Chinanews.com, Lanzhou, June 7 (Zhang Jing Gaoying) Wood selection, chiseling, piercing, doweling, weaving, spokes... The 78-year-old Laozhou native Duan Yicun has been making yellow river waterwheels for more than 30 years. He grew up listening to the roar of the waterwheel by the Yellow River. He said, "Following the impact of the upstream river water, the wooden wheels rotate slowly, and the bucket is filled with water in turn. When the shaft rotates to the top, the barrel mouth tilts downward. The water is poured into the palm, and then flows into the wooden trough, and it is introduced into the canal to irrigate the farmland from high diarrhea."
The Yellow River Waterwheel is a kind of farmland irrigation and irrigation facility. Its shape is tall and magnificent, and its structure is dense and dense. It has a history of more than 400 years. In Lanzhou, although the Yellow River passed through the city, due to the large gap between the river bank and the river, as early as the Ming Dynasty, people on both sides drank their donkeys on their shoulders, and there was no way to irrigate the farmland with river water.
The picture shows 78-year-old Duan Yicun introducing the structural principles of the Yellow River waterwheel. Photo by Zhang Jing
Duan Xu, the founder of the Lanzhou Waterwheel, deeply felt that the local farmers suffered from repeated droughts, so he prepared his own wood, hired craftsmen, and drew drawings to create the first round of Lanzhou Waterwheel, which was commonly known as "ancestor car". Since then, farmers on both sides of the Yellow River in Lanzhou have followed suit and used water trucks to irrigate the farmland, with remarkable results. On the eve of the founding of New China, there were 252 waterwheels in Lanzhou, with an irrigation area of more than 100,000 mu.
Duan Yicun is Duan Xu's 20th generation grandson. He said that waterwheel irrigation saves manpower and animal power. Not only is the cost low, but it is also easy to manage. For example, a waterwheel with a diameter of 18 meters can be filled with oil regularly in the bearing room to irrigate 300 acres of land in a day and night. However, since the general application of electric power irrigation technology, waterwheels have been decreasing year by year, and there are few producers. They are facing an endangered situation. The protection and inheritance of the Yellow River waterwheel production skills are imminent.
At the end of April 2018, the waterwheel on the Lanzhou Yellow River customs line. (Information) Yin Chunyong
"It's a pity to lose the old craft passed down from the ancestors." The Duan Yicun family made waterwheels from generation to generation. In addition to their livelihood needs, making waterwheels has become their family culture handed down from generation to generation. Shock, manual techniques are facing a crisis of dysfunction.
In order not to let this skill disappear forever, in the late 1980s, Duan Yicun began to walk through the streets and ask local old craftsmen to collect the historical and cultural information, follow the craftsmanship of the ancestors to sort out a set of ancient waterwheels Production techniques and know-how.
Afterwards, he turned over the cabinets at home and found a complete set of production tools such as hammers, files, rulers, etc. Starting from analyzing the water situation and shore, selecting wood, and designing drafts, he studied the construction principles of ancient waterwheels and knew them well, although there were many failures. Experience, but after revising the drawings and rework several times, eventually from small to large, from easy to difficult, using the ancient method to produce a beautiful appearance, tenon and mortise structure Lanzhou waterwheel crafts.
With the preservation of the ancient waterwheel craftsmanship, Duan Yicun’s manual techniques have also become more sophisticated. "Whether it is from the symmetry and practical structural aesthetics, or the strong and flexible geometric mechanics, the wheels of a waterwheel need more than 500 wood. The accessories are made entirely of tenon-and-mortise frames, and the angle and cut of the wedges are also very strict."
He also said that the selection of materials depends on the scale of the waterwheel. The big waterwheel uses Russian pine and red pine wood, while the small waterwheel uses date wood, walnut wood, toon wood, etc., so as to avoid the waterwheel being heated. Expansion and contraction cause the problem of loose tenon wedges.
For Duan Yicun, the national inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the Yellow River waterwheel production technology, it is his focus on the handing down of the craft passed down from his ancestors for more than 20 years. Later, with the support of local officials, Duan Yicun also established the Yellow River Waterwheel Manufacturing Skills Training Center.
At present, there are more than 10 apprentices in the institute, including his son Duan Zuhong. When a reporter from Zhongxin.com visited the training center, they saw that their father and son were making wedges at the workbench.
"Today, for the Yellow River waterwheel that is going to the commodity market, its viewing function has gradually replaced the original irrigation function. In order to pass on this old craft, the secret is the ancient technique." Duan Zuhong said that he learned production from his father The Yellow River Waterwheel has been around for 10 years. Compared with manufacturers who once mass-produced to cater to the market, their craftsmanship is more in pursuit of quality.
Duan Zuhong said that even if you don't use a screw or a nail, you must make the waterwheel fit tightly. At the same time, the production of waste and waste materials by ancient methods is time-consuming, but only waterwheels that can stand the test of time and be sanded by wind and sand are the inheritance of ancient methods that contain the culture behind craftsmanship. (Finish)