About the folk customs and customs of Shaoxing

Category: Culture/Art>>Literature>>Novel

Problem description:

1. About Shaoxing folk customs and customs

2 , Compare with the folk customs and customs of other places to find out the differences

3. Analyze and discuss the relationship between Shaoxing’s folk customs and folk customs and Shaoxing’s culture and life from the differences

Analysis:

Shaoxing has the "Three Crows" - Wugan vegetables, black felt hats and Wupan boats.

Among the "Three Crows", the one that is gradually fading out of people's sight is probably the black felt hat. However, "wearing a black felt hat" was the iconic attire of Shaoxing people in history. It is hard to see it now. As for the craftsmen who hand-made felt hats, it is even rarer. Among the "Top Ten Folk Artists" awarded by Shaoxing County a few days ago, there happens to be Wang Guanlin, an old man who has been making felt hats for 60 years.

Felt hat, a former fashion of Shaoxing people

The origin of Shaoxing felt hat cannot be studied. It is said that as early as 1897, Xiying, Shaoxing (now Shaoxing City Square) There is a famous black felt hat store called "Pan Wansheng Felt Hat Shop". Shaoxing people who want to buy high-quality felt hats will definitely go there to buy them. At that time, the owner of the shop, Pan Gaosheng, recruited apprentices and taught his skills. Young and strong men from hundreds of miles around came to learn the skills from his apprentices. Many villages still made a living from this skills. For example, in Maoyang Village, Taoyan Town, Shaoxing County, all the villagers, young and old, can make black felt hats, and there are many family-style workshops.

Wang Guanlin, a craftsman who has been making felt hats for more than 60 years, lives in Maoyang Village. He is one of the six living handmade felt hat craftsmen in Shaoxing.

60 Years of Felt Hat Complex

In a room of less than 5 square meters, Wang Guanlin said that all his "babies" are here. The "treasure" in Wang Guanlin's mouth is actually the tools he uses to make felt hats - a wooden pillar, a small 40 cm wooden strip, fist-sized pebbles, 6 rattan strips, two large and small bamboo strips, and A small bottomless basin in the shape of a felt hat. The tools at home are all inherited from ancestors and have been used for nearly a hundred years.

Wang Guanlin started learning the craft of making felt hats from his brother-in-law when he was 15 years old. So far, he has been making felt hats for 60 years, and he has tens of thousands of hats in his hands. Felt hats are very popular in winter. "Drinking Double Ninth Festival wine and working until the fifth watch at night" is how the old man described his working scene at that time. At that time, felt hats were exchanged for rice. 100 kilograms of rice could be exchanged for 10 to 15 felt hats. Now he usually supplies fishermen near some villages, and a felt hat costs 30 yuan.

72 processes to make a felt hat

Making a felt hat takes about a week, and requires 72 steps such as picking wool, removing grease, degreasing, and pressing into a blank. process.

To make felt hats, female Hu sheep of the season are selected and the live wool is sheared. The old man said that such good wool usually has to be purchased in Jiaxing. The wool is placed in a basket, the impurities inside are sorted out, and then mixed with dry mud from the field. The mud is used to remove the grease on the wool. Then the old man took out two bamboo strips, one large and one small, commonly known as "braid-making tools", and beat them up and down. After a while, some flying wool stuck to the bamboo strips. The old man said that these glued things were the good wool he wanted.

When the wool is played, it is surrounded by wool wadding. Making a felt hat is much messier and tiring than imagined. Not only is the wool entangled, but also the smell of wool has to be endured. But if you can't even select the wool well, then don't expect to make a good felt hat. Back then, it took Mr. Wang more than half a year just to learn how to pick wool.

The old man said that some workshops that produce felt hats now, in order to pursue low cost and high output, do not use pure wool raw materials, but add a lot of sawdust. Such hats are not strong.

The wool is picked and then placed on the big bamboo curtain to "press the grid". Roll up the bamboo curtain and tie it tightly. Two people use their right feet to twist it back and forth in the same direction at the same time. This process is very laborious and takes about an hour. Repeat three times until the felt becomes thicker and forms the basic shape of the felt hat spread out.

Next, the felt is repeatedly rinsed with heated water to remove the soil, and the color gradually changes from yellow to white. Then the blank is exposed to the sun for a few days, and then it is shaped with tools to remove any stray hairs, and then used The felt hat is dyed with black dye made from wild mosaic and saponin, and then repeatedly shaped and dried until the felt hat is jet black and shiny.

Speaking of the advantages of the authentic Shaoxing felt hat, Wang Guanlin immediately took the felt hat outside to catch the rain and said with a smile: "It will definitely not leak when it rains, and it can also be used as a pillow when sleeping. You can also pack rice, peanuts, and fennel beans."

The superb skills are expected to be passed on to others.

Speaking of the felt hat, Old Man Wang had mixed emotions, although he was patting it. Chest said: "Now I am the only one who can complete the entire process." But at the same time, he is very helpless. After all, he is 74 years old, and many times the physical work is not bearable. Now he only does it when someone makes a reservation. Several hats. But no one can take over his job anymore.

Wang Guanlin said that this craft is very labor-intensive, coupled with low output and high cost, making little money, many felt hat masters younger than him have changed careers, and now young people Not even interested. Although his son and grandson knew the entire production process, they did not learn it.

He said that as long as there is a suitable place and someone is willing to come to learn, he can teach for free