Old mill
Chen Maoxue
China is one of the four major ancient civilizations in the world. For five thousand years, agricultural civilization has always been the main thread of historical development. The people take food as the sky, and the processing and crushing of grain also move forward with the development of the times.
Primitive humans collected leaves and fruits from trees and dug up the roots of plants on the ground. Meat from group hunting increases immunity. Learning to drive away wild beasts and insects with fire; roasting food shortened the digestive process and accelerated evolution. Making tools that smash nuts can get more food. Collecting plants for storage, seeds scattered on the ground re-rooted and sprouting and growing up as a result of which they learned to plant. The abundance of food stimulated the reproduction of the population, so the dawn of agricultural civilization began to emerge.
When there is more grain, hulling and crushing will come into being. The earliest invention of shelling and mashing utensils was called "mortar", "mortar". This is a tool made of wood and stone in a concave and convex pictogram, and the contact surface is mostly oval. In order to save physical strength, the use of the lever principle is attached to the wooden handle and pedaled with the foot; the gathering point of each ethnic group is set. The women's clothes were fluttering, and the rice was crushed, and it was a scene of tribal prosperity.
After the prosperity of bronze ware, the iron smelting industry has also developed by leaps and bounds. Blacksmiths, stonemasons, and carpenters have thus become the three most basic industries for craftsmen. Therefore, the stone mill family began to prosper: there were single-handled small mills, small mills with long handles that one or two people rotated together, commonly known as "turning mills". Threshing in the Central Plains and Northern China is "milled" (round stones rolled down by livestock and rolled back and forth to thresh plants on the ground). Large stone mills were covered with donkey mules and other animals, blindfolded, and told to turn in circles endlessly, so that the grain was slowly processed.
The tireless pursuit of human beings is to free themselves from the shackles of heavy labor, so that the forces of nature become the first choice for design. The elders have a judgment about the world of "three mountains, seven rivers and one field", and the land of life has become the blood love of the hearts of the ancient ancestors. The territory of China is vast and hilly, thousands of mountains and valleys are abundant in water, and if they are not used, they are flowing in vain, and the wise ancestors built canals to divert water and made water wheels. The use of strong water flow inexhaustible power to promote the water wheel, the water wheel to turn the stone mill; the construction of the water mill needs to consume manpower, material resources, which also promotes the strong alliance between the villages, joint construction, common use. It is more of a powerful landlord who pays for the construction, uses it as a private property, and then opens it to the public and collects commissions. The ancients were rich in imagination, and for The Venerables, they called the water mill "dragon drag mill", which was purely for the face of the powerful landlord to put gold.
Water mills were an important asset allocation in feudal society. Its existence extended until the early days of the founding of the People's Republic. In the summer, the stream is sparkling and scaly, the willows on both sides are clinging to each other, and people on the small roads are carrying hoes and shouldering burdens, each running for their own lives. Cowbells clang, children idle, bright swollen bells, playing and frolicking in the clear shallow pool. The swimming fish and pebbles under the water are clearly recognizable. The water mill splashes and the grinding sound of the creaking buttons is in your ears! The sun is shining brightly and the breeze is refreshing. In the distance, the green mountains are hidden, the cooking smoke is thick, the grass is full of firewood, the sound of chickens and dogs is heard, the wine flag on the side of the station is tired and weak, and a quiet and peaceful pastoral pastoral picture...
In the early days of liberation, a vigorous movement to build water conservancy was launched throughout the country, and Chairman Mao issued a great call that "water conservancy is the lifeblood of agriculture." The water mill was transformed into a water pumping station, managed by a collective dispatch, and the water turbine rotated and roared,—— "Pumping the water mill surface and generating electricity, the thousand-year barren slope became a fertile field, the ditch forked machine sounded, and the rice in the field was golden and brilliant...", it and the people's commune, the barefoot doctor, collectively known as the new thing that New China forged ahead.
After the industrial revolution, steam engines, diesel engines, and gasoline engines have appeared. Where transportation is inconvenient, grain processing falls on the body of the diesel engine. Threshing, oil pressing, chaff and grinding. It has been used to solve a series of grain processing problems. But it also has a natural shortcoming - when starting, you need a strong man to wave the handle, luck to the face of red ears can work, winter is more hot water, the roar of the diesel engine "suddenly" when running is deafening, the artificial feeding is sweaty, the grain processing is completed out of the mill, the flour ash powder is full of face, and the charcoal seller who comes home from a kiln is alive.
The belated modern civilization has also brought revolutionary changes to the grain processing industry. Clean energy (nuclear, hydropower, wind, solar, coal to steam...) With a strong power grid, the transmission network extends from the city to the countryside, and clean energy benefits ordinary people from luxury goods. At night, the urban and rural areas are brightly lit, and the popularity of electric motors has ended the super physical strength of the old diesel engine. Potential security risks are also ruled out. The flour mill has also been fully upgraded: the fan is installed, the upper end of the duct is installed with a brake klon, and a complete feeding system is born - as long as the original wheat is poured into the hopper, after five or six grinding, without labor, the snow-white flour is continuously produced.
Food is not boring, the neck is not tired of fine. The development of civilization has made the quality of human life a thousand miles a day. Accustomed to eating polished rice and white noodles, traveling through thousands of rivers and mountains, wandering in the city's stone shishi forest, looking back, the distant hometown is still so picturesque! The stone ground tofu at the farm is still so fragrant and mellow! We come from the depths of history, and what we gain and lose at the same time is a lot. Cities are the paradise we yearn for, but the revitalization of the countryside is also urgent. Keep the roots, keep the green mountains and waters, keep the nostalgia! The city is booming, the countryside is thriving! This is harmonious development, this is healthy China.
"Spring water is born, spring forest is beginning to flourish, spring wind is ten miles, not as good as you"! Looking back again and again to see the road that came, we seemed to step on the ancient stone mortar, turned up the small mill, turned the big mill, and went into the diesel engine mill to sweat like rain, and it seemed to return to the long-lost childhood, shyly sneaking into the cool stream. Watch the water mill splash, listen to the water turbine with the load whining and roaring... The old mill in the distance has our most emotional hearts, the happiest and the hardest experience! Maturity, like a blue moment, so long, so short!
The image originates from the internet
About the Author:
Chen Maoxue, born in 1966, is a native of Zhao Chuan Town, Shangnan County, Shaanxi Province. Guangdong earns a living, a family of South Drifters. After work, I am attached to my hometown and miss my relatives, so I have the urge to write, and the days of flowing water slip from my fingers.