Dejiang County has preserved the complete ancient Nuotang Opera and is a famous "hometown of Nuo Opera". The production process of Nuo masks used in Nuotang Opera performances has a long history and is a typical representative of local traditional folk woodcarving crafts. Dejiang Nuo Opera masks are called "face shells", "face shells" and "ghost face shells" by the people. They are the main props to express the personality characteristics and facial expressions of Nuotang Opera characters. "The Customs of Sinan Prefecture in Jiajing of Ming Dynasty" records that "the indigenous people in the territory believe in witch doctors. If they are sick, they believe in witch doctors and specialize in offering sacrifices to ghosts. Nuo is also performed occasionally in winter." Since there are Wu Nuo activities, there must be mask making. Now we can see the "Eight Immortals Picture" carved on the stone of the Nuo Fa Tomb of Huang surnamed Yuanchang in the fifth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty. All the characters are wearing masks to sing and dance. It is difficult to study the Nuo mask making artists in ancient times because there are no written records. Since the Qing Dynasty, famous artists who made Nuo masks include Zhang from Xiaoxi, Chaodi, Huang from Nanmu, Luo from Fengxiang, Wang from Fengxiang, Yinni from Wenping, Luo from Wenping, Zhang from Gonghe, Tu from Nanke, Ran from Qianjiayan, etc. Most of them were passed down from generation to generation, and a small number of them were passed down through apprenticeship. During the Cultural Revolution, the "Four Olds" were destroyed, and a large number of Nuo masks left over from the Ming and Qing dynasties were burned. Many old Nuo mask carving artists also stopped their teaching activities at this time, and their exquisite skills were lost after their death. According to a survey in the 1980s, more than 130 Nuo opera troupes had more than 3,000 Nuo masks. Most Nuo mask carving artists were carpenters, and they worshipped Lu Ban as their ancestor. They believed that carving Nuo masks was making "ghosts and gods", and the skills were mysterious, so it was relatively difficult to pass them on. In 1981, the Provincial Department of Culture conducted folk art performances in Sinan, and Dejiang Nuotang Opera "An'an Sends Rice" and "Beating Qin Tong" participated in the performance. This was the first time that Nuo Opera masks appeared on stage after the Cultural Revolution. In 1987, more than 120 Nuo masks from Dejiang were exhibited in Beijing, and were praised by experts as "living fossils of drama" and "artistic treasures", which attracted great attention from the capital's art circles. After that, the provincial, prefectural and county cultural and ethnic affairs departments paid attention to it, and the carving technology of Dejiang Nuo masks was restored and developed. Luo Yongxiang, Zhang Yubo, Wang Guoli, Li Jiangrong, An Fei and others successively learned mask making. Since 2003, Li Shihong's carving technology has been interviewed and reported by CCTV and other media, and his works have been presented as gifts to distinguished guests at home and abroad many times. The works of Wang Guohua and Chen Guoqiang have won awards in exhibitions at all levels, and their works have become the key products promoted for Dejiang's tourism development. Nuo masks are made of cypress and sour jujube grown in Dejiang County. There are two types of cypress, one is rock cypress and the other is water cypress. Rock cypress is the best, with a hard and delicate nature; water cypress is looser, but has a good color. According to local legend, jujube is used to carve masks of gods, so it is also commonly used. Mask carving goes through five processes: material collection, blank making, carving, coloring, and painting. There are many production processes, and more than 20 processes are required, all of which are handmade. Generally, wood is selected after autumn, and the time is chosen to offer sacrifices to the mountain gods and the land. Blank making is the official start of mask carving work. Before that, sacrifices must be made to Lu Ban, the ancestor of successive generations. According to the length and thickness of the mask variety, materials are selected, the bark is trimmed, and it is leveled. The log is split into two halves, and then the "cloud platform" is fixed, the ink fountain is "laid out" to play the center line, and the face is opened. Opening the face is to use a brush to draw a single line outline based on the facial features of the mask character, and roughly determine the position of the facial features. This is a key process in making masks. Its "transferring image" method is a unique skill passed down by each master, and most of them are secret. Each carver has a white-drawing atlas of Nuo mask characters, which is divided into front and side views, with dimensions and key points. Mask carving is divided into two processes: rough carving and fine carving. Rough carving is to carve the characters into three-dimensional objects according to the position of the headdress of the characters drawn on the blank to determine the size and specific image of each part. Fine carving is to carefully depict each part, including shallow relief, deep relief and hollowing. The knife techniques include chiseling, carving, picking, cutting, scratching, picking, poking, carving, shoveling, drilling, rubbing and cutting. In terms of knife operation, vertical, horizontal, front, inside, oblique, forward and reverse techniques are used according to the needs of the shape. After the mask is carved, it is first polished with coarse sandpaper, and then polished with fine gauze. On the bank of the Wujiang River, some people mix coarse and fine sand and rub and polish by hand. The beautiful characters' faces are also polished with straw (the straw is specially bundled into bundles), and finally rubbed with straw ash to make it shiny. Traditionally, straw is used on a pedal lathe to turn and rub. The newly carved masks should be painted with base ash to prevent the paint from seeping into the wood and to make the colors more vivid. The traditional technique of applying base ash is to mix lime powder with cow glue to make it white. The base ash cannot be applied too thickly, otherwise it will cover the carved lines. The technique requires that "the convex part does not reveal the wood, the concave part does not pile up the pulp, the texture is visible, and the yin and yang are brightened". Then, the base color is applied according to the characteristics of the characters to highlight the layers of the colors and increase the three-dimensional sense. There are more than 50 characters in Nuo masks, of which 24 are commonly used in full halls and 12 are used in half halls. According to the personality characteristics of the characters, they can be divided into four categories: "mighty and fierce, dignified and beautiful, charitable and peaceful, ugly and humorous". The “mighty and fierce” category mainly includes the Holy Lord of Dongshan, Lei the Stonemason, the Kaishan Mangjiang, the Sharp-horned General, the Road-opening General, Guan Yu, the General Yang Si, the Spiritual Officer, the Judge, the Ox-headed and Horse-faced, who are majestic and fierce to drive away evil spirits; the “dignified and beautiful” category mainly includes the Holy Mother of Nanshan, the Fairy Lady of Tang, the Red-faced Fairy Feng, the Youngest Daughter-in-law, Meixiang, Cai Jiao, the Wine Seller, the Little Mountain Lady, Mr. Gan, and An Tong, who are beautiful, kind, and simple in appearance; the “charitable and peaceful” category mainly includes the Holy Mother of Nanshan, the Fairy Lady of Tang, the Red-faced Fairy Feng, the Youngest Daughter-in-law, Meixiang, Cai Jiao, the Wine Seller, the Little Mountain Lady, Mr. Gan, and An Tong, who are beautiful, kind, and simple in appearance; "The main characters are Tang's grandmother, the land, the laughing monk, Pang, the bearded grandfather, Guo Laoyao, Yao Dandan, Liu Gaoming, and Tiegong teacher, who have kind faces and are humorous; "ugly and humorous" characters are Qin Tong, Ruan Tong, Ying Tong, Qin Niang, Qiu Gupo, Li Long, Liu San, the boy who sets off the cannon, the little ghost, the mountain ghost, Zhou Cang, Cai Yang, Min Luo, the king, Baohu, the land, the sweeping monk, and the evil mother-in-law, who have ugly faces but are full of humor. These types of characters are carved according to their traditional shapes and exaggeratedly depicted with colors and lines to better fit the character's personality and demeanor. Zhang Yuncai is a famous Nuo opera artist and altar master in Dejiang. He is good at singing and acting. He inherited his family tradition since childhood. He is proficient in wood carving and is good at depicting faces and demeanor of characters. His reputation spreads throughout neighboring counties. He passed on his art to his grandson Li Shihong. Li learned wood carving and painting of god cases from his grandfather, and got the "God Mask" and the rituals of Nuo Opera from his grandfather's ancestors. After the revival of Nuotang Opera, Li undertook a large number of mask carving work, and successively organized the transmission of art, and a group of newcomers such as Zhang Yubo and Wang Guohua emerged. The inheritance genealogy is: (first generation) Zhang Yingsheng (second generation) Zhang Shihua (third generation) Zhang Chengzhi (fourth generation) Zhang Hongwei (fifth generation) Zhang Chao (sixth generation) Zhang Qingdao (seventh generation) Zhang Yuncai (eighth generation) Zhang Zhongqi (ninth generation) Li Shihong (tenth generation) Zhang Yubo, Wang Guohua, Li Jiangrong. Nuotang Opera is one of the oldest operas in China, and the masks used in it have significant characteristics. The shape is simple, the characters are vividly portrayed, the personality characteristics are very obvious, the expression is realistic, and the carving craftsmanship is exquisite. It is both delicate and beautiful, and has a strong Tujia folk life atmosphere; it is both rough and fierce and humorous, and has the solemnity and seriousness of the gods. The facial makeup has harmonious colors, perfect combination, and is unique. It is an exquisite national handicraft. The production process is complex, and each process requires high carving technology and artistic shaping, which fully demonstrates the artistic essence and charm of Nuo culture. Nuo mask carving skills are the crystallization of the wisdom accumulated by the working people over a long period of time. It is difficult to be replaced by modern technology. It is an extremely precious cultural heritage with unique artistic appreciation and research value. It enjoys a high reputation in China. Information source: Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Center (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) Information source: Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Center (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)