In 2016, a documentary called "I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City" went viral, telling the restoration process of rare treasures in the Forbidden City, such as bronzes, court clocks, ceramics, wood, embroidery, calligraphy and painting, and the story of the restorers, allowing off-screen audiences to get close to these treasures.
Among them, the most popular is the clock restorer Wang Jin, who is currently the 3rd generation inheritor of the ancient clock restoration skills of the national intangible cultural heritage, since entering the Forbidden City with the master to work, it has been 43 years in the blink of an eye, he has successively repaired and overhauled two or three hundred clocks, but he sighed that the clocks and watches repaired for so many years are only a small part of the Inventory of the Forbidden City, and at present he only has one apprentice, Master Wang Jin hopes that more young people can join in the future days.
Xiaobian still remembers that when watching this documentary, the bullet screen and comments were all saying "I want to join", but in fact, few people would really join. In fact, many intangible cultural heritages in Our country are facing the danger of being lost, such as in the Qing Palace drama, the "tongcao flower" that noble concubines often wear on their heads is in danger of being lost, and now the only remaining master in the country wants to receive apprentices for free, and no one comes to the door.
Tongcao flower, a flower made of tongcao (tongzhi wood). The material is very simple, the inner diameter of the grass is taken into sections when wet, and then dried straight, cut into pieces of paper, the texture of the grass pieces at this time is fine and soft, with plasticity, after a pair of skillful hands of the masters, its appearance can be comparable to the real flower, and never wither, is the best choice for people who love flowers, so the grass flower is also known as "the flower of no thanks".
As for when the Tongcao flower first appeared, there is no question at present, but at least in the Song Dynasty, it has appeared, and the skills are mature, the urban and rural ladies at that time are beautiful to wear the Tongcao flower, the Song People Wang Guan sighed in the "Peony Medicine Spectrum": "Yang people wear flowers without nobility." "Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, Yangzhou has become the production center of Tongcao flowers."
By the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the reputation of Tongcaohua rose and became the favorite of women throughout the country, especially the concubines in the palace, each of them collected many exquisite Tongcao flowers as headdresses, and countless excellent Tongcao flower masters emerged for a time, but by the Republic of China period, the number of people who bought Tongcao flowers decreased, and this craft also began to weaken, and more and more Tongcao flower masters changed careers.
Fortunately, Qian Hongcai, the master of Yangzhou Tongcao Flower Making, gritted his teeth and persevered, he did not want this craft to disappear from this world, and later Qian Hongcai's brother-in-law became interested in Tongcaohua, and Qian Hongcai wholeheartedly taught the craft to him, this brother-in-law is the only remaining Tongcao flower master Dai Fuchun in the country.
Today, Master Dai is 80 years old, and he has been making Tongcao flowers for more than 60 years, and over the years he has continuously explored, creating the bird and bird sticking wool technique of Tongcao flowers, and also combining Tongcao flowers with Yangzhou's carving lacquer, which is exquisite.
When the Great Hall of the People in Beijing was just finished, Master Dai and his brother-in-law sent 10 pots of lifelike Yangzhou Tongcao flower bonsai, and many waiters thought it was a real flower, and they were ready to water the "flower"! This shows the superb skills of the two masters.
However, not long after, the brother-in-law died, Dai Fuchun also delayed in finding a successor, and even openly accepted apprentices for free in the later stage, but many young people felt that Tongcaohua could not make any money, and could not calm down, often studied for a few days and left, Master Dai was very anxious, now he is 80 years old, and if he can no apprentice, I am afraid that this craft will be lost.
Fortunately, a 19-year-old girl, Wang Yunyu, came to the door and worshiped Dai Fuchun as a teacher, hoping that this little girl could continue to persevere and continue to pass on the production process of Chinese grass flowers.