"Three hundred and sixty lines, the line is the champion. ”
When we watch TV, we can often see some traditional craftsmen, sticking to their beliefs and unwilling to succumb to machinery.
They believe that only handmade products are the best.
However, there is a fact that some craftsmen who used to be called "guests of honor" are gradually withdrawing from everyone's field of vision, and even difficult to find.
The Passing of Traditional Craftsmen – Stonemasons
There are many traditional craftsmen in China, among which stonemasonry is a highly respected profession.
In the past, stonemasons were responsible for repairing bridges, building roads, and also making various stone utensils, such as stone grinders and stone rafts.
These jobs require not only a high level of skill on the part of the stonemasons, but also a certain sense of art and aesthetics.
Many stonemasons are even hired to carve inscriptions, a task that requires both patience and skill, as well as a test of the stonemason's knowledge.
More importantly, a good stonemason must be literate and write well in order to do the job.
Because of this, many ancient stonemasons wrote very beautifully, which is an ability that they gradually cultivated over a long period of practice.
It can be said that the best of the stonemasons also possessed the talent of calligraphers.
Not only that, but stonemasons are often invited by villagers to make some stone-related daily necessities, such as whetstones, stone mortars, etc., which are all handicrafts of stonemasons.
A good stonemason also needs to carefully select the stones, according to the owner's requirements and his own ideas, to create a high-quality and inexpensive product.
It can be said that without the help of stonemasons, rural life would have been very inconvenient in the past.
However, with the passage of time and the advancement of technology, the profession of stonemason is slowly disappearing, and modern homes no longer use a large number of stone utensils, replacing them with machine-made products.
Coupled with the popularization and development of writing, most people no longer rely on stonemasons for inscriptions, which also makes it increasingly difficult for the profession of stonemasons to survive.
However, there are still some inheritors who insist on keeping pace with the times and have won new life to this craft.
In Search of a Lost Traditional Art: The Story of a Carpenter
Carpenters have been around for thousands of years, and their skills are not only used in building houses, but also in various aspects such as furniture making.
It can be said that carpenters have always been an indispensable role in society, they are the key figures in the construction of houses, whether it is furniture or agricultural tools, they do it all by themselves.
Like the kind of traditional carpenters we used to see as children, they walked the streets and alleys, carrying simple backpacks and carrying their toolboxes.
Whenever someone needed to repair or make furniture, they rushed to help.
This way of life may sound simple, but for carpenters, it represents an attitude to life, as well as a love and pride in their craft.
Not only that, but carpenters had a high social status at that time and were revered as the "head of the seventy-two lines".
Whenever someone in the village gets married, carpenters are brought in to customize dowry boxes and other wedding items, and the dowry boxes they make are not only beautiful but also durable, symbolizing the happy life of the couple in the future.
At that time, carpenters were deeply respected and loved by the people, and they won the recognition and respect of the society with their craft.
However, with the advancement of industrialization, modern equipment began to replace many traditional handicrafts, and carpenters no longer had to see wood and nail by themselves, as in the past.
Now, many pieces of furniture can be made quickly in a factory, with efficiencies that traditional carpenters can't match, which makes the work of carpenters begin to change, and they need to adapt to new technologies and methods in order to stay competitive.
Still, there are some people who are sticking to the industry.
They believe that the real work of art is not only in the appearance of the gorgeous, but more importantly, the inner soul, and every well-made work should contain the painstaking efforts and emotions of the maker, which cannot be replicated by the mechanized assembly line.
Traditional craftsmen - millsman
With the development of industrialization, many ancient traditional handicrafts have gradually disappeared from our lives, and one of the regrettable ones is the "craftsman".
In the past, craftsmen used to weave tough bamboos into a variety of daily necessities, such as baskets and dustpans, which were once an indispensable part of rural families.
However, it is not easy to become a craftsman, in addition to having good finger coordination, you also need to have a rich imagination and innovative spirit.
They need to carefully extract the flexible pieces from the hard pieces of bamboo, and then skillfully weave them into practical and beautiful objects according to the shape of the desired object.
Since production is the main way of working, the craftsman must have a strong mental quality and be able to withstand the physical burden of long-term repetitive work.
However, with the development of agricultural mechanization, these bamboo weaving daily necessities were gradually replaced by more advanced tools and utensils, and were no longer necessities, and the social demand for craftsmen declined sharply.
As time went on, more and more people chose to abandon the work, and the faster pace of life made it less time to focus on these traditional crafts and to value the practicality of goods rather than the delicate handicrafts.
Although fewer and fewer young people are willing to inherit this arduous and low-paying profession, there are still many veteran craftsmen who love and stick to this profession, and they are trying to find ways to keep their creations up to date and attract more consumers' attention.
For example, some creative craftsmen have begun to try to incorporate elements of traditional Chinese culture into their works, such as the "dragon and phoenix are auspicious" and "auspicious" patterns.
There are also those who choose to develop small and delicate works of art for hobbyists to collect.
In this way, although their income is still limited, it can at least allow the industry to continue to grow.
For the craftsmen, their work is not only to weave an object, but also a cultural inheritance, and every piece of work carefully woven by the craftsmen contains their love for life and their persistent pursuit of art.
It is this adherence to tradition that keeps them calm and calm in this ever-changing world.
The Baking Craftsman in Memory: The Indispensable Craftsman of the Past
In traditional Chinese culture, there are many unique craftsman skills, among which there is the baking craftsman, who is known as the "repairer".
The main job of the baking master is to restore and beautify porcelain, pottery and other everyday objects so that they can continue to function even after they are broken.
In the past, in the countryside, almost every village would have one or two baking people, who were responsible for repairing the villagers' pots and pans and other daily necessities.
When these items are damaged after years of use, the villagers do not throw them away, but instead find a baker to repair them and reuse them.
You know, in those days, people treated every item with great cherishment, and broken pots and pans were not immediately discarded, but sought the help of a baking craftsman.
The Bakers were able to keep these items alive and save the villagers a lot of money, and they did not care about the appearance of the items when repairing them, but focused on their practical functions.
It can be said that the baking master represents an extremely pragmatic craft.
However, with the improvement of living standards, people no longer need to live a life based on "repair and utilization", so the baking craftsmen gradually disappeared in the countryside, leaving only some remote areas.
Ancient Chinese occupation - gelding
There is also the gelding, which is actually a bit cruel, or it can be called "the veterinarian of ancient times".
But instead of treating animals, they cut off their organs.
In the past, it was common for rural residents to raise a variety of domestic animals such as horses, cows, sheep, etc., which needed to be castrated during their growth to ensure quality and yield.
At that time, peasant families mostly used this as their main source of income, and relied on selling castrated livestock in exchange for money to buy daily necessities.
As a result, this technology has become an important professional skill.
The geldings are mainly responsible for castrating the roosters, hens, piglets and other livestock in the villagers' homes.
They would come to the village early in the morning, shouting through the streets to solicit business, and the villagers would tie up the prepared livestock and the geldings would quickly perform the operation with skillful hands.
It can be said that the geldings are very skillful and can accurately remove the target area, and there are few deaths of livestock in the process.
Geldings, on the other hand, often have a wealth of experience and technical knowledge, and are familiar with the anatomical characteristics of various types of livestock, so that they can be operated more accurately and quickly.
They acquired this skill through years of practical Xi, and because of the importance of the profession, many even learned how to master it from Xi young age.
Over time, mechanized agriculture began to replace traditional farming methods, and the number of livestock decreased dramatically.
Coupled with environmental pollution and other problems, the government has strengthened the control of farms, and many farmers have had to abandon the livestock industry, which has led to a significant decline in market demand, which has led to the gelding profession becoming more and more difficult to maintain, so the gelding industry has disappeared.
In this fast-moving world, how should we think about the relationship between traditional crafts and modern technology?
Should we completely abandon the artisanal arts that have been considered obsolete in favor of more convenient and efficient technical means?
This is a question worth pondering.
After all, behind every traditional handicraft is a profound cultural heritage and historical accumulation, and they are the unique treasures of our nation.