Brick sculptures: A unique art form in Shandong

Evocative brick sculptures go on display at the Yellow River Culture Fair. [Photo by Sun Tongwen for chinadaily.com.cn]

The Yellow River Culture Fair held recently in Penglou town – in Juancheng county in East China's Shandong province – featured a rich array of handicrafts and other intangible cultural heritage items.

But what stood out was the brick sculpture exhibition stand which drew in many visitors with its lifelike and diverse works.

The Juancheng form of brick sculptures – a national intangible cultural heritage item – dates back to the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It has been inherited by five generations of Xie Xinjia's family.

"Juancheng brick sculptures mainly include two categories: opera brick sculptures and flower and bird brick sculptures," Xie said.

"They often adopt techniques such as deformations, exaggerations and generalizations to convey artistic concepts and forms," he added.

The Juancheng brick sculpture is a unique architectural decoration in the southwestern part of Shandong province. It is usually placed on the roof ridge of a house or building and has a long history.

Xie said he began to learn the skill to make them from his grandfather Xie Xueyun when he was about 10 years old. The traditional brick sculpture creative process involves many steps, such as crushing the soil, picking the right kind of mud, ripening and kneading it, shaping the sculpture and then firing.

Besides being a master craftsman, Xie is also a teacher at Penglou Town Middle School.

"Today, this industry cannot support a family," he said.

"Purely handmade brick sculptures have low production efficiency and cannot achieve mass production, so the market is relatively niche," Xie added.

To pass on the craft to future generations, Xie actively carries out "intangible cultural heritage in campus" activities and voluntarily teaches brick sculpture skills in primary and secondary schools in Penglou town. (Edited by Fan Yuanyuan)