More than 5,000 old objects are used to preserve farming memories
Zhongcha Village built an agricultural museum to revitalize rural culture
With the realization of agricultural modernization, the agricultural era of ox-pulled ploughs has long been replaced by mechanization. Therefore, the memory of farming needs to be traced to some clues. This clue is either a story told by an old farmer or an "old object" that evokes memories. Recently, the reporter walked into the Farming Museum of Zhongcha Village, Baliwan Town, Gangu County, and was greeted by traditional agricultural tools and daily necessities that were extremely common in the countryside in the twentieth century. Ploughs, rakes, rakes, flat shoulders, baskets... More than 5,000 agricultural artifacts retain people's memories and nostalgia for farming culture, and inject cultural elements into rural revitalization.
Zhongcha Village, Baliwan Town, located in the northern part of Gangu County, is famous for having an ancient castle that has been built for more than 300 years. Walk into the Zhongcha Ancient Castle, one fort and three courtyards, complement each other perfectly. Located in the backyard of the castle, the Museum of Farming Culture is divided into two sections: the Farming Experience Area, the Farming Collection Area and a Nostalgia Hall. Push open the wooden door of the museum, and the old objects of the farming era are full of dazzling. The museum collects some of the equipment of the fort defense period and thousands of modern agricultural tools, living tools, old-fashioned electrical appliances, etc., such as ploughs, rakes, pickaxes, windmills, flat weights, horse lamps, crock pots, abacuses, contracts, etc., which are displayed in small exhibition halls with different themes.
Cheng Shourong, a 68-year-old villager, likes to ask a few villagers to visit the Farming Museum in his free time, where he donated old objects and stored his memories of his past life. "In the past, the clothes worn by the whole family depended on the mother's hands and one such spinning wheel. Every night, my mother sat busy under the kerosene lamp, and I often fell asleep with the sound of the spinning wheel spinning and "creaking". Whenever I see this, I think of a lot of past events. Cheng Shourong pointed to an old spinning wheel displayed in the museum and said with great emotion, "The living conditions now have undergone earth-shaking changes, which are much better than before." ”
According to the broken records of the branch secretary of the party branch of Zhongcha Village, Zhongcha Village, like many ordinary mountainous villages, was also affected by the harsh natural environment, and the backward production conditions led to the poverty of the masses. After several years of poverty alleviation, Zhongcha Village has continuously strengthened its foundation, developed industries, and made precise efforts to make up for shortcomings, and the whole village has been lifted out of poverty. After poverty alleviation, the living environment in Zhongcha Village has been continuously improved, but while polishing the "face" of environmental sanitation and infrastructure, the villagers also want to enrich the "Lizi" of rural cultural connotation.
"At that time, the village was in full swing to carry out the demolition of hollow houses, dangerous old houses, and illegal houses, and the old agricultural objects were all moved out of the old houses by the villagers. Several middle-aged people working in the field proposed to build an agricultural museum to find a 'shelter' for these old objects and inherit the farming culture. Cheng Xiaolu said that everyone said that they would do it, self-raised more than 2.2 million yuan, and collected more than 5,000 pieces of various production and living utensils donated by neighbors free of charge. Pieces of old objects bearing the imprint of the times tell different emotional stories and record the epitome of the development of the times, which is not only a film for replaying the memory of farming, but also a mark on the rolling forward of history.
"But whenever relatives and friends visit the homes of villagers in Zhongcha Village, the villagers will introduce the Farming Museum, and will take them to the scene and explain the exhibits endlessly." Cheng Said that gradually, the Zhongcha Village Farming Museum became "famous" in the surrounding townships, attracting nearby people and primary and secondary school students to visit, and becoming a "vivid classroom for everyone to understand agricultural production, rural life, and social changes."
"These old objects are the crystallization of the wisdom of rural people and the root of rural culture." The significance of building an agricultural museum is to hope that more people will remember nostalgia, contrast with the current happy life, and cherish happiness. Cheng Shanlu said that in the next step, Zhongcha Village will build a rural tourism complex that integrates ancient castle touring, dam fishing, farming experience, inscription appreciation, rural sightseeing, leisure vacation, etc., so that more urban people can come to Zhongcha to find farming memories and inject cultural elements into rural revitalization.