In my childhood, many sugar painting painters could often be spotted in lanes and streets in Chendu. The happiest thing for a child was to buy a sugar cake or a Guan Knifeshaped sugar painting from such a stand. He would first play with it and then eat it. In June, 2008, Chendu's sugar painting had been enlisted into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Now, sugar painting competition is held every year in Chendu.
Sugar painting, just as the name implies, is a painting made of sugar. Although it seems to be a trivial skill, it has a long tradition of 400 years. According to the historical records, people began to use melted sugar to make all kinds of animals and human figures as sacrifices in Ming Dynasty (13681644 A.D.). Then it adopted some sculpting and carving skills from shadow play and paper cutting and has gradually developed into the current art of sugar painting.
The production of sugar painting uses refined materials, involving different skills, and the content of the paintings covers a broad range of subjects. The sugar painting artist sits behind his stand. He melts the refined sugar and holds a spoon to paint on the jade white marble board. He holds his breath and concentrates on drawing with the spoon. In a few seconds, all kinds of images, such as birds, flowers, fishes, worms and drama figures, all vividly appear on the marble board. After the sugar becomes solid, you can use a bamboo stick to hold it. A piece of sugar painting can be appreciated and consumed as well.
Although the number of sugar painting artists has decreased over the past years, this special folk art of sugar painting now has come to draw more and more attention from people in China.
