白大成与鬃人艺术

Bai Dacheng and the Coir Figure Art

"……我记得最清楚的是鬃人.这是一种纸糊的戏装小人,最精彩的是武将,头上插着翎毛,背后扎着四面小旗,全付盔甲,衣袍底下却是一圈鬃子.这些戏装小人都放在一个大铜盘上.耍的人一敲那铜盘子,个个鬃人都旋转起来,刀来枪往,煞是好看."

Coir figures first appeared at the end of the Qing Dynasty.it is said they were designed and played by the descendantsof the Eight Banners of the Manchu ethnic people. Theexquisitely made opera coir figures are dressed in colorfulstage costumes with different sorts of weapons in theirhands and distinctive expressions on their faces. The littlecoir figures, when put on a copper tea tray, would move bythemselves as you beat the tray, giving you a performance as wonderful as that on a real stage. So it is also called 'Playon the Tray'.The man who has inherited and developed the art ofcoir figures is Mr. Bai Dacheng, 'Coir Figure Bai' as heis called by many people today.In order to develop the art, he carefully extracts the originalmodels from dramas and classical literary works and makesvivid coir figures. At the same time, he devotes himself tothe social activities of rescuing and revitalizing the folkhandicraft art of the Chinese nation. Sponsored and pro-moted by him, One Street of Old Beijing and A HundredWorkshops which reveal unique Beijing folk craftsmanshipwere finally stationed in the modern capital of China. It hasbecom an inseparable beautiful scenic view in new Beijing.