New Hainan client, Nanhai Net, Nanguo Metropolis Daily reporter Li Shaoyuan Yao Chuanwei
Speaking of ethnic minority handicrafts, we have to mention the brocade, pottery, embroidery, etc. of the Li ethnic group, and in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan, the Li cowhide stool is well known.
Lin Yongshen makes cowhide stools at home. Photo by reporter Chen Weidong
Rattan of different thicknesses, two logs, cowhide, is the famous Li cowhide stool raw materials in Changjiang, these raw materials in a pair of skillful hands back and forth, weaving, about 40 minutes, a narrow upper and lower width cylindrical stool frame is made, embedded with boiled cowhide, cowhide stool is basically formed.
Cowhide stools – the early handmade furniture of the Lai family
In 2018, Changjiang included the Li cowhide stool making technology in the fifth batch of county-level intangible cultural heritage representative projects. The 78-year-old Lin Yongshen of Shuifu Village in Shilu Town is the non-hereditary inheritor of this item.
Lin Yongshen makes cowhide stools at home. Photo by reporter Chen Weidong
Cowhide stools are in Changjiang, the most famous of which is Yaqiang Village. The village was originally located in the most remote township deep in the Changjiang Mountains, Wangxia Township, which was the predecessor of Shuifu Village. In the village, there are more than 30 people who can skillfully make traditional cowhide stools. This craft is passed down from generation to generation. Lin Yongshen inherited this craft from his father.
Lin Yongshen said that when he was a child, his family was poor, and he did not even have a stool when eating. When his father went to the mountains to hunt or farm, he would bring back rattan, trees, etc., and make them into cowhide stools. Lin Yongshen has been familiar with it since he was a child, and at the age of 8, he followed his father to make a cowhide stool. When he grew up, he worked as a "barefoot doctor" in the countryside, and his skills did not fall, "In the clinic, I would put a few cowhide stools made by myself, and people could stop when they came and went." ”
Lin Yongshen makes cowhide stools at home. Photo by reporter Chen Weidong
In 1998, after retiring, Lin Yongshen regained his craft, and many people asked him to customize cowhide stools, and many young people in the village also learned crafts from him. In 2002, the entire village was moved to its current location and renamed Shuifu Village. After the villagers arrived in Shilu Town, they began to make cowhide stools to sell in the market, and their reputation was further enhanced.
Today, although he is older, Lin Yongshen's hands are still flexible. Lin Yongshen's home often has rattan and logs, and there are cowhide stools everywhere in the house, and he even made cowhide tables and beds. In his spare time, he moved out of the small stool, took out the rattan and logs, and in front of the house, while soaking up the sun, while making a cowhide stool, "this stool is durable and comfortable to sit on." ”
Each process must be carefully polished and deliberated
The process of making a cowhide stool seems simple, and there are many doorways.
First of all, there is the collection of raw materials. Rattan and a highly formed arboreal raw material called "Sai Sheng" in the Li language grow deep in the mountains of Wang Xia Countryside. The second is the grinding of raw materials, about 2 cm of thick rattan should be folded and then bundled in equal parts; the thin rattan with a diameter of about 0.5 cm should be cut in half; after the trees are peeled, they are hooped into round wooden frames of different sizes.
"The raw materials are dried or naturally air-dried to maintain toughness. It is also smoked, which prevents insect moths and makes the stool durable. Lin Yongshen said.
Lin Yongshen's hands were full of cocoons. Photo by reporter Chen Weidong
Finally, there is the boiling and inlaying of cowhide. The cowhide should be cut according to the caliber of the log frame, chiseled the edge of the cowhide with a chisel, placed in a fixed position on the stool surface, held the cowhide stool upside down, soaked in boiling water, and then scraped off all the cow hair. After three to four days of exposure, after the cowhide is formed, a round hole is drilled in the cowhide, and then crossed with a whole thin rattan to fix the stool surface and beautify the appearance.
Lin Yongshen made the largest table, the table top is made of whole cowhide, 135 cm in diameter. Photo by reporter Chen Weidong
In 2017, Lin Yongshen spent a week making a 135-centimeter diameter cowhide table, the largest cowhide table he has ever made. The cowhide of this table alone consumes nearly 100 kilograms of raw cowhide.
Today, cowhide stools have become a characteristic industry in Shuifu Village. After receiving the order, the villagers began to make it, waiting for the customer to come to the door to collect it. Changjiang treats cowhide stools as tourist handicrafts, and displays and promotes them in the annual Kapok Red Tourism Event, the Li "March 3rd", cultural and natural heritage days, etc., to promote the sales of cowhide stools; in areas such as Wuzhishan, you can also see cowhide stools from Shuifu Village.
Carry out technical training to pass on the skills of Li cowhide stool making from generation to generation
"The cowhide stool making skills are mainly spread in Wangxia Township, Shilu Town, Qicha Town, Fork River Town and other townships, with Shuifu Village as the most common." Guo Hongming, director of the Changjiang Li Autonomous County Cultural Center, introduced that after the ancestors of the Li people hunted before, they used the tradition of making leather goods such as yellow fox skins and deer skins, but later it was forbidden to hunt, and the use of cowhide as a stool was a manifestation of making the best use of things, and it was also a continuation of the tradition.
Lin Yongshen and some of his works. Photo by reporter Chen Weidong
The size of the cowhide stool is high and short, and it is cylindrical in the upper narrow and lower width. The short is the traditional specifications, standard configuration, height 25 cm, stool diameter 28 cm, base caliber 35 cm; high is in recent years in response to the requirements of the customizer and improved "upgraded version", so that tall people sit up more comfortable, generally 43 cm high, stool diameter 32 cm, base caliber 39 cm.
In recent years, Changjiang has used the cowhide stool making process as a medium for accurately helping Shuifu Village, and promoted the villagers' income through government procurement; in addition, it has also carried out cowhide stool handicraft training in Shuifu Village to pass on this Li skill.
Semi-finished products stacked in Lin Yongshen's home. Photo by reporter Chen Weidong
It is understood that more than 30 people in Shuifu Village who skillfully make cowhide stools can make more than 1,000 cowhide stools a year, with a total value of more than 200,000. With the increase in sales of cowhide stools, the local government supported Shuifu Village to build a cowhide stool training center with a total investment of 1.2 million yuan, and more than 50 villagers have joined in it.
"The construction of the cowhide stool training center will further increase the income level of the villagers." Guo Hongming said that in the next step, Changjiang will continue to carry out cowhide stool skills training, so that more villagers can master this skill, invest in the cowhide stool industry, and promote rural revitalization with industrial development. In addition, it is planned to open a cowhide stool handicraft exhibition hall in the cultural room of Shuifu Village, so that this Li skill can be passed on from generation to generation.