Preface
The ancients, three hundred and sixty lines, the line is the champion. Although ancient China divided occupations into three, six, nine and so on, under the pressure of survival, people would always give full play to their professions in order to support their families.
The reason why a profession can reach a certain state requires not only personal efforts, but also inheritance and experience, and they often have a realm that ordinary people cannot achieve, which we call "craftsmen".
Nowadays, with the development of science and technology, manpower is gradually replaced by machines, craftsmen begin to fade out of people's field of vision, in the past are the five occupations of "guests", but now they are slowly disappearing, do you know which five occupations?
The decline and inheritance of wood and stone craftsmanship
The first is the carpenter, and the "carpenter" has been the first of the five major craftsmen in the mainland since ancient times, because wood is the most widely used material. In the primitive society, the discovery of drilling "wood" for fire led the tribal groups into the era of "cooked food", and after entering the slave society and getting rid of cave life, wood became the main material for houses and other buildings.
Because the society was relatively backward at that time, relatively advanced materials such as metal and bronze were not widely used, so most of the production or farming tools were made of wood. As society developed and ironware became more widely used, finer wooden furniture began to appear, and carpentry became an enduring trade.
We are familiar with Luban is the pinnacle of the carpenter industry, he learned wood manufacturing with his father since he was a child, and when he grew up, he invented a variety of practical wooden tools according to the needs of life, such as because the gazebo is too rigid, Lu Ban invented the umbrella according to its shape, and also invented the planer according to the working principle of the rake, which was very popular at the time, and also laid the foundation for the refinement of wood.
But as time went on, machine production became more widespread, and carpenters had skills, but they were often difficult to use, but they did not disappear.
In 1993, Tan Chuanhua broke out of the world with his left hand, and the exquisite wood products he created by himself have more than 900 chain stores across the country. Invented by Lu Ban, the wood carving technology that flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties has been passed down to this day, but there are fewer and fewer such craftsmen!
The second is stonemasonry, and from the historical point of view of human development, the use of stone is second only to wood. Due to the problem of materials, the treatment of stone is difficult, so that the ancients used it on a large scale late, but it is undeniable that its unique advantages, such as its own relatively strong, and waterproof and moisture-proof.
However, because the material is not easy to handle, the requirements for the stonemason industry are higher, and the craftsmen need to have a lot of practical experience and unique vision. For example, in ancient times, those carved buildings that can be called ghostly workmanship, from the selection of materials to the finished product, every step requires the careful polishing and carving of stonemasons.
However, with the advent of modernization, the popularization of machines and the efficiency far exceed that of manpower, large-scale manufacturing no longer requires the fineness of labor, and the stonemasons are facing the dilemma of having no successors. Judging from the information given during the renovation of the Longmen Grottoes, the youngest stonemason is also over half a hundred years old.
The reason for this situation is that, on the one hand, the concept of the stonemason itself deviates from the modern requirements, and the truly powerful stonemason needs time to precipitate. Nowadays, they are going further and further on the road of pursuing speed and efficiency, and it is naturally difficult to produce new stonemason workers.
On the other hand, as a stonemason, there are some things that cannot be learned. As a master, of course, I hope to teach my apprentices what I have learned all my life, but some things depend on talent, such as the eyesight to judge the quality of a stone.
For the master, the judgment of the stone may be the first moment, maybe it is talent, or maybe it is a long-term intuition, the principle of which can not be described in words, to achieve this extent, not only needs time to precipitate, but also needs the right environment to provide opportunities, unfortunately the stonemason is just standing in the reverse of the times.
Three other craftsmen who blend into life
In addition to carpenters and stonemasons, the third is the baking craftsman, which is related to metal smelting and is also a craftsman who has existed for a longer time in comparison. Because his job is to repair broken pots and pans and other household utensils.
In ancient times and even in the last century, there were no cheap and durable alloys in society, and they were basically simple metals. This kind of metal often has a certain degree of ductility, random bumps will lead to damage or deformation, and at that time people's lives were not rich, most families could not do direct replacement, in this environment, the baking craftsman came into being.
They are mainly responsible for repairing broken pots and pans, because they are made of metal, so even if they are hit, the scope of damage is not very large, and only a cheap metal patch of the same kind can be repaired, compared to spending the original price to buy, a few cents of the patch is more cost-effective, so the baking master has also set off a heat.
But later, with the development of industry, more durable stainless steel and alloys began to appear, they are not only cheap but also more durable, even if they are damaged, they will be directly replaced for the sake of beauty, so that the living space of the baking craftsman is constantly compressed and goes into decline.
The fourth is the gelding, which is an industry that emerged when urbanization was not so rapid in the past. Mainly in the vast rural areas. In the original rural areas, the development was slow, the production methods were relatively backward, and most of the sowing and ploughing required animal power, and the gelding was mainly responsible for the castration of rural livestock.
For farmers, in order to improve the quality of life, they only need to ensure the fertility of small poultry such as chickens and ducks, while for cattle and donkeys that work for long hours, they need to be sterilized to avoid contracting diseases, so as to work better, so that geldings appeared in the countryside.
At present, after the popularization of the new countryside, production, sowing, fertilization, ploughing, harvesting, etc. are directly completed by machines, and livestock is no longer needed, so geldings will go into the background.
The last craftsman was the weaving-based craftsman, and from this name, most of them appeared in the south, and their main work was to weave various furniture and utensils from bamboo strips, and they were also one of the five craftsmen who still flourished today.
Today, the objects they weave are no longer limited to everyday life, but are works of art full of technology and wisdom. These techniques are the pride of the "craftsmen", because this used to be their way of survival.
epilogue
Even in the new era, we still can't let these most traditional technologies disappear, because after years of precipitation, these technologies have evolved into a culture that should be valued and passed on.