A Family of Sculptures - A Note on Huang Huasheng, Chairman of Xinnan Sculpture Co., Ltd.
At the end of the Year of the Dragon, I went to Xinnan Sculpture Co., Ltd., located in Gaoqiao Village, Danxi Town, for an interview Chairman Mr. Huang Huasheng. The guard said that Mr. Huang was in the workshop, so I followed his instructions and led to the long passage indoors. I looked for it in the bottom work room. I saw only one person carrying a work cap and a mask, and a man in blue work clothes polishing one on the sand wheel. Crafts. I quickly asked if Mr. Huang was there? The man turned off the machine button and said, "Yes, here." I saw that this was Chairman Huang Huasheng. I saw that he was covered in dust and his clothes were stained with white flowers. He was hurriedly flushed with the air pressure pump.
?Huang Huasheng has been engaged in the art of Buddhist sculpture for five generations, and Huang Huasheng is the fourth generation. The Huang family's ancestral home is Yuyao, Ningbo, and they are a descendant of the famous Huang Zongxi. His great-grandfather Huang Xiuren moved to Linhai in Taizhou and engaged in Buddhist carving craftsmanship. Grandpa Huang Chongshou, whose name was Pinshan, moved to the Huang family in Dongshan, Nantang. Both his grandfather and grandfather had a set of famous carving skills. Wang Fengzhao, a master of boxwood carving in the west of the county, was originally a panel carving artist when he was young. He heard about his grandfather's skills and wanted to become his apprentice. He was willing to serve as an apprentice and be paid three silver dollars a month. His father, Huang Zhengrong, moved to Hongqiao Town to make pottery. He inherited his father's trade, worked hard, and became famous for his exquisite skills. At that time, most of them were camphor wood carvings, with the main works being Buddha statues. His works can be found in Wenzhou Huguo Temple, Toutuo Temple, Ruian (now Ouhai) Xianyan Temple, Wenchengchengmen Temple, as well as temples in Pingyang, Yongjia and other places. What is worthy of praise is that he began to sculpt a statue of Sakyamuni in Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou in 1955. It was made up of hundreds of wooden boards, all connected with tenons without a single iron nail. It took three years to create this statue. 21 meters, exquisite workmanship, vivid and lifelike. It is highly praised by many Chinese and foreign tourists and pilgrims. After completion, leave your name in the memorial book.
After Huang Zhengrong returned from Hangzhou, he was hired by the Wenzhou Art Carving Factory and was the technical backbone of the factory. In the second half of 1958, Huang Huasheng studied in the fifth grade of elementary school and went to Wenzhou to learn art from his father. Now it seems that it is child labor and is illegal. There was no such regulation at that time. Inheriting the craftsmanship of his father's generation was also the wish and ideal of the young Huasheng. It later became his lifelong career.
During the three-year difficult period, the factory stopped production and personnel were decentralized. In 1960, Huang Huasheng and his father returned to Hongqiao. The father and son made a living by engraving boards. During this period, Huang Huasheng and his father sculpted Buddhas, painted, and posted statues in various counties in Wenzhou. Jin went to Fujian and worked as a painter. In May 1966, when the Cultural Revolution began, the Four Olds destroyed the Buddha statues in the temple, smashed them everywhere, disemboweled them, and beheaded them. Huang Huasheng was heartbroken when he saw that the artwork he and his father had worked so hard to create suffered such a fate. Could it be that this craft was in decline and had no use for it?
In 1970, Huang Huasheng arrived in Shangyou, Jiangxi Province, and worked in a boxwood carving factory. Shangyou was a mountainous county. Although life was difficult, his pursuit of art and his dedicated work made his artistic life possible. continue. The Guanyin statue he designed was sent to Shanghai for export. The Shanghai company was surprised that it was exactly the same as the product from Wenzhou. Later, they learned that it was a Wenzhou master who passed the technology to Jiangxi. At that time, it was necessary to earn foreign exchange for exports, so the Guanyin statue was not considered the Four Olds.
The reform and opening up brought spring to arts and crafts, which also brought opportunities to Huang Huasheng to show off his talents. The party's religious policy allowed temples and temples in various places to be restored and improved. Huang Huasheng and his sons Huang Yuanxin and Huang Yuannan formed Xinnan Company by taking one of their sons' names. The artistic life has been passed down to the fifth generation, and the business scope has expanded to export handicrafts, statues of Chinese and foreign celebrities, decorative arts, antique products, animal toys and other categories. When I visited the company's warehouse, thousands of products were hung on the shelves and walls, in various shapes and forms. They were both ancient and modern, including God, Jesus, warriors, lions, galloping horses, and old oxen. Mixed together, it’s like a museum. The Buddha statue products include the largest indoor bronze Buddha in the country, which is made of hundreds of copper components. It is located in the Sanmen Duobao Temple, with a height of 9.8 meters and a lotus base of 2 meters, totaling 11.8 meters. The small wooden Buddha statue is only three inches; the craftsmanship has also changed from clay to resin, fiberglass, and cast copper. The scientific and technological content has increased, the craftsmanship level has gradually improved, and the work has won many provincial and municipal awards. Huang Huasheng joined the Chinese Folk Artists Association, and is a member of the China Arts and Crafts Association and the China Collectors Association. He has a triple aura and was awarded the title of Folk Artist by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Huang Huasheng, who was born in 1945, is broad-minded, cheerful and optimistic, full of energy and unique ingenuity. He looks like a man in his early 50s, has a strong body, and his artistic path is getting wider and wider.