The documentary film The Magical Craftsmanship of Suzhou, featuring Chinese intangible cultural heritages, was launched in Australia and New Zealand on July 28, 2022. Before launching, it was released in North America in June, 【小题1】 stimulated a wide discussion on the eastern aesthetics(美学)and the intangible cultural heritages. It gave the 【小题2】 (local) a close up look at how ancient handicrafts continue to color modern Chinese life.

The film, 【小题3】 (joint) produced by Suzhou Broadcasting Cooperation and Suzhou Protection and Management Office of Intangible Cultural Heritage, aims 【小题4】 (present) an elegant and fresh Chinese culture to overseas audiences. It mainly focuses 【小题5】 nine handicrafts with long-lasting lineages in Suzhou city and 【小题6】 (share) the story about Chinese artists, conveying the eastern manufacturing concepts and craftsmanship spirits.

Caitlin Nugent, a 26-year-old teacher from Sydney, attended one of the documentary’s screenings. She said she 【小题7】 (draw) by the process behind silk brocades(锦缎)and the film added to her dream of 【小题8】 (make) the trip to China that she had never been to. Peter Hannam, 【小题9】 writer, said the film gave an insight into the importance of passing 【小题10】 (tradition) skills from generation to generation.

Craftsmen paint animals, flowers or others on a stone board with the syrup (糖浆). When the sugar 【小题1】(cool) down, what appears is a piece of sugar art. 【小题2】(luckily), as fewer people choose 【小题3】(make) sugar paintings, the traditional Chinese folk craft might have become a memory in some ways. However, a 38-year-old man, 【小题4】(name) Li Jianzhong, devotes himself to 【小题5】(keep) the art of sugar painting alive.

Li worked as a miner for more than ten years. After the mine closed down, Li turned to housing decoration until he 【小题6】(force) to give that up because of a finger injury. Then he discovered sugar painting, 【小题7】 he really had an interest in.

Since there was no sugar painting craftsman in his village, he studied by 【小题8】(he) through videos and information on the Internet. Li loved painting when he was young, and he found 【小题9】 easy to learn the skill in sugar painting. He soon mastered the skill and could make many different sugar paintings, and they attract more and more people. And now his story and paintings encourage some young people to follow 【小题10】 example of him.

Chinese bamboo craftwork includes bamboo engraving (竹刻) and bamboo weaving (竹编).The engravings contain bamboo slips, wall paintings, carved pen 【小题1】 (container), yellow bamboo artworks, and bamboo root engravings, etc. Among others, green bamboo carvings and yellow bamboo carvings are the most 【小题2】 (common) featured.

Green bamboo carving is made with the thin green part on bamboo’s surface. A pattern【小题3】(paint) on the surface first. Then the green part not within the pattern is scraped (刮掉) to expose the bamboo skin beneath. It is a 【小题4】(convention) craftsmanship of Changzhou, Jiangsu.

Yellow bamboo carving is made from Mao bamboo. With the joint and green surface【小题5】(remove), the thin yellow part is kept for boiling, drying and pressing. When made flat enough, it is glued or fixed onto a wood body, on which figure, landscape or bird patterns are carved.

There are 【小题6】 number of artists engaging in bamboo engraving. Among others, artists of Zhejiang are good at both yellow bamboo crafts and bamboo root engravings.

With regard to bamboo weaving, Dongyang, Zhejiang is known as “the hometown of wood sculpture and bamboo weaving”. Qingshen, Sichuan is another place where massive bamboo weaved products are made. Most weaved works 【小题7】(be) practical products like baskets, boxes, gift packages and furniture. However, Mr. He Fuli,【小题8】 is a state master of bamboo weaving, is well known 【小题9】 his unique creations. He is able to create highly complicated works including figures and animals. He was once invited to work on 【小题10】(restore) the bamboo-weaved furniture in the Forbidden City.