Without nails, glue can be used to use the structure to create Luban stool, apple lock, arch bridge, general case and other wood products, "Grandpa Amu" became popular on the Internet, video views more than 600 million times, love grandson, love carpentry, love traditional culture is the label on his body. Grandpa Amu, whose real name is Wang Dewen, is a native of Liaocheng, Shandong, in the first half of his life, he used carpentry to support himself and his family, and now he uses the magical tenon connection technology to once again show the chinese nation's thousands of years of handicraft skills, through short videos to let more people understand and learn traditional culture. "I hope that more people will be able to enjoy and learn the traditional craft and pass it on." Grandpa Amu said.
The tenon woodworking video unexpectedly became popular, with more than 600 million views
At the end of 2019, the video of Grandpa Amu making a wooden arch bridge was on fire on the Internet, he used a mortise structure to build a wooden arch bridge on a stream, the whole process did not use nails and glue, and the 13-minute video showed the exquisiteness and practicality of the mortise and mortise process, attracting the attention of netizens. The video has been viewed more than 11 million times on video platforms and has even gone abroad.
The video was filmed by Grandpa Amu's son, Wang Baocheng. "I didn't expect everyone to be interested in carpentry, the video suddenly caught fire, we were actually quite surprised." He said that as early as 2014, he entered the self-media industry, and when short videos entered the public eye in 2016, he had been making small videos of food, and his father often made cameos.
Later, because Wang Baocheng started a family in Guangxi, his parents followed him from Shandong to Guangxi to take care of his grandson, and in his spare time, his father used wood to make some small toys for the children. "My father asked me if I could photograph him doing carpentry, and at that time, I took some footage clips and uploaded them to the Internet, which attracted the attention of some netizens." Wang Baocheng said that he did not expect that his father's video of carpentry could attract so many people to watch, at the end of 2019, the video of his father making Luban stools and wooden arch bridges was on fire as soon as it was uploaded, "There are also people who call him 'contemporary Luban', and many netizens abroad are very interested in our traditional woodworking technology."
Since then, Wang Baocheng has often uploaded some of his father's carpentry skills, and the cumulative number of views on the video platform has exceeded 600 million times.
Traditional carpentry skills are rooted in the heart, and he has refused to take the invitation to bring goods
For the popularity, Wang Dewen did not care too much. "Sometimes when I walk on the street, people recognize internet celebrities, what internet celebrities, I myself am an authentic farmer." "Everyone loves to watch it, and I'm glad I did it."
Wang Dewen recalled that his carpentry skills were learned from the carpentry master when he was young. "When I was young, this tenon structure was very common, because I was poor at the time, and there was a shortage of nails in the workmanship, and sometimes I even used the wire as a nail." When it comes to his own technology, Wang Dewen said that his craftsmanship can only be said to be average, and there are many people who are better than him in technology. "I am an ordinary carpenter, there are many things that I have to learn now, and the carpentry technique has not learned the end of this saying, it is all done until the old learns the old."
After the fire, there are also people who come to the door to worship and communicate, and some people come to cooperate and want to bring goods. Wang Dewen said they did not agree to bring the goods, but he did not refuse to contact those who wanted to learn carpentry skills. Wang Baocheng also said that his father often told him to take more close-ups about the workmanship process and craftsmanship details when shooting videos, so that more people can see it and let more people learn it.
I want to pass on the skills of woodworking and promote Chinese culture
"My dream is to make the tenon structure well and pass on this skill." Wang Dewen said more than once in the interview. He said that through the video, more people can understand carpentry, learn how to repair wood, how to grind axes, and how to use tools. "A lot of small skills are to be observed and learned by themselves, and I hope that the short video can spread more details of the craft and let people who want to learn take fewer detours."
For the popularity, in the view of Wang Baocheng, the son of Grandpa Amu, this is a process of quantitative change to qualitative change. "We are not bursting fires, we are accumulating little by little through craftsmanship, it is a long process, and I will always be in this industry for the next twenty or thirty years." He said that the popularity of the video pointed out the development direction of his future career, and he hoped that he could combine ancient Chinese craftsmanship with modern technology, so that the old craft could integrate some modern things, so that it could be more convenient and effectively passed on, "that is, to inherit and carry forward this craft, so that future generations can remember that this is the crystallization of ancient Chinese wisdom."