Dragon culture represented in Nantong handicrafts

Sugar dragon by Xu Xiufei. [Photo provided to en.nantong.gov.cn]

The dragon has existed as a cultural symbol of Chinese civilization for thousands years and can be seen in the handicrafts of Nantong, Jiangsu.

Sugar painting craftsman Xu Xiufei held a long spoon full of melted sugar as he painted a vivid flying dragon with lifelike scales. Xu has painted more than 100 sugar dragons before mastering the trick and has been practicing the craft for 20 years.

Sugar painting has a history of more than 600 years, and in 2008 the craft was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage item.

A dragon weaved using palm fiber by Ma Yihua. [Photo provided to en.nantong.gov.cn]

Dragons are also depicted in palm fiber weaving products, which include a great variety of animals. The telltale signs of the dragon are the zigzagging body of a snake, sharp claws of an eagle, and horns of a deer, and the most important step in weaving a dragon is planning out its pose, noted Ma Yihua, a practitioner of 1,700-year-old Nantong palm fiber weaving techniques.

Ma said that her best works are those depicting dragons as she can create any type of dragon that her imagination can think of.

Dough figurines Dragon and Phoenix by Hu Lailiang. [Photo provided to en.nantong.gov.cn]

Dough figurines are another traditional Chinese way to visualize dragons. Craftsmen knead, mold, press, and twist pieces of dough to fabricate the outline and then use tools to carve the details.

Hu Lailiang is a fourth-generation dough figurine-maker, and his best-known work is the Dragon and Phoenix, which is not only beautiful to look at, but also rich in meaning.