Clay sculpture art is an ancient and common folk art in my country. It uses clay as raw material and is shaped by hand. It can be plain or colorful, and mainly features people and animals. There are two forms: one is small clay sculptures and children's toys for desk appreciation, mainly featuring people, birds, beasts, flowers and fruits, etc., and the other is large and medium-sized clay sculptures displayed in public places such as temples, generally religious statues. my country's clay sculpture art can be traced back to the Neolithic period 4,000 to 10,000 years ago. The ancient pottery wells and clay pig and sheep heads unearthed from the Peiligang Cultural Site in Xinzheng, Henan Province are about 7,000 years old, and can be confirmed to be hand-kneaded artworks by early humans. After the Han Dynasty, with the rise of Taoism and the introduction of Buddhism, as well as the worship activities of multiple gods, Taoist temples, Buddhist temples, and temples emerged in society, which directly promoted the demand for clay idols and the development of clay sculpture art. In the Tang Dynasty, clay sculpture art reached its peak. Yang Huizhi, who was known as a sculptor, was an outstanding representative of the Tang Dynasty. People of the time said: "Daozi's paintings and Huizhi's sculptures have won the magic brushwork of Sengyou". In the Song Dynasty, small clay toys also developed and were sold as commodities. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the famous clay toy "Mohele" in Tokyo was sold around July 7th. Not only did ordinary people buy it to "beg for skill", but dignitaries also bought it to worship and play during the Qixi Festival. Leting clay figurines began in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and have a history of more than 400 years. In the Qing Dynasty, Zhongye developed to its heyday. In the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, professional clay figurine workshops emerged one after another, and clay toy artists represented by Zhao Qingzeng of Jiaojunchang became famous. In the 1930s, local opera art was popular in Leting, and hand-kneaded opera characters with opera characters as the theme came into being. After the founding of New China, the production of clay figurines in Huzhuang Village in the north of the city formed a large scale. In 1980, clay sculpture artist Zhao Yuming inherited the traditional handcraft skills of his grandfather Zhao Qingzeng, and developed new products and new technologies through long-term experiments, which enabled the art of Leting clay sculpture to develop further. Leting clay figurines have rich themes and exquisite craftsmanship. The material used is pure clay with low sand content and no impurities. The soil is fine and pure, and the plasticity is excellent. The production process is extremely complicated, including rubbing, kneading, picking, pinching, printing, pressing, pasting, inlaying, inserting, pushing, and pasting. The products are divided into two categories: one is mold clay figurines, which are mass-produced, large in quantity, and cheap. Most of them are auspicious blessings, using molds to print blanks and hand-painted. Their shapes are exaggerated and simple in lines, and the brushes used for painting are thick, with strong color contrast, mainly for children to play. The other is hand-kneaded clay figurines. This type of work is rich in conception, lifelike, fine in workmanship, and elegant and popular. The content is mostly based on opera themes, but also Buddha statues and real-life works are kneaded. These works usually start from the feet, from bottom to top, from inside to outside, in sections, and are completed in one go. The lifelike art form reproduces the typical scenes of theatrical performances, highlights the momentary expressions of theatrical tasks, and has vivid shapes, bright colors, exquisite decorations, and distinct realistic artistic characteristics. In terms of modeling characteristics, Leting clay figurines use high relief to deal with some prominent contours, instead of emphasizing blocks and volume like sculptures, and use shallow carving methods to deal with some line patterns, reflecting the thinness of thick clothes and the thickness of thin clothes. At the same time, the composition is compressed towards the center of the statue, and the main parts are highlighted by shortening the proportions of the human body. In terms of relationship, the traditional Chinese painting style of scattered points and figures is inherited, and the figures are dignified and beautiful or exaggerated and humorous. Most of the proportions of figures do not strictly follow the traditional Chinese painting saying of "standing seven, sitting five, lying three and a half, one palm and half face". In the expression of details, the pursuit of big shape is emphasized, and the shaping of the inner world of the figures is exaggerated or rigorous. The proportion of figures is accurately grasped, and the characters' personalities and characteristics are vividly displayed, making the silent clay sculptures become vivid figures that are eager to speak. The expression techniques of Le Ting clay figures in painting, rendering and setting off achieve the purpose of vigor, beauty, elegance and beauty. The colors used are bold and exaggerated, with strong contrast and high purity, which express the effect of elegance without vulgarity, beauty without gaudyness, and simplicity without oldness. The painting technique is based on the principle of "from top to bottom, light first and dark later, white first and black later", "no more than four colors on the head, no more than three colors on the body", "the brush is applied quickly, the thickness is even", "full but not blocked, simple in complexity" are the rules followed by Leting clay sculptures, which are also the skills passed down from generation to generation by the Leting clay figurine painting profession. The superb artistic processing techniques of Leting clay figurines constitute the distinctive personality and unique artistic style of Leting clay figurines. They have high cultural and aesthetic values, perfect aesthetic ideas, and contain the unique mystery of primitive art and the origin of philosophy, art, religion, customs and habits, as well as the entire aesthetic value system. They directly reflect the aesthetic taste of the working people, and their traditional handmade skills are an important part of my country's excellent cultural heritage. Information source: Tangshan Municipal People's Government (no pictures yet, welcome to provide.) Information source: Tangshan Municipal People's Government (no pictures yet, welcome to provide.)