Legend has it that Xiaoguo clay sculpture originated in Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty, represented by Xiaoguo Village, Xingming Township, Cangshan County. The "small fruit clay figurine" hand-made by the masses has a history of nearly 200 years, which is vivid and colorful. Over the years, it has inherited some unique techniques from family and teachers, and has been deeply influenced by modern art, and gradually developed into a folk art, which is deeply loved by artists and the broad masses of the people. The peak sales areas are all over southern Shandong, northern Jiangsu, Zaozhuang, Linyi, Xuzhou and Lianyungang. In other places, in the winter leisure season, the masses also take production tools to Tianjin, Nanjing, Danyang, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Hebei and other places to pinch and sell local materials.

The raw materials of small fruit clay sculpture are all local materials, which can be mass-produced one by one and gradually form their own artistic style. Its shape is complete and unified, exaggerated and true, concise and not vulgar. Its painting process is as follows: firstly, white powder is coated on the surface of the clay mold as the background color, then red, pink, green, yellow and purple pigments are coated with glue as needed, and finally "refreshed" with ink. After this treatment, the characteristics of Chinese painting art are fully reflected, and most of the bottom and back of the clay figurine show a little bit of the true color of soil. At first glance, it seems careless, but in fact it is quite clever. The brown stone color of soil appears as the middle color of red and green, which is even more magnificent and simple, with stable jumping, which not only produces the decorative effect of color, but also highlights the texture of clay figurines. In addition, no matter whether it is clay figurines or animals and birds, most of them are equipped with reed flutes at the back or bottom. When you blow it gently, it will make a "mm-hmm" sound, which is very popular among children. Some sellers can also play a few simple rhythmic scales with the cow's head mud whistle, which makes people listen to the tune of "more rice, more rice, more rice, more rice", which is really interesting. It is also unique for sellers to solicit business in this way.

Small fruit clay sculpture has a wide range of themes. There are drama stories and fairy tales, such as Yang Jiajiang, the Monkey King Pig Eight Rings, Legend of the White Snake, Cowherd and Weaver Girl, butterfly lovers, Seven Kinds of Sesame Officials, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the God of Wealth, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Luohan and the birthday girl. There are ladies and dolls; There are many kinds of dolls, including steamed stuffed bun dolls, chicken dolls, fish dolls and whistle dolls. There are animals, such as tigers, lions, monkeys, chickens, dogs, cows, horses, sheep, green babies and so on. There are also people with animals, such as people riding horses, Song Wu killing tigers, Kirin sending children and so on. These themes are exaggerated, vivid and lifelike, and the scenery is breathtaking.

The clay sculpture of Xiaoguo can sell well all over the country for a long time, which can not be separated from artists' painstaking research, absorbing nutrition from real life, and constantly innovating and improving. Old artists often say, "to be a dramatic figure, we must look at the ugly image and dress on the stage;" To be an animal, we should pay attention to the attitudes of chickens, dogs, cows and horses. And said: "clay figurines are for children to play with, as long as the flower tips look good, not too real." "Therefore, the works are not like real objects, but are beautified and exaggerated. But this kind of beautification and exaggeration has a certain limit, and it is always inseparable from the overall situation. For example, all kinds of dolls tend to exaggerate their heads and make them "fat", which not only indicates health and happiness, but also is the character feature of children's works. The "bun doll" they made, the head is almost as high as the body, naive and childlike. However, in order to reproduce the heroic spirit of Wu Sheng and Beijing Opera Bruce, the main body of Yang Zongbao and Mu has not been shortened too short. These expressions are the "similarity" that traditional artists pay special attention to. "The new generation of clay sculpture artists not only inherited some unique techniques handed down by their families and teachers, but also made new breakthroughs in expression techniques under the influence of modern drama, movies, New Year pictures and arts and crafts. They are not limited to fixed forms, but create according to their own aesthetic views, and give full play to their imagination and creativity in both theme and form, so that their works change with the progress of the times and gradually develop into themes.

Clay sculpture of small fruit, as an ancestral skill, is becoming more and more skilled in modeling techniques. With its unpretentious and ordinary artistic charm, it has won the love of the broad masses of the people. As a folk art, the clay sculpture of Xiaoguo is a concentrated life, which squeezes out all kinds of flavors of life and shapes all kinds of customs in the world.