The color of the cork painting is quaint and simple, the image is realistic, the picture is like the brushwork of the Song people, the artistic conception is profound, the ancient and the strange are lovely, and it has the artistic effect of "hundreds of miles of mountains, all in one frame".

The cork bark, the raw material of cork painting, is the inner layer of cork oak trees that grow in Portugal, Spain, Arabia and other countries around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, with delicate texture, natural color, flexibility and elasticity, which can be preserved for hundreds of years when placed in glass.

Legend has it that in 1914, someone brought back a work similar to a "wood painting" from Germany, and Wu Qiqi, a villager in Xiyuan, was inspired by it, and pioneered the use of the cork wood layer of the cork oak tree as a raw material, using a knife as a pen to carve meticulously to make landscapes, gardens, flowers and birds.

In addition, the use of the limited space in the frame, so that the image of the scene three-dimensional, the arrangement of pavilions, trees, flowers, mountains, rivers and white cranes with a distinctive national style, the image is realistic, the color is simple, this craft has taken root in Xiyuan Village, spread for a hundred years.

In the country of origin, the cork bark is generally used as a building soundproofing material, wine corks, etc., but under the hands of Fuzhou artists, it is turned into a beautiful work of art, which amazes people in wood-exporting countries.

Cork painting into people's lives, everyone or gift or collection, full of interest. Many people have also joined the industry, especially in Xiyuan Village, where Wu Qiqi is located, where every household cleans up their dinner table, which is a small workshop. In the mouths of the old people, they still remember the grand occasion when the adults and children in the village made cork paintings together.

Legend has it that in 1913 after the Xinhai Revolution, someone once brought back a work similar to "wood painting" from Germany, and Wu Qiqi, a carving artist from the village of Xiyuan, was deeply inspired.

In addition, the use of the limited space in the frame, so that the image of the scene three-dimensional, the arrangement of pavilions, trees, flowers, mountains, rivers and white cranes with a distinctive national style, the image is realistic, the color is simple, this craft has taken root in Xiyuan Village, spread for a hundred years.

Like all the people of Xiyuan Village at that time, the Wu family was also a family of cork painting creators. Under the teaching of his father Wu Li, Wu Sheng, who was less than 7 years old, began to learn art.

"To make a cork painting, you have to go through the process of material selection, carving, splicing, framing and so on." Wu Sheng said, take carving as an example, there was a division of labor at that time, some people specialized in trees, some people specialized in pavilions, some specialized in animals, some specialized in scenery, and some specialized in design, and although he was young, he relied on intelligence and diligence to practice excellent basic skills, and was proficient in all kinds of processes.

At the age of 15, due to factors such as poverty and many brothers and sisters, he dropped out of school and entered the Xindian wood painting factory to work.

When it comes to the reason for the weakening of cork paintings, Wu Shengteng, who was still sitting on the chair just now, stood up and excitedly gestured with his hands and said, "It's all about profit, and I have come to a dead end. ”

To add insult to injury, it takes nine years for cork oak trees to grow into timber, and the overproduction of cork paintings has increased the price of the tree from 4 yuan per kilogram to 80 yuan per kilogram in recent years, and the price of raw materials has increased 20 times, but the market has shrunk by 90 percent.

In 1999, the Fuzhou Wood Painting Factory announced its closure, and the number of people engaged in the cork painting industry fell from 15,000 to less than 100. Later, many people in Xiyuan Village changed careers and no longer engaged in cork painting.

Wu Sheng saw all this in his eyes and felt pain in his heart: "Cork paintings should not be broken in their own hands like this, this is a national treasure." ”

Wu Sheng has a wooden table in his house, through the mottled tabletop, he can vaguely see that this has been some years, several times to clean up the house, his family persuaded him to throw away this table and replace it with a new one, but he was reluctant.

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