Yuanxiao rice sculpture of Anren County
2023-08-04 17:16:17
The Yuanxiao rice sculpture (Yuanxiao refers to the Lantern Festival), is a folk art form and custom that Anren people grind rice into flour and knead it into shapes of various animals during the Lantern Festival, integrating sacrifice, entertainment, food and art.
Rice sculptures were initially mainly used for sacrifice, and later developed into children’s entertainment, snacks, handicrafts, sacrifices and gifts of festive events, such as weddings, birthday banquets.
They are exquisite in shape and rich in color, with distinctive style, unique techniques and rich cultural connotation. In terms of shape, they have the basic characteristics mainly based on sculpture, supplemented by colored painting. The technique combines roughness and delicacy, combining round sculpture, light sculpture, pasting, and color painting. The composition is simple and naive, with elegant colors.
In 2007, the rice sculpture was on the representative list of the first municipal-level intangible cultural heritage projects. In 2012, it was added to the representative list of the third provincial-level intangible cultural heritage projects.
