The old craftsman who is "que-da-zi" - Xie Shiquan

Live rizhao September 2, 1960s and 1970s, in the southern region of Luzhong popular a kind of shoes called "Yimeng sandals", the local dialect also called it "click, grass insoles" and so on, which is a kind of sandals made of waste rubber tires into treasure. With the change of the times, there are fewer and fewer people who can do this craft now, and Xie Shiquan, a 76-year-old man in Suozhuang Village, Sangyuan Town, Juxian County, is one of them, and he still insists on making "Yimeng sandals" by hand.

On August 25, the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh lunar month, in the corner of the lively market, the sandal stall of the elderly Xie Shiquan has welcomed and sent away several waves of customers, and his stalls are placed with black sandals commonly known as "clicks".

In 1968, the 24-year-old Xie Shiquan used his shoe-making skills to work in the production team, and now fifty years have passed. Don't look at these sandals black and not good-looking, but more durable than ordinary plastic sandals, breathable, before the old and young, men and women wear this kind of sandals, is the most "fashionable" and durable items of that era.

"I've been wearing it, I've been working in the fields really hard, I don't slip up the mountain, the stones don't get my feet dirty, and now I go out to work and wear a nail that can't be pierced, which is really a light benefit." Villager Zhao Wenyu said.

Villager Dong Feng'an said that the shoes made by the elderly Xie Shiquan are very supportive, worn for many years, in 2004 he bought a pair, and now he is still at home, the other day he looked at some place broken, took it over to let the old man repair and repair, and it is very good.

Xie Shiquan said that in the past, when he was busiest, he taught this craft to his two sons, and the grandfather and his wife were busy working together, and every time there was a big market, the shoe stall was always crowded, and the business was booming, "At that time, I could sell 1,780 pairs a year, and I could sell 1780 pairs in a circle, not only I did it, but many people." ”

Cut the outer tire of the waste tire out of the sole, flatten it with a heavy object, and then choose a thinner position to cut it, and then according to the different sizes of the shoe face and heel, fix the rubber strip in different positions to make a shoe upper, it does not look complicated, but every time you make a pair of sandals, Xie Shiquan is very careful to make the shoes comfortable and good-looking.

An anvil, a hammer, a pair of scissors, a box of nails, that's all the tools you need to make a pair of sandals. The nails knocked into the shoes are soft, and with the passage of time, the steel anvils have been sharpened by the soft nails into many mottled pits, witnessing Xie Shiquan's adherence to this craft for more than 50 years.

Nowadays, the craftsmanship of Yimeng sandals has become an intangible cultural heritage, and the old guys who once made sandals together to catch the market have gone away and scattered, and he is the only one left in the market who is still doing this business, and this craft is also facing loss.

Some enthusiastic people have taken a small video of the process of xie shi quan shoe making and posted it on the Internet, which has received the attention of many netizens, and many people have come to Mulberry Garden Town to see this craft in person. Through the Network, Xie Shiquan's handmade sandals have caught fire again, and many people have ordered custom sandals through the Internet and bought them back as a collection.

Xie Shiquan said that he is now trying to have fun in the market, shoes do not increase in price, as long as he can still do it, he will stick to this craft, how long he can persist. (Rizhao Radio and Television Station Rong Media Reporter: Yuanyuan Hongqiang Xiaoming)