User:Zeng Yongqi

Sugar Sculpture, officially inscribed as a national-level Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage (No.Ⅶ-88), is a distinctive folk plastic art shaped with maltose and corn syrup. Integrating painting, carving and modeling, its works are both edible ornaments deeply rooted in folk customs. It falls into three major regional branches. First, Chengdu Sugar Painting creates flat patterns with poured melted sugar for temple fairs. Second, Tianmen Blown Sugar Sculpture crafts vivid 3D movable figurines by inflating sugar masses. Third, Fengxian Ritual Sugar Figurines serve exclusively as sacrificial offerings. Evolving from ancient sacrificial “xiang tang” recorded in ancient medical and historical texts, Sugar Sculpture carries Chinese auspicious wishes and folk aesthetics, deserving in-depth cultural research.

Chapter 1 Historical Origins and Folk‑custom Functions of Sugar Sculpture

Sugar Sculpture originated from ancient Chinese sacrificial culture, with its earliest prototype named “xiang tang”, a traditional sugar-made sacrificial artifact ①. As recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica, sugar molded figurines for worship had appeared before the Ming Dynasty ②. In Tang and Song dynasties, sugar craft broke the single sacrificial function. Sugar-made tributes prevailed in temple rituals in the Tang Dynasty, and civilian-oriented sugar art appeared on urban streets in the Song Dynasty, recorded in ancient folk life documents ①.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the folk sugar art derived from xiang tang gradually evolved and differentiated into three stable regional branches, consistent with the three official inheritance schools of national intangible cultural heritage ⑤. In folk society, Sugar Sculpture bore practical and emotional folk functions. Primarily, it acted as folk sacrificial supplies. In resource-limited ancient rural areas, sugar figurines replaced meat sacrifices for ancestor worship and ritual ceremonies ②. Secondly, it became a typical recreational folk art for temple fairs and rural gatherings, adding festive vitality to folk daily life. Moreover, various sugar sculpture themes such as zodiac animals and immortal patterns convey ordinary people’s simple wishes for good fortune and peace ③.

Different from rigid official rituals, sugar sculpture culture features strong civilian liveliness. Wandering craftsmen traveled among towns with portable tools, attracting audiences with unique street performances, leaving warm collective memories for generations of Chinese people ④. Existing official heritage records and folk culture research materials can fully verify its evolution from ancient ritual supplies to popular folk plastic art ⑤.

Chapter 2 Craft Techniques and Visual Aesthetics of Three Major Regional Branches

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum defines three formal regional branches of Sugar Sculpture: Chengdu Sugar Painting in Sichuan Province, Tianmen Blown Sugar Sculpture in Hubei Province and Fengxian Ritual Sugar Figurines in Jiangsu Province ⑤. Each branch has exclusive raw‑material processing skills, operational steps and aesthetic styles. Their artistic differences form the whole‑system artistic value of sugar‑sculpture folk plastic art.

Chengdu Sugar Painting is the most‑well‑known flat‑pattern sugar‑sculpture branch in southwest China. Its core raw materials are high‑quality maltose and corn syrup. Craftsmen heat raw‑material syrup strictly to 160‑170 degrees Celsius to get golden‑colored, smooth‑textured melted sugar liquid. The heating temperature decides whether the final sugar lines are crisp or fragile, which is a key skill mastered only by experienced local inheritors. Craftsmen take melted sugar with a bronze spoon, pour the liquid quickly on smooth marble or copper plates. They control pouring speed and spoon‑moving tracks freely to draw continuous one‑stroke patterns without repeated outlining. Classic subjects include figures from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, twelve Chinese zodiac animals, phoenixes, kylins and flowers, absorbing line‑drawing features of Chinese paper‑cutting and shadow‑puppet art ③.

Its visual aesthetics lies in fluent golden lines and concise silhouette modeling. Each finished sugar painting is fixed on a thin bamboo stick, so visitors can hold and appreciate the translucent golden artwork, and eat it after watching the performance. Local temple‑fair‑related folk rules add more fun: visitors spin a pointer‑installed lottery disc. Whatever animal the pointer points to, craftsmen will make the corresponding sugar‑painting work, creating strong interactive experience between audiences and craftsmen ③.

Tianmen Blown Sugar Sculpture has the most complex operational techniques among three branches, famous for three‑dimensional movable structures ④. According to local folk art research data, local craftsmen add four kinds of natural pigments including red, blue, black and yellow into heated maltose raw materials, preparing colorful soft sugar masses. The whole‑craft core combines blowing, kneading, pulling, shearing and pressing operations. A craftsman takes a small piece of hot‑softened sugar, kneads it into a round lump, pinches a narrow tube‑shaped opening on one end, then blows air steadily into the lump through the tube. The sugar mass inflates slowly meanwhile the craftsman pulls and pinches the soft sugar body to shape animal bodies, limbs and heads.

With small scissors and wooden combs as auxiliary tools, they make movable joints on figurines. Typical works include jumping monkeys, galloping horses, fighting crickets and mythical dragon‑tortoise combinations. These figurines can swing their limbs when people shake the bamboo stick below. Its visual aesthetics focuses on vivid dynamic modeling and bright mixed colors. Compared with flat‑style Chengdu Sugar Painting, Tianmen sugar‑sculpture works have richer three‑dimensional layers and dramatic motion effects. This craft was exhibited at China Art Museum in 1987, winning nationwide public recognition ④.

Fengxian Ritual Sugar Figurines retain the oldest‑style craft which directly inherits ancient xiang‑tang mould‑pouring technology ②. Different from the two live‑created branches above, most Fengxian sugar figurines rely on hand‑carved wooden moulds. Craftsmen pour boiled sugar liquid into paired wooden moulds, close moulds tightly for cooling and solidification, then split moulds to take out complete sugar‑made sacrificial‑item models.

Its creation subjects have strict limitations: all works are designed for ancestor worship and local ritual events. Common models include eight immortals, dragon pillars, sacrificial chickens and ritual‑style peaches. No casual cartoon‑style or street‑play‑themed patterns appear here. Its aesthetic feature is solemn, neat and symmetrical modeling, fitting serious sacrificial‑ceremony atmosphere. These sugar‑made offerings are neatly arranged on sacrifice tables, forming ordered ritual scenes. Though lacking street‑side performance fun, this branch preserves the original ritual‑culture genes of sugar‑sculpture art, which cannot be replaced by the other two branches ②.

To sum up, three branches cover flat free‑hand drawing, 3D dynamic hand‑shaping and mould‑based ritual‑object making respectively. They show diversified creation ideas of Chinese folk craftsmen, combining practical functions, ornamental value and regional folk‑custom characteristics together.

Final Conclusion

Sugar Sculpture grows from ancient sacrificial xiang‑tang folk culture, develops into three distinct regional artistic branches with unique craft skills and aesthetic styles, and obtains new development chances through modern tourism‑culture innovation and limited overseas communication. Its thousand‑year‑long evolution fully reflects Chinese folk people’s wisdom of combining materials, techniques and local folk‑custom emotions. This sweet‑shaped folk heritage keeps its vitality as long as reasonable inheritance and moderate innovation continue.

References ① 季羡林. Sugar History[M]. Beijing: New World Press, 2023. ② Li Shizhen. Compendium of Materia Medica[M]. Ancient Chinese medical classics. ③ Jiang Shouwen. Sichuan Sugar Painting[M]. Chengdu: Chengdu Publishing House, 1992. ④ Tianmen Municipal People’s Government. Research Record of Tianmen Sugar Sculpture Folk Art[R]. 2009. ⑤ China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum. Official File of National‑level Intangible Cultural Heritage Project (No.Ⅶ‑88)[R]. 2008.