Why the inheritanc of Carpenter’s craft is So difficult
Chinese traditional furniture is a valuable intangible cultural heritage, and the preciousness of traditional furniture lies not only in the quality of the materials, but also in the quality and shape of the products.
For the current traditional furniture industry, it is not only mahogany resources that are scarce, but good carpenters are hard to find.
China, with its 5,000-year civilization, is not only the great thoughts of the reign of Confucius and Mencius, the Great Wall built by the Qin Emperor Hanwu, the long-lasting Tang poetry and Song poetry, and the four inventions created by the wisdom of the working people. There is a splendid craft civilization and a sincere craftsmanship.
However, in the moment, people generally feel that the spirit of artisans is gradually disappearing, and the phenomenon of rushing to go to Japan to buy toilets and rice cookers with the Chinese people is mutually reinforcing.
We must reflect on the loss of the craftsman spirit, and who will inherit the spirit of the craftsman and the deeper meaning behind it?
China’s pride – can you find Ming furniture today?
Ming-style furniture, which is famous for its unique “beauty and beauty”, is one of the historical cultures we should pay attention to.
On the evening of March 7, 2015, at the Rockefeller Center in New York, Christie’s Spring 2015 Asian Art Week in New York, a 17th-century Ming Dynasty huanghuali circle chair was sold for $96.85 million, creating a new world of Ming furniture auctions. Record.
This Ming-style furniture, which was marveled by Westerners as “immediately perfect”, set off a new wave of Western Chinese collection of Chinese furniture.
The designer of Ming style furniture is generally a literati, with a very high artistic position; the structure is rigorous, the materials are reasonable, and the tenon links are used between the parts to show the superb craftsmanship; the contour of the cylinder is round and round. There is a party, euphemistic, clean and simple.
Every detail of Ming style furniture is worthy of appreciation, representing the peak level in the history of Chinese furniture, and is also an insurmountable peak in the history of world furniture!
The carpenter industry is endangered and the craft is lost?
In contrast to China’s current situation in the context of globalization, Western-style furniture has its own advantages, but Chinese furniture has become a luxury. What are the reasons?
The key to the product lies in the skill, and where is the essence of the skill? Is it a production line? Is it a factory? Is it money? neither! The craftsman is the department of art.
Talent is the foundation of craftsmanship. However, the skilled craftsmen who can make such beautiful furniture are often despised in real life because of the low social status of the “artisans”.
A little carpenter once said a cruel reality on the Internet: “Some of the young people now are willing to do this, saying that white point is the work of hard work? It is dirty and tired, not a decent job.” He said The key point of the problem – decent.
What is decent? Decent is a social recognition. How many young people who love to do carpentry and do craft work from the urinary, but suffer from family opposition, the society does not recognize, can only stay away from the carpenter work that is really loved.
The “New Business Daily” has been investigated. At present, the average age of traditional carpenters is over 45 years old, and young people almost never learn carpenters again.
Many young people would rather learn to be a chef, not a carpentry. Such a “technical fault” and “green” do not make the old craftsmen who wait for the apprentices to take over.
What is the attitude of the opponents in the furniture industry based on skills? There is a well-known marketing event. A furniture company in Fujian has a high-profile marketing slogan of “Redwood Furniture According to the Price”. One stone has stirred up thousands of waves and caused a lot of shock in the mahogany furniture industry.
Why? The essence of mahogany furniture lies in the craft. Nowadays, the process is measured by “jin”. This not only obliterates the hard work of artisans, but also ignores the artistic value of wooden art products and loses the dignity of the craftsmen.
No one is taking over, no one is willing to learn, and the mahogany furniture that condenses the wisdom and skill of the craftsmen has to be sold, and the national cultural heritage has not been studied and inherited. The profession of carpenters has fallen into an unprecedented embarrassing situation. This is not only the endangerment of a profession, but a sign of the loss of a skill.
Craftsmen can also become masters
Those who can do the carpenter’s work well will certainly make good grades in other positions. Some people say: “Artisans can never be masters.” But in history, many people who have worked as carpenters have really become “masters.”
1. Zhuge Liang: Zhuge Liang not only has the skills in woodworking, but also invented the “Kong Mingsuo” and “Wooden Bulls”.
2, Zhu Yu school – the carpenter emperor of the Ming Dynasty: from the perspective of the emperor, Zhu is not a good emperor, but he is a talented carpenter genius.
It is said that he can make all the wooden utensils and pavilions he has seen. The small toy wood man he personally made was different and vivid, and he sold it on the market. The people would spend a lot of money without knowing it. In addition, he also invented the earliest fountain in China.
3, Qi Baishi: Qi Baishi from 15 to 26 years old, has been a carpenter for more than ten years. Qi Baishi has been walking through the streets for many years, carving and carving wood. In the long-term work, he has tempered Qi Baishi’s shape, composition, and ability to grasp the material.
At the same time, he has long practiced the skills of the hand, wrist and arm, and has benefited from the subsequent calligraphy painting and engraving.
The core of craftsmanship: concentration
Those who can be good carpenters can also become masters. It is not that the carpenter is the path to the master. The key is that the person who can be a carpenter has the most valuable concentration, and the focus is an important factor for success.
The power of concentration is great. It can maximize the potential of a person. Once you reach that state, you have no concept of self, and all your energy is concentrated.
There are only two kinds of animals that can reach the top of the pyramid. One is an eagle and the other is a snail. The eagle is able to arrive because they have proud wings; and the slow snails can climb up to look for their direction and work hard in this direction.
In “Da Sheng”, Zhuangzi described a craftsman who could use a tool to draw a perfect circle with only one finger. The secret of this is that “there is no difference, it is condensed in God.”
What is “seduce”, popular, is the concentration we often say, and concentration is the core of the craftsmanship.
“King Ding Jie Niu” is a well-known story. The reason why Ken Ding has achieved such a superb and easy-going realm in the display of his unique skills is the result of his full commitment in the process of “solving cattle”.
The carpenter’s grandfather, Luban, was also invented during the invention. Drilling, planing, sawing, shovel, and ruler, the invention of each tool is Luban’s dedication in production practice.
After a long period of tempering, the craftsman has cultivated a highly concentrated concentration. He has no sidelines and dedication in his work, and has reached a realm of selflessness, selflessness, and materiality.
When the wood in the handle of the carpenter’s focus is used as a work of art to polish the sculpture, I don’t know that he has presented the realm of the two things I have forgotten.
What can companies and individuals do today?
The “artisan spirit” is written into the government work report. This pursuit of the ultimate “artisan spirit” is the foundation of China as a manufacturing power.
The details determine success or failure. When some people think that this is a big problem, some companies have seen the development opportunities in the crisis from the lack of “artisan spirit”.
“The first-class craftsman, the character is more important than the technology, the first-class mind, there must be first-class technology.”
There are also more and more enterprises in the industrial production while blindly pursuing profits, quick success and quick success.
However, history will finally judge these two different ways. Only by inheriting the spirit of “artisan craftsmanship” and cultivating the spirit of concentration that is constantly improving and accumulating, China’s century-old enterprises will become more and more, and the better!
