In a small mountain village in Pinglu County, Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, there is an old man who lives in a cave, playing with his mobile phone when he has nothing to do, and there is no one aroundHe was accompanied by a small yellow dog.
The old man has been living in the cave for many years and has been doing a unique businessThere are few peers in ten miles and eight towns, and it is almost "one family".
The strange thing is that the old man almost never goes out to actively sell what he makes, on the contrary, there are many people who come to him to buy things, or the kind that must be bought.
So what kind of business does this old man do? Why do people have to look for him?
The old man's name wasZu Shiguang, has lived in the mountains for more than 60 yearsMake a living by making pottery.
Zu Shiguang originally lived in Huiguo Town, Gongyi, Henan, and when he was 13 years old, a natural disaster suddenly occurred in his hometownIn order to escape, the family moved to a mountain in Yuncheng, Shanxi.
Fortunately, at that time, Zu Shiguang's father and grandfather would burn potteryZu Shiguang has been learning to make pottery with his grandfather since he was 6 years old, and he has a craft.
In addition, there is a lot of red gum clay in the mountains here, which is very suitable for firing potterySo the family went back to their old business and began to make pottery for a living.
It was at this time that Zu Shiguang began to learn the technology of pottery making in depth, and as he learned more and more, he became more and more profoundHe began to develop a fondness for pottery, or rather the "craft".
At that time, there were quite a lot of people who burned pottery, but a fired pottery, such as bottles and jars, could not be sold at a particularly high price, and the whole process was very tiring.
Later, Zu Shiguang's grandfather returned to his hometown because he was old, his body couldn't keep up, and he didn't make a lot of money, and Zu Shiguang's father also went back together when he saw this.
At that time, Zu Shiguang was still young, felt that he had strength, and he also liked to make pottery, so he stayed in Shanxi and supported his family by burning pottery.
However, Rao is ancestor Shiguang was born in a family of pottery, and he still didn't suffer when he was young, but fortunately, he persevered in the endFeed yourself on things like water tanks, water basins, and clay pots.
LaterZhangcun Town, Pinglu CountyThere is a family living in the cave, moved to the town, the conditions in the cave are not bad, it is very coincidental that there is soil suitable for making pottery not far away, so Zu Shiguang moved here.
Whether it was later marriage and childbirth, or because of the popularity of plastic pots and iron basins, pottery became less popular, and the finished product declined.
Later, because there were almost no competitors, and pottery began to declineZu Shiguang's business began to slowly improve.
However, at that time, Zu Shiguang was over 60 years old, his hair was gray, his face was full of wrinkles, and he could only make a net profit of about 10,000 yuan a year.
But Zu Shiguang doesn't care much about these anymore, he doesn't just want to make moneyIt's more because I like this craft, I like this free life, I have been making pottery all my life, and I don't want to give up at this time.
And the pottery he made also began to change, and his pottery used to be very beautifulIt's a work of art, but it takes several days to make it, and it's a lot of work.
In addition to firing ordinary daily necessities and selling them to dealers, Zu Shiguang's main project became burning"Hairpin"., according to local customs, is an item that must be used during funerals.
During the funeral, the final fate of the hair can, in general, is to beThe eldest son of the deceased fell to pieces in front of the coffin, Although it is used to fall, when Zu Shiguang is doing it, he is still very serious and does not let go of the slightest flaw.
In front of the cave where he lived, there was a circular area that Zu Shiguang used to break the flawed and irreparable things, and then wait some time to make them back into pottery.
Despite his age, Zu Shiguang's craftsmanship has not regressed at all, and he uses a very old embryo drawing machine, located in the corner of the wall, with a large wheel below, a disc above, and a shaft in the middle to transmit energy and drive the disc to run.
Before starting, Zu Shiguang would sit on the "workstation", which was actually supported horizontally by wood"Stool".Then use your feet to turn the big wheel underneath first.
When the speed is almost up, put the mud embryo on it, sprinkle it with some water, and then turn it up a few times with your feet, and then you will pick up the long stick on the side, stretch it out into the big wheel and stir it quickly.
The stick spun faster and faster, and it was almost thereAfter about 18 to 20 turns, Zu Shiguang just put the stick in his hand aside, and then began to pull the embryo unhurriedly.
Under Zu Shiguang's dexterous hands, the clay embryo on the disc gradually stood up, and then the opening on it became larger and larger, and the body size gradually became larger and rounder.
Then Zu Shiguang used tools to quickly get it into a tile basinThe whole process was smooth and silky, and the complete embryo pulling time of a tile pot was less than 3 minutes, and then Zu Shiguang had to stop the big wheel below with his feet.
Sometimes I feel tired and tired, but I still want to do it for a while, Zu Shiguang will smoke a few puffs of welding smoke to relieve fatigue, or when I am bored, I will turn on the radio covered with loess and listen for a while.
The next process is to let the clay pot bask in the sun for a while, then move it to the house, wait for it to dry slowly, and then put it in the kiln to be fired, and about 5,000 pieces of pottery can be made in a year.
The house where Zu Shiguang lives has not yet been electrified, the lighting is a candle, and the mobile phone is charged by a power bank.
Although Zu Shiguang has a family, his children have long been able to support themselves, after a period of time, Zu Shiguang will go home for a few days, and then come back, and his life is quite comfortable.
For the craft of making pottery, Zu Shiguang is very fond of it, and he very much hopes to pass on this craft, but the fact that there are few competitors has shown that it is very difficult to make a living from pottery.
It's a hard craft to learnThere are almost 20 parts of the production processThere are steps such as drying soil, crushing, filtering, drying, kiln and so on, which are very cumbersome, and if one step is not done correctly, it will not fire good pottery.
The cycle of learning a specialty is still very long, and there is little to no benefit in the learning processAfter learning the basic steps, you have to do more and explore in the process of making.
A good pottery master is often not a young man, and the process of making it is still very dirty and tiring, and it often makes a yellow mud, so even young people who really want to learn this craft will be dissuaded by the above reasons.
Even if a young man really learns to make these things, then he will probably choose porcelain with a higher ceiling and a higher price, and coupled with the small market and small demand for pottery, no matter how you look at it, it is not a craft that is particularly suitable for making a living in today's society.
However, with the development of the Internet today, some people may regard it as a hobby, or they can't bear to see this skill disappear, so they can find Zu Shiguang to learn, so as to make the future of pottery bright.
The four seasons alternate, year after year, Zu Shiguang has never changed his original intentionStaying in the cave without distractions to make pottery, he has long regarded it as a part of his life and enjoys it.