Text by Ma Yalun & Tang Lin Photos by Su Zhuolin

In the CCNU Community along the South Lake in Wuhan, China, lives a unique craftswoman called Sun Qiuping. She has a great passion for drawing Peking Opera masks, which has not been discolored through years. In the past decades, she had made tens of thousands of Peking Opera masks, which won her the nickname “Peking Opera Mask Master Sun.”

On entering her home, we saw numerous masks on walls, tables, and the floor, and her home was filled with various Peking Opera mask molds.

Her encounter with these masks came from her childhood. Her father, a Peking Opera lover, always took her to watch the performances. Even after her family moved south from Shenyang City to Wuhan City, her family's love for the art didn't change. His father would still sing some pieces from the show at his leisure. Little Qiuping wasn't interested in the opera performance itself but the colorful facial makeup of the performers. Every time she was free, she would draw the masks from memory in her workbook, which always won the praise of her father and the admiration of her peers. Little Qiuping gradually found her inborn talent for drawing. Her father noticed her interests and pushed her to practice calligraphy, which also helped develop her drawing skills. Chinese traditional calligraphy with a brush was conducive to her skill of drawing lines after she began drawing Peking Opera masks.

孫秋萍正在繪制臉譜 Sun Qiuping drawing a mask

Chance favors only the prepared mind. When Sun Qiuping grew up, she found a job in the Wuhan Scientific and Educational Instrument Co., Ltd, where she learned the moldmaking and other techniques relevant to mask manufacturing. In her 40s, she was transferred to the Logistics Department of Central China Normal University, which enabled her to have more free time. Encouraged by her teacher Zhang Weiming, she began focusing on mask drawing.

At the very beginning, she knew nothing about the mask field, so she could only learn by herself. In order to draw historic figures vividly, she read a lot of historical documents to acquire knowledge of their facial features and searched for the suitable materials locally and outside of Wuhan in order to make molds and headdresses in person since they were not sold in the market.

Making Peking Opera masks is no easy job. Ten steps need to be done: making the mold, opening the mold, trimming the mold, drawing lines, coloring, decorating, neatening, and varnishing. Besides, the facial expressions, age, height, weight, character, and even the geological and cultural connotations of the figure must be taken into account when crafting a Peking Opera mask. When drawing a figure, one needs to carefully research the changes that come with a subject's age. Take Guan Yu, a great general in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms for example. His eyebrows vary at different ages. In his youth, they are like scimitars; in middle age, thick and flat; in his old age, gray.

Sun Qiuping specializes in everything relevant to Peking Opera mask-drawing, like papercutting, cross-stitching, and even masks popular in Shaanxi Province and masks from Russia and Japan. Therefore, her drawing methods and materials expand constantly. Everything she sees can be turned into a Peking Opera mask. She can make masks modeled after ping pong paddles, spatulas, big spoons, eggshells, and the like. “In this way, people without fixed molds can paint masks themselves,” said Sun Qiuping. She hopes that more and more people love Peking Opera masks and make masks themselves.

Sun Qiuping taught in communities, primary schools and universities to help residents and students draw Peking Opera masks. Eight years have passed since she first taught others to draw. Every year, she gave lessons to foreign students of Central China Normal University. “They are really meticulous, drawing thin and fine lines,” said Sun Qiuping. One year, as many as 70 foreign students came to learn with volunteers helping to interpret. She was so happy to see so many of them excited about Peking Opera masks. She always walked through the classroom and taught students one by one. In her mind, Peking Opera masks are visible symbols of unwritten Chinese culture and thus serve as a good window to become acquainted with traditional cultures. What's more, foreign students can make friends, enrich their lives in China, and acquire skills in drawing.

“Most of my masks are given to people for free.” Sun Qiuping is never possessive of her works and delivers them as gifts to relatives and friends during festivals, ceremonies and parties, and even when they go abroad.

As she said: “Big masks can be hung on walls, and small ones can be tied onto keychains. Each mask, delicate and vivid, brings color to one's home and life.”

萬(wàn)張臉譜背后的孫秋萍

文/馬亞倫 唐琳 攝影/蘇卓琳

中國(guó)武漢南湖邊上的華大家園小區(qū)里，生活著一位奇藝人——孫秋萍。她一生酷愛(ài)畫(huà)臉譜，樂(lè)此不彼。十多年間，孫秋萍已經(jīng)制作了上萬(wàn)張臉譜。人們親切地稱(chēng)她“臉譜孫”。

一進(jìn)孫秋萍家門(mén)，無(wú)數(shù)臉譜奔入眼簾，墻上、桌上到處都是，連地上也被各種臉譜模具占據(jù)。

孫秋萍與臉譜的情緣要從幼時(shí)說(shuō)起。她的父親是個(gè)典型的票友，酷愛(ài)京劇，總帶著秋萍去看演出。舉家從沈陽(yáng)南遷至武漢后，家庭熱愛(ài)戲曲的傳統(tǒng)沒(méi)有改變。悠閑之余，父親總要給她唱上幾嗓子。秋萍對(duì)說(shuō)唱沒(méi)怎么上心，偏偏對(duì)演員五顏六色的臉蛋著了迷。一有空就在作業(yè)本上憑著記憶畫(huà)上一個(gè)，常常得到父親贊賞和小伙伴們羨慕的目光。秋萍天啟的藝術(shù)慧根逐漸萌芽。父親發(fā)現(xiàn)她的愛(ài)好，便要求她每天寫(xiě)毛筆字，練習(xí)手感，這對(duì)她后來(lái)畫(huà)臉譜勾勒線(xiàn)條美感很有幫助。

孫家書(shū)房的墻面上掛滿(mǎn)臉譜 On the wall of Sun's study hung numerous masks

上蒼常把機(jī)會(huì)贈(zèng)與有準(zhǔn)備的人。孫秋萍長(zhǎng)大后，在武漢科教儀器廠(chǎng)找到了工作，在那里，她學(xué)會(huì)了制模、倒模等與制作臉譜相關(guān)的技術(shù)。四十多歲時(shí)，孫秋萍調(diào)到華師后勤部門(mén)，工作更為輕松，于是，在師父張威銘的鼓勵(lì)下，孫秋萍開(kāi)始專(zhuān)注臉譜事業(yè)。

起初，她所從事的行當(dāng)無(wú)所借鑒，只能自己摸索。為了生動(dòng)形象地反映歷史人物，她查閱歷史資料，了解人物臉型特征；模子和頭飾沒(méi)有現(xiàn)成的，她滿(mǎn)武漢找材料，自己動(dòng)手。

做臉譜并不是件簡(jiǎn)單的事，除了制作原型、開(kāi)模、倒模型、修型、上漆、勾線(xiàn)、上色、裝飾、休整、上光漆等十個(gè)步驟的精工細(xì)活，人物的表情、年齡、身高、體重、個(gè)性，甚至地緣人文關(guān)系都得考慮在內(nèi)。同樣一張花臉，仔細(xì)觀(guān)察會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，在不同年齡階段的模樣各有講究。比方說(shuō)《三國(guó)演義》中的關(guān)羽，年輕時(shí)吊眉，中年時(shí)是粗平眉，到了老年就成了灰眉。

孫秋萍指導(dǎo)外國(guó)留學(xué)生繪制臉譜Sun Qiuping showing a foreign student how to draw a mask

孫秋萍和她的學(xué)生們 Sun Qiuping and her students

孫秋萍收集一切與臉譜有關(guān)的手工藝品，剪紙、十字繡，甚至還有陜西的社火臉譜和俄羅斯、日本等國(guó)的面具，創(chuàng)作方式和創(chuàng)作材料也在不斷拓寬。無(wú)論看到什么物件，她都能搗騰出一個(gè)臉譜來(lái)。乒乓球拍、鍋鏟、飯勺、雞蛋殼……不一而足?！斑@樣，沒(méi)有石膏模子的人也可以自己動(dòng)手創(chuàng)作臉譜?！睂O秋萍說(shuō)，她希望熱愛(ài)臉譜、制作臉譜的人越來(lái)越多。

孫秋萍帶著技藝走進(jìn)社區(qū)、小學(xué)、大學(xué)，小朋友、老人愛(ài)學(xué)。過(guò)去8年間，孫秋萍每年都要給華師的留學(xué)生上臉譜課?！八麄兎浅ＵJ(rèn)真，勾線(xiàn)勾得又細(xì)又準(zhǔn)?！睂O秋萍對(duì)洋弟子非常滿(mǎn)意。最多的一年，有70來(lái)個(gè)留學(xué)生和翻譯志愿者一起向?qū)O秋萍學(xué)習(xí)技藝?？粗魧W(xué)生熱愛(ài)臉譜，孫秋萍很高興，總是來(lái)回巡視，一個(gè)一個(gè)手把手教他們。在她看來(lái)，臉譜是沒(méi)有文字的中國(guó)名著，是傳播中華優(yōu)秀文化的很好載體。學(xué)生們?cè)谝黄饘W(xué)臉譜，不僅學(xué)到了技藝，更增進(jìn)了友誼，豐富了在中國(guó)的留學(xué)生活。

“大多數(shù)臉譜都送人了。”孫秋萍并不吝嗇自己的手藝。逢年過(guò)節(jié)、結(jié)婚酒宴、生日派對(duì)、出國(guó)訪(fǎng)友，親朋好友們都期待得到她親手制作的臉譜。大的可以?huà)煸趬ι希〉目梢韵翟阼€匙扣上，個(gè)個(gè)色彩精致、生動(dòng)鮮活，給家居帶來(lái)亮色，給生活增添情趣。