Good Gypsum Carvings Spring from Fine Craftsmanship

Text by Chen Yong

Photos by Zou Bin

In a line of small bungalows on the South Road of Yingcheng Gymnasium,an old man in his seventies is carefully carving a block of gypsum with a carving knife. The old man seems unaware of the pouring rain outside. His name is Wu Bailin. He has been dealing in gypsum carvings for more than 40 years. From an apprentice to a representative inheritor of the art as a provincial intangible cultural heritage, he is now a big name in Yingcheng gypsum carving.

The workshop is filled with white gypsum materials, full of both subtlety and masculinity.However, this gypsum-carving master can magically transform these raw gypsum stones into galloping horses and naughty monkeys. In the showroom, the carved gypsum works are as bright and smooth as jade, with lifelike shapes and patterns.

Yingcheng, known as the “town of gypsum and salt sea,” is rich in gypsum mineral resources.Ingenious craftsmen carve raw gypsum into varied handicrafts.This art has been passed down for more than 200 years in this small county. Nowadays, there are 14 gypsum carving processing plants of different sizes in Yingcheng,with more than 80 carving artists, among whom Wu Bailin is one of the most outstanding representatives.

“While selecting the raw material, we need to find the pure pieces in alabaster and those of standard structure and tighter in fibrous gypsum,” said Wu Bailin. According to him, it could take a few days or half a year to carve a gypsum sculpture, from the selection and cutting of the raw stones, to repeated manual carving, grinding, smoothing, and shaping.

Wu learned the art of gypsum carving from his father. More than a lover of arts and crafts,his father writes and paints,under whose influence Wu has developed a keen interest in gypsum carving.

When the gypsum powder is blown away, an exquisite gypsum carving comes into being吹去石膏粉，一件精美的膏雕作品已现雏形

应城市体育馆南路的一排小平房内，一位七旬老人手拿雕刻刀，对着一块石膏小心雕琢，屋外大雨滂沱，老人似乎浑然不觉。他叫伍柏林，与石膏打了40多年交道，从学徒到省级非物质文化遗产膏雕代表性传承人，伍柏林被誉为“应城膏雕活名片”。

车间内堆满白色的石膏材料，粗犷中透着细腻，经过这位膏雕大师之手，这些石膏原石变身一匹匹奋蹄的骏马、一只只机灵的顽猴。陈列室内，雕好的石膏工艺品，莹润如玉，栩栩如生。

应城素有“膏都盐海”的美誉，有着丰富的石膏矿产资源，心灵手巧的匠人们将细腻的石膏雕琢成工艺品，这门手艺在这个小县城已经传承200多年。如今，应城有大小膏雕加工厂14家，膏雕艺人80余人，伍柏林就是其中杰出的代表人物。

“雪花膏里面有杂质的要排除，纤维膏就是结构标准、紧致些，用这种膏做工艺品。”伍柏林说，一件膏雕作品，从挑选原石到切割，再到无数次手工的雕刻、打磨、抚平，方成形，少则几天时间，多则花费半年。

Wu talking with his son about their online store 与儿子商讨网店经营

Over the past four decades,Wu has designed and made more than 400 gypsum carvings, which have won many awards both at home and abroad. He innovated the “single-body” carving method into a “double-layer” one by applying a resin process, which makes the gypsum carving works more expressive, dynamic, and impressive.“Now I’m less engaged in the carving myself. I’m too old for the job,” said Wu, who desired to pass on this art. However, many young people are frightened by the working environment clouded with white dust. Besides, the studio is cold in winter and hot in summer.

In 2009, Wu Bailin asked his son, Wu Yingchao, who was working in Beijing to return home. He hoped that his son, a man born in the 1980s with an e-commerce degree, could bring a new look to this old art form.

The young man registered an online store, posted the pictures of their products, and in no time attracted several foreign trade companies which ordered custom-made gypsum pillows,candle-holders, and Roman-style columns from them. The gypsum carving art long-held by the Wu family is now going abroad.

In order to attract more followers to the art of gypsum carving, Wu Bailin has developed a set of “easy methods” for gypsum carving, which are easy to understand and adopt.The trainees can grasp certain carving skills after a short period of training. Up to now, the old master has trained more than 400 gypsum craftsmen.

Wu cleansing the works in the show cabinet 擦拭展柜内的作品

Gypsum carvings start from sawing raw gypsum stones 膏雕从锯胚开始

伍柏林的膏雕技术，是跟他父亲学的。父亲喜欢搞工艺美术，能写会画，耳濡目染之下，他也对膏雕产生了浓厚的兴趣。

几十年来，伍柏林设计制作出工艺膏雕产品400余种，产品在第四届世妇会、全国花博会、省工业精品展等展会上获得多个奖项，他还用树脂法改“单体”雕刻法为“双层”雕刻法，解决了原先膏雕作品表现力不强的问题，使作品更具立体感。

“现在自己动手少了，年纪大了，雕不动了。”伍柏林说，他想将这门艺术继续传承下去。可漫天白灰、冬冷夏热的工作环境让不少年轻人望而却步。

2009年，伍柏林喊回了在北京的儿子伍应超，希望这位电商专业毕业的80后儿子，能给自己的老手艺带来新气象。小伍注册了网店，将自家产品图片挂上去，一下子引来几家外贸公司，找他们定做出口的石膏枕、烛台、罗马柱，让老伍守护的膏雕技艺走出了国门。

为了让更多人投入膏雕艺术，伍柏林摸索出一套膏雕“速成法”，浅显易懂，易记易操作，学员经短期学习培训，便可掌握一定的操作技能。几年来，老人家已累计培养膏雕人才400余人。