Crafty Chinese artist documents his entire year through tiny traditional sculptures

By Echo Zhan
Published
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A crafty artist from China documented every day of 2022 through mini sculptures, paying homage to a tradition that dates back to the Qing dynasty.

Han Xixi made 1,111 intricate and tiny Maohou sculptures to claim the Guinness World Records title for the largest display of Maohou sculptures.

Maohou, also known as hairy monkeys, are made using cicada sloughs and Magnolia buds.

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Legend says the artform was first created in Beijing by a herbal medicine shopkeer who was too poor to buy toys for his son so made them himself with the traditional medicinal ingredients.

Cicada is used to create the heads and limbs, while Magnolia buds form the body, and the parts are glued together to look like tiny hairy monkeys carrying out various human activities.

Han's sculptures are doing everything from playing the guitar to skateboarding and dragging a suitcase through the aiport.

Read this article in Chinese and check out more content in Chinese here!

Han fell in love with hairy monkeys thanks to the teachings of Jiang Shou Yu, an artist well known in the Maohou world.

“The more time I spend with hairy monkeys, the more I feel that I should let more people know about this Beijing intangible art. By attempting the record, more people will know and learn about the monkey." - Han Xixi

Han created a scene for every day of 2022, calling his display The Monkey Calendar.

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He began his attempt in December 2021 and shared the creative idea and production process on his social media account through daily updates.

According to Han, the most important characteristic of this intangible cultural heritage is that it is a "living" manifestation of the personality and aesthetic habits of a nation or region.

Therefore, each hairy monkey is put into a life scene, which corresponds to the change of the seasons, times, festivals, habits, cultural activities and even his own mood.

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Han said he was both excited and thrilled to receive the Guinness World Records title.

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