The craftsmen hit the boiling molten iron with wooden planks into the night sky, and the beauty of the instant bloom was no less than today's fireworks. Rice fat molten iron flowering has now become a unique form of folk activities in Mizhi County, and the blacksmith Ai Shengjun of Mizhi County is also the inheritor of the current Yulin molten iron flower, today let us get closer to his life and understand the story behind molten iron 1600 °C.
At the age of 12, he began to learn the technique of flowering with his father
According to the research of relevant experts in northern Shaanxi, molten iron flowers were originally a ritual activity for Taoist monks to pray for blessings, and later flowed into the folk and became an entertainment activity. Originated in the Northern Song Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, every year during the New Year and the First Month or the official gentry had major happy events, such as gold list inscriptions, promotion and marriage, and the construction of new houses to pay for the masters to play iron flowers, this tradition continued until the Qing Dynasty, and later because of wars and famines, it was endangered.
"For more than a thousand years, this technique has been passed down from master to apprentice or father to son in rice fat, because flower beaters need superb skills and extraordinary courage, and they are on the verge of being lost." A person in charge of the Mizhi County Cultural Bureau introduced that after the reform and opening up, the cultural department of Mizhi County has made this legendary folk fireworks passed down to this day through in-depth folk excavation and sorting.
Ai Shengjun (also known as "Ai Xiao") is an experienced performer of "Playing Iron Flowers", who has nearly 50 years of experience in playing flowers today, and is also the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage project of Yulin City. Ai Shengjun began from his grandfather's generation, the family began to play iron, he was after graduating from junior high school, he followed his father everywhere to play iron, and slowly learned the craft of molten iron.
"When we were young, our family was poor, and in order to make a living, my father let the five of our brothers learn the work of molten iron and flowers, because only by learning a craft could they marry a daughter-in-law." Ai Shengjun told the Huashang Bao-Ersanli reporter that in that era, only by learning a craft could it be possible to find a way out in later life.
Behind the brilliant and colorful is the 1600 °C high temperature molten iron "blooming golden flower"
"Striking iron flowers" is very exquisite, in a wide field, next to a furnace for melting iron juice, the pig iron prepared in advance is loaded into a clay pot, and turned into boiling iron juice. With a plank, grab a handful of damp sawdust, put it on one end of the plank, compact, pinch a small pit in the middle of the sawdust pile with your thumb, scoop two spoonfuls of molten iron into the arsenic, and hit it into the air, which is very spectacular.
On February 15, during the Lantern Festival, a reporter from Huashang Daily-Ersanli enjoyed a wonderful fireworks display in Wohu Bay, Mizhi County. I saw that Ai Shengjun, like other flower beaters, took the "flower board" containing iron juice, quickly ran to the open ground, slammed upwards with force, and the iron juice on the board rushed into the air and burst out.
An elderly man passing by said happily: "This is the oldest molten iron flower, and it is only the authentic one handed down from the old Ai family." This statement of his has also been recognized by many people.
"The temperature of the molten iron is as high as 1600 ° C to 2000 ° C, if the temperature is not enough to hit the iron flower effect is very bad, and the molten iron splashes, it will flow to the performers." Ai Ropejun said, but this is not dangerous, it is a technical job.
According to Ai Shengjun, a one-hour molten iron flower show takes half a day from buying pig iron, coke and other materials, and then to loading iron and burning stoves. He has been performing molten iron flowers for many years, and there are holes in his clothes and hats that are burned with iron flowers. "When the molten iron flowers bloom, they will emit a brilliant red fire, which means that the red fire of the year is generally used to pray for blessings, pray for the safety of the people of Guotai for a year, and a happy family, peace and joy."
Flower Maker: I want to find an heir
Mi Zhi Ai Rope Army has nearly 50 years of experience in molten iron flowering, and with the continuation of time, his fame has become more and more famous, and he is often invited to perform in other places. However, the years are not spared, and the 61-year-old Ai Shengjun has felt that he is overwhelmed in recent years, and often has to run to the open area as fast as possible with molten iron, which is already a bit difficult for him.
And in recent years, few people have learned, and even if they have learned, few people have been able to persevere, and the road of cultural inheritance can be described as extremely difficult, which has also become a regret of Ai Shengjun.
"It's a technical job, it's a hard work, and for so many years, almost no one wants to learn the craft." Ai Shengjun told the Huashang Daily-Ersanli reporter: "But as long as I can still move, I will insist on fighting, and I will try my best to find an inheritor to make the rice fat molten iron flowering project continue." ”
Huashang Daily reporter Yang Huyuan