Sugar painter says cultural heritage can sweeten life
TIANJIN — Zhang Fuhai slowly stirs a box of sugary liquid, scoops some out and dribbles an image of Peppa Pig onto a stone board at his stall on Guwenhua Street in Tianjin.
“The waves and the delicate lines of the pig’s body need to be done by slowly moving the wrist,” Zhang said as he moved the scoop, slowly dripping the liquid to form the outline. “Whenever there is a turning point, you need to stop a little to make sure the lines flow smoothly.
“I can create almost anything. Flowers, birds, fish or bugs, I am familiar with all of them.”
Using hot liquid sugar to create a variety of figures from famous dramas or operas — or just ordinary animals — sugar painting is a traditional art that is especially popular with young children in China.
Zhang, 70, is an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage in Tianjin’s Hongqiao district. The sweet business was inspired by Zhang’s father, who was also a sugar painter.
“When I was a little boy, the children in the courtyard would beg my father for sugar paintings,” Zhang said.
When he was 9, he began to imitate the flowers and bugs his father painted, and would even try to create sugar paintings himself.
“I thought it was fun, but I never expected to become a sugar painter myself,” he said.
Zhang graduated from junior middle school in 1966 and went on to become a carpenter and parttime tailor, dealing with all kinds of drawings and measurement tools. It wasn’t until an encounter with another sugar painter in 1980 that he decided to join the family business.
“Since 1980, my only focus has been the sugar painting business,” Zhang said.
He spent days observing crickets, lobsters, crabs and flowers in rural fields and rivers, and his years of experience as a carpenter and tailor contributed to his painting skills.
Whenever Zhang tries to create a new pattern he goes through the process in his mind many times before turning his imagination into reality.
“The liquid sugar is made of honey and crystal sugar and dries very quickly, so it’s necessary to visualize the design first,” he said.
Zhang said that while sugar paintings need to be vivid, it is also important to precisely plan the entire structure and size, as well as the figure’s ability to hold itself together.
“The paintings need to be goodlooking and solid,” he said.
Zhang has created around 200 patterns, and he updates them every one or two years.
“In recent years, I’ve added some cartoon characters to my collection,” he said. “If my customers ask me for something I don’t know, I search on the internet and try to design the styles in my head.”
But he admits to being a little worried about the prospects for passing on the art.
“Few young people are interested in learning sugar painting,” Zhang said. “I hope the younger generation will pay more attention to the intangible heritage. It will sweeten their lives, I promise.”