After the old man retired, he painted eggshells and taught himself to paint 3 thousand Peking Opera masks.

　　In Shanghai, there is such an old man who paints on eggshells day after day, such as Journey to the West, Romance of the Gods, Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, etc., which can be said to have painted all kinds of characters in Peking Opera masks. In more than ten years, nearly 3,000 eggshells have become lifelike facial paintings in his hands. In 2008, his Peking Opera facial makeup works were shown by CCTV Opera Channel. In 2016, he was selected as one of the top 100 craftsmen in Shanghai Citizen Culture Festival.

　　In an interview with this reporter, Fei Yongquan, who has a good time, expressed his wish in a non-standard Mandarin: "I paint on this eggshell in order to promote our traditional opera culture. As long as my body is feasible, I will keep painting."

　　Text/Figure Guangzhou Daily All-Media Reporter Li Xiaolu

　　When you push the door into Fei Yongquan’s home, you will see all kinds of traditional works of art hanging on the wall: paper-cutting, sachets, and of course Fei Yongquan’s own works — — Eggshell painting In his early years, he piled all these eggshells in his yard. Now these "treasures" are carefully hidden in cartons and piled up on cabinets. In order to facilitate the reporter’s interview, Fei Yongquan spread his works all over the table.

　　Fei Yongquan’s wife told reporters: "This is his spiritual sustenance, or he has to support it."

　　"Self-taught" after retirement

　　Fei Yongquan’s hobby originated from his love of Peking Opera. Fei Yongquan, who was born in Zhejiang in 1939, likes to watch plays with his father since childhood. Peking Opera is his favorite, and there are opera programs on TV all the year round at home. After retiring in 2000, Fei Yongquan, who was able to spare time, either took his wife, who also loved opera, to the theater to watch the play, or often got together with the ticket lovers to sing opera to satisfy his appetite. Unfortunately, Fei Yongquan’s idea of singing opera gradually dissipated because of his inaccurate pronunciation. However, his love for Peking Opera has never been eliminated. "After retirement, time has become particularly abundant, and I always wonder if I can present my favorite Peking Opera in any way."

　　One day, Fei Yongquan ate an egg and looked at the complete egg shell in his hand. He suddenly had a flash of light: "Isn’t this egg shell just like the outline of a human face?" So in 2005, Fei Yongquan, who had never had any painting experience, began to ponder over painting on egg shells.

　　However, the egg shell is fragile and the surface is smooth, so painting on it is not as easy as Fei Yongquan first imagined. During that time, Fei Yongquan got up every morning to play a set of Tai Ji Chuan, and then buried himself in the bedside desk to study — — That small desk is full of materials used for painting, and the drawer is also full of all kinds of paints and tools.

　　At that time, Fei Yongquan was always beside the point, drawing one egg shell after another, so he had to eat eggs at home — — Poached eggs, egg tomato soup, scrambled eggs … … Fei Yongquan’s wife couldn’t stand the "egg feast" every day. But who would have expected that this soft-spoken grandfather is an extremely stubborn person, and he is unwilling to give up easily.

　　Recalling the time when he first painted, Fei Yongquan played an understatement. "Do more research on your own, ask professionals for some experience, and then buy some relevant books to study." Later, Fei Yongquan learned this "craft" by self-study, and he began to successfully draw a piece of eggshell art.

　　Now looking at the mountains of eggshells at home, Fei Yongquan’s wife smiled and shook her head: "These are all his treasures. He collected the cartons that others didn’t want and used them for the second time to collect eggshell paintings; He also used discarded cardboard to make hats and beards painted with eggshells, and boxes of clean eggshells were hidden under the bed. Our family is almost turned into a garbage factory by him. " Although he complained, his wife was also very practical when he saw Fei Yongquan enjoying himself.

　　"Baby" that only gives and doesn’t sell.

　　Fei Yongquan’s painting is thirteen years. In the past thirteen years, thousands of eggshells have been transformed into Peking Opera masks with different images under Fei Yongquan’s pen. Usually, Fei Yongquan’s eggshell paintings always appear in complete sets, ranging from four to dozens. Each set of eggshell paintings is a play in Fei Yongquan’s heart. For him, these eggshell "treasures" are not only treasures, but also a cultural heritage.

　　After a long time, Fei Yongquan’s painted eggshells became famous. Some people who came here wanted to buy them from him, but Fei Yongquan always insisted on not doing business and only wanted to give them to those who care. "Painting eggshells is a spiritual sustenance for an old man like me, and it is also a way to spread and exchange our traditional culture in China. Our family is not short of money. As long as the other party really likes and appreciates my work, I am happy to give it to them as a souvenir. "

　　Since 2012, Fei Yongquan has not only painted himself, but also opened the course of "Eggshell Painting" in the community cultural center — — Folk arts such as "Xinzhuang Eggshell Painting" and "Zhuanqiao Paper-cutting" and "Longbai Sack" initiated by him have been included in the experiential curriculum for fifth-grade students in Minhang District, Shanghai, and Fei Yongquan has also become a volunteer teacher who specializes in teaching fifth-grade students to draw Peking Opera masks on eggshells.

　　Today, Fei Yongquan, who is nearly 80 years old, still shuttles between home and class twice a week, rain or shine. His family thinks that he is too old to go back and forth, and he is not suitable for teaching for a long time — — In fact, Fei Yongquan is the oldest of all the teachers, and it takes him more than half an hour to travel every time, and the teaching time is as long as 4 hours each time. Sometimes Fei Yongquan’s voice is hoarse after a lecture one day.

　　Although his family tried to dissuade him, Fei Yongquan told the reporter with a smile: "I can still teach until I find a replacement teacher." Moreover, teaching children by example is the most effective way to spread our traditional culture in China. "

　　What keeps Fei Yongquan, who is nearly eighty years old, going on is nothing more than his love for Beijing opera. Although Fei Lao is old, he really embodies "learning, having fun and doing something" in his body.

　　"He is obsessed with eggshell painting. Sometimes when we go out to play and see interesting faces or pictures, he urges me to take pictures of these things with my mobile phone so that he can create them later. I can’t help it." Fei Yongquan’s wife shook her head with a smile. "That’s what he likes."

　　conversation

　　It’s not easy to draw eggs, and it’s even harder to collect disciples.

　　Guangzhou Daily: What are the steps to draw eggshells?

　　Fei Yongquan: First of all, because most of my eggshell paintings are complete sets, when choosing eggshells, I will choose eggshells with similar sizes and colors. After the selection, poke a small hole at both ends of the egg shell to remove the egg white and yolk, wash and dry for later use. The washed egg shell must be polished with sandpaper for subsequent operation. Then draw the outline of the face with a pencil and you can color it. At the same time, there are certain rules for coloring, from shallow to deep, from left to right, and from top to bottom.

　　Guangzhou Daily: What is the difficulty in painting on eggshells?

　　Fei Yongquan: Because eggshells are smooth, three-dimensional and fragile, we should pay special attention to the strength when handling eggshells. The second difficulty is to pay special attention to the proportion of Facebook when sketching. At the same time, due to the particularity of eggshell material, I always use acrylic pigment for painting when painting on eggshell, so that the painted color will last forever and brightly.

　　Guangzhou Daily: You painted so many Peking Opera masks. Where did your inspiration come from?

　　Fei Yongquan: At first, it was painted with the face painting method in a reference book, The Art of Peking Opera Face Painting. Later, I found that Peking Opera masks should also be equipped with beards and hats, so I started thinking about making beards and hats with cardboard. Most of my Peking Opera masks are redesigned after referring to the images of actors in Peking Opera performances or characters in Peking Opera books.

　　Because I like Peking Opera at ordinary times, I watch a lot of plays and books, and the TV channel at home is tuned to the opera channel all the year round. Therefore, before painting, I always have a general face image in my mind, and I have pictures in my heart, and my pen is naturally full of gods.

　　Guangzhou Daily: Is there any confusion in the process of teaching and spreading eggshell paintings?

　　Fei Yongquan: The puzzling problem is that we can’t find a suitable inheritor, and it’s too difficult to accept apprentices. Even if young people are interested in eggshell painting, they don’t have much concept of traditional opera, let alone Facebook painting, which is the reason why they can’t persist.

　　Reporter’s notes

　　An "old artist" obsessed with traditional culture

　　After the interview, the reporter asked Fei Yongquan if he could make an eggshell painting on the spot. Fei Yongquan nodded and took out an egg from the refrigerator. My wife shouted at the side, "You want to use new eggs again." Fei Yongquan said: "I have to do it from the beginning, so that reporters can understand and shoot clearly."

　　Later, the reporter learned that Fei Yongquan had hidden two boxes of eggshells under his bed, one was an egg shell and the other was a goose eggshell. Afraid that the reporter wouldn’t believe it, Fei Yongquan deliberately bent down half of his body and got into the bottom of the bed, telling reporters like a few treasures: "These are clean eggshells that I have accumulated at ordinary times. Goose eggs are rare, bigger and whiter than eggs, and making eggshell paintings looks better. I have hidden them. " When he said these words, his wife looked at us in the living room and shook her head with a smile.

　　This quick-thinking old man only responds "slowly" when he answers a reporter’s question while making an eggshell painting, and sometimes he is so absorbed that he almost ignores the outside voice. Whenever the eggshell painting is finished, he will put down his work and then raise his head to introduce the next step to the reporter; Or when making very important steps, open your mouth and explain patiently.

　　In a short time, an ordinary egg shell was transformed into a proper Peking Opera mask of the Monkey King in Fei Yongquan’s hands. After painting, Fei Yongquan put the eggshell painting on an abandoned paper tube to dry — — As Fei Yongquan’s wife said, almost all the materials and tools used in his eggshell painting are recycled, which is particularly environmentally friendly.

　　During the interview, Fei Yongquan said many times: "I painted on this eggshell to promote our traditional opera culture. As long as I am in good health, I will keep painting." It can be seen that he really loves Beijing opera and is obsessed with eggshell painting, and regards his works as priceless.