Pride Asaanchire Tabufor,Amoh Mensah Akwasi and the inheritor of sugar carvings Mi Zhaogui

　　On November 23, with the love and curiosity on traditional Chinese culture, international students Pride from Cameroon and Amoh from Ghana visited Yichang’s inheritors of intangible cultural heritage Zheng Tianxin and Mi Zhaogui,experiencing boxwood carvings and sugar paintings at close range.

　　“Wow, it’s amazing!”As soon as they entered the home of Zheng Tianxin, the heir of the boxwood carving, they saw The Goddess Scatters Flowers, The God of Longevity Rides a Deer, etc. Pieces of vivid works amazed Pride and Amoh, who quickly took out their mobile phones to take photos.

　　"I know him. He's my idol!" Among the many sculptures, Pride recognized QuYuan at a glance.Talking about his the fate with Quyuan, Pride said that in April 2017, he had visited the QuYuan Temple organized by the university. He was deeply shocked when he heard the patriotic story of QuYuan.Later, he participated in Yichang’s Second Reading Art Competition and learned to recite Orange Ode, which deepened his love for Qu Yuan.

　　Seeing that Zheng Tianxin was working on the Eight Immortals Crossthe Sea, thetwo new arrivals wereeager to try."Hold the carving knife, push it along the line, don't push too hard..." Under the patient guidance of Master Zheng, the two students took up the carving knife and carved in the same way.

　　Flat knives, round knives, oblique knives... From the very beginning when they reversed the tools till when they were able to use a variety of carving knives simply, the two students were completely immersed in the art world of sculpture. "I saw wood carvings before, I didn't expect it to be so complicated and time consuming, and it must have been very difficult for the master,” Pride sighed after the experience.

　　When they heard that Zheng Tianxin had just been honored as the representative inheritor of Yichang's intangible cultural heritage last year and won the titles of "Craftsman of Xiling" and "Technical Expert of Hubei", they both gave a thumbs-up."Yichang attaches great importance to the inheritance and protection of traditional culture." Pride told the reporter that his country is also vigorously protecting traditional culture and skills.

　　Later, Pride and Amoh came to the home of Mi Zhaogui, theinheritor of sugar paintings.

　　As soon as they entered the door, the two were attracted by the sugar paintings of Master Mi. "This is a rabbit! This is a flower basket! This is a rose!"

　　Looking at Mi's vivid sugar paintings, Pride and Amoh could not help but praise: "It's amazing, this is the first time that we have seen it with our own eyes, and I can't believe that sugar can be made into such beautiful paintings."

　　Master Mi drew a butterfly while introducing the sugar painting."My grandson, just as I did,started to learn to draw sugar painting sat the age of nine. Now, he can also draw sugar paintings. The skills of sugar paintings have been passed down from our ancestors,and we will certainly carry forward this excellent folk culture!"

　　After watching Master Mi’s drawing, Pride and Amoh could not wait but have a try. Amoh tried to write down his Chinese name and Pride wrote a Chinese"love".

　　Still immersed in sugar painting, Pride sat down with Master Mi and asked him many questions carefully. “What are the unique skills of sugar paintings?And what are required if I want to learn it?"…

　　After thinking for a moment, Master Mi said with a cheerful laugh: "While drawing sugar paintings, one must have a well-thought-out plan and do it in one go. The Xiling Folk Literature and Art Association has set upten intangible cultural heritageinheritancebases in the downtown. Anyone who wants to learn can go to these bases."

　　Pride and Amoh expressed their great admiration when they heard that six generations of Master Mi's family are craftsmen of sugar paintings and they have more than 60 apprentices, some of who mare from other provinces. They said: "The boxwood carvings and sugar paintings are profound and extensive. It is very amazing that these excellent cultures are still intact after being passed down through generations!