The Historical Origin of Ou Su

The Millennium History of Wenzhou Ou Su

Ou Su has a long history of art, which evolved from the piling process of lacquer art in the history of China. In order to distinguish it from other traditional reliefs and traditional piled paints, the Wenzhou Municipal Government named it "Ou Su" in 59.

Lacquer craft in China can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, about 65,438+0,000-4,000 years ago. A large number of lacquer artifacts have been unearthed from Hemudu Cultural Site in Zhejiang and Liangzhu Cultural Site in Jiangsu. In the classification of lacquerware, stacking lacquer is also called "stacking door" (that is, stacking patterns with lacquer ash), and various lacquerware carved and described on it. At present, it is well documented that the earliest pile of paint was in the Han Dynasty. China traditional lacquerware does not belong to a certain culture or region, but Wenzhou lacquerware technology has a prominent position in history. Ruian Huiguang Tower in Wenzhou was built in the third year of the Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1043).

It is found that the letters of "Jingxin" and "Relic Letter" decorated with lacquer pile technology are decorated with decorative patterns such as Buddha statues, beasts, flowers and birds and embedded with small pearls. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the Ruiguang Pagoda in Jiangsu and Suzhou

It is found that a "Pearl Krabs Lacquer-piled Cultural Relics and Treasures Building" is exquisite in craftsmanship, exquisite in shape and vivid in design. According to research, they are all made in Wenzhou. Ou Su has a long history of handicrafts. Judging from the earliest Ou Su cultural relic-Ou Su dressing box unearthed from the Xianyan Pagoda in Wenzhou, it has exquisite shape and vivid patterns. It is the product of Yuan You in the Northern Song Dynasty (1086- 1094) and has a history of more than 900 years. At that time, Wenzhou lacquerware was famous all over the country.

In addition, the discovery of Wenzhou gold lacquer in Song Dynasty made artists sit up and take notice. 1978, three pieces of wooden lacquerware were found in the Southern Song Dynasty tomb in Wujin, Jiangsu Province, which was called "unprecedented" by academic circles and even changed people's views on lacquerware in the Song Dynasty. The three lacquerware are gold lacquer boxes for painting, and the composition of figures and flowers is very sparse. The calligraphy in the box is "Ding You, Jiro was imprisoned in Wenzhou in the fifth year of Ma Zhong", and the other is "Last year's calligraphy of Wulang in Wenzhou Xin Alloy Year". Another painting is "Liu Tu", which combines two techniques, that is, fishing for gold and piling paint, to enhance the decorative effect of the pattern. In this painting, there is a Zhu Shu "Gengshen Wenzhou Dingziqiao Lane was imprisoned by his seventh uncle". The physical processes mentioned above are extraordinary. According to historical records, during the Song Dynasty, Wenzhou set up more than 300 lacquer shops all over the country. Visible, in the Song Dynasty, Wenzhou lacquerware reached the highest level in China, known as "the first in China".

After the Ming Dynasty, due to fierce price competition, the quality declined, the market gradually shrank, and lacquerware gradually turned to Yangzhou and Fuzhou. Wenzhou lacquer artists began to flow to the people, and mainly decorated with ancient buildings, temples, furniture, dowry supplies and so on.

According to records, the lacquer piling process of Shaoxing carved wine altar is also said to be the flood in Shaoxing in Ming Dynasty, and the victims lived in Wenzhou. After learning the paint stacking technology in Wenzhou, some people returned to Shaoxing and applied it to the decoration of Shaoxing wine jars. Therefore, the "paint stacking" process of Shaoxing Huadiao wine is very close to the art of paint stacking in Wenzhou in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The age of the Han tomb in Shazitang, Changsha was before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. On both sides of the coffin, mountain peaks, weeping willows, butch and cricket are all piled up with paint ash, which is very close to the pile of paint in later generations.

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wenzhou folk painters were generally versatile in order to compete among their peers. They are not only good at piling, carving and making Buddha, but also generally learned to use various paint techniques. Such as painting (equivalent to painting the door), coating gold, filling paint, bodiless, etc. Because most artists come from rural areas and they are farmers, the theme of painting piles is not only widely expressed in religion, historical stories and folklore, but also depicts flowers, birds, animals and patterns. However, it reflects the scenery of the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, and generally has a strong folk flavor, which constitutes the basic characteristics of early Ou Su.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Xie Senbao, a famous painter in Wenzhou, changed the paint ash material into putty material, which was originally called oil glue. After long-term evolution and innovation, Ou Su's art has made great strides in skills, techniques, craft materials, forms of expression and themes. It has widely absorbed Chinese and western sculpture, painting art and modern art ideas. The application of environmental space science, functional science, composition science, chromatics and other disciplines is relatively mature. The theme boldly breaks through the shackles of tradition, and besides religion, historical stories and folklore, it is more about depicting landscapes and places of interest. The variety has also expanded from hanging screens, furniture, table screens, wall clocks and small jewelry boxes to modern architectural reliefs, murals, decorative patterns and artistic pendants.

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), inspired by the Party's policy of "letting a hundred flowers blossom", Ou Su artists once again gathered from the people to excavate the traditional Wenzhou lacquer pile and create Ou Su handicrafts for export.

From the 1950s to the early 1980s, Ou Su's art developed greatly.

In the mid-1950s, artists made bold reforms and attempts on Ou Su materials. One is to replace the traditional tile ash with white mud as the raw material of porcelain. Then it is mixed with cooked tung oil and boiled at high temperature to produce strong viscosity and toughness. Then mineral pigments are added and continuously mixed and stirred. It is made into raw sludge of modern Ou Su. Sludge will become as hard as stone after a long period of drying in the shade. These sludge not only retain the original characteristics of strong adhesion of traditional stacking materials, but also have new characteristics such as bright colors, rich colors, colorfastness and convenient modeling. After the material reform, the stacking process was officially named Ou Su. Because of breaking through the limitation of materials, on the basis of painting, Ou Su art began a new stage of development. During this period, Ou Su absorbed the characteristics of various plastic arts, such as freehand brushwork and meticulous painting in oil painting, gouache and Chinese painting, and gradually diversified his own styles. In terms of subject matter, it also boldly broke through the shackles of tradition, and a large number of landscapes, figures and flowers and birds emerged, showing a thriving situation.

Wenzhou Art Sculpture Factory was established in 1957 with Ou Su workshop. Artists actively innovate and constantly explore the market. A large number of decorative handicrafts such as screens, hanging sheds and furniture are exported abroad. Due to the use of new materials, Ou Su's craft also shows great vitality in artistic creation. During this period, Ou Su absorbed the characteristics of various plastic arts and created many works reflecting modern themes. In order to distinguish it from other traditional painting art, Wenzhou Municipal People's Government officially named it "Wenzhou Ou Su" in 65438-0959.

1962 was also rated as one of the outstanding traditional cultures of "Four Ou" in Wenzhou. Wenzhou Ou Su is a famous traditional handicraft in Zhejiang, and it is also called "three sculptures and one sculpture in Zhejiang" together with "boxwood carving", "Dongyang woodcarving" and "Qingtian stone carving". National intangible cultural heritage has been recognized as "excellent traditional arts and crafts" by Zhejiang and Wenzhou municipal governments. In the same year, Wenzhou Ou Su Factory was established, and Ou Su exported handicrafts covering more than 40 countries and regions. 197 1 created a number of contemporary works such as Shaoshan, Big Screen and Flowers and Birds in Four Seasons for the lobby of Hangzhou Airport, which attracted the attention of leaders and experts, and thought that Ou Su had broad prospects in reflecting modern themes, especially in expressing landscapes.

Since 1980s, under the leadership of Ou Su's representative inheritors, represented by China arts and crafts master Zhou Jinyun, Ou Su art has entered the field of modern architectural murals. After long-term exploration and innovation, it has achieved remarkable success with its unique artistic style and decorative effect, and many famous cultural landmark buildings, cultural tourist attractions, government agencies, museums and religious places at home and abroad have been widely used. In the early 1990s, in order to open up the market combining Ou Su with architectural decoration, Master Zhou Jinyun founded Wenzhou Yi Yun Decoration Co., Ltd.. The company integrates arts and crafts with architectural decoration, design, construction, production, management, trade, scientific research and training, and takes it as its responsibility to further explore the domestic and international Ou Su art market. He has been engaged in the design, construction and production of Ou Su of government agencies, China City, restaurants and hotels in more than 30 countries and regions, including Germany, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the Bahamas, Cambodia and Hong Kong, and exported high-end decorative finished products, components and artworks for artistic performances and exchanges, so that the bloom of Ou Su Art can be spread all over the world.

His art was highly praised by beloved Premier Zhou, Marshal Chen Yi and his wife, President Nixon, Prince Sihanouk, President Mobutu, artists and celebrities from all walks of life. In particular, Premier Zhou and President Nixon 1972 visited China. When they arrived at Hangzhou Airport, they carefully watched the large-scale landscape mosaic works and made an extremely important speech: "Very good, very valuable. This art should not be lost. It is necessary to organize such artists and train new artists. The purpose is to preserve this art and pass it on. This art will also be exhibited at home and abroad. " Ou Su's art has been made into movies and TV feature films by more than 20 international satellite TV stations, CCTV, Phoenix TV, Hebei TV and Zhejiang TV, and published in People's China, People's Pictorial, Art World and many foreign publications. People are deeply attracted by this unique art and sincerely appreciate it.

From 65438 to 0997, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Protection of Traditional Arts and Crafts and the Measures for the Protection of National Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Ou Su art received great concern and support from provincial and municipal people's governments. Ou Su art has been decorated, exhibited and performed in more than 20 countries and regions, and has been decorated and collected by more than 0/00 high-rise buildings in major cities in China. For example, the scenery of the West Lake in the Zhejiang Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the harvest in the ditch of Zhongnanhai, Beijing, the panoramic view of the West Lake in Hangzhou Leifeng Tower, the lobby of Shangri-La Hotel in Hangzhou (five-star), the Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Kiln Museum in Hangzhou, the Yangtze River Map of Yanshan Hotel in Beijing, the Songkran Festival, the wedding scene of Lhasa Gymnasium in Tibet, and the conference center of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in southern Tibet. Shaanxi Stork, Shandong Penglai Pavilion, Anhui Baogong Temple, Shandong Liu Gongdao, Jiangxi Wang Teng Pavilion, Hangzhou Huangcheng Pavilion, Ningbo Confucius Temple, Fuzhou Hot Spring Hotel (five-star) lobby, Shaoxing Administration Center, Shaoxing Xianheng Hotel, Zhejiang Great Hall of the People.

265438+At the beginning of the 20th century, Yang Zhongmin, a contemporary descendant of Ou Su, founded Wenzhou Ou Su Culture and Art Co., Ltd., which mainly developed Ou Su gifts, Ou Su murals, Ou Su creative products and animation Ou Su. And try to combine arts and crafts, cultural creativity and service, develop creative works of Ou Su era, and swear to push Ou Su, a unique and precious Wenzhou culture and art, to the world.