Xinhuanet Hohhot February 1 ST (Cao Zhen) At 7: 00 pm, a set of rich and beautifully made dough sculptures was served at a wedding night in Hangjinhouqi, Bayannaoer City, Inner Mongolia, adding icing on the cake to the rich banquet.
In the western part of Inner Mongolia, there is a custom of kneading dough and shaping it on festive days such as holidays, marriage and housewarming, and full moon birthday. By shaping different images, people have good expectations for life. Hetao dough sculpture, which is popular in Bayannaoer area, originated in the late Qing Dynasty and was born out of the Yellow River culture, which is the embodiment of local people’s belief, customs and spiritual culture. In the early years, the traditional Hetao dough sculpture was far away from the daily life of the people. In 2017, a creative dough sculpture workshop appeared in Hangjinhouqi. As a representative of the new generation of Hetao dough sculpture, Qiu Xia, the owner of the workshop, integrated modern aesthetics into dough sculpture works while retaining traditional skills, and the delicious dough sculpture gradually entered the lives of Hetao people.
The dough sculpture contains good wishes.
There are many good days in the twelfth lunar month, and Hetao people choose to hold weddings in the twelfth lunar month. The owner who held the wedding on January 23rd booked a set of dough sculptures with Qiu Xia one week in advance. As the Spring Festival approaches, the owner hopes that this dough sculpture will not only have the wedding color, but also contain the good wishes of the Spring Festival.
This is not difficult for Qiu Xia. She has already made a draft of what kind of dough sculpture to make.
On the afternoon of 21st, the noodles were soaked and mixed for the first time, and a large basin was left standing in a warm room. That night, Qiu Xia didn’t sleep well, so she got up three times at night to meet the noodles. The basin of noodles was served early the next morning, and the half basin of noodles last night was full of one basin. Qiu Xia turned up the dough by hand, and the pores were evenly distributed — — It’s done. She will use this dough to make a set of "full of pearls and jade" dough sculptures, which will be cooked in front of the wedding banquet that night.
What is full of pearls and jade? Qiu Xia wants to use three pigs and nine goldfish to embody this moral. At the same time, nine goldfish symbolize a new couple’s everlasting life, and three little fat pigs are the most appropriate images in the Year of the Pig.
In order to ensure the taste of dough modeling, Qiu Xia added Hu oil, sugar, eggs, milk and beer to the cooked flour, and pumpkin puree to the goldfish flour to make it yellow, then mixed the flour again, kneaded it, and woke it up, and began to shape.
The tools for kneading dough are very simple. Sweater needles, combs, scissors and fruit knives are skillfully used. A dough is printed, rolled and pinched in your hand, and a naive pig is formed. Qiu Xia made three piglets with different shapes for this dough sculpture, and placed them in the center of the round lotus dough sculpture base, surrounded by nine small yellow goldfish. Pigs and fish are decorated with flower-shaped pieces made of colorful noodles, and a set of "pearls and jade" has been pinched in less than an hour.
After the dough is stirred for an hour, it is put into a special large iron pot and a large steamer to steam, and the steam is filled with the fragrance of Hetao wheat. At two o’clock in the afternoon, the steamed dough is molded out of the pot. Five hours later, Qiu Xia sent the packaged dough to the banquet. Between the cups and plates, this set of dough sculptures is in the C position.
Traditional Hetao dough figurines are rough in shape and single in color, and the colors are mostly made of inedible pigments, and some of them also add preservatives, which are generally used as tributes. Qiu Xia’s creative dough modeling pays attention to the details, and the modeling is more exquisite. Fruits and vegetables, insects, fish, birds and animals are all materials of dough modeling. Spinach, purple potatoes, pumpkins, carrots and other fruits and vegetables are included in the dough, which not only ensures the taste, but also has rich colors.
Dough sculpture works with various themes. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
Elaborate dough sculptures, like works of art, reappear in the lives of Hetao people. The Hetao dough sculpture, which has been circulated for a hundred years, began to glow with new vitality.
After entering the twelfth lunar month, Qiu Xia’s orders kept flying, and customers in Baotou, Ordos and Alashan sent orders more than half a month in advance. Hua Mo, Mianren, Shoutao … … As long as the customer asks, Qiu Xia’s clever hands can be squeezed out.
Regain the initial heart and create a happy life
Hetao dough figurines have a long history and were listed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. Yang Wenfang, 64, is a representative figure in the production of Hetao dough figurines. Qiu Xia, born in 1980, was recognized as the representative of Bayannaoer city-level Hetao dough sculpture in 2018.
This 80-year-old who likes to pinch "everyone" with his grandmother since childhood was worried about a debt of 100,000 yuan two years ago. At that time, life had nothing to do with dough modeling. At the age of 18, I began to learn to cut hair, and then I got married, gave birth to a daughter, and divorced … … A person living a hard life with his daughter, selling insurance, working as a temporary worker in the vehicle management office and doing small business are all jobs he doesn’t like and can’t make much money. Qiu Xia said that those years were sad, but she always felt that there was a wonderful turning point waiting for her. In 2017, she saw the relevant reports of Hetao dough sculpture, and the memories of her childhood were aroused, and the turnaround happened unexpectedly.
"Full of pearls and jade" noodles are molded out of the pot. (Xinhuanet Cao Yushe)
It took more than 2,000 yuan to buy a wake-up box, remodel the living room, dining room and kitchen at home, and get the relevant licenses. Qiu Xia’s dough modeling workshop was opened in December 2017.
The skills I learned with my grandmother when I was a child are still in my subconscious, but I really found out when I did it, that the dough-making, kneading and modeling are … … The road is full of hurdles.
"In the first two months, I tried to steam noodles, and steamed a pot of bad pots. If the noodles were not made well, if they were not sent, the noodles would be deformed or even cracked." Qiu Xia said that in those two months, steamed and deformed noodles became the staple food on the table at home, and it continued day by day, and the anxiety in her heart made her unable to eat.
In the twelfth lunar month, Qiu Xia received the first order — — 20 noodles. However, successive failures made her lose the list. By the time it was finally steamed, it was almost a week after the order day, and the customer finally didn’t come to pick it up.
Frustrated, Qiu Xia still wants to sell these 20 dough figurines. At that time, as Hangjinhouqi held the Year Pig Culture Festival, she contacted the organizer and got a booth. Unexpectedly, the appearance of 20 dough figurines attracted people’s attention. The leaders of Hangjinhouqi, who participated in the cultural festival, specially came to her booth, carefully asked about the materials and production process of the noodle, and encouraged her to stick to it.
Qiu Xia was overjoyed that the face-to-face person was robbed and was recognized and encouraged. Continue to grope for learning, and the number of failures is getting less and less. Qiu Xia began to explore the art of modeling, learning the dough modeling skills of Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places and the modeling skills of western cakes, and integrating them into the dough modeling of Hetao. The works changed the rough style of traditional dough modeling of Hetao and became delicate and exquisite.
Qiu Xia adds various colors of fruits and vegetables to make colorful dough. (Xinhuanet Cao Yushe)
Nearly 40 years old, Qiu Xia finally found a happy career. There are more and more orders, and the debt of 100 thousand yuan will soon be paid off. In 2018, she was admitted as a member of Bayannaoer City Arts and Crafts Association, and was recently awarded as a master of arts and crafts at the county level.
Qiu Xia said that dough figurines can talk, such as naive pigs, crowing cocks and corn with full grains … … One vivid image expresses thousands of forms of happiness.
Qiu Xia’s "Tiancai Hetao" dough sculpture series. (Xinhuanet Cao Yushe)
Wang Guozhong, deputy director of Hangjinhouqi Culture, Sports, Radio, Film and Television Bureau, said that in recent years, in order to better inherit and develop the art of dough figurines of Hetao, relevant local departments actively explored and cultivated inheritors, and made dough figurines of Hetao get in close contact with the people by organizing dough figurines exhibitions, entering the campus and offering dough figurines inheritance classes.