"Only 4% of the practitioners in the field of ancient architecture in the country are under the age of 35, and 80% are over 50 years old." The person who said this was Huang Dashu, the general manager of the Ancient Construction Engineering Company in Linhai City, Taizhou, Zhejiang. He is 73 years old this year, born a farmer, mistakenly hit and crashed into the field of ancient architecture, while learning and working for 40 years.
Huang Dashu and his ancient architecture team are very famous.
Among the hundreds of ancient buildings they have restored, some have been declared World Heritage Sites, and more than 200 are national key cultural relics protection units. He also presided over the restoration of the Mansion of Zhang Bishi in Penang, Malaysia, and the Zhonghua Temple in Nepal, which became a witness to cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. The Taizhou Capital City Wall and Ziyang Old Street in Linhai were also promoted and repaired by Huang Dashu, and are now local cultural tourism landmarks in Linhai.
In recent years, traditional culture has received more attention, the national tide has risen among young people, and more and more people have called for and participated in the protection of ancient buildings. The demand is more, the market is wider, and the general civil engineering team is also involved in the restoration and construction of ancient buildings, and the team has expanded at once. However, Huang Dashu described such a pattern as "fat" - although the number of people is large, but the age structure is not good, he is worried that when "this group of old people" can not move, there is no successor in the ancient construction industry. It is not only the ancient architecture industry that is considered to be followed by no successor. Young people flock to emerging industries, becoming live assistants, couriers, takeaway brothers, cement workers cannot be recruited on construction sites, and assembly line workers cannot be recruited in factories.
Is there really no successor?
Huang Dashu (second from right) instructs technicians to repair the city walls of Taizhou Capital. Courtesy of respondents
Farmer ancient construction expert
Ancient architecture, for a new generation of young people, is indeed not very attractive.
In 2013, at the suggestion of Huang Dashu, Linhai Maritime Vocational and Technical School began to run gujian classes. The school's latest batch of recruits, nearly 400 people in the architecture major. The architecture major is divided into four directions: construction, cost, decoration and ancient architecture. There are about 200 people studying ancient architecture, accounting for 4 classes.
At the beginning of the school, Huang Dashu promised that several students who graduated from the gujian class would want a few. But in the 8 years of running the school, there are more than 1,000 graduates, and only a few dozen are really engaged in the ancient architecture industry. Most students choose to go on to further their studies, take the college entrance examination, or attend a 5-year college or university. Students who graduate and work directly are more willing to go to restaurants to serve dishes, at least without outdoor homework, sun and rain.
In the past, it was especially valuable to be able to master a craft that made a living. Huang Dashu recalled the past——
Initially, Huang Dashu studied as a mason, and the village came to him to build houses and boilers. In 1978, Huang Dashu was 30 years old. This summer, Ningbo planned to repair the Tiantong Temple, which has 999 rooms, but there is a shortage of skilled workers, anxious to ask for people, and the salary is one yuan and two dimes per day. In the past, Huang Dashu worked in the village, and the salary was only two dimes and four cents a day.
It was his first time out. Get on the bus at 6:00 a.m., over 4 ridges, and arrive in Ningbo at 3:00 p.m. He pushed open the door with the sign hanging on the renovation office, found the "steward", and was asked 3 sentences by the split head cover face: "Will you cover the cylinder tiles and make a ridge?" Can you carve beams and paint buildings? Do you build arches and horns? "No." Huang Dashu couldn't understand these nouns. The part-time job was yellow, but it was not easy to come, he walked around the temple and found that many walls had collapsed. "Do you want to repair the wall?" This one I will! In this way, Huang Dashu had a job.
Building walls is similar to building houses in the countryside, but new problems soon appear, even if it is only the walls of the temple, the upper part also needs to do line picking, plastic stacking, covering cylinder tiles, etc. Huang Dashu will not, and it will be rolled up to go home. He decided to steal the master. Every day at noon, the regular construction team rested, Huang Dashu secretly climbed up the roof of the Heavenly King Hall that was being repaired, peeled off the tiles, and covered them back; returned to his residence, picked the tiles and mud ash to the room, demolished them, did the demolition, repeated practice, and then went to compare and improve them the next day. After pondering for half a month, he boldly went up to the roof to do a section, found that it was not demolished, and later successfully passed the acceptance inspection.
The first battle was won. He returned to his hometown, found skilled carpenters and masons, formed a 27-person ancient building construction engineering team, and began to contract ancient building restoration projects. Tendo-ji Temple also entrusted them with restoration works for the temple's Daxiong Treasure Hall, the Scripture Cabinet, and the Bell and Drum Tower. Huang Dashu took advantage of his rest time to rush to Ningbo City, look for books related to ancient architecture in the bookstore, and when he was paid, he bought books to learn.
The ancient building circle is not large, and after the repair task of Tiantong Temple, Huang Dashu has a little fame. Soon after, he and his team undertook the restoration project of the West Pagoda (Lower Pagoda) of Ashoka Temple in Ningbo, and the repair project of Huzhou Feiying Pagoda, which is famous for its "Taryo Pagoda". The quality of project completion is high, Huang Dashu has more and more projects in his hands, and within a few years, he established the Linhai Ancient Construction Engineering Company. The ancient buildings were well employed and paid high wages, and Huang Dashu became a fragrant feast in the village. Old with small, small with young, mature with raw, the team grows rapidly, and the reserve strength is also sufficient.
Huang Dashu (first from left) accompanies the inspection of the Chinese Temple in Nepal. Courtesy of respondents
Start by starting out
In the field of construction, the monthly income of workers who build ancient buildings exceeds 10,000 yuan, and the daily wages of well-skilled workers can reach 500 yuan. But ancient construction workers are no longer a sought-after job. A few years ago, Huang Dashu took a few young apprentices, graduated from vocational school and entered the industry, and after working for a few years, they were all called back by their respective parents. Their parents used to run a clothing business or a chemical factory, which were considered to be better than ancient buildings, and the family hoped that their son would inherit their father's business.
Young people don't want to work on ancient buildings, they are afraid of hardship.
In the ancient construction team, there are several types of work, drawing design drawings, carpenters, masons, carvers, project managers, etc., are more or less considered craftsmen. The ancient construction industry is traditional, paying attention to three years to enter the industry. This is the basic threshold.
In 1986, Huang Changming graduated from junior high school, entrusted acquaintances, and went to work in Huang Dashu's ancient construction team and learned to be a mason. The skilled mason on the construction site was his master. Gaeva pays attention to horizontal and vertical. At that time, the tiles were still made by hand, each color and size were different, Huang Changming first picked out the tiles, arranged them, and then built them on the roof. If it is crooked, or not tight, the house will leak when it rains. After studying for a long time, the slope is steep, Huang Changming can still run, and his feet can be nailed to the tiles.
At night, Huang Changming also learned to build walls. Master taught him that bricks were erected one by one, built up, stacked straight, and put 20 pieces without falling, even if they passed. Then the bricks were pasted with yellow mud, built, then pushed down, and rebuilt. After practicing these basic skills, you can follow behind Master, hand bricks to tiles, and lay hands. To become a teacher, it is basically three years.
In 1988, Lu Linguang graduated from high school. Two years later, he entered Huang Dashu's company and learned to be a project manager. This is a manager's position, but it is not idle, and everything must be a little. I arrived at the construction site at 7 o'clock in the morning and left work at 10 o'clock in the evening, and my feet could not be straightened when I slept, because I stood a lot, my legs were too sore, and Lu Linguang slept on the quilt.
After studying for 3 months, Lu Linguang felt simple: Isn't it a house supported by a mortise and mortise? If you keep learning, it's getting harder and harder. For example, when the owner unit and the construction team conduct the drawing review, there are often disputes - there are many mysteries in ancient buildings, modern buildings are straight, some ancient buildings have to be scored, some have side feet, a pillar, the upper and lower ends are different in diameter, and even tilted inward - according to the construction of the drawings, wood is likely not to penetrate the beam.
Huang Dashu (first from the right) explains the method at the site of the renovation of the Confucius Temple in Linhai. Courtesy of respondents
Ancient architectural dynasties are different, architectural styles are different, the majesty of the Tang Dynasty, the simplicity of the Song Dynasty, the proportion of the Qing Dynasty's bucket arches is small, and there are more carvings. Different regions have different architectural forms: the climate on the Loess Plateau is arid, and people live in cave dwellings; in the south, there is abundant rain, and people live in dry-column buildings. Craftsmen who can build houses will not build towers, craftsmen who can build large halls will not build pavilions, and they will learn some fur from all kinds of buildings, let alone three years.
Whether it is a junior high school graduation or a doctorate, ancient architecture has been in the industry for three years, and it is almost an unchangeable iron law. Huang Dashu has received 3 university graduates from Guangzhou, majoring in architecture, to be an intern, and the internship salary is 1800 yuan per month, and it did not take long to work, and he was directly dissuaded by him. "Not at all, I don't understand at all." Huang Dashu said.
Huang Dashu (second from right) instructs technicians at the construction site of the Tang Dynasty Gong Tea Garden in Changxing, Huzhou. Courtesy of respondents
Real estate can not be touched
There are few young people on the construction site, but the ancient construction market is large.
In recent years, more and more people have called for and participated in the protection of ancient buildings. More demand, the market is wide, Huang Dashu company in this group of good skills of the workers business is very good, more than 60 years old, no one is willing to retire, are doing projects in the field; the general civil engineering team also participates in the restoration and construction of ancient buildings, the team expanded.
The ancient architecture market is closely related to the concept of cultural relics protection. The protection of cultural relics has gone through several periods. In 1978, Huang Dashu participated in the renovation of Tendo Temple in order to receive a visit from a Japanese delegation. In China on the eve of reform and opening up, many people still have some prejudices against ancient buildings, believing that there are feudal superstitions, and industry talents are almost out of gear. Looking around, I only found an accountant from a supply and marketing cooperative, who had studied at Tsinghua University and listened to courses in ancient architecture; I found a small carpenter who had built an ancestral hall and a large hall with master in the village; and there was a mason, more than 60 years old, who could do a little clay sculpture and carving. In addition to the three main engineers of the repair project, the workers from Ningbo Construction Company I and 2 Company, understand architecture, but do not understand old buildings.
After the reform and opening up, everywhere is demolishing the old and building new, there are few ancient building construction teams, and the construction industry can still make money in real estate. The development of real estate is almost always a project of hundreds of millions of yuan. In the field of ancient architecture, a small temple can be built for 10 million or 20 million yuan. Huang Dashu and his team took over the project, sometimes with a total cost of less than 100,000 yuan. If cultural relics are found, they should be studied and protected; if they encounter problems in craftsmanship, they must look for ways everywhere. The ancient construction project has little money, and the construction period has been stretched very long.
Huang Dashu had faced temptation. After the completion of the renovation of Ningbo Tiantong Temple, Huang Dashu's ancient construction team became famous in Ningbo. Ningbo Federation of Trade Unions Building, Ningbo Science and Technology Museum, Ningbo Middle School and other projects have approached him and asked him to build modern buildings, but Huang Dashu has refused. In 1995, Linhai City began to repair the city wall of Taizhou Capital, in order to do a good job, the government was very determined, but for a while could not come up with repair funds. The city took the initiative to grant Huang Dashu a piece of land and let him develop real estate. The news came out, immediately there are real estate developers contact, as long as Huang Dashu is willing to change hands, at least can earn 2 million yuan, the house is built the price and then several times. Huang Dashu returned the ground.
"Money is so good to earn, I think it's not right, real estate can not be touched." Huang Dashu has long been determined to become an influential person in the field of ancient architecture. In 1988, before Huang Dashu's ancient construction team was responsible for repairing the west pagoda (lower pagoda) of Ashoka Temple, Wang Shilun, then director of the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, gave them a lesson and instructed them to repair it seriously. Huang Dashu was very touched, "In the countryside, the word excellent is of a very high grade, and it turns out that our craftsmen are doing excellent culture."
A scene after the completion of the renovation of Huzhou Feiying Pagoda. Courtesy of respondents
The strengths of young people
Ancient buildings were built, and Huang Dashu believed that it was now the peak. In the past, the projects that Huang Dashu contacted were mostly the restoration of cultural relics organized by the government; in recent years, more and more individual or collective application projects have been made, building houses at home, wanting to build antique styles, building ancestral halls in the village, and also requiring traditional architectural styles.
The market prospect is good, the industry demand is large, and no one wants to do it. However, the ancient building construction skills are passed down, and only then can we truly be called "successors".
The key lies in talent cultivation. "Before I took apprentices, now I run a school, and there are many people who learn in batches." This is Huang Dashu's train of thought. Qu Junhong, executive vice president of Linhai Maritime Vocational and Technical School, came to the school in 2013 to catch up with the creation of the gujian class, and he just took over the first batch of students and became the class teacher.
It is not easy to prepare for the establishment of the ancient construction class. Looking at the whole country, most of the talents in the field of ancient architecture grow up on the construction site, and it is difficult to find samples of running schools. The teaching staff is insufficient, Qu Junhong recruited teachers in various universities, there are almost no graduates of ancient architecture majors; the class does not know what to teach, the complete subject system has not yet been established, there is no ready-made teaching materials, Qu Junhong compiled a book himself. After several years of exploration, the curriculum system has gradually taken shape. In addition to learning basic courses in architecture such as drawing and surveying, by the second grade, students in the ancient construction class also have to take practical training courses such as carpentry, masonry, painting, carving, etc. Every week, each course is arranged for half a day of teaching time, and the teaching teachers are craftsmen invited from Huang Dashu Company. There are also special theory classes, where teachers display the content of the textbook on the slides and dig out the knowledge points during the exam.
The ancient architecture industry itself is also changing. Mason Huang Changming said that the tile production does not need to be manual, it is all done by the machine, the size and color are the same; now even if the ancient building, the roof is also made of waterproof layer, the tile cover is not firm and will not leak rain; the requirements for the mason's craftsmanship are reduced, "you can put the tile on the line." Jiang Licai, a carpenter, said that in the past, carpentry work was done, axes and saws, and the most important thing was to pay attention to strength; now pay attention to the skill of using machines, and the tenoning machine, planer, and punching machine can do the hard work of the past.
Students at Linhai Maritime Vocational School practice painting walls. Gong Zhiping photographed
The old craftsmen joked that now the apprentices in turn could teach the father. How to create parts is more labor-saving, how to use the machine is more convenient, are the strengths of young people. In the construction of an ancient construction team in Tongren Ancient City, Guizhou, the "post-80s" and "post-90s" engravers accounted for 30%; a "post-85" project manager used 3D printing technology to carve the machine, which greatly improved production efficiency.
In the wood carving classroom of Linhai Maritime Vocational and Technical School, the machine is mass-producing wood carving components. Gong Zhiping photographed
There are also unchanged. The basic skills of craftsmen remain the same, for example, the machine is easy to use, but operating the same machine, carpenters who have learned the craft to create parts with smoother surfaces and more precise dimensions. In addition, the ambition to protect and inherit traditional culture remains unchanged. For example, the ancient construction team always follows the basic principle of repairing the old as the old, and the more the historical status quo is preserved, the higher the value of cultural relics, which is easy and indestructible.
"The times are progressing, and old craftsmen and small craftsmen must continue to learn." Huang Dashu said, "Keep the tradition and excellence well, and pass on the culture." ”
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Author: Gong Zhiping
WeChat Editor: Jia Simin
Proofreader: Tynie