Hong Kong's "last generation" hand-carved mahjong master: It is a pity to say that it is against the heart

China News Service, Hong Kong, November 8 Title: Hong Kong's "last generation" hand-carved mahjong master: It is a pity to say that it is against the heart

China News Service reporter Han Xingtong

The neon sign with the red and blue characters "Marking Sparrows" directly opposite Jordan Road has been broken more than a decade ago, and the narrow staircase that allows only one person to enter is sandwiched between herbal tea shops and flower shops. Zhang Shunjing, the owner of the ancient rare year, put on glasses and used the afternoon daylight on the glass counter on the street to slowly carve patterns on the snow-white mahjong with a carving knife.

He is one of the few teachers in the industry, and he is also called the top in the hand-carved mahjong craft, which is also called the top when hand-carved mahjong was popular twenty or thirty years ago. At that time, his old shop was still on Guangdong Road, counting the streets one by one, there were more than 10 mahjong shops, and there were guys busy in and out of each room. Hong Kong hand-carved mahjong is famous and is often exported to Malaysia and other places. What about now? "There's not a single one." Zhang Shunjing smiled and spread his palms.

For Zhang Shunjing, entering the industry is a matter of course, grandfather, father are mahjong masters, Zhang Shunjing grew up in the mahjong shop, after school to stay in the shop to help, pick up some easy bits and pieces to do, such as coloring, or use the old mahjong recovered in the shop to test the hand, hear the eye, get started quickly.

He took out a set of tools from the cabinet, carried a wooden drill shaped like a combined bow and arrow, moved the wooden pole up and down, and the carving knife at the bottom was specially used for the circular pit pattern of the cylinder, and the pattern of the two, three or four cylinders was different, and he had to change the carving knife specifically; the ten thousand characters had another engraved knife. Engrave the grain, rub the white stone powder, color it to dry, grind it one by one, remove the excess paint, and a piece of mahjong is completed.

A pair of hand-carved mahjong with a total of 144 cards, which takes a week to carve, costs about HK$5,000. Hand-carved mahjong is not like mahjong made by machines with jagged materials, hand-carved mahjong knows the pattern as soon as it is touched, and the color is always bright.

Do it for decades and ask him if he likes it? Zhang Shunjing, like that generation of diligent craftsmen, learned a craft, and spent his whole life trying to improve, he didn't think too much about anything else, and when it came to love, he was a bit clumsy and shy and didn't know how to express it, "Like it or not, as long as you get food (make money). After a pause, he whispered as he gathered his tools, "If you don't like it, how can you do it for a lifetime?" ”

Zhang Shunjing was young and could be described as "everyone has mahjong sounds", "Everyone has nothing to do, there are few ways to entertain, and playing mahjong is the most popular." So he riveted enough to do two or three pairs of mahjong a day, earning enough money to support his family.

Later, the sound of mahjong was sparse, the popularization of machine manufacturing and the launch of mobile mahjong games, etc., were accelerating the decline of the hand-carved mahjong industry, for 10 years, Zhang Shunjing could not wait for business a lot of times, but 2 or 3 mahjong orders a year, he sat idly in the shop every day, looking at the pedestrians to pass the time.

Unexpectedly, nostalgia has suddenly emerged in recent years, and local and foreign customers have come to customize special mahjong. Zhang Shunjing drew a pair from a stack of mahjong marked with numbers on the back, which was custom-made by a Singaporean guest, and asked for another 8 "love" mahjong. "There are also people who want to carve some kind of pattern, a certain word." Zhang Shunjing gladly accepted such requests, and he carved many years of similar cylinders and swastikas, eager to try these endless new changes and challenges, "The more difficult the pattern, the more I like it." ”

From the rise to the fall, and then from the decline of a little improvement, the mahjong shop witnessed the rise and fall of the world, like the three declines and six prosperity on the gambling table, the southeast and northwest, playing four laps, and another reincarnation. Zhang Shunjing regarded these very lightly, and the nostalgia trend was only for a while, he made up his mind, and when the demolition of the shop or the old age was too old to do it, he retired.

As for the apprentice, Zhang Shunjing shook his hand: "What apprentice?" Now there are young people who can sit for more than ten hours at a time, and they can't keep this line of guests. "There is no successor to a craft," saying that it is a pity that it is against the heart", but he turned to think of him and became open-minded, "This is the trend of the times, natural elimination, not only our line, studios, handmade suits, are so." ”

He put on his glasses again and concentrated on carving mahjong. Jordan road cars and pedestrians are constantly moving, everyone is busy rushing forward, and in the background of the flow, it seems that he is the only one who is stationary, staying in place for a long time, as he said, one sitting is one life. (End)

Source: China News Network