Mask Master Sun Qiuping

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 In order to draw historic figures vividly, she read a lot of historical documents to acquire knowledge of their facial features and searched for the suitable materials locally and outside of Wuhan in order to make molds and headdresses in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.”

萬張臉譜背后的孫秋萍

文/馬亞倫 唐琳 攝影/蘇卓琳

中國武漢南湖邊上的華大家園小區里，生活著一位奇藝人——孫秋萍。她一生酷愛畫臉譜，樂此不彼。十多年間，孫秋萍已經制作了上萬張臉譜。人們親切地稱她“臉譜孫”。

一進孫秋萍家門，無數臉譜奔入眼簾，墻上、桌上到處都是，連地上也被各種臉譜模具占據。

孫秋萍與臉譜的情緣要從幼時說起。她的父親是個典型的票友，酷愛京劇，總帶著秋萍去看演出。舉家從沈陽南遷至武漢后，家庭熱愛戲曲的傳統沒有改變。悠閑之余，父親總要給她唱上幾嗓子。秋萍對說唱沒怎么上心，偏偏對演員五顏六色的臉蛋著了迷。一有空就在作業本上憑著記憶畫上一個，常常得到父親贊賞和小伙伴們羨慕的目光。秋萍天啟的藝術慧根逐漸萌芽。父親發現她的愛好，便要求她每天寫毛筆字，練習手感，這對她后來畫臉譜勾勒線條美感很有幫助。

孫家書房的墻面上掛滿臉譜 On the wall of Sun's study hung numerous masks

上蒼常把機會贈與有準備的人。孫秋萍長大后，在武漢科教儀器廠找到了工作，在那里，她學會了制模、倒模等與制作臉譜相關的技術。四十多歲時，孫秋萍調到華師后勤部門，工作更為輕松，于是，在師父張威銘的鼓勵下，孫秋萍開始專注臉譜事業。

起初，她所從事的行當無所借鑒，只能自己摸索。為了生動形象地反映歷史人物，她查閱歷史資料，了解人物臉型特征；模子和頭飾沒有現成的，她滿武漢找材料，自己動手。

做臉譜并不是件簡單的事，除了制作原型、開模、倒模型、修型、上漆、勾線、上色、裝飾、休整、上光漆等十個步驟的精工細活，人物的表情、年齡、身高、體重、個性，甚至地緣人文關系都得考慮在內。同樣一張花臉，仔細觀察會發現，在不同年齡階段的模樣各有講究。比方說《三國演義》中的關羽，年輕時吊眉，中年時是粗平眉，到了老年就成了灰眉。

孫秋萍指導外國留學生繪制臉譜Sun Qiuping showing a foreign student how to draw a mask

孫秋萍和她的學生們 Sun Qiuping and her students

孫秋萍收集一切與臉譜有關的手工藝品，剪紙、十字繡，甚至還有陜西的社火臉譜和俄羅斯、日本等國的面具，創作方式和創作材料也在不斷拓寬。無論看到什么物件，她都能搗騰出一個臉譜來。乒乓球拍、鍋鏟、飯勺、雞蛋殼……不一而足。“這樣，沒有石膏模子的人也可以自己動手創作臉譜。”孫秋萍說，她希望熱愛臉譜、制作臉譜的人越來越多。

孫秋萍帶著技藝走進社區、小學、大學，小朋友、老人愛學。過去8年間，孫秋萍每年都要給華師的留學生上臉譜課。“他們非常認真，勾線勾得又細又準。”孫秋萍對洋弟子非常滿意。最多的一年，有70來個留學生和翻譯志愿者一起向孫秋萍學習技藝。看著留學生熱愛臉譜，孫秋萍很高興，總是來回巡視，一個一個手把手教他們。在她看來，臉譜是沒有文字的中國名著，是傳播中華優秀文化的很好載體。學生們在一起學臉譜，不僅學到了技藝，更增進了友誼，豐富了在中國的留學生活。

“大多數臉譜都送人了。”孫秋萍并不吝嗇自己的手藝。逢年過節、結婚酒宴、生日派對、出國訪友，親朋好友們都期待得到她親手制作的臉譜。大的可以掛在墻上，小的可以系在鑰匙扣上，個個色彩精致、生動鮮活，給家居帶來亮色，給生活增添情趣。