ninhao

Daily Tidbit: 捏面人(niē miàn rén) 

According to a Chinese creation myth, humans were created out of clay by a goddess. In the hands of the folk artists, this myth is repeated over and over as dough that substitutes for the original clay. This dough is molded into fascinating sculptures by kneading, basking, coloring and baking it. We call these dough figurines “面人”(miàn rén) and making these dough figurines as called 捏面人(niē miàn rén) . They can look like glittering, translucent flying fairies or beauties with shining kites but these handicrafts are not made from precious jade, ivory or coral; rather, they are made from an edible material - common dough. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s true; this is an old and magical Chinese folk art. The dough has a high level of plasticity. Craftsmen combine fermented flour or rice powder with colored dyes, preservatives, paraffin, honey and glutinous rice powder; next, they steam the mixture and then sculpt the dough into figurines of animals, people, flowers and plants. Do you like those 面人(miàn rén)? If so, which kind of 面人(miàn rén) do you want to have?