The Surging News reporter Yang Baobao
If a historical figure were chosen as the representative of the scientists in Shanghai's history, who would he be? Professor Tian Zhaoyuan of the Institute of Folklore of East China Normal University gave the answer of "Zodiac Po".
"In the history of Shanghai, Chun Shenjun was the representative of politicians; Lu Ji and Lu Yun were representatives of literary scholars; Huang Daobo was a representative of scientists and a representative of creating wealth. The more in-depth understanding of Shanghai's cotton textile history, the more Tian Zhaoyuan believes that the "first cotton" Zodiac, who improved cotton textile technology, deserves to be a scientist, "because of her scientific innovation, shanghai has shaken off the original relatively poor state of the frontier and moved towards the road to prosperity, laying an important material foundation and technical foundation for the birth of modern cities." ”
On October 15, the opening ceremony of the Huang Daobo Memorial Hall was held. This memorial hall in Dongwan Village, Huajing Town, Xuhui District, Shanghai, is adjacent to the quiet and quaint Tomb of Zodiac Po. After 9 months of re-arrangement, the memorial hall incorporates more cotton textile elements, telling the life of Zodiac Po "dressed in the world" through the exhibition.
Jiang Yan, deputy director of the Xuhui District Cultural and Tourism Bureau, He Xingxing, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Xuhui District CPC Committee, Li Guorong, secretary of the Party Committee of Huajing Town, and Long Ling, director of the Xuhui District Greening Center, unveiled the new statue of Huang Daobo
The zodiacal tomb in the memorial
It took 9 months to re-set up the exhibition, popularizing cotton textile technology
The Zodiac Memorial Hall was opened in 2003 and has been around for 17 years, with the buildings and surrounding facilities gradually aging. In order to better carry forward the zodiac culture and expand the influence of the zodiac memorial hall, Huajing Town spent more than 9 months to re-exhibit the first phase of the zodiac and carry out overall transformation of the external environment.
The overall transformation of the Zodiac Po Memorial Hall, the Zodiac Po sculpture has become the focus of everyone's attention. Huajing Town invited Yang Dongbai, a professor at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and a famous sculptor, to create a statue of Zodiac. After rigorous examination and several drafts, the sculptor strives to restore the most authentic image of the zodiac.
The remodeled Zodiac Po Memorial Hall integrates more cotton textile elements, so that the entire memorial hall has a more textile science function in addition to ornamental functions.
The first phase of the memorial hall promotes the practical significance and contemporary value of the zodiac spirit through three major sections: "Daughter of the Silk Road", "Technological Innovation" and "Ancestor of The First Cotton".
Dr. Fang Yun, a researcher at the Research Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance and Innovation of East China Normal University, led everyone to visit the newly built memorial hall and gave a detailed explanation.
The historical record of the zodiac, also known as the yellow woman. Born in the late Southern Song Dynasty during the Chunyou period (c. 1245 AD), he was a native of Wunijing Town, Songjiang Province (present-day Huajing Township, Minhang District).
During the Yuan Dynasty, Huang Daobo returned from Yazhou, Hainan, learned and improved cotton weaving technology from the Li people, and taught it to the local people.
Before the Zodiac, China also had cotton textile technology, but it was relatively backward, the efficiency was very low, the price of silk was expensive, and ordinary people still wore hemp. The zodiac improved textile tools and textile technology, and comprehensively solved the technical problems of the four main processes of cottonseed, cotton, spinning and weaving.
After the re-exhibition, the Zodiac Po Memorial Hall shows in detail the four processes of the Zodiac Po improvement: "han", "elastic", "spinning" and "weaving".
"Rolling" is rolling cottonseed. On the basis of the Li treadmill, Huang Daobo invented a special machine for de-cottonseed "stirring car", which can squeeze out the cottonseed by hand or pedal, changing the original method of cutting the cottonseed by time-consuming and laborious hand, and greatly improving the efficiency of de-cottonseed.
"Bullet" is to play cotton to make it fluffy and soft. At that time, the slingshot used to play cotton in Jiangnan was only one foot and five inches long, and the efficiency was extremely low, and the zodiac changed the small slingshot to a large slingshot with a four-foot long rope string, and changed to use a slingshot to strike the rope string instead of plucking the string by hand, which not only saved time and effort, but also made the pop-up cotton fluffier and cleaner.
"Spinning" means spinning thread. Zodiac Invented the Three Spindle, which can spin three threads at the same time, which increases the efficiency of spinning thread by three times, and at the same time adopts the way of foot pedaling, frees both hands, which can be called a great innovation in the world's cotton textile technology.
"Weaving" means weaving. Zodiac Po combined the Technology of the Li people with the local loom to summarize an advanced set of "wrong yarn, color matching, yarn, and flowering" process, which is simply to dye the cotton yarn, and then weave cotton with various patterns through jacquard technology.
Visitors can experience the "spinning thread" live on a multimedia screen
The Zodiac Po Memorial Hall exhibits several three-spindles invented by the Zodiac, and visitors can also experience the "spinning thread" on the multimedia screen, compete with the computer, and feel the innovative technology brought by the Zodiac.
The Zodiac Memorial Hall exhibits several three-spindles invented by the Zodiac
Because of her innovation, Shanghai has become rich
In improving cotton textile technology, the zodiac has made great contributions. She not only solved the problem of cotton textile technology, but also taught and promoted the equipment and technology she invented on a large scale without reservation, and comprehensively improved the level of cotton textile in Shanghai.
Using the equipment and technology invented by Huang Daobo, the cotton cloth produced in Shanghai is exquisite, firm and beautiful, and it is widely popular.
After the death of Zodiac, Songjiang Province quickly developed into an important area for the cotton textile industry. The cotton fabric produced here not only has a beautiful appearance and a firm texture, but also because the cotton-making technology exceeds that of Fujian, Guangzhou, and the northwest, it can be widely spread in the north and south of the great river, and finally won the reputation of "Songjun cotton, clothing and quilting".
The cotton textile industry in Songjiang Province reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the cotton cloth produced was not only sold throughout the country, but also exported to Japan, Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom and other countries and regions.
"Because of her scientific innovation, this place in Shanghai has shaken off the relatively poor state of the original frontier and moved towards the road to prosperity, laying an important material foundation and technical foundation for the birth of a modern city." Tian Zhaoyuan believes that from this point of view, the innovative spirit of Huang Daobo is the soul of Shanghai. Huang Daobo not only improved the cotton textile technology in all aspects, but more importantly, she did not take this technology into private ownership, but taught it widely, benefiting the people and eventually making this poor coastal land the richest region in the world.
Zodiac culture deserves more attention
In the history of Chinese textiles, two women have risen to the ranks of gods and goddesses. The first is the legendary Yellow Emperor's concubine Concubine Changzu. Legend has it that she taught the people to cultivate silkworms to cure silk, made pioneering contributions to silk weaving production, and was respected by posterity as "first silkworm". The second is the zodiac.
"Huang Daobo has long taught cotton weaving technology in this area of Jiangnan, which has become the faith of this area, called 'first cotton', and regards her as the grandfather of cotton." Tian Zhaoyuan said that because of the merits of The Zodiac, after her death, the villagers thanked her for her kindness, built a shrine for her, and came to worship her every new year's festival. Gradually, in the Jiangnan area, the custom of sacrificing "first cotton" was formed.
"Shanghai has the Zodiac Po Tomb, and there is also the Zodiac Po Ancestral Hall, and there is a road called Xianmian Ancestral Street." Today, in Wunijing, the hometown of Huang Daobo, there are still remnants of the "xianmian" belief. The Zodiac Memorial Hall contains the mausoleum of The Zodiac, which was built in the Yuan Dynasty, and not far from the Shanghai Botanical Garden, there is also a Huangmu Ancestral Hall built during the Qing Yongzheng Period.
In the Shanghai area, folklore and songs about the Zodiac have been circulating. "Yellow mother-in-law, yellow mother-in-law, teach me yarn, teach me cloth, two tubes and two horses of cloth." This is a song that has been passed down from generation to generation by the working people in Shanghai. The praises are sung by the local craftsmen for the gratitude of the zodiac.
However, compared with the "first silkworm" ancestors, the sacrifice of the "first cotton" zodiac has always stayed at the folk level, and the scope is not so large, the area is mainly in today's Shanghai area and Jiangsu Taicang and other places. The only Huangmu Ancestral Hall that survives in Shanghai today is the Shanghai Botanical Garden.
"Now when we talk about 'food and clothing', Wen is also in the first place, talking about dressing. It is this problem that the zodiac solves, which is very important. Improving cotton textile technology is very important, and it is also important to promote technology to the people, she brings the benefits of science and technology to the people, so that everyone can enjoy the warmth of dressing at a cheap and cheap price. Tian Zhaoyuan believes that the zodiac culture is a valuable treasure house of Shanghai's cultural resources, which should be paid more attention to and become an important driving force for Shanghai's cultural brand building to the world stage.
Editor-in-Charge: Liang Jia
Proofreader: Liu Wei