Fishing with birds

（二）書面表達寫作練習

chen huaming is a dough sculptor. he is very skillful and has good eyesight. he also works well with his hands. chen is quite patient because dough sculpt ing takes a long time and a lot of effort. his creative  imagination helps him to think of interesting things to make. when he works, he wears simple, old clothes. they usually get dirty when he works.
 
the skill of dough making is often learnt from family members. chen’s father started teaching him when he was only five years old. the materials needed are easy to get and the preparation is simple. water, wheat flour and glutinous wheat flour are mixed toge ther, boiled and then allowed to cool down. adding chemicals helps the dough to last longer. only very simple tools are used to shape the dough.

chen works either at his home or in a studio. he turns the basic mixture into shapes. these shapes are of many different sizes and colours and there are a lot of influences on  his style.

he likes to show ancient chinese culture in his work and the shapes can be very detailed. chen  thinks that dough figures are a very good thing to collect.

the ancient chinese craft of dough sculpting first appeared in the han dynasty （206bc-220）. during the song dynasty, the colourful figures decorated banquets. in later years, they were used as ritual offerings to gods for weddings and festivals. they were most popular during the qing dynasty（1644-1911）. sadly, this fascinating art is quickly disappearing, like many other traditional crafts. in a few years, it could disappear completely.