Chinese Sugar Painting is a kind of folk traditional handicrafts, especially prevailing in northern China. Made from sugar, it is reviewed as both sugar and panting to view or eat. Chinese Sugar Painting can be seen whenever on temple fair, market fair or in park. Boil brown sugar, white sugar and little malt sugar in fire until it can draw wire. Then artist scoop up a spoon of melting sugar juice, cast quickly on a slab-stone back and forth to create a shape. After the accomplishment, scoop up the sugar painting with a shovel and stick a bamboo slip.

The sculptures of character and animal such as dragon, fish, bird, butterfly, Zhang Fei (a figure from the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and so on engross children’s imagination mostly even though there are other subjects adopted from fiction and operas.

The history of sugar painting can be traced back Ming Dynasty, originating from Sichuan Province. Sugar tiger, sugar lion or figures of ministers were sacrificed to gods and ancestors in Royal Court in Ming Dynasty. Then the handicraft spread in the folk and evolved into sugar paining gradually.

It became more popular in Ming Dynasty. The technique was more matured with a more diverse range of patterns emerged. Propitious patterns such as dragon, fish, monkey, phoenix etc were loved by public. In Sichuan, sugar painting got more advanced development in production, seeing the replacement of the molds with the now-common small ladle, sometimes bronze or copper.

Master of Chinese Sugar Painting

As one symbol of Chinese culture, nowadays, the charming of sugar painting has been gradually getting more and more attention and recognition, so are these artists.
 

Chengdu Sugar Painting is one of the famous sugar paintings in China. It is widely popular in Chengdu and rural areas around the city in Sichuan Province. In November 2019, it was included in the list of protection units for China national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.  

Cai Shu, born in a sugar painting aristocratic family in Sichuan province perform sugar painting show in metropolis at home even go abroad such as Japan, Germany, Spanish, Singapore and so on. He was granted as the “Folk arts and crafts Master” by Chinese Folk Literature and Art Society, the “International Folk Arts and Crafts Artists” by Chinese Folk arts and crafts artists committee and the “A level of folk arts and crafts” by the Unite Nations Educational. Scientific and Cultural Organization.

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