A folk artist in northwest China's Shaanxi Province is preparing to make a
2-meter high Mashao facial make-up for the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games to express his strong support for the sporting feast.
In this picture, published
on Monday, August 27, 2007, folk artist Li Yao, from Fengxiang
County, Baoji, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, poses with
the mould of a 2-meter high Mashao facial make-up he designed for
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo: huash.com)
Originated in Baoji, Shaanxi Province in ancient times, Mashao
was used to be a type of ladled wooden horse feed spoon, which
normally ranged from a fist size to some 30 to 50 centimeter sizes.
As time goes on, the horse feed spoon, or Mashao, had become a
special type of mask that carried various colorful facial make-ups,
demonstrating an aspiration of their owners or artists for good
luck, helping them weighing out evil or difficulties.
A painted wooden ladle mask, the Mashao facial makeup is often
used on Shehuo, an archaic totem-like festive occasion for songs
and dances prevailing mainly in the countryside of north China.
During the festival, people hang Mashao facial make-ups, just to
protect their houses and ward off evil.
According to a local based newspaper, the Chinese Business
View, local folk artist Li Yao has already completed the mould
for the 2-meter high Mashao facial make-up in his studio in
Fengxiang County's cultural center, in Baoji, Shaanxi Province.
Li Yao said it took him three months to select the mould, a
sufficiently-large piece of tung tree wood without any cracks.
The folk artist said he'll visit Beijing to present his final
work of art to the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic
Games after he finishes it by the end of the year.
Li Yao, approaching his sixties, designed a Mashao facial
make-up last September for a global Chinese memorial service for
Yan Di, a legendary ruler in Chinese history. The Mashao facial
make-up was later selected and printed on a postage stamp issued in
2007.
(CRI August 29, 2007)
