On the morning of May 7, at the northwest corner of the intersection of Yicheng Avenue and Lianjiang Avenue in the urban area, an old man was introducing various bamboo products he had compiled to passing citizens.
The old man's name is Feng Xiaoxu, a 71-year-old native of Huangcai Village, Hezhuang Village, Liupen Town, Runan County. Since he was 12 years old, he has followed his grandfather and father to learn to weave bamboo baskets, bamboo baskets, bamboo plaques, etc., and has been engaged in bamboo weaving skills for nearly 60 years.
"I'm too old to go out to work. The preparation of bamboo products, in addition to subsidizing the family, is more of a feeling. Feng Xiaoxu said with a smile.
Feng Xiaoxu told reporters that a knife, a square stool, and a cushion are the tools used to weave bamboo products. As long as the weather is good, he moves out of the stool, sits in front of the house, basks in the sun, and chats with his neighbors while he is busy. Weaving bamboo products for several hours every day has already allowed Feng Xiaoxu to form muscle memory, and the slender bamboo strips can easily shuttle back and forth between his fingers.
Feng Xiaoxu said that there are many processes for weaving baskets, and there are several kinds of bamboo strips used to enclose the circle, "this is bamboo strips, this is dumpling, this is Jingliang, this is called ...... basket" Feng Xiaoxu pointed to a basket and said, each process must pay attention to the size of the symmetry, especially the size of the basket, which directly determines the beauty and load-bearing of the basket. "The error should not exceed 7 centimeters, otherwise the load-bearing will be asymmetrical and not good-looking." Talking about his years of experience, Feng Xiaoxu has a lot of experience.
"It takes more than 4 hours to weave a bamboo basket and a bamboo basket, and only 2 can be woven a day, and the price ranges from 20 yuan ~ 200 yuan, which is time-consuming, but it has become an indispensable part of life, and it is the persistence and inheritance of skills."
Feng Xiaoxu told reporters that the craftsman craft is a meticulous work, and the production of a bamboo product needs to go through a strict process, including the selection of bamboo, breaking bamboo, scraping, breaking the bamboo, brushing, scraping, etc., to be proficient after years of tempering. Feng Xiaoxu recalled that in the first few years of learning bamboo weaving, it was common for his hands to be cut by knives and cut by bamboo chips. His hands were covered with scars, and the layers of calluses were thick and hard. It is not difficult to engage in bamboo weaving, and a pair of hands gives the best answer.
Feng Xiaoxu takes selling baskets as his hobby, he will go to sell baskets every day, now, there are not many people who buy this kind of woven baskets, sometimes, a basket a day can not be sold, at most four or five, generally people who buy this kind of bamboo baskets are rural people, they use this kind of basket to hold eggs or freshly picked vegetables, in the city there are very few people with this kind of basket on the street to buy vegetables. "I hope everyone can reduce the use of plastic bags, I am not to make money, but to call on more people to protect the environment." Feng Xiaoxu said.
As he grew older, Feng Xiaoxu's hands and feet were not as flexible as when he was young, and the heavy work of chopping bamboo and carrying bamboo was also restricting him from moving forward. When he was young, he could weave 20 bamboo baskets a month, but now, he can only weave 10 a month, due to long-term sedentary, the old man's lumbar spine also has problems, many people, including his wife, persuaded him to "wash his hands in a golden basin", but Feng Xiaoxu is still happy in it. "I don't want to make bamboo baskets for fame or profit, this is my interest." Feng Xiaoxu said that with this dedication and love, he plans to keep to the day when he can't do it.
Reporter's note: a craft, a perseverance. A bamboo basket is the memory of an era, and it is also the strongest fireworks in the world. Current events are changing, vicissitudes of life, and they are changing rapidly, but the persistence and love of veteran craftsmen deserve our respect.