Xuchang, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Osprey Winter Fishing: A Hundred Years of Skills Fishermen Sing Proudly.
Author: Wang Yu, Zhang Tiantian.
With the Spring Festival approaching, at the confluence of the Shahe River and the Ru River in Dingying Township, Xiangcheng County, Henan Province, Cui Han and his ospreys (also known as cormorants) are performing ancient and unique fishing skills.
Xiangcheng belongs to Xuchang, the city of "the ancient capital of the Han and Wei dynasties", where the water resources are abundant, the osprey fishing has a history of hundreds of years, until the 90s of the 20th century, after the frost falls every year, there are still many local fishermen who choose to go out to fish, footprints all over Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Anhui and other places, and only return to their hometowns in the Qingming Festival of the second year.
"Cui Han carried the osprey and prepared to go into the water. Photo by Yan Kaijian.
In 2022, the osprey fishing technique was included in the third batch of county-level intangible cultural heritage representative projects in Xiangcheng County. As one of the inheritors, Cui Han began to learn osprey fishing skills from his parents when he was more than 10 years old, and it has been nearly 60 years.
Early in the morning, Cui Han and three other "eagle handles" came to the river, and they first tied a rope around the neck of the osprey. "The rope can't be tied too tightly, and it can't be tied too loosely, because if it's too tight, the osprey will suffocate, and if it's too loose, the osprey will eat the fish it catches. Cui Han, 71, said.
After the preparations were completed, the four of them drove the boat slowly to the river, and then drove the osprey into the river and hit the water with a bamboo pole to guide the osprey fishing.
Uh-uh, uh-woo-woo......With Cui Han's command, the osprey first danced a few black wings and plunged into the water, and suddenly there were ripples on the surface of the water. After a while, some ospreys began to carry the fish out of the water and tilt their heads to store the fish in their throat pouches.
Cormorants have a very sensitive sense of sight and hearing, and their beaks are like hooks, making it difficult to get out of their prey when they bite it. While speaking, Cui Han and others stretched out a bamboo pole, picked an osprey onto the boat, quickly grabbed its throat pouch, and gently pinched it, and the fish in the sac were squeezed out.
The picture shows the "Eagle Handle" fishing. Photo by Yan Kaijian.
Osprey fishing tests the tacit understanding between humans and ospreys. In Cui Han's view, raising ospreys is a delicate job, and the first thing to do is to judge the size of the osprey's heart by touching, and the heart has a strong underwater pressure bearing capacity and can also catch big fish. In addition, the "Eagle Handle" also needs to master superb ship control skills and accurate judgment of the active water system.
Ospreys also have feelings, and if you treat them well, they will kiss you. Cui Han said that because the osprey's hair is relatively thick, it is necessary to find a way to cool them down in the summer. In addition, they should not be overfed and do not work after eating, but they should not be starved, and they need to be fed fish every day, and some eggs and tofu can also be fed.
Choihan's family has been fishing ospreys for five generations, but he is still concerned about the passing on of this century-old skill. "When I was a child, there were more than a dozen people in the village who knew this skill, but now there are very few. Cui Han said that with the rapid development of society, young people are more pursuing modern lifestyles, and there are not many who are willing to learn osprey fishing.
Cui Han put his hopes on his son and apprentices, and also hoped to promote more people to participate in this activity through official channels. For Cui Han, protecting and inheriting the art of osprey fishing is not only a tribute to his ancestors, but also a love and adherence to the culture of his hometown.
The picture shows the "Eagle Handle" fishing. Photo by Yan Kaijian.
Among the four "eagle handles", Li Yantao is Cui Han's apprentice, from the next county, and every time he learns osprey fishing, he has to travel dozens of kilometers back and forth.
Li Yantao said that this is the farming culture that is about to disappear in the Central Plains, and when he was a child, he often watched osprey fishing, which left a deep impression and an inseparable emotion for it. He hopes that the local area can use osprey fishing as a performance project when digging deeper into tourism resources, so that tourists can also appreciate the charm of this traditional skill.
At the end of the fishing, it was almost noon, and the sun was getting warmer and sparkling. The ospreys shook off the water droplets on their bodies, like heroes who had won a battle, standing proudly on the bow of the boat. (ENDS).