Qingwei | disappeared hammer miller

Text/Zhai Soxiang

The years have crossed a threshold again, and unconsciously, the ugly moon has quietly arrived, the old days seem to be still clinging to the dream, and the new years are calmly coming in the dream.

Entering the Waxing Moon, people begin to work on the busy year. In the past busy years, we must first start with grinding grain. At this time, the stone grinding of every household in the countryside is the busiest season of the year, and people will check whether the grinding teeth of the stone mill are still sharp in order to make the stone grinding faster and better grind the flour noodles needed.

The stone mill invented by the ancients reflects the wisdom of the ancients, and the upper and lower millstones represent one day and one place, one yin and one yang. The principle of the unity of heaven and earth and the coordination of yin and yang is used, symbolizing that the Chinese nation has the character of bearing the burden of humiliation and perseverance.

The opposite side of the two grinding discs has a certain interval of grooves, and there is a certain gap deep in the center of the upper fan grinding disc, and there is a central groove that spreads outward into several small grooves, and the more outward the shallower. With the continuous rotation of the upper fan grinding disc, the raw grain goes down with the trend, and through the continuous grinding between the two millstones, the grain is grinded more and more finely, and finally a waterfall-like fine grain is formed around the millstone.

The use of stone mill is very extensive, grains, dry, wet grain, must go through the mouth of the stone mill, swallowed into the stomach of the stone mill, through the "stomach" of the upper and lower fan grinding plate for digestion, from coarse to thin, and then ground into flour, ground into a paste and so on.

Therefore, stone-ground teeth will also be worn to a certain extent like human teeth, and if the teeth are not good, the grain will be coarse and can no longer be deeply processed. To be like a human being requires frequent repairs to "teeth", which gives birth to the seventy-two lines of craftsmanship - the industry of hammer grinders.

Stone grinders are a branch of the stonemason industry, there are full-time stone grinders who go from village to village, they have complete tools, accessories, and extensive information. Whoever needs a new mill and who needs a stone mill knows it all.

The new stone grinding is only a blank, need to open grooves, hammer out different textures of grinding teeth, professional stone grinders, not only to have good technology, but also have a certain strength, a grinding disc weighs hundreds of pounds, a person to move down, put back, no body of strength is unable to do such heavy work, stone grinders are not easy.

When everything was ready, the hammer miller began to draw the upper and lower grinding discs, distinguishing the different tooth directions, and with the direction there was a goal. Find a high stool, sit on it, hold a hammer in one hand, hold the hammer in the other, the hammer rings, and travels along the drawn line, from shallow to deep, "jingling" non-stop.

Hammer grinders, generally in the hammer grinding, will wear a pair of flat glasses to avoid the small stones from splashing into the eyes. The crisp and pleasant rhythm rippled in the farm yard, accompanied by stone chips and sparks, like an old man fishing in the cold river, dancing alone with a hammer, striking a unique note with a hammer, and suppressing setbacks. It is like a master, where a precious work of art is carefully carved.

After a millstone was completed, the hammer miller's hair and clothes were covered with white stone powder, like a statue. That picture makes people look a little sad, but his superb craftsmanship is awe-inspiring.

After the two stone grinding discs are completed, there is another process, using a hammer to open from the middle and clamp the sharpened blade, this tool is called "chopping axe". Use it slowly and slowly, finely chopped on the grinding plate, chopped stone grinding, tight seams, the whole stone grinding takes a day's work to finish. Finally, find the center of the grinding disc, inlay the concave shaft with the hole in the hammer, move the two stone grinding discs together, add some chaff and grind it (commonly known as the "word" grinding), and then it can be used.

When the stone grinders are grinding stones, the neighbors around them will spread word of mouth throughout the village, knowing that there are hammer grinders in the village, and if there are people who need to grind stones, they will go to the queue to ask the stone grinders. After the stone grinding in the village is finished, the craftsmen move to another village, and the stone grinders spend the whole winter in the "jingling" sound.

The stonemasons in this village can also grind stones, which is a compulsory course for every stonemason. For convenience, when the village urgently needs a stone grinder, they will ask the nearest stone grinder, who are some relatives, some are friends, some just take care of a meal, and some symbolically collect a little reward.

I have experienced both of these situations, and I have also served as an assistant to the craftsmen of the stone grinding, and I admire the perseverance of the stone grinders and the superb art of stone carving.

Since the construction of the Taihe Reservoir, the surrounding villages have been stained with light, after the migration in the seventies, there has been electricity, although there are often power outages, but let people have hope, the village has an electric mill, the utilization rate of the stone mill at home has also decreased, and occasionally some elderly people will use the stone mill to push pancake paste. At the end of the 1980s, with the popularity of small electric mills, people completely bid farewell to stone mills.

After some people dismantled the stone mill, they were taken away by the collection of stone tools, and some were reluctant to sell them, so they placed them in an inconspicuous place as a memorial.

The stone mill, which has been beautiful for thousands of years, has gradually withdrawn from the stage of history and faded out of people's vision under the witness of our generation.

Since then, the "buzzing" sound of stone grinding and the "dinging" sound of stone grinders have been far away from people, and this industry has become people's eternal memory.

Written on January 9, 2022

About author:Zhai Suoxiang, male, Han ethnicity, born in April 1963 in Nanxiacheng Village, Taihe Town, Zichuan, a member of the Communist Party of China, college education. He is currently a staff member of the Zichuan District Tobacco Monopoly Bureau. Since 2015, he has published more than 80 articles in newspapers and magazines.

Yanagiizumi Financial Literature