Xinhua, Xi'an, June 24 (Reporter Mei Yilong) There is an 82-year-old Feng Qiangren in Dudong Village, Xianyang County, Shaanxi Province. He recorded the farming culture in a special way of making "mini farm tools". "Farming is the memory of generations and generations. I want to keep this memory." Feng Qiangren told reporters from China News on the 24th.
Feng Qiangren was a carpenter when he was young and maintained a family's livelihood by working as a carpenter. Now in his later years, he has more observations on rural life. Feng Qiangren found that mechanized agriculture was replacing traditional farming methods, and the agricultural tools in his life were increasingly rare, so he thought of using his carpenter skills to retain the disappearing traditional farming memory.
The picture shows Feng Qiangren is making "mini farm tools". Photo by Zhao Xiaoyan
Making farm tools out of wood just took advantage of Feng Qiangren's expertise. Before production, Feng Qiangren will draw each farm tool on the drawings, and then select materials. Feng Qiangren introduced that the wood used by different farm tools is different, mainly including locust wood, pine wood and flower palm wood. Finally, it will be reduced according to the drawing style and other proportions for processing.
"For example, if you want to make this guillotine or dirt cart, you must first select the wood, choose the wood, and then draw, and then cut and make according to the proportion of the drawing. After grinding, processing and other skills, you can complete a'mini farm tool' Feng Qiangren said, usually it takes one day to make a "mini farm tool" and five to six days at most.
The picture shows the "mini farm tools" mill. Photo by Zhao Xiaoyan
In order to better display "mini farm tools", Feng Qiangren transformed two houses in his home into a "farming culture exhibition room", which displays more than 60 kinds of "mini farm tools". The reporter saw at the scene that agricultural vehicles, spinning wheels, wind boxes, wooden plows and other agricultural tools are readily available. These "agricultural tools" are not only realistic in appearance, but also "usable" for operation, which can be described as "absolutely beautiful."
Now making "mini farm tools" has become a part of Feng Qiangren's life. His obsession with "mini farm tools" has also infected his family. His son Feng Yaqing, in addition to operating fruits, usually has accidents. In his spare time, he will "Taobao" everywhere to collect all kinds of farming tools.
Feng Yaqing said that in order to promote the farming culture, he usually collects many realistic versions of farming tools. At the same time, in order to inherit his father's craftsmanship, he also constantly learns the techniques of making "mini farm tools" with his father. He believes that the production of "mini farm tools" is to enable the next generation to understand the history of the past.
The picture shows Feng Qiangren introducing how to use "mini farm tools". Photo by Zhao Xiaoyan
Feng Qiangren retained the farming culture with his skills, and opened a "gate" for people to understand agricultural tools. Feng Qiangren said that he will continue to produce more agricultural tools, dig deeper into the farming culture, and inherit the traditional Chinese farming memory. (Finish)