Shandong intangible cultural heritage classroom: paint your own shehuo mask
The fourteenth class of the Shandong intangible cultural heritage classroom, led by Hou Zhixin, sixth-generation inheritor of Jinan Hou's shehuo masks, was held on June 10 at the Shandong Provincial Cultural Center in Jinan, the provincial capital.
The performance of shehuo can be traced back to ancient rituals held by ancestors of the Chinese people to honor gods and spirits from heaven and earth, which they believed would bring good harvests and affluence. "She", originally means the God of Earth, and "Huo", literally means fire which ancient people believed to have the magic power of driving away evil spirits.
With time, the primitive rituals evolved into the shehuo festivity, a sort of folk art performance involving songs and dances given on Chinese traditional festivals as a tribute to the Earth God, a deity who holds sway over fortune and wealth.
It later becomes a mass entertainment involving a great number of performers and virtually enabling almost all the villagers to participate either in the performance or the preparation work. It is a natural outpouring of enthusiasm and love for life as well as a demonstration of talent and vitality.
Most shehuo performances take place around traditional Chinese festivals, especially at temple fairs during Spring Festival and Lantern Festival.
Shehuo masks are props worn by performers during shehuo practice to disguise themselves as gods or righteous figures that are said to have magic powers in folktales or legends.
The unique Jinan Hou's shehuo masks originated in 1820 in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and mainly portray legendary characters and immortals popular among local residents, such as Guang Yu, a famous general from the Three Kingdoms, a hero with invincible and unparalleled braveness and a symbol of loyalty, benevolence and bravery, the Goddess Bixia (the Goddess of Mount Tai), and Shi Gandang, a legendary young man in ancient times who performed exorcisms mainly in mountainous areas.
The color scheme for Jinan Hou's shehuo masks is generally red and black to project gravity and dignity.
The Hou's shehuo mask has been listed as one of Jinan's intangible cultural heritages.
The 47-year-old Hou Zhixin has inherited and carried forward the family's craftsmanship. He constantly develops innovations in the ancient art to produce works imbued with rich folk culture and embracing diverse themes.
At the beginning of his course Hou demonstrated his creations based on ancient Chinese philosophy -- the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth thought by the ancients to compose the physical universe.
All the children were instantly intrigued by the exquisite, festive and amusing works and were eager to try their hands at creating them.
Hou introduced the historic origin and cultural implications of each mask as well as the painting techniques with straightaway language for the children before they got to work on blank masks.
"You can create your color scheme but you must remember that the color on the facial mask should be fairly symmetrical," said Hou.
About 30 children took part in the shehuo mask painting class, all fascinated by the ancient cultural legacy.
"I'm drawn to bright colors like yellow, but also love light greens and blues. So I created my own shehuo mask with all my favorite colors," said Zeng Zhiqi, a youngster from a local elementary school.
"I'm very delighted that kids have so much passion, intensity and interest in learning traditional culture and craftsmanship," said Hou after the class.
Organized by the Shandong Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, the classroom has been open every Saturday since March 4 in a bid to introduce and teach the province's intangible cultural heritages to kids.
Every course is taught by a State or provincial level intangible cultural inheritor and children between 6 and 12 can sign up for the classes.
