An examination of the origins of sugar painting art: from the “Prime Minister of Sugar” to the living practice of intangible inheritance
In the vast and complex pedigree of China's intangible cultural heritage, the sugar painting technique occupies a position that cannot be replaced by others due to its unique physical transformation method and aesthetic presentation characteristics.
As a very outstanding representative of traditional handicrafts, sugar painting is not just an ordinary snack. It is a comprehensive art form that integrates folk art, craftsmanship and folk culture.
Using a spoon as a pen, he turned melted sugar into ink and painted flowers, birds, fish, insects, birds and animals on the square-inch stone slab, achieving a perfect fusion of taste experience and visual aesthetics.
This characteristic of "both candy and painting, both visual and edible" makes it the result of folk wisdom and life aesthetics, carrying profound historical and documentary value as well as social and cultural significance.
Tracing the historical origins of sugar painting, its prototype can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty.
According to literature, "sugar cakes" or "sugar clouds" were already used in festival rituals at that time.
In the inheritance pedigree of folk skills, there is a saying that Chen Ziang, a literary master of the Tang Dynasty, is the ancestor. It is said that he pioneered the method of melting sugar into sculptures, viewing them and then eating them. Although this has the color of legend, it reflects the long-standing cultural accumulation of sugar painting art.
By the Ming Dynasty, the form of sugar paintings had undergone important changes.
At the end of the year, people held sacrificial activities to gods. People melted icing sugar and cast it into figures and animals, which were used as sacrifices. Because their shapes mostly imitated the appearance of civil servants and generals, they were jokingly called "Sugar Prime Minister".
This title not only records the key time point when sugar paintings transformed from pure food to props used in sacrifices and objects for viewing, but also reveals its deep connection with folk beliefs and etiquette space.
Since the Qing Dynasty, the art of sugar painting has become more and more sophisticated. In the Qing Dynasty, a scholar named Chu Renhuo vividly and realistically described the popularity of sugar painting at that time in the poem "The Supplementary Collection of Jianhu" with the poem "The prime ministers call each other when the sugar is melted, and the banquet arrangement is not lonely."
Crucially, folk artists broke through the limitations of printing and casting molds and integrated sugar painting with art forms such as shadow puppetry and paper-cutting. They created a free expression method of scooping sugar with a copper spoon and drawing in the air, thus establishing the technical paradigm of modern sugar painting art.
The core of sugar painting technique lies in the dialectical unity of "boiling sugar" and "painting" .
The person who makes the utensils must select high-quality glutinous rice and malt, and use ancient methods to generate sugar and cook it until the syrup reaches the ideal state of "pulling threads".
The primary measure to evaluate the skill of a craftsman is the precise control of the "sugar properties". If there is a slight error in the measurement, if the heat is insufficient, the sugar will be too fragile to be shaped and will fail. If the heat exceeds the limit, a bitter taste will be produced, which will affect the color and taste, resulting in poor taste.
During the drawing stage, the craftsman used the copper spoon as a pen tool. By using such delicate fingering techniques as lifting, shaking, tapping and placing, the syrup flowed on the stone slab, sometimes curved and sometimes straight, sometimes rapidly and sometimes slowly.
This process has the requirement of "one go". The control of force by the wrist is directly related to the elegant state of the hairspring and the round effect like falling beads.
The syrup is cooled, wait for it to take shape, then stick the bamboo skewers, and then pick up the spatula. In this way, a crystal clear sugar painting is completed.
Its sales format is also unique. The "sugar cake" has such a folk rule, that is, the zodiac pattern is randomly determined by the turntable pointer, and children's expectations and game fun are integrated into the transaction process, thus forming a unique folk cultural space.
Take Nanchang Xixia sugar painting as an example. This technique has been in the Wang family for four generations.
At the time of his great-grandfather Wang Changyou, he learned the unique skills from old artists. Until the hands of the "post-90s" inheritor Wang Li, a clear inheritance school system has been formed.
Wang Li has been influenced by her father since she was a child and has mastered a full set of skills by the age of ten.
She adheres to the traditional two-dimensional themes of flowers, birds, insects, and fish, and on this occasion, she demonstrates the unique sense of innovation unique to inheritors of intangible cultural heritage. In order to meet contemporary aesthetic needs, she incorporates modern animation images into her creative themes. And adding layers to the flat surface makes it possible to create three-dimensional shapes such as flower baskets, buildings and even cars, thereby expanding the expressive dimensions of sugar paintings.
In the contemporary context, if traditional handicrafts want to be inherited alive, the key lies in the practice of integrity and innovation.
From the perspective of intangible cultural heritage protection, sugar painting art contains multiple values.
Its aesthetic value lies in transforming cane sugar crafts into an art form that can be used for viewing, thereby achieving the state of "looking like a painting and eating with taste"; its historical documentary value is reflected in that it records the development path of Chinese cane sugar crafts and the changes in the shape of folk art; its social and cultural significance exists here, that is, as a carrier of festival folk customs and market culture, it maintains the emotional memory and community identity of a specific region.
In 2021, Xixia Sugar Painting was officially included in the list of representative projects of Nanchang Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage. This marks the official confirmation of its cultural status.
Against this background, Wang Li, as an inheritor, is no longer limited to the continuous improvement of her personal skills. Instead, she devotes herself to the promotion of intangible cultural heritage with a proactive attitude. She uses various methods such as "intangible cultural heritage on campus" and community performances to bring sugar paintings to the world. Bringing art into the public eye allows this ancient "sweet business" to continue to release cultural vitality in the changing times, realizing a true sublimation transformation from a means of livelihood to emotional sustenance and cultural mission.
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