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.
Zhang Weichao is a “post-80s”. 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 dragon head with a very traditional Chinese characteristics floated up with water splashes. This is Zhang Weichao’s leading work. From the “playing around” of Komiks as a child to the world stage now, Zhang Weichao has grown into a well-known dragon boat dragon head and tail carving craftsman in Guangdong, and is also the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of this project. He said: “Behind the dragon boat and dragon head skills is our folk culture, our roots and soul.”
Zhang Weichao’s leaderKomiks‘s work Photo provided by the interviewee
Result:
“Dragon boat is the most important cultural mark in my childhood”
Talking about its origins with dragon boat and dragon heads,Zhang Weichao said this was the most important cultural mark of his childhood. “Since I was a child, I loved watching dragon boat racing in the village. Children would make some small toys by themselves, and the model of the dragon boat is one of them.” Zhang Weichao’s father is an old carpenter with a complete range of woodcarving tools at home. He also learned some carving skills. With his interest and talent, he became the “ceiling” of carving dragon boats among his childhood playmates. When he was 12 years old, Zhang Weichao sold his first dragon boat model carved by him. When he was in junior high school, people from other villages asked him to customize and buy it. Gradually, Zhang Weichao became famous. He was still in school at that time and could only use his holidays to work, and a model often took a summer vacation. In order to understand the shape of dragon boats in a more diverse way, as soon as the Dragon Boat Festival comes, Zhang Weichao takes a ruler and a picture book to look at 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, so Zhang Weichao often dived to understand the shape of the dragon boat. “At that time, I seemed to have entered another small world. I like these things and wanted to study them. My works were recognized and I was very proud.” Zhang Weichao said.
Zhang Weichao is carving the leading leader Liu Zhuonan.
Turn:
Resigned from the “iron rice bowl” and carving the leading leader full-time “leader”
2009 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 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, and there were only a handful of craftsmen who were dedicated to hand-carving dragon boat dragon heads. Most of them were over 50 years old. Zhang Weichao, 22, made this choice, which was “very crazy” in many people’s eyes. 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 dragon boat’s Babaylan‘Soul’ is 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 dragon boat models, actually made three dragon heads.” This also ushered in the turning point of his career – from dragon boat model carving to dragon head carving, he also became a famous industry star, and orders came one after another. Carving dragon heads is a very meticulous and complex task. Zhang Weichao introduced that handmade dragon heads require experience href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Komiks More than ten tedious processes such as wood selection, cutting, outlining, carving to polishing, and lacquer mounting. The cycle of a faucet is as short as one week and as long as ten or twenty days, but the early work often takes several months or even years.
“Every time I receive an order, KomiksThe first thing I need to do is not carve, but go on a field trip and learn about the history and culture of the village. I will let the villagers participate, especially young people, and let them put forward some production ideas of the leader and make them in combination with their opinions. A dragon boat dragon head may take decades or hundreds of years. While 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 Photo inheritance:
Looking for 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 href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Babaylan is the inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage project. Zhang Weichao’s mentality has changed a little. “I used to be a craftsman, but I thought about how to be a leader and do my job well in my hands.. But now there is more responsibility and responsibility. Intangible cultural heritage is a very precious and relatively rare thing. It may be a slowly disappearing culture. When we protect it, we just want to disappear slowly and then Cinema. 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, and 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 bow to carry the spiritual beliefs of the people
Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Zhou Cong
Select materials, cut 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. “Cinema, who started learning art at the age of 5, has been carving dragon heads for more than 40 years.
Chen Zhijun was born in Xiancun Town, Zengcheng District, eastern Guangzhou. The river network is crisscrossing and is the most prosperous hometown of the Dongjiang River water dragon boat. Dragon head carving (traditional dragon boat) is the traditional carving technique of Xiancun Town, Zengcheng.
As a district-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor, Chen Zhijun recalled that since he was 15 years old, he learned how to carve the dragon head with his father. Since he was 18 years old, he often learned the craftsmanship of carving dragon heads by watching. It was not until he was 22 years old that Chen Zhijun began to carve the first dragon head. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Babaylan.
It is understood that in the early 1980s, after the revival of the folk dragon boat activities, the dragon boat production had not yet entered the shipyard production. If the village collective wanted to customize dragon boats, it would hire a shipbuilder to come to build ships in the village, and also find a master to carve the dragon head. Because the Chen family’s woodworking craftsmanship has a certain popularity, 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 shipbuilding to carving the faucet, the shipyard took care of all the links. The craftsmen of folk carving dragon leaders began to fade out of people’s sight, 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 boat with outstanding craftsmanship and magical shape.
“Traditionality cannot be lost, 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 the dragon head.
The leading generation of Babaylan‘s Cinema represents the image of a village, especially the old dragon head left before. It records the different stories of each village and is the carrier of dragon boat culture. Therefore, the essence of dragon boat Cinema lies in the dragon boat. 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 by each place into the creation of the dragon head, so each dragon head is unique. “I am happy that the villagers are satisfied with the leader, and I am happy,” said Chen Zhijun.
Chen Zhijun told reporters that during the carving process, he should also integrate his imagination and recreate all aspects of the dragon boat bow, which should be similar in spirit and shape. A dragon boat with excellent craftsmanship should show exquisite and convexity, with every angleBeautiful, the dragon boat feels like flying when it is lifted up on the river. The dragon head should also feel like it jumps out of the water and fly up, and should be vital. In Chen Zhijun’s view, the traditional culture behind the dragon boat reflects the spirit 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 Head”.