The utensils carved by Lai's ancestors for generations express and follow the spiritual connotation of Chinese tradition. What kind of human ideals there are, what kind of technical concepts there are.

The world has changed, Lai Mingde still abides by the rules of his ancestors, because he knows that the utensils in his hands express the genealogy of his belief and the genealogy of the gods, "Heaven and Earth and the Kingdom of Teachers, Benevolence, Righteousness, Etiquette, Wisdom and Faith".

"What was your father's biggest influence on you?"

"My father has repeatedly advised: Be respectful to your grandfather!"

The current Lai Mingde is no longer the trembling when he first started working in the production team during the day and secretly learning to embroider masks at night. His skill in carving the mask has attracted international and domestic attention.

The business continued to develop, and his two sons, Lai Guanghua and Lai Taiping, also inherited his mantle and became "virgins", actively promoting the Wu mask. Lai Mingde is still simple and peaceful.

At the moment when he became a priest, he vowed, like all his ancestors who became priests, that "the nature of a disciple is like the peace of the sky, and the heart of a disciple is like the clear ...... of water."

Xiangdong Nu noodles have the Tang Dynasty carving method and the Song Dynasty carving method, Tang carving is relatively rough, Song carving is more fine, Master Lai's production of Wu mask is mainly based on Song Dynasty carving, the craft is complex and exquisite, pay attention to the portrayal of character character.

The noodles are the treasures of Pingxiang Wu culture, and the different forms and lifelike appearance are impressive. In Pingxiang, when it comes to the master of noodle carving, I have to mention Peng Guolong.

Peng Guolong is the first batch of inheritors of Wu noodle carving in China's Nu cultural inheritance and protection base, and the representative inheritor of Pingxiang Xiangdong Nu noodle carving, a provincial intangible cultural heritage project, and has been grinding in the field of Nu noodle carving for nearly 40 years, not only can write poems and paintings, but also is good at woodworking carving.

Among them, he is the best at carving the mask of the Wu, and he is respected as the master and the first person in Xiangdong to carve the Wu.

When he first saw Peng Guolong, he was meticulously creating with carving tools, and when he entered the hall, he was greeted by the mask paintings hanging all over the living room, the military generals with red and black faces, the kind and fair literary appearance with white faces and red lips, the handsome and pretty Shengdan with pink faces and red lips, the kind and kind old man, and the fierce gods and ghosts with green faces and fangs...... Through this simple and expressive face, I feel the antiquity that comes to my face.

"I am a son inheriting my father's business, and my father turned out to be a famous carver of Xiangdong masks." Referring to his 40 years of carving, Peng Guolong said with a smile that he likes to engage in art very much, and with his father's training, he has been obsessed with sculpture since he was a child.

At the age of 13, Peng Guolong began to learn painting, carving, embroidery and other skills with his father, and at the age of 19, he went out to explore, and was later employed by a company in Guangdong specializing in painting and design.

In 1996, Peng Guolong gave up his job in Guangzhou, and used the savings of more than 10 years of part-time work to return to his hometown in Xiangdong to set up a mask carving factory, and in 2006, he began to bring the carved masks to the market.

Peng Guolong recalled giving up his job in Guangzhou, and he said happily: "I still like to engage in noodle carving, which is my life's pursuit." ”

In Peng Guolong's bedroom on the second floor, there is a beautiful camphor wood box, which treasures a "treasure" that he is reluctant to sell if someone bids 50,000 yuan.

After Peng Guolong carefully opened the camphor wood box, inside was a painted mask, and it looked like a military general with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

"This is General Tang, and I named it 'Gu Wu Yingbin'." Peng Guolong said with a reverent face that the Tang General Nu mask in the box was the Gu Nu mask that he had spent the most effort and the longest time since he engaged in Nu carving.

"It took me two months to finish." Peng Guolong stroked the mask and said that the craft of Nu carving is very complicated, and if you want to become a good Nu carver, you must endure loneliness.

Peng Guolong introduced that generally speaking, the carving of the mask has to go through 7 processes: material selection, material measurement, initial carving, fine carving, fine carving, polishing, painting, all of which are handmade. If it is used as an offering, it must also be "consecrated", that is, to invite the gods, offer incense, and apply chicken blood to the mask.

"The selection of materials for the carving is basically camphor wood, because the camphor wood is insect-proof, and has the meaning of 'accepting money'. In addition, the most difficult of all the processes is fine carving. ”

Peng Guolong said that sometimes it takes several days to carve a round ball in the dragon king's mouth. Therefore, people who are anxious cannot do the work of carving.

"In addition to enduring loneliness, we must also be bold and innovative." Peng Guolong told reporters that under the infiltration of the tide of market economy, the carving art of the mask has long surpassed the significance of religious sacrifice and has become an eye-catching folk handicraft.

Therefore, it is necessary to break the traditional carving of the mask of Nu, knead modern elements into the traditional image, and adopt new carving techniques to make the work close to life and highlight human nature.

At the 2010 Poyang Lake Ecological and Cultural Festival, in just a few days, dozens of improved masks brought by Peng Guolong were sold out by customers, and even many of the semi-finished products he carved on the spot were snapped up.

After the incident was reported by the media, Peng Guolong's business began to "catch fire", and some distant customers came to ask for goods, and his masks were gradually sold to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, the United States and Japan.

"Last year alone, there were more than 100,000 yuan in sales." The popularity of the mask not only broadened the channels for Peng Guolong to increase income, but also allowed many local young people to see the business opportunities.

Since then, many people have sought Peng Guolong to learn from him.

"Although I have won a lot of awards, and some apprentices have gone out of the 'doorway', I still have to rely on this industry to make more people rich."

Peng Guolong said with emotion that the industry must rely on the market to become bigger, but the market must have a company to operate, and only when the two are combined can the industry become a brand and bring wealth.

In addition to bringing products to the market, Peng Guolong attaches more importance to the inheritance of his skills, and he has a goal to pass on his skills from generation to generation.

Since engaging in the carving of noodles, Peng Guolong has a total of 11 apprentices, 5 of whom have been out of school, and 6 of whom are still studying.

Peng Guolong said with emotion: "If my skills are lost, I will work in vain for a lifetime, so I must take my apprentices and pass on my skills to my apprentices, and I hope that they will continue to pass them on after they learn well." ”

"I think the spirit of craftsmanship is to strive for excellence in my works, strive for innovation, and I can't stop learning, and I still have to learn when I am 80 years old." Peng Guolong said with a smile.

Speaking of "Wu", many people may not be familiar with it. Nu, also known as dancing, dancing, and opera, is a mysterious and ancient primitive ritual. It is popular in Jiangxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Guizhou, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei and other places in the western mountainous areas.

The masked performers play the role of the legendary god of the plague, the god of the plague, and perform repetitive, large-scale choreographic movements in a very primitive dance style.

In the performance of the Nu, the mask can be said to be one of the symbols that best embodies this art.

Not long ago, at the Longxikou Wu Cultural Villa in Yuanling County, Hunan Province, Lan Yu met Xiang Qingguo, a 43-year-old Wu mask carver, and listened to him tell the story of his acquaintance and relationship with the Wu mask.

Before coming into contact with the carving of the Wu mask, Xiang Qingguo, who was skilled in carving, opened an antique furniture store under the Yuanshui Bridge in Yuanling County, and made a living by undertaking the maintenance of classical furniture and customizing antique furniture.

One afternoon in the autumn of 2009, an old man in good spirits came to the antique furniture store in the Qing Kingdom.

The person who came is called Zhong Yuru, a retired cadre of the county history office, and is taking the lead in preparing for the establishment of the county Wu Cultural Association.

The old man carefully inquired about the origin of each wood carving in the shop, and after learning that these were made by Xiang Qingguo, he asked him if he would like to carve some masks.

The old man told him that the Nu mask is the props used in the Nu sacrifice, the ritual and the Nu opera in the Nu culture, and it is the original mask shape, which not only drives away ghosts and wards off evil spirits, but also prays for blessings and auspiciousness, removes diseases and disasters, relieves the town, seeks children, and prospers, and is a very popular religious and folk artwork.

This is the first time Xiang Qingguo has heard of the mask, although he doesn't seem to understand the old man's words, but he thinks he can try it, so he agreed.

A few days later, the old man came to Xiang Qingguo's shop again. This time, the old man brought a large pile of cultural materials and pictures of the masks.

The masks that were fierce, fierce, hideous, mighty, steady, deep, calm, heroic, kind, gentle, graceful, and kind immediately attracted Xiang Qingguo's attention and took him into a colorful and diverse world.

After the old man left, Xiang Qingguo carved more than a dozen masks according to the picture and hung them in the store for sale. For a while, the number of people who came to the furniture store to see the strangeness increased a lot, but there were almost no people who actually paid for the masks.

In desperation, Xiang Qingguo had no choice but to give these works to his friends for collection. Later, because business was not good, he had to close the store and join the wave of working in the south.

With his carving skills cultivated over the years, Xiang Qingguo soon found a job as a classical furniture carver in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, and his salary was also considerable.

By 2014, his annual income was close to 200,000 yuan, and his family of three lived a comfortable and nourishing life.

But in August 2015, Xiang Qingguo made a very puzzling decision: quit his job and return to Yuanling to concentrate on mask carving.

"Although Zhong Lao's arrival did not bring me direct financial income, after he learned about the mask, this art was deeply imprinted in my heart.

In the past 5 years of going out to work, what I have seen the most, thought about the most, and can't let go of the most is still the carving of the Wu mask. ”

When he said this, Xiang Qingguo always smiled, and his words were full of gratitude to the old man.

Xiang Qingguo's Nu Culture Villa is not large, and the walls of the two rows of bungalows are covered with masks of different sizes and expressions. The author roughly calculated, there are about 130 sides.

Among them, the face is hideous, showing the fang, the expression is exaggerated, there are also dignified, kind eyebrows, the color is mostly black or red, purple, rhubarb, white alternate, decorative, visual impact is very strong.

According to Xiang Qingguo, the Nu mask originated from the ancient Nu sacrifice activities and was originally used to entertain the gods.

Later, it became a performance utensil for the opera, wearing a mask is a god, taking off the mask is a person, and it is mainly to entertain people. Now it is more used for Wu cultural scenic spots and home decoration.

Yuanling was called Chenzhou in ancient times, and those masks with hideous faces, exposed fangs, fierce gods, and exaggerated expressions symbolized bravery and strength, which were the most common subjects of Chenzhou masks. At the beginning of 2016, Xiang Qingguo's mask carving ushered in a major turnaround.

In order to deeply explore the Yuanling Nu culture, the county party committee and the county government took the lead in holding a special seminar on Nu culture, in addition to the local research on Nu culture and Wu culture enthusiasts, but also invited Guizhou, Chongqing, Hubei and other surrounding provinces and cities Nu culture experts to participate.

As a director of the county Nu culture research association, Xiang Qingguo sorted out more than 20 pieces of Nu masks carved in recent years and exhibited them in the Nu opera hall of the county intangible cultural protection center.

Man Yiming, chairman of Hubei Enshi Nuwang Valley Scenic Area, was full of praise after seeing Xiang Qingguo's Nu carving works, and immediately placed an order to book 100 Nu masks.

In order to complete this order, Xiang Qingguo made a special trip to Anshun, Guizhou, which has the reputation of the hometown of Chinese Nu carving, to figure out the composition and carving techniques of the masters on the spot, and at the same time widely collect the old Nu carving works scattered in Yuanling folk to draw nourishment from them.

After the 100 Wu masks arrived in the Valley of the Wu Wang, Man Yiming left a message to Xiang Qingguo through WeChat: I am very shocked, and this is what I want.

"This is the first big order I have received since I was engaged in the carving of Wu masks. More importantly, the recognition of my sculpture works by professionals has made me see the hope of sculpture of the sculpture of the mask. ”

Although it has been more than a year, when it comes to this matter, Xiang Qingguo is still quite complacent.

At the request of the author, he showed his carving skills to the Qing Kingdom.

He picked up a piece of wood that he had prepared in advance, first sketched a rough outline of the figure on the wood with a pencil, and then took out a special knife and carved it.

I saw that wherever he went, the wooden flowers splashed, and in less than an hour, a prototype of a smooth and lifelike mask was carved.

"This is just the completion of the blanking, outline, blank these processes, followed by hollowing, polishing, polishing, coloring and light, carving a mask takes about 6 hours. When carving, more than 20 different tools are used according to different lines and curvatures. ”

While carving to Qingguo, he introduced to the author the experience of making a mask.

In 2017, Xiang Qingguo's Nu mask carving has made a small achievement, and the 120 Chenzhou Nu masks customized by Hunan Borrowing Muxi Nature Reserve have just been completed, and another Nu cultural base has come to customize the Nu God mask.

In August, he was also officially identified by the county cultural department as the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Chenzhou Nudiao.

Xiang Qingguo told the author that it is difficult to make a lot of money by carving a Nu mask, but the carving skills cannot be lost, and he has the responsibility and obligation to do this well.

Next, he is going to look for a few apprentices who love Nu culture to do Nu mask carving together, and pass on the Chenzhou Nu carving skills accumulated for thousands of years.