Qixia clay sculpture belongs to northern clay sculpture. The folk custom of making statues for worship and "playthings" for appreciation is an important reason for the development of Qixia clay sculpture art. Before liberation, there was a very famous folk clay sculpture artist Shi Kaiwu in Jiaodong. When he was 13 years old, he worshipped Wan Wenfu, a folk clay sculpture artist in Luanjiakou Village, Penglai, as his teacher. Both the master and the apprentice were invited to make colored clay sculptures in Penglai Pavilion and statues in temples around Jiaodong. After Shi Kaiwu became an apprentice, he settled in Fengsu Village, Qixia. Because the statues he made were lifelike, he was very famous in Qixia and surrounding areas, and people rushed to hire him to make clay sculptures in temples. At that time, there was a jingle: "When you pile up the clay in old age, the clay figures will breathe; when you paint in old age, the gods will blink." Later, Shi Kaiwu passed on all the clay sculpture skills he had mastered in his life to his youngest apprentice Chen Mengji from Chenjia Village. Clay sculpture artist Chen Yulu was influenced by his father Chen Mengji since childhood and fell in love with clay sculpture. He has been researching and creating traditional folk clay sculptures for more than 30 years. He boldly innovated on the basis of inheriting traditions. In terms of expression techniques, he widely absorbed the nutrient elements of local folk arts such as paper-cutting, drama, New Year paintings, and dough sculptures in Jiaodong, and integrated the expression techniques of modern art, which made the ancient Qixia clay sculpture art glow with new vitality. His works have won many awards. In 2013, Qixia clay sculpture was included in the list of municipal intangible cultural heritage projects. The following year, Chen Yulu was named a representative inheritor of municipal intangible cultural heritage. Style characteristics The colors are mainly dark red, gray-green, earth yellow, ochre, and plain. The shapes are vivid and vivid, the imagination is bold and exaggerated, and the themes are rich and colorful. After hundreds of years of inheritance and innovation, Qixia clay sculpture has gradually formed a unique Jiaodong folk regional style on the basis of continuing traditional techniques. Clay sculpture materials Qixia clay sculpture uses the local unique "yellow mud" and "paste mud" as raw materials and is formed by pure hand-kneading. Clay sculpture tools Qixia clay sculpture tools are very simple and are generally homemade. They mainly include clay sculpture knives, manual turntables, wire saws, and clay scrapers. The raw materials used are: clay, hemp knives, pigments, and other auxiliary materials. Clay sculpture categories Qixia clay sculptures can be roughly divided into two categories in terms of form: one is religious temple colored sculptures, which are large colored sculptures. The other is small colored sculptures, commonly known as "clay dolls." Such as household ornaments and folk toys.