Dough figurine, also known as miansu in Chinese, is a traditional folk art that uses flour, glutinous rice flour, and honey as the main ingredients. Artisans then shape these components into various characters. This art form has been perpetuated for over 2000 years.

In Nanshan, Shenzhen, there resides an intangible cultural heritage conservationist of dough figurine art, named Zhang Minzhong.

Passion ignites the radiant charm of intangible cultural heritage

During Zhang Minzhong's childhood, his grandfather would mystically create numerous characters to amuse him. The young Zhang found the transformation of ordinary dough into lifelike figures an enchanting process. Thus, at the age of seven, he officially began learnIng miansu craftIng from his grandfather.

"Dough figurine crafting requires techniques such as kneading, pinching, plucking, pricking, pressing, rolling, and more, completed in steps for detailed portrayal, ensuring seamless connections between body parts as well as fluid movements," Zhang said. He once grew anxious because he couldn't perfect a certain form, dedicating all his time to mastering it beyond necessary rest and meals. It is this fervor that has propelled him further in the field of dough figurine crafting.

In 2002, 31-year-old Zhang brought his craft to Shenzhen. In 2009, he successfully pushed for the inclusion of his project in the list of intangible cultural heritage in the Nanshan District, Shenzhen, and it was subsequently included in the city-level list in 2021.

Marrying traditional skills with the contemporary era

"Each generation has new aspects worth exploring and showcasing. IncorporatIng contemporary culture into one's work is essential for better growth," Zhang said. He adjusts the creation process of his dough figurines accordingly, such as crafting popular animation characters beloved by children, or exploring local themes to keep his works in the common touch.

2020 marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Zhang created a set of works named "Fisherman's Family". He also made the work named "A Pioneering Ox", symbolic of Shenzhen's spirit of reform and opening up, hoping to narrate Shenzhen's story through his fingers.

Additionally, Zhang exhaustively researched and finally overcame the challenge of preserving dough figurines for a longer duration through a series of processing steps so as to adapt to Shenzhen's humid climate. The new dough wouldn't mold even in damp weather.

Enabling intangible cultural heritage to shine in its preservation

In recent years, Zhang has actively participated in two projects of intangible cultural heritage in communities and schools in Nansha District, teaching dough figurine crafting in numerous primary and secondary schools. Concurrently, he is committed to promotIng traditional ChInese culture. In 2013, Zhang was invited to Australia for cultural exchanges and demonstrated his dough figurIne craftIng skills. While in 2019, he was again invited  to France for the promotion of traditional Chinese culture.

He shared with the interviewee that foreigners often refer to dough figurine crafting as "Chinese sculpture". They were astonished to see how a piece of dough could be kneaded into various human and animal figures. What was originally planned as a three- or four-hour demonstration unknowingly extended to over six hours.

"In the future, I plan to take on more apprentices to pass on the craft of dough figurine molding and step onto a larger platform through excellent works," he said.

视频丨面塑非遗传承人：指尖捏出大千世界“非遗”传承绵延不绝

面塑是一种以面粉、糯米粉、蜂蜜等为主要原料，再通过手艺人创作，从而形成各种人物形象的传统民俗艺术，至今已延续2000多年。

在深圳南山，就有一位深圳面塑非遗传承人，他就是张民忠。

热爱让非遗绽放迷人光彩

在张民忠儿时，他的爷爷总会像变戏法一样变出很多不同的人物逗他开心，那时的他觉得将一个平凡的面团揉捏成活灵活现的人物是一件很神奇的事情。7岁时，他正式跟随爷爷学习面塑。

“面塑创作需要用揉、捏、揪、挑、压、搓、滚等技法，分步骤完成对人物的精细刻画，并做到肢体间无缝连接，动作行云流水。”张民忠表示，他曾因为捏不好一个形态非常焦急，除了吃饭睡觉都在钻研。正是这样的热爱，让他在面塑领域越走越专。

2002年，31岁的张民忠带着捏面人这项手艺来到深圳。2009年，张民忠成功推动该项目列入深圳市南山区非物质文化遗产名录，并在2021年列入深圳市市级非物质文化遗产。

让传统技艺与时代相结合

“每一代人的生活都有新东西值得挖掘展现，把当代文化融入进自己的作品里，才能更好的发展。”张民忠在捏面人的创作过程中也会进行调整，比如捏一些孩子们喜欢的动画形象，或者探索本土题材创作，让作品更加“接地气”。

2020年，恰逢深圳经济特区建立40周年，他制作了一组名为“渔夫一家”的作品。他还临摹象征深圳改革开放精神的“拓荒牛”等，希望通过“指尖”的技艺，记录深圳故事。

此外，为了适应深圳的潮湿气候，张民忠反复研究，通过系列工艺处理，终于攻克了面人无法长久保存的难题，经他处理过的面团在潮湿天气下也不会发霉。

让非遗在传承中绽放光彩

近年来，张民忠积极参与深圳市南山区开展的“非遗进社区”“非遗进校园”两大项目，在多所中小学教授面塑。与此同时，他致力于推广中国传统文化。2013年，张民忠受邀到澳大利亚进行文化交流，现场展示面塑技艺；2019年，他再次受邀到法国进行中国传统文化宣传。

他告诉记者，外国人称面塑为“中国雕塑”，他们看到用一团面粉就可以捏出不同的人物和动物形象而惊叹不已，原本三四个小时的展示，不知不觉延长到了六个多小时。

“未来，我还想多收徒弟，将面塑手艺传承下去，通过一个个作品走进更大的平台。”

文、图、视频丨羊城晚报全媒体记者 李艺戈 颜业宏 实习生 陈婕
视频加工丨黎杰文
翻译丨陈萱
责编丨古司祺
校对丨赵丹丹