What is a grate?

The bamboo comb tool has a beam in the middle and dense teeth on both sides. Teeth are denser than combs.

Compared with the traditional comb, the combing function of the comb is mainly to scrape off dandruff and lice hidden in the hair-in the past, people often had lice on their clothes and hair because of poor sanitary conditions and backward lifestyle-and gently comb their heads, and also play a role in massaging the scalp and relaxing muscles and tendons. Moreover, because the grate has been an object in the boudoir since ancient times, it has always been regarded as a symbol of affection between children and men. In the old society, poor rural youth generally gave the fireplace as a symbol of love to their lovers to express their sincere love. With the improvement of social living standard, the practical function of grates has gradually lost, but its manufacturing technology and exquisite appearance have aroused people's artistic aesthetic interest and collection hobby, while the old people are nostalgic. Gradually, the fireplace became a souvenir of tourist crafts. Zeng's grate in Tongchepu Village, Pu 'an Town, Kaijiang County is famous both inside and outside the province, and it is an ancestral handicraft of the local Zeng family. The ancestors of this family migrated from Xiaogan Township, Macheng County, Huguang in the early Qing Dynasty, leaving jobs and paving the land. Its grandfathers are good at producing perforated strainer, with unique technology, elegant shape and durability, which are widely welcomed in various markets and become big brands. This family has been doing this for generations, and the craftsmanship is only passed on to the same family, not to others. In order to feel the kindness of their ancestors, future generations take the 23rd day of the first month, that is, the birthday of their ancestors, as a day of sacrifice and get together every year. According to the author's on-the-spot investigation, there are more than 60 Zeng families in the 7 th and 9 th societies of Tongchepu Village. In the 200 years after Kangxi, more than 300 people worked as grate makers for generations, and few people managed land. Due to the broad market and promising sales prospects, each company produces more than 10000 grates every year, with a total output of about 600,000. Many people with foreign surnames in the neighborhood were forced to run and sell. People who sell vegetables carry bamboo baskets on their shoulders, each carrying more than 0/000 grates, or rushing around several nearby markets, or as far away as Kaixian, Wanxian, Yunyang and Fengjie, until Lichuan and Enshi in Hubei, Laifeng and Sangzhi in Hunan, and Ankang and Ziyang in Shaanxi.

The production of perforated strainer is a typical handicraft, with detailed and complicated process and numerous procedures, which have to go through 108 "hands and feet". This is divided into three parts: (1) dealing with teeth; The technological process is as follows: white bamboo which is abundant near Guan 'e City in Shi Tian is selected, green bamboo slices are removed with a grated knife, green skin is peeled off, and it is divided into sections, then the thickness is drawn with a cloud knife, natural materials such as red, yellow and green are used as dyes, boiled and dyed, folded into a certain length on the counter, and teeth are tied into blanks with thin threads (called "tying tires"). Put stalls made of cow bones on both ends, then "cut the hall" and "fill the hall", and finally dip the beam with special cow glue. (2) Do the first phase. Take this material from the root of white bamboo, scrape it, saw it into sections, break it into pieces, and cut it into width according to the style of beam. High-grade perforated strainer also makes a fuss about narrow beams, or poems or paintings, or books or prints, forming a major arts and crafts feature. (3) make files. Cattle bones with particularly good toughness are selected as raw materials, sawed into sections according to the standard length of the ruler, sawed into small pieces with a width of one centimeter, and finely polished. Due to the complex technology, it is difficult to expand the scale and increase the output of small workshop production with family as the unit. Therefore, the production mode of division of labor and cooperation was once implemented, and quality, speed, scale and efficiency were sought from a single specialized production. Times have changed, because of the complicated technology and meager profits, local people have rarely run this industry. The master who made grate interviewed by the author is old, but the younger generation is unwilling to do it, and the grate making process is lacking, which is a very worrying situation. With the improvement of material and cultural living standards, there is still a broad market prospect for laying trash racks on trucks. How to protect and develop the grate of truck, and make it up to grade and scale, has become a topic of great concern to local people.