China News Agency, Huzhou, Zhejiang, May 19 Electric title: 90-year-old pen-making career for centenarians: "A wool becomes a pen"
Author Shi Zinan
Shanlian Town, Nanxun District, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, is known as the capital of lakes and pens in China. The millennium pen-making industry has created countless skilled pen-workers in the region. Shen Yingzhen, who has 90 years of pen-making experience, is one of them.
At the beginning of May 2020, Elder Shen Yingzhen had her 100th birthday, but she was not blind and deaf, and she still retains the unique ability of making a pen with a pen.
Shen Yingzhen's grandfather started to open a pen and sell it on his own. His father made pens with his grandfather at the age of fourteen or five. Stained by ears, Shen Yingzhen had a special liking for writing brushes since she was a child. At the age of 10, she followed her mother to learn the "water basin" (a process made by the lake pen).
"Water basin" is just the beginning of the production of the lake pen, and it is also the most difficult process. In winter, Shen Yingzhen didn't retreat at all when she watched her hands swollen in the water. "I just refused to lose at the time, I secretly made up my mind, I want to learn all the 'eighteen martial arts' of writing pen." Shen Yingzhen said.
So, after learning the "basin", Shen Yingzhen also learned from his grandfather and father the skills of "choosing pen", "knotting" and "suit". She said, "A qualified pen maker often needs many years of experience in mastering multiple skills. For example, a" water basin "process can only be regarded as a novice after four or five years."
"I will study hard, and I will teach a lot of people in the future." A simple promise 90 years ago, Shen Yingzhen spent all his life to practice. In the meantime, she had countless apprentices, all four daughters also inherited her mother's business, and two of her grandchildren are still running the Hubi business.
In the eyes of the juniors, Shen Yingzhen is not only a kind elder, but also a strict teacher. Around 2000, many pen-making workers came out of the Hubi Factory to set up a single portal, and Shen Yingzhen's two grandchildren also eagerly tried.
Shen Yingzhen called the two grandsons to the front and said, "You can do it yourself, I will check the quality for you." Soon after the grandson's Hubi shop opened, Shen Yingzhen served as a "quality supervisor" in the store, putting on glasses, Picking up a pen-selector, his spirit is no worse than that of a young man.
"In the first few years of opening, my grandmother was a 'regular visitor' in the store, and she would conduct an 'unannounced inspection' every three to five." Shi Xiaoping, 50, is one of the two grandsons of Shen Yingzhen's pen shop. Shi Xiaoping said that although the number of grandma's visits to the store is less now, she still often educates herself "must be genuine."
Pen-making skills are regarded by Shen Yingzhen as a lifelong home. As she said, "Although I am old, this craft cannot be lost." Now, every night when she comes to visit, she still does not forget to ask, "Choose good materials and keep good quality. Right, right heart is the right pen. "(End)