk, etc., and the area around Wuli Street is full of snacks, miscellaneous goods, and fruit stalls.

And the most favored is the famous local products of Huishan: there are Wuli fragrant japonica, Guandun broad beans, thatched fresh mushrooms, Huyuan fruits, Huiquan rice wine, shortbread at the entrance of the mountain, Shuanghe basket, Ronghu milk curd, and the world-famous Huishan clay people should push their most popular.

This kind of Chinese-style "carnival" has brought multi-level and continuous market demand to Huishan Niren. And it has played a role in advertising without spending money, and has become a catalyst for Huishan Niren to strive for perfection and produce many artists, and the intimate relationship between them and Huishan Niren is self-evident.

Zhou Yibai (1900-1977), a dramatist during the Republic of China, depicted the Huishan clay figures as "the world was originally the same puppet field, and Nuwa was in the wilderness of the earth"

Wuxi Huishan Niren, a special product of Huishan Ancient Town, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, and a product of China's National Geographical Indication. Located on the banks of China's Grand Canal, Wuxi Huishan Niren is said to have a history of 400 years. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the essayist Zhang Dai recorded the situation of clay figures being sold in the shop in the volume of "Tao'an Dream Memories".

During Qianlong's southern tour of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Chunlin, a famous artist in Huishan, made several plates of clay children and offered them, which was praised by Emperor Qianlong (see "Qing Barnyard Banknotes"). It can be seen that before the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Huishan Niren had a very high level of skill and was famous for a while.

It is said that during the heyday of Huishan mud figures, there were more than 40 large and small workshops. There are more than 30 famous artists such as Wang Chunlin, Zhou Asheng, Ding Ajin, Chen Xingfang, Wang Xikang, etc.

After the autumn every year, there are six or seven hundred cargo ships and thousands of people from northern Jiangsu to Huishan to purchase clay figurines, and some high-grade clay figurines are shipped to distant places as gifts with merchants from all over the country who come to Wuxi to operate silk and rice noodles.

Wuxi Huishan clay figurines are part of Chinese folk art, and it is the artistic crystallization of the beauty of the people of Wuxi, a famous historical city in the south of the Yangtze River.

It is called "Huishan Clay Man", not called "Wuxi Clay Man", it is from the foot of Huishan Mountain, carefully rubbed and carved by people, no need to burn casting, it is natural air drying.

Huishan clay man is one of the three famous specialties of Wuxi. Local artists take the black mud at the foot of the northeast slope of the mountain, which is about one meter below the ground, and its mud is delicate and soft.

There are also many legends about the origin of the Huishan Ni Man, although they are full of fantastic imagination and fiction that do not stand up to scrutiny.

Wuxi Huishan clay figurines are part of Chinese folk art, and it is the artistic crystallization of the beauty of the people of Wuxi, a famous historical city in the south of the Yangtze River. Huishan clay people are created by folk working people, it serves to beautify the lives of the people, and the artistic expression is straightforward, strong and straightforward.

Folk artists use the soil around them to shape animals, plants and characters in life, so as to increase the interest of labor and life, and place ideals and hopes on them. The clay figurines are painted in bright and eye-catching, contrasting colors, and the figures and animals are decorated with floral patterns, giving them a strong sense of life.

The pursuit of generous, cordial style, very close to the daily life of the common people. Huishan clay figurines art far surpasses the general aesthetic function of art in the role of plastic arts, forming a language form full of regional cultural characteristics, unique art system and modeling rules, and is a folk art form with universal social role and popularity. Take a look at the latest chapters of "Dream Claw Book House in the Great Era" and read it for free for the first time.