Hairy Monkeys:Unique Tour Guides of Old Beijing Life
By staff reporter JIAO FENG
Hairy monkeys depict Chinese traditional marriage customs.
Scan the QR code to watch the making of hairy monkeys.
MONKEYS wearing uniformed woolly coats are a peculiar group of monkeys who live in Beijing. They live a traditional life with the local people, which includes living in the traditional quadrangle dwellings, drinking tea, taking walks with bird cages in hand, meandering through the busy thoroughfares of Beijing,and so on. Some of them cut hair on street corners or carry wares strung from bamboo poles, still others sell sugar coated hawthorn berries on sticks.
All of them exhibit the rich traditional culture of Beijing. However, they cannot speak for themselves and neither can they freely move about. This special group of monkeys are known as the “Hairy Monkeys”or maohou in Chinese. The craft of making hairy monkey figurines was added to the list of Beijing's intangible cultural heritage in 2009.
The Origin of the Monkey in a Herbal Shop
The exact time hairy monkey figurines made their first appearance is unknown, but according to folklores, the first hairy monkey was created by accident in a herbal medicine shop in Beijing.
Legend has it that there once was a young man who worked at a herbal medicine shop during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Beijing. One day, he was scolded by the bookkeeper. Fearing he might lose his job, the young man took the insults without talking back. That evening feeling bored and annoyed at what had happened earlier in the day, the young man began fiddling with some of the herbal medicine ingredients in the shop. He soon discovered that the periostracum cicada as it is called in Chinese herbal medicine, or cicada slough, resembled the bookkeeper in some way. After using the head and limbs of the cicada slough as the head and limbs and the flower bud of a magnolia as the torso of the little human figurine, followed by gluing them together with bletilla striata — what emerged was a thin-faced monkey figurine with a stuck-out chin.
在我国旅游业民族体育旅游尚处于新兴旅游项目之一。在进行旅游产品设计时，应依托现有民族体育资源，以娱乐休闲为主要目标对民族体育进行宣传，从而使民族体育得到合理的项目设计。高端定制式的民族体育具有一定的针对性，属于小众的体育旅游，只有具有一定经济能力的人才有意愿选择消费。但高端定制民族体育产品也具有较大的弹性，这些特定的消费人群能够根据自身情况对活动项目进行调整。因此，高端定制民族体育项目发展不能拘泥于传统旅游产品发展模式，而要细致分析消费者心理，致力于满足多样化的消费者需求。
When the other apprentices saw the little hairy figurine he had made, they all agreed that it looked like the bookkeeper. Later the boss of the herbal shop saw in the cute monkey figurines a chance to make money and began giving away a little bag containing cicada slough, magnolia buds, bletilla striata,and akebia quinata with each purchase. He called it the “monkey ingredients.” Since the process of making herbal medicine concoctions takes a long time,making hairy monkeys is something people can do while waiting for the herbal medicine to finish simmering. As a result, these monkey figurines became widely liked by the public, and with time, the making of hairy monkey figurines became the handcraft that was known and liked by everyone in old times.
意象指客观形象与主观心灵融合而成的带有某种意蕴与情调的东西[6]。它往往是主客观融为一体的形象，融合了表达者的主观体验、感受和情感，赋予客观事物以某种象征意义。意象为人们发挥想象力提供了广阔的思维空间,它不仅指示某个事理,而且代表着具有特殊意义的生活意象[2]。意象作为表征实践性知识的一种形式，可以反映出教师对自身、教学、学生和教育情境的认知。
Zhang Fengxia, inheritor of the Beijing hairy monkey making crafts.
Zhang Fengxia's son, Song Lei, is teaching children how to make hairy monkeys.
Tradtionally,hairy monkeys are made with four Chinese herbal medicine ingredients —periostracum cicada, magnolia flower buds,bletilla strata,and akebia quinata.
Traditionally, hairy monkeys are made with four Chinese herbal medicine ingredients — periostracum cicada, magnolia flower buds, bletilla striata, and akebia quinata. The akebia quinata was used to make props and the bletilla striata was used to glue everything together. Today, props are made from a wider range of materials, and latex is used as the binding material. There is no replacement of the key materials - cicada slough and magnolia flower buds.
将各时期土地利用类型面积与社会经济相关指标进行多元回归分析，找出影响山东省土地利用变化的主要因素。通过SPSS软件，对这些因子进行降维分析，构建多元逐步回归分析模型，分析各地类面积变化与社会经济指标的相关性[3]。
The most common positions of hairy monkey figurines are standing and walking. While sitting and kneeling poses are quite a spectacle to look at, the process of making them is quite complicated. After putting together the head and body of the monkey,the position of the limbs can be adjusted. One of the most important links in the process are the props.Artisans always form a picture in their minds of the scene they want to use the monkey to portray, then bring it to life through the model and expressions of the monkey. For example, there are displays of three to five hairy monkeys sitting in a tea house drinking tea and playing chess, other scenes include street scenes and traditional Chinese wedding customs with several hairy monkeys forming the welcoming party.
In Qishanzhuang Village of Beijing's Tongzhou District, Zhang Fengxia, now the fourth generation successor of the hairy monkey handcraft, and her son Song Lei, operate a hairy monkey workshop.
Zhang Fengxia creates many hairy monkey works that exhibit the scenes of the Tongzhou section of the Grand Canal.
Illustrating the Life of Old Beijing
《数据库维护与编程》课程的特点是内容多、更新快、课时少，在授课内容方面除了要讲授大量的基础知识外，还要涉及具体的应用、操作，因此传统的讲授和示教法就显现出许多问题。例如：课堂教学空洞、呆板，学生缺乏学习兴趣，忽视了学生积极性、主动性的发挥。
中央企业在计算EVA时，依据《经济增加值考核细则》的规定，一般企业资本成本5.5%；承担国家政策性任务较重且资产通用性较差的企业资本成本率定为4.1%；资产负债率在75%以上的工业企业和80%以上的非工业企业上浮0.5%，且资本成本率确定后三年保持不变。确定的资本成本率降低了与资本市场的相关程度，所以资本成本率是否可以根据经营年度资本市场实际情况确定，且资本成本率确定后保持三年不变的规定值得进一步商榷。
在语篇的构建过程中，作者不仅要通过逻辑诉诸谋篇布局，通过人格诉诸获取信任，为了达到更好的劝说效果，同样要调动元话语资源，激起受众的情感，同时创造对话性语境使读者参与到语篇的构建之中，当受众的情感被适当激发时，劝说效果的实现往往事半功倍。亚里士多德认为，“当话语激起听众的情感时，劝说可以通过听众来取得。我们感到高兴或友善时，我们的判断与我们的心所感觉到的痛苦和不友善时是不一样的”[9](P141)。元旦社论中包含大量的实现情感诉诸的人际互动型元话语，主要有强调标记语、态度标记语以及介入标记中的读者称呼语、情态责任动词、祈使动词以及问句等。
“The handcraft of Beijing hairy monkeys is a symbol of Beijing culture. We are always looking for ways to expand the market of this handcraft.”
Under her influence, her son, Song Lei, who completed a degree in computer-based designing in Germany, slowly became interested in this handcraft as well. Song, in addition to learning the traditional handcraft from his mother, has also introduced modern designs into the production of hairy monkey figurines. “Combining the traditional handcraft with modern life, using monkey figurines to illustrate people's modern ways of living. In this way, we can interest more young people in this art,” Song said.
Song further added, “Young people today are surrounded with the modern culture of Beijing, so as an artist, I try to bring some changes also into the hairy monkey art, including its props and themes.” As he spoke, he pointed to a set of hairy monkey figurines skiing down a slope under the theme “Winter Olympics.” Another scene is called “Peacefully Living Together,” in which children are depicted helping their parents, neighbors are happily talking together,and children are playing carefreely in the street. All of this exhibits the values of Beijing. “Hairy monkey art exhibits a culture by illustrating the happiness, anger,sorrow, and joyfulness of local Beijing people through combining different forms and scenes and recording the vicissitudes of life,” said Song.
“Through these small hairy monkeys, we can record different eras and lifestyles of people in different environments,” Song said in an interview with China Today. “Artists of the same age as my mother focus on topics that exhibit the old lifestyles and environment of Beijing: the traditional Beijing style of square tables and long wooden stools, old Beijing teahouses,Beijing acrobatics from the famous Tianqiao area,rickshaw pullers and their customers — scenes of old Beijing which are memories of elderly locals. Through the magical creations of hairy monkey figurines, the memories of scenes of old Beijing can be brought to life in front of the eyes of children of today.”
After buying the materials, they must be assorted and altered. To prepare the magnolia flower bud, all that's needed is to remove the extra stems, while the head and the limbs of the cicada must be separated from the body. Because the cicada slough is quite delicate, artists must be careful throughout the process of breaking off the limbs. Since the front legs are thicker, they are used as legs for the hairy monkeys while the thin back legs serve as the front limbs.The most tedious task is removing the head. First the mouth part is removed while keeping intact the triangular ears and cheeks. In this way monkey faces will still be quite full. Finally, tweezers are used to pluck off the head part, after which the eyes and antennas should be removed — finally, the head of the hairy monkey is completed.
Hairy monkey figurines are a local handcraft of Beijing. By using a personification technique, the monkeys are made to exhibit people's life in Beijing.
Among the artists who make hairy monkey figurines, there is a saying which goes, “Hairy monkeys are easy to assemble, but the props are hard to make,” signifying that props are very important in the making of hairy monkey art. Since hairy monkeys are only a half-inch in size, it is impossible to rely on the facial makeup or clothes to indicate the emotions or occupations of the characters. Consequently, most of the characteristics of the monkeys are illustrated through anthropomorphic expressions, body postures, props, and different themes.As a result, the value of this handcraft is not in the production process but in the imagination and life experience of the artist.
Instilling New Life into an Old Art
After Zhang retired in 2001, she became fascinated with the art of making hairy monkeys and began learning under the tutelage of many different artists of this craft. Finally she met a successor of the hairy monkey figurine art, Jiang Shouyu. As she studied under him, she tried to create various types and themes of hairy monkeys on her own. Today, she has already been recognized as the fourth generation successor of the Beijing hairy monkey art.
The number of visitors to Zhang's hairy monkey workshop continues to increase, ranging from university students, tourists, and pupils, some of them even from other countries. The workshop has been designated as a site in Tongzhou District for exchanges in intangible cultural heritages.
“The handcraft of Beijing hairy monkeys is a symbol of Beijing culture. We are always looking for ways to expand the market of this handcraft. But this has three main challenges: Firstly, the products are very fragile and inconvenient to carry； secondly, the manufacturing process is tedious, which increases the cost； and thirdly, the themes of our sets are similar and often overlap,” Zhang told China Today.She continued, “Today, we have found some ways to solve the first two challenges. For example, by using glass cases, this can make the art piece convenient to carry. In addition, by using modern techniques, we can standardize the production process of props and thus reduce labor and cut costs. But the third point regarding the variety of themes, we are still working on.”
Having lived many years in Tongzhou District,Zhang has a special interest in the local canal culture.“The hairy monkey art is not merely a process of duplication, there must be variety in the props and subjects, and they must have rich meaning. The Grand Canal is an intangible cultural heritage of the world.So, living as I do on the banks of this river, I decided to make a hairy monkey art piece that exhibited the scenes of the Grand Canal,” said Zhang.
The piece that she has completed is called “The Beautiful Grand Canal.” Taking up a small area of half a square meter, it exhibits the “Eight Scenic Spots of Tongzhou,” having a set of more than a dozen hairy monkeys shorter than a centimeter.
With the vibrant, inspiring, and unique expressions of these little figures, the scene of the Grand Canal is filled with “human emotion.” The flagstones on the Yongtong Bridge are clearly visible. On the bridge,two hairy monkeys lean on the railing, one watching the water below, while the other looking out into the distance with a relaxed pose. On the bank of the canal, four hairy monkey figurines carry a piece of lumber toward the dock, while another hairy monkey pushes with difficulty a cart full of thick pieces of lumber. Surrounding them are other hairy monkeys selling popsicles, eating watermelon, drinking tea,and reading books — each detail of the scene is filled with much vitality.
“The art of hairy monkey figurines exhibits the pulse of society, and the canal culture of Tongzhou is a fountain of inspiration. This is what makes my art different from others,” Zhang told China Today, “My goal is to make my career in hairy monkey art the best it can be. My son has joined me in this craft now and he has helped me by bringing many innovative ideas to the table of traditional hairy monkey techniques, instilling a feeling of modernity and fashion into the handcraft. At the same time, we go out into the community and conduct many cultural and educational activities. This is a practical way of passing on culture, making more people aware of the Beijing hairy monkey art, and fall in love with this traditional Beijing handcraft.”
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