A stonemason that is fading away
Author: Chen Xinfeng
In the countryside, there are carpenters and bricklayers in every village, however, there are not necessarily stonemasons. In Xiaojiangba Thirteen Village, there is only one family of stonemasons surnamed Chen. Before the nineties, stone tools in rural areas were widely used, including: mills, mills, mills, troughs, ginger nests, stone bars, stone slabs, stone railings, stone rammers, stone pendants, stone benches...
Nowadays, it seems that only the stone crafts in the ginger nest and the square accompany us, and the other stone tools have gradually moved away from us! The rumble and creak of operation can often be heard in the mills and mills of my childhood. Especially on rainy days and holidays, people who come to process grain line up. The ingredients that people come to the mill to process are: bud valley noodles, bud gu zhen, lantern noodles, noodles, rice noodles, wheat grits, bean paste, chili noodles and other items. Rural people are usually busy, and when it rains and wants to improve the lives of their children, such as steamed noodles, boiled tofu, kang bud grain and other delicacies, they will use stone grinding to refine pulp. If you meet someone who has had a happy event, the mill and mill will be even busier. Whenever the millstone has no "teeth" or the groove is dull, stonemasons are invited to come and make the groove. At this time, the stonemason would carry his oversized cowhide pocket, which contained iron hammers of various sizes, steel hammers of different lengths, and rulers.
Wearing a pair of foreign crystal glasses, the stonemason climbs hunched over the mill, mill or millstone, hammering and carefully hewn. The hammer struck on the hammer, and the tip of the hammer collided with the stone trough, touching the sparks. Crushed stone slag, stones and lime flew through the air. Whenever our group of little fart boys tried to get close to the stonemason to see what was going on, the stonemason would mercilessly rebuke us: "Stand far away." Beware of hurting your eyes! "At this time, we learned that the crystal glasses on the bridge of the stonemason's nose were used to protect the eyes. The stonemason blows while blowing, brushing off the excess residue in the gaps in the stone with a brush.
After the millstones and stone mills have been carefully carved by stonemasons, those bagua-shaped stone grooves are as sharp as newly opened treasure knives, and the patterns are more beautiful and beautiful, making the processing of grain particularly sharp and time-saving. Teacher Kusha Jianbo wrote that the rocky beach I talked about when I was repairing the Shahe Reservoir is the chaotic stone cellar known as Xiaojiangba, located in Zhongying Village, Yuancaomiao Township, where I used to chop firewood when I was a teenager. It is a natural large quarry with abrupt rocks, excellent stone quality and flowing streams. Chen Stonemason's father and son often pulled rack carts to quarry here during leisure in winter and spring. They used pickaxes, hammers, steel hammers, etc., to take local materials here, excavate ginger nests, pillar stones, stone bars, and other things, and transport them back to their hometowns to sell for money. In the eyes of others, a messy pile of stones, after being carefully polished by stonemasons, becomes a handicraft that can reach the hall of elegance. At that time, stonemasons traveled from village to village all year round, soliciting business in various villages, using hammers and hammers to support their families, and it was inevitable to encounter wild dogs on country roads. From this, two afterwords were born: stonemason forging - stone to stone (real); Dog bites stonemason - can't stop the hammer (station). The former says that stonemasons work honestly and are not lazy; The latter said that the hammer was a stonemason's pocket weapon.
Nowadays, with the popularization of electrification, the priceless treasures left to us by our ancestors, stone tools, have gradually been lost in the soil of the village, but I have a soft spot for ginger nest, because the ginger paste and garlic paste smashed with ginger nest are particularly fragrant! Stonemasons are part of China's skilled craftsmen, and the stone carving culture of Chinese carving dragons and phoenixes on stones and standing on tree monuments is like a dazzling star, standing forever in the east of the world map!
About author:Chen Xinfeng, male, farmer. Working in Ningbo all year round, climbing grids in his free time, he likes to record the life around him with words.