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)
