Kunming Culture Heritages Come to Life at City Exhibition

Intangible cultural heritages went on show in Kunming's Heilongtan Park at an exhibition on Feb 22 and 23 to celebrate Lantern Festival.

Art inheritors demonstrated the city's top 10 intangible culture heritages at the park, including Dongjing music, gourd carving, Sani cross-stitch and paper cutting.

Dongjing music was originally performed to promote Taoism beliefs and was commonly performed during sacrificial rites. A performance was held at the park and its smooth and melodious sound attracted hundreds of visitors.

Gourds represent prosperity, harmony and fortune in Chinese culture. Carving Chinese characters and paintings onto the gourds is a way of adding more cultural connotation to the plant. Gourd carvings have been known to be used as table lamps or to hold alcohol.

Embroidery of the Yi ethnic group in Quanlu county adopts different stitching methods than conventional ones and can be applied to anything from costumes and bags to bedding. Typical embroidery works are usually themed on traditional items such as peony, wintersweet, dragons and magpies.
Kunming culture heritages come to life at city exhibition (I)
Sani cross stitch.

Sani cross stitch can be traced back to Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. After generations of practice, the art became sophisticated in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It has a distinctive artistic expression and contains delightful colors, delicate patterns and full-bodied national characteristics.

Wa Mao, or Tile Cat, was very popular in Kunming about 100 years ago. Made of pottery, the staff looks like an elegant cat with a Chinese character "王" (king) on its forehead. Tile cats were put on roofs with the belief that they could frighten away ghosts and keep the house safe.

Dough modeling is a traditional folk art that uses flour as the main material. After being made into different colors, the dough can be molded into various forms.

Guandu Erkuai is one of the most characteristic Yunnan specialties. It can be made by various cooking methods, including frying, stewing, steaming and baking. The food is an indispensable dish for Yunnan people during Spring Festival.

Yunnan style kites have a history of more than 500 years. They are suitable to the province's climate thanks to the skill of local craftsmen.
Kunming culture heritages come to life at city exhibition (II)
Yunnan style kite.

Crafted with melted sugar on a flat surface, shapes of monkeys, butterflies and birds are attached to bamboo sticks to be eaten as a treat. This skillful art form is known as sugar painting and is popular among evening revelers.
Kunming culture heritages come to life at city exhibition (II)
Suger painting.

As a traditional folk art, paper cutting also enjoys a long history in Kunming. Local artist Wang Yuan is a specialist in paper cutting portraiture and is honored as "genius cutter".