Around us, there are many ordinary workers, who in ordinary posts, through hard work, interpret the beauty of labor, water the flowers of happiness with sweat, and drive the boat of dreams by labor. Today, let us listen to the story of Wu Shuigen, a model worker in Guizhou Province and the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Miao silver jewelry forging technique".
Exquisitely carved, ingenuity casts national fine products. Adhere to the original intention, only to inherit the traditional skills of the Miao people. He is The model worker of Guizhou Province, the representative of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Miao Silver Jewelry Forging Technique", for more than 30 years, Wu Shuigen has been deeply delving into the Miao silver jewelry forging technology, and using his exquisite craftsmanship to promote the Miao silver jewelry handicrafts to the whole country and spread overseas. While improving his popularity, Wu Shuigen did not forget his parents, fathers and fellow villagers, and unreservedly passed on the silver jewelry skills to others, finding a way for a large number of Hmong compatriots to increase their income and become rich.
Wu Shuigen forging silver jewelry
Wu Shuigen, 56 years old this year, is the eighth generation of Wu family silversmiths in Gangdangliu Village, Shidong Town, Taijiang County, Qiandong Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, after years of diligent study and hard work, Wu Shuigen has mastered the exquisite Miao silver jewelry forging skills and produced exquisite silver jewelry crafts.
Wu Shuigen introduces his silver jewelry works
"It's been eight generations since my ancestors, and I started learning the craft from my father when I was 7 years old. I have lived through my craft to this day, and I also like my craft. Wu Shuigen, a model worker in Guizhou Province, a representative of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and a representative inheritor of the Miao silver jewelry forging technology of the national intangible cultural heritage, said.
A wall of silver ornaments forged by Wu Shuigen
Wu Shuigen's forged silver jewelry works
The craft of Hmong silver jewelry forging can be described as complex, including the four major steps of drawing, weaving, carving and coiling. Drawing is the basis of silver jewelry processing, but also a time-consuming and labor-intensive work; wire weaving is to weave silver wire into animals, flowers and birds and other patterns, paste it on the silver sheet, and then cut off the silver sheet for carving; coil is to use abrasives to knock out the silver sheet out of the pattern, and then the silver wire is coiled around. And these complex processes are splicing several small parts together, and it is impossible to make exquisite works without thousands of hammers and ingenious techniques.
Wu Shuigen forged faucet
"The unique skill I am good at is currently this dragon head, which is a symbol of our Miao family and our Chinese nation." The faucet I made was slowly made in a thread, and there were at least sixty processes to complete this work, its eyes, its nose, and its tongue slowly sealed inside, becoming a three-dimensional dragon. Wu Shuigen, a model worker in Guizhou Province, a representative of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and a representative inheritor of the Miao silver jewelry forging technology of the national intangible cultural heritage, said.
Wu Shuigen in forged silver jewelry 1
From casting, hammering, drawing, weaving, then carving, welding, welding and then sealing, Wu Shuigen injected his own painstaking efforts into every silver jewelry handicraft. Through intensive research and learning from each other's strong points, Wu Shuigen, while constantly improving the Miao silver jewelry forging technology, fused the traditional national culture with the silver jewelry forging technology, and successively created exquisite silver jewelry works such as "Miao Story Totem Pole", "Dragon Boat Smooth Sailing", "Butterfly Mother and Ji Yu Bird", "One Heart to the Party", etc., with more than 200 kinds of works, of which the work Dragon Boat is smooth sailing is his favorite.
Work: The dragon ship is smooth sailing
Wu Shuigen introduced the reason for the creation of the work
"I have a lot of ideas and creativity in creating this work, so I made this dragon boat, and there is a smooth sailing (word) on it, which represents that all of us in the Chinese nation are smooth sailing, representing the meaning of our country, the people, the wind and rain, and everyone's peaceful life." Wu Shuigen, a model worker in Guizhou Province, a representative of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and a representative inheritor of the Miao silver jewelry forging technology of the national intangible cultural heritage, said.
Wu Shuigen Honor Wall
He was named as the representative inheritor of the silver jewelry forging technology (Miao silver jewelry forging technology) of the national intangible cultural heritage project
He was awarded the honorary title of "Model Worker of Guizhou Province"
He was awarded the honorary title of "Guizhou Craftsman"
Elected deputy to the 19th Party Congress in 2017 (front row, second from right)
Over the years, Wu Shuigen has been rated as a national non-hereditary inheritor, a model worker in Guizhou Province and the first top ten craftsmen in Guizhou Province, and was elected as a representative of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017. These honors can be obtained not only because of Wu Shuigen's exquisite craftsmanship, but also because he has always practiced the responsibility and quality of an inheritor in the process of inheriting and promoting national culture.
Wu Shuigen was instructing his apprentices
"Long Yinsha: Master, how can this place be handled better?"
Wu Shuigen: This tail has to be bent slowly, and this head is also like this, well, that's it... This is Wu Shuigen teaching his apprentice how to handle the details of silver jewelry.
Wu Shuigen was instructing his apprentices
In 2010, Wu Shuigen registered and established the Intangible Cultural Heritage Poverty Alleviation and Employment Workshop of Shuigen National Silver Jewelry Co., Ltd. in Taijiang County, Guizhou Province, which integrates display and inheritance, focusing on the unique Miao silver jewelry, embroidery and other intangible cultural heritage projects in Shidong area, and building a traditional silver jewelry training and exchange space, which has a great driving effect on the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage in Taijiang County and the development and prosperity of the masses.
"Let's learn the craft from the master, the master is very patient to teach us, when we learn, we can go home to make silver jewelry, encounter some places that will not, we come to learn from the master, I am very grateful to the master for his patient guidance." Wu Shuigen's apprentice Long Yinsha said.
Wu Shuigen's apprentice: Long Yinsha
According to tradition, the Hmong silver jewelry craft is passed on from the inside to the outside. However, Wu Shuigen broke the convention and accepted apprentices from the outside world, taught skills for free, and taught a group of young craftsmen.
"I don't think I'm rich alone, and I pass on my craft without reservation, so that they can learn the craft well and do it more exquisitely." Let the next generation of young people master this technical skill. Wu Shuigen, a model worker in Guizhou Province, a representative of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and a representative inheritor of the Miao silver jewelry forging technology of the national intangible cultural heritage, said.
Shidong Town Gang Dangluo Village Big View
Through such a mentor and apprentice, the silver jewelry processing in Shidong Town has become more and more prosperous, and the villagers engaged in silver jewelry processing have grown to more than 300 people. Everyone's income has also changed from tens of thousands of yuan in the late 1990s to an average annual sales of 150,000 yuan per household, and the annual output value has reached tens of millions of yuan.
Wu Shuigen and his "Dragon Boat Sail Smooth" work
"As a craftsman, as an inheritor, I create a better life through passing on the help and with my own hands. I am a laborer, and labor is the most glorious. Wu Shuigen, a model worker in Guizhou Province, a representative of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and a representative inheritor of the Miao silver jewelry forging technology of the national intangible cultural heritage, said.
Reporters of Taijiang County Rong Media Center Liang Chuangying, Li Wenxue, and Liu Chengguang