& shy; He Minwen skillfully woven the bottom of the basket. & shy; “I would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo”. In the memory of old Fuzhou people, bamboo fragrance was always used in old life: there were Bamboo brooms in the brush pot, and there were bamboo mat in sleep, there are bamboo baskets for buying vegetables and bamboo sieve for drying grains. When I was a child, I grew up in a bamboo car. When I was old, I moved a bamboo chair to sit at the door of the House, shaking fan gently and chatting with the neighborhood. & shy; However, with the development of the times, bamboo products are gradually replaced by plastic and metal products, and the craft of weaving is gradually disappearing from people’s sight. Today, where bamboo craftman is hard to find, he Minwen silently sticks to this traditional craftsmanship with a pair of skillful hands, allowing bamboo fragrance to continue in the life of modern people. & shy; Born in bamboo craftman family & shy; There is an unremarkable bamboo articles shop on Macau Road near the seven lanes of Sanfang. There is no gorgeous decoration in the 27-square-meter shop, and some of them are all kinds of bamboo products on display. Passers-by pass by, they will look at the store, and some will take away a few pieces of gadget. He Minwen, the owner of the near flower armor, often sat at the door of the store, making bamboo articles flexibly with his calloused hands. Occasionally someone passed by to inquire, and he just raised his head slightly to answer a sentence or two, and then continued to bow his head to work. & shy; He Minwen was born in bamboo craftman family. Influenced by his family, he followed his father to learn the craft of making up. He Minwen, who started to learn art with the idea of “one skill in hand, no worries about eating and dressing”, didn’t think of it himself. This was a lifetime. & shy; As the saying goes, “The bamboo knife can afford it, not afraid of no firewood.” In the 1970 s, the bamboo articles that were good at making bamboo craftman were very beautiful. Because Fuzhou is the hometown of bamboo, bamboo also has beautiful meanings such as “bamboo presages safety” and “High Rise”, Old Fuzhou people from bamboo chopsticks to bamboo grid for kitchen use to bamboo baskets and bamboo dustpans for things, it seems that bamboo products are always indispensable in life. & shy; In he Minwen’s memory, there were many people dealing with bamboo in Fuzhou at that time. There were more than 10 factories in bamboo articles alone, and there were no fewer bamboo articles shops on the street than the current barbershops. In the 90’s of last century, traditional bamboo articles were gradually replaced by beautiful and cheap plastic products, and the bamboo weaving market was gradually declining. Most of the bamboo craftman also turned around in the generation of he Minwen’s father. & shy; He Minwen’s shop displays all kinds of bamboo products. & shy; Talked with bamboo & shy; Love for half a century” & shy; He Minwen’s bamboo articles store displays hundreds of kinds of bamboo products. According to his introduction, he has done more than 10,000 kinds of bamboo articles. However, his editing tools are very simple. Bamboo knives, Peeler, hammers and saw are all “belongings”. Sometimes only a bamboo knife with thick ridges and thin blades and wooden handles is needed to produce bamboo products with different shapes. & shy; When the reporter saw he Minwen in the store, he was making a turnover basket for a pharmacy to hold medicinal materials. I saw him cut off his hand and quickly saw bamboo sections, chipping, sorting and weaving. Thin bamboo strip moved and turned over in his hand. Soon, a turnover basket base appeared. & shy; He Minwen told reporters that the difficulty in doing bamboo articles lies not in woven bamboo, but in breaking bamboo. “To do bamboo articles, you must first learn to cut bamboo sticks. This process looks simple, but requires careful operation.” He Minwen said that in order to make the bamboo thick and wide properly, the number of bamboo sticks is just right, and it will take decades of tempering to reach the level of perfection. If you are not careful, you will be injured. As he said, he lifted up his trousers, revealing a clear scar on his knee. He Minwen said that it was in the process of cutting bamboo sticks when he was young that he accidentally cut himself. The painful experience of sewing 4 needles and lying in bed for a week not only did he Minwen retreat, but also strengthened his belief. & shy; In the eyes of his wife, he Minwen’s husband is an old urchin who is almost obsessed with bamboo. The two did not have a thrilling love affair, no romance of traveling around the mountains and rivers, and some were just a plain store. “He always couldn’t stop. His biggest hobby was playing with bamboo. Only then did he feel that time was particularly good.” He Minwen’s wife said that this was how her husband had been in love with bamboo for half a century. & shy; Constantly innovate to find a way out & shy; According to He Minwen, there are only a thousand people engaged in the editing industry in Fuzhou now, and the exquisite craftsmanship is even rare. He Minwen’s brothers and sisters did not contact the children. He was the only one in the family who still stuck to this bamboo articles store. & shy; Although the market in bamboo articles is not as good as before, he Minwen has never considered giving up. He also adapted to the times and improved and innovated bamboo products. In addition to making traditional daily necessities, he often made performance props for troupe and other units, or customized products according to customer needs. & shy; Years of bamboo articles production experience have enabled he Minwen to practice a “trick”. Only a sketch is needed to “brain supplement” and use bamboo to make utensils. He Minwen occasionally encounters the need to rework, but he never complains about excellence and will always be satisfied with customers. “As long as the products I made can be recognized by everyone, it is my greatest pride.” He Minwen said. & shy; The market has recovered in the past two years due to the environmental protection and pollution-free material such as bamboo, or the nostalgia gradually derived from bamboo articles, many foreign friends also favor China’s traditional handicraft. “Now that science and technology are so developed, maybe one day it will be able to make the old craft of Tianyi New.” He Minwen said. & shy; When he was young, he Minwen spent 10 hours in the store every day. Now he is young, sometimes he seems unable to do so. “The reason why I still insist is that my love for bamboo has not dissipated.” He Minwen said that he kept this old shop and this craft, which also continued his dream. He hopes that one day he can wait for the person who is willing to take over and pass on his craft. (Reporter Chen Ruofan/Wen Zhang Xuyang/photo)
