The Three Blessings of the Forbidden City - Handcraft Ronghua Tutorial
The Three Blessings of the Forbidden City
Materials and Tools: Velvet strips, silk threads, hairpin rod, ruler, scissors, tweezers, lighter, white glue.
The "Three Blessings" is the most popular theme in abstract Ronghua(velvet flowers), consisting of Buddha's hand fruit, peach, and pomegranate. "Three Blessings" symbolizes blessings, longevity, and fertility. In Chinese folk culture, Buddha's hand fruit is associated with blessings due to the homophonic relation with the word "blessing"; peaches symbolize longevity; and pomegranates represent fertility due to their many seeds. This flower type is relatively complex to create, so it is divided into four parts. Pay attention to the harmonious proportions of the "Three Blessings" during production; they should not vary in size (the techniques for wrapping the hairpin rod will be detailed in Chapter 6).
A. Pomegranate Section
The production of this part requires shaping the entire pomegranate, ensuring the overall outline is clear, round, and full.
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1. Prepare 14 red velvet strips, each 4 cm long.
2. Sharpen three of them in half.
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3. Bend the sharpened velvet strips into three leaves.
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4. Sharpen both ends of a 2 cm long yellow velvet strip. If the velvet strip is too long, trim one end's fuzz as shown, leaving the required end.
5. Cut off one end of the brass wire.
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6. Take the finished leaves and tie them tightly with the yellow velvet strip using green silk threads.
7. The assembled pomegranate head looks like the one in the picture.
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8. Sharpen both ends of the remaining 11 velvet strips.
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9. Use the "passing flowers" technique to tie the sharpened velvet strips and pomegranate head together in sequence.
10. After assembly, wrap the silk thread down the flower stem for a distance.
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11. Use tweezers to pull down the top of the velvet strips and tie them tightly with silk threads in sequence.
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12. The appearance after pulling down and tightening all strips.
13. Continue wrapping to cover the exposed brass wire.
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14. Use tweezers to adjust the velvet strips, making the overall shape compact and the outline clear.
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15. Tie a knot to complete the pomegranate.
B. Buddha's Hand Section
When making the Buddha's hand, pay attention to the layered arrangement of the velvet strips and shape it boldly yet carefully.
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1. Prepare 7 yellow gradient velvet strips, each about 3.5 cm long.
2. Sharpen them in sequence.
3. Bend the velvet strips with tweezers as shown in picture.
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4. Assemble the velvet strips in sequence using the "passing flowers" technique.
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5. After aligning each velvet strip, wrap it twice with silk thread until all strips are assembled.
6. Tie and knot the bottom of the brass wire with silk thread.
7. Adjust the shape with tweezers.
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8. Buddha's hand is complete.
C. Peach Section
The method for making this peach section differs slightly from the traditional method. Traditionally, the strips are sharpened in half before assembly, but this can result in a loose flower shape. The author improved the method by closing the top and bottom, similar to the pomegranate, reducing the difficulty and ensuring the flower shape remains tight.
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1. Prepare 12 pink gradient velvet strips, each 3.5 cm long.
2. Sharpen both ends, with bright pink as the top end and flesh pink as the bottom end.
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3. Use the "passing flowers" technique to wrap and tie the top ends of the velvet strips with silk thread in sequence.
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4. The appearance after all 12 velvet strips are tied.
5. Wrap the silk thread down the brass wire for a distance. Use tweezers to pull down the top end of the velvet strips to form an arc and wrap it with silk thread.
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6. After wrapping one velvet strip, pull down the top end of the second strip, align it with the first strip, and tie the second strip with silk thread. Adjust the shape with tweezers as needed.
7. Wrap the bottom of the peach with silk thread in sequence.
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8. Tie a knot to complete the peach.
D. Leaves
Some artifacts have three leaves with two different shapes. Compared to the previous three flower types, the leaves are relatively easier to make. The key is to pay attention to the size and proportion of the velvet strips.
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1. Prepare 10 green velvet strips, each 4.8 cm long.
2. Sharpen both ends of one velvet strip.
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3. Form a leaf by bending it into a circle.
4. Prepare four more velvet strips and sharpen them in half.
5. Bend the four velvet strips in half.
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6. Wrap and tie the sharpened ends of the leaves with silk thread on both sides of the circular leaf.
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7. One leaf is complete.
8. Sharpen both ends of the remaining velvet strips.
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9. Cut off one end of the brass wire.
10. Bend the velvet strips with tweezers into the shape shown in picture.
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11. Assemble three velvet strips as shown and tie a knot.
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12. Apply white glue to the edges of the velvet strips.
13. Adhere the tops of the two side strips to the top of the middle strip.
14. The second type of leaf is complete. Make another leaf using the same method.
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15. The three leaves are complete.
E. Assembly
Use tweezers to assist in adjusting the shape during assembly, ensuring the four parts are tightly connected.
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1. First, assemble the Buddha's hand and pomegranate, with the Buddha's hand in front and the pomegranate behind.
2. Then assemble the peach.
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3. Attach the first leaf at the bottom.
4. Assemble the second leaf on top.
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5. Tie the last leaf in place with silk thread as shown in picture.
6. The flower shape assembly is complete.
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7. Wrap and tie the assembly onto the hairpin rod with silk thread.
8. Adjust the flower shape with tweezers.
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9. Done.
