Mr. Zhang Tianwei and his Qin Shi Huang copper carriage horse Courtesy photo /@ Zhang Tianwei
One gloomy afternoon, I paid a special visit to mr. Zhang Tianwei, a descendant of the Kite family, "a first-class master of arts and crafts in Shaanxi Province", a "inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in Shaanxi Province", and an old man known as "Kite Zhang".
Three years ago, I interviewed Elder Zhang, who told me the story of three generations of his grandchildren in Xi'an, especially the story of the old house at No. 41 Kaitong Lane. After the publication of "Xi'an Old Things", the response was strong and attracted quite a lot of attention.
It is a courtyard with three entrances and four exits, exquisite stone piers at the entrance, wooden lattices, carved beams and paintings in the courtyard, antique, with old photos to make people feel immersed. Its backyard has five acres of land, which is the famous Zhangjia Garden. The garden is in the shape of a depression, with flower bonsai, various fruit trees, cave dwellings, fish ponds, wells, etc., which in the old days were only available to large households. Elder Zhang carefully made a backyard model according to memory to show me. I was amazed not only by the memory of an eighty-three-year-old man, but also by his craftsmanship! A sand table is made in proportion to life, the doors of the houses in the courtyard can be opened and closed freely, the rudders on the well can be rotated, buckets, large vats, flowers and trees appear, and a small courtyard is exquisitely done, not to mention kites.
Speaking of kites, I did it when I was a kid, and watched
Price increase garden model
It is simple but it is not easy to fly, the proportion of the head and tail of the kite is difficult to grasp, and the head and tail are light or the opposite has to be repeatedly debugged, so I often paste the tail. It is not easy to fly up, either rotating to the side, or swinging left and right, never flying smoothly, and it is "stretched" if it is not good! Zhang Lao not only makes traditional kites, such as dragons, phoenixes, butterflies, etc., but also makes dynamic kites. His dynamic kite is legendary from the beginning to the present. Imagine that several gears make various movements through the linkage device under the action of the wind, and at the same time, they must fly smoothly, and it is not easy to think.
Elder Zhang took out two kite skeletons that had been tied up and showed me, one was the bronze carriage and horse of Qin Shi Huang, and the other was the skeleton of a dragon head. This unmounted dragon head skeleton looks like a mess, but after Zhang Lao's fiddling, it suddenly makes "a lump of hemp" come alive and vivid.
The dragon head skeleton will be active in a total of nine parts: the dragon ball in the mouth is a pneumatic wheel, through the upper palate level multi-stage gear transmission, driving the double eyelids to rotate left and right, eyebrows up and down movement, tongue left and right expansion and swing, chin opening and closing, both ears moving back and forth, cheeks fanning, left and right two long whiskers swing back and forth, nose hairs stretched out and retracted, the only power source is the spherical pneumatic wheel in the mouth, a slight breeze, you can nine linkages, very flexible! It is the only most complex dynamic dragon head kite in China.
Tap skeleton with finished tap
This year, he specially made a kite in the shape of a traditional Chinese sand swallow for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the overall red represents the party flag, the wings are conspicuously written "1921-2021", the lower end is written with 100 words, the upper party emblem can be rotated continuously, representing the workers, peasants, merchants and soldiers to accelerate socialist construction day and night, so that the viewer's association and vision are enriched.
The production of dynamic kites is inseparable from the gear transmission, and the transmission system is clear at a glance. These clear-looking drivetrains are not easy to do. For example, two gears of different sizes and following the rules, I thought I bought them, but Zhang Lao told me that he made them with cans. The specific steps are: the thin can is flattened, cut into two or three mm strips, straightened and then pinched with special pliers one by one to pinch the gear, the pinched strip gear is tied into a circle with bamboo strips, and molded into a circle according to the required (gear) size, and a gear is ready. Make a gear with a diameter of eight centimeters fast for one day, slow for two or three days, when doing it, you need to hold your breath, so that the gear clearance is consistent, the rotation is smooth, not stumbling, and the action is consistent.
Elder Zhang is often invited to the exhibition by various activities, so all kites must be able to disassemble and pack, so that the disassembly interface is a big problem. The use of bolts to increase the weight of the impact on flight, the use of other materials is due to the different specifications of bamboo and the insertion is not strong, after several experiments and finally the use of cans. Cut the can three centimeters, make a square tube shape on a special tool, the distal inner wall is properly contracted, tied or glued to the appropriate position (kite), and whenever the device is installed, the side socket can be inserted to achieve the effect of inserting more and more tightly. There are also some circular inserts, some of which can be made of carbon rods, and non-standard plug-ins give him a lot of headaches. Therefore, Elder Zhang pays great attention to observation in life and searches with his heart.
Once, he went shopping at the supermarket, bought a box of yogurt, and when he came back, he seemed to find it when he smoked with a cannula. He washed the used intubation tube and then debugged it, and even waited for the size of the tight seam, and did not care to plant willows, and the willows were dark and bright. We often drink canned drinks, every time we open, no one will pay attention to the can pull ring, the pull ring as a whole is less than one square centimeter, and there is very little left after opening. Such an inconspicuous pull ring, because of its wall thickness and high hardness, has been used by Zhang Lao, who is good at finding (kites), in a suitable place, which can be described as a slight end to see kung fu! It can be seen that art comes from life, and observation and discovery can be innovative.
Elder Zhang showed me a variety of dynamic kites hanging on the wall, and also picked up a homemade long-pole hair dryer to make the kite move, at this time, the four Tang monks and disciples had distinct characteristics and moved in different shapes... One crab with teeth and claws, two crabs aggressively... A wall-climbing tiger sticks its limbs against the wall, spitting out its core, shaking its head and climbing upwards... Qin Shi Huang No. 2 copper carriage and horse, soldier driving, wheel turning, four horses galloping...
Zhang Lao makes kite parts Photo /@Zhang Yuming
Zhang Lao's tools for making kites Photo/@Zhang Yuming
Some of the kites displayed by Zhang Lao were taken from aluminum boxes and cardboard boxes. The aluminum box needless to say customized, the cardboard box is zhang lao pinch ruler and other inches of homemade, and all made of handles for easy carrying, including their own garden model. These special boxes are made of discarded TVs, refrigerators and other outer packaging boxes, and Zhang Lao's works reflect the care and precision everywhere.
In his studio, on the workbench, small lathes, grinding wheels, drawing tools are readily available, saws, knives, pliers, tweezers, clips, drills, cones, and handmade parts are all over the table, giving people a glimpse of the complexity of handcrafting and the meticulous craftsmanship. For more than 30 years, Zhang Tianwei has created dozens of dynamic kites and won more than 100 international and domestic awards. His works are collected by more than ten museums and folklore museums at home and abroad, and he is an uncompromising kite master. In 2020, Zhang Tianwei was awarded the "Non-Genetic Inheritance Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Xi'an Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association.
Whenever we see Zhang Lao's kite or in an exhibition somewhere, or when flying in the blue sky, don't just think of the beauty of the kite, the real beauty of the kite is the unknown place behind it, the craftsman spirit originates from this, is the result of the unswerving efforts of generations. An elderly man, who has been making dynamic kites unremittingly for decades, let the Qin Shi Huang bronze carriages and horses, terracotta warriors fly into the sky, and make his own efforts for Xi'an to go to the world and the world to understand Xi'an.
"Kite Zhang", under the fame, is worthy of its name.
Qin Shi Huang copper car horse skeleton Courtesy photo /@ Zhang Tianwei
Zhang Lao shows dynamic kite Photo/@Zhang Yuming
Zhang Lao used a fan to promote the kite
Three years ago, the author and Zhang Lao looked at the kite together