Overview of old business

Re-creating deja vu makes people nostalgic. Those traditional handicraft labors record the history of yesterday. Pen repairers, clockmakers, blacksmiths, bamboo workshops, garden workshops, etc. Are closely related to our lives. Walking into the old line is like going back to the lost years.

In the corner of dusk, there was a rhythmic thump, cotton wadding flying all over the sky-the gardener playing cotton; A pair of needle and thread, a few rags, a patchwork that can't sew-poor sewing; Borrow someone else's mourning hall to cry your own sad things, or you can cry all over the place for no reason-a bereaved woman; Nutrition was not as good as it is now, and there were almost no "blackheads". Before the girl got married, the face came. The dough-faced woman holds a cloth bag in her hand. When she opens it, there is a long cotton thread inside. The girl's face was painted with flour, and then she bit one end of the rope and pulled the rope tightly with both hands to get busy. First the chin, then the face and forehead, a little twisted. After twisting, the girl's face became rosy and her skin became particularly delicate. "This is because the twisted face is actually a cotton rope to massage every acupoint on the face and speed up the blood circulation of the face." ; In The First Half of My Life, Aisin Giorro Puyi, the last emperor of Beijing, wrote when he recalled Ding Si's restoration in Zhang Xun: According to the old Beijingers' recollection of the situation on the streets of Beijing at that time, the police suddenly called every household to hang a dragon flag that morning, and the residents had no choice but to use paper flags to cope; Then, the robes of the Qing Dynasty, which I haven't seen for several years, appeared in the street, one by one like characters running out of coffins; At this time, the business of some shops outside the front door is also booming. One is a clothing store, which sells dragon flags; One is a clothing store, and the robes of the Qing Dynasty have become the best-selling products of the old people who just closed their posts. The clothes mentioned here are probably old clothes. Aside from the excitement of old people vying for old robes, as an industry, in the era of underdeveloped economy, clothing appraisal is also a commercial activity to adjust people's daily livelihood. In the fourth year of Daoguang reign in Qing Dynasty (1824), Xu Cui wrote the first poem "Zhi Zhu Pingdian Street Ci". He said: clothes are upside down, but they are not new and are often sold; I bought Xia Ge's winter clothes at random. I don't know who did it first. This poem vividly describes the business activities of clothing evaluation shops in Qing Dynasty. First, most of the clothes it sells are 70% to 80% new and old clothes. Clothes that have just been made and not yet worn have to be estimated, commonly known as "scissors are estimated clothes." Because there were many pawn shops in various cities at that time, the life of residents changed greatly and quickly. The fresh clothes and fancy clothes newly made at home might be sent to pawn shops in an instant because of obsolescence or bankruptcy. Later, when there is often no money to redeem them, the clothes become lifeless, and the ownership of these semi-new and old clothes is transferred to the pawnshop owner. Pawnshops sell according to the number of piles in order to cash money. Most of the bulk sales are clothing evaluation shops, and then they divide the wholesale goods into third and sixth grades and take them to clothing evaluation street for sale. People who sell estimated clothes should shout on the spot one by one: "Come and see! Come and see! This white, shiny, light and soft brown sheepskin coat, buy it! ..... "It's like Hou Linbao and Guo Qiru's" selling estimated clothes ",exactly the same. It's no exaggeration. Its voice is like singing, and its expression is like singing. The seller can ask exorbitant prices, and the buyer can bargain on the spot. That's what the poem says "singing and selling frequently" means. I bought old clothes. Of course I don't know who did it! In Beijing, it is estimated that the sales of clothes are concentrated in Dashilan outside the front door, Tianqiao and the flower market outside Chongwenmen. In Tianjin, it is concentrated in Appraisal Street. There is an archway at the west entrance of Appraisal Street, which reads "For sale in the market". Selling refers to the old seventy-two selling in Tianjin. "Listing on the stock market" refers to the commercial market in Tianjin. Two hundred years ago, Li Ciming, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, once described this street as "the corridor is neat, with miles and miles", and its prosperity is absolutely like "the gate of Suzhou, Wu Ye". Know its prosperous style in those days. There are all kinds of time-honored and old shops on Clothes Review Street, such as eating and drinking, the old "20% discount" Yang Guang grocery store "Fan Yonghe" and Kyoto Darentang, and the old fur goods summer sleeping mat shop are also on Clothes Review Street. Of course, clothing stores and silk shops are still the most popular in clothing evaluation street, such as Qian Xiangyi, Deng Qinglong, Long Yuan, Ruifuxiang Hongji and so on. People who have no money can buy an old dress cheaply at the clothing appraisal booth. These two scenes together constitute a unique folk painting. Wuxi paper horse was once famous in history, and its unique artistic value was once considered by many experts as the best of its kind in China. However, unlike its "close relatives"-Yangliuqing in Tianjin and Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures in Suzhou, Paper Horse suffered two consecutive defeats in the process of impacting the national intangible heritage. Even in Wuxi, few young people know about this business. According to the old people in the city, in the old society, every household had to sacrifice stoves, so paper horses were used in festivals. At the most prosperous time, there were as many as 42 paper horse shops in the box of the "turtle shell" old city. "At that time, we relied on this to support our families. When selling paper horses in the New Year, you don't have to worry about the livelihood of the whole family for half a year, and you can also provide several children at home with schooling. " Now the times have changed, and the use of paper horses is gone, but even so, as a representative of a cultural form, paper horses still have the value of protection and inheritance.

In addition to the traditional inheritance, the descendants of some family-owned old enterprises have also found their own way, and by integrating innovation into the inheritance, they have injected impetus into the new life of the old enterprises. Tao is her granddaughter, who graduated from the School of Design of Jiangnan University. She has made such an attempt, changing the media of paper horses in design and making traditional paper horses into modern car hangers, paper fans, postcards and so on. In this regard, Tao said that the traditional paper horse has the function of offering sacrifices to gods, but after changing the media of paper horse, it has strengthened its decorative function and artistic characteristics, and returned to modern people's life through modern packaging. Like a car hook made of paper horse image, it has the significance of ensuring safety at the same time, and partly inherits its traditional functions.

Kuijun Tao also appreciated his granddaughter's attempt. He even took her advice and mounted the traditional rice paper horse in the form of scroll painting and calligraphy, which was both practical and beautiful. However, the new and old successors agree that innovation is only a formal innovation, and the traditional production technology and cultural connotation cannot be changed, otherwise it will lose the meaning of inheritance.

Even Huishan clay figurine, the most famous intangible cultural heritage project in Wuxi, is experiencing the inevitable dilemma brought by social development. In this regard, Shen Dashou, director of Huishan clay figurine factory, said in an interview that in addition to factors such as the times and the market, the problem of young inheritors also profoundly affects the survival and development of old businesses. "Take Huishan clay figurine as an example. It used to take several years to be an apprentice, but it took decades to master this craft. The process of research and creation is extremely difficult. Now that living conditions are good, which child is willing to suffer? In addition, young people must have an economic source if they want to stand on the society and support their families. Apprentices must have limited economic income. In the face of the uncertain market, it is not surprising that the younger generation chooses to stay away from the old crafts left by their ancestors. "

At the beginning of 2007, funded by the government, Huishan clay figurines openly recruited inheritors to the society for the first time. After three years of study, nine young people finally "entered the door" on this skill. After tasting the sweetness, the government once again invested in apprentices this year. Five clay figurine apprentices and five tin embroidery apprentices started another non-genetic inheritance journey in the master studio of Huishan clay figurine factory.

In addition to government inheritance, the folk inheritance of non-legacy projects has also gained something. Qiao Jinhong, a master of bamboo carving in Liu Qing, Wuxi, broke through the traditional inheritance mode of "master with apprentice" and set up a "Liang Xi You Zhu" bamboo carving art salon in Xue Fucheng's former residence to teach interested citizens bamboo carving skills free of charge, thus opening the road of "social inheritance" and "amateur inheritance".

You and Zhou Rendi are both over 80 years old this year, and they are the only descendants of "Wuxi Xiaore faint". Usually, as long as it's not raining or snowing, they will go to the "Dragon Tail" in Longguang Cave of Xi Hui Park to sing for people for two hours for free. In a blink of an eye, they have persisted for 18 years, and many people come to see their performances every day. The couple usually make pear toffee at home. Although the medicinal value of pear cream candy is not worth mentioning today with the improvement of living standards, there are still many nostalgic old customers who come to visit from time to time. According to Zhou Rendi, her son You Hongquan, daughter You Chunxian and grandson You Lu are now setting up stalls in different places to sell pear toffee. Influenced by the old couple, their children and grandchildren have also begun to learn to sing "Little Hot Faint" in recent years, and sometimes they will sing a few words at the request of customers, which usually attracts applause from many curious people.

Pedicure is a traditional folk service skill to treat foot diseases such as gray toenails, deformed toenails and ingrown toenails. "Pedicurist" relieved the patient of mobility inconvenience and pain. After studying pedicure skills in her hometown of Jilin four years ago, Ms. Han Chunguang came to Beijing with her family to start a business. Now she has built two Han pedicure centers near the Red Temple in Beijing, and the business is very hot. Moreover, in the bathroom of Ganluyuan in Chaoyang District, the waiter said that 38 yuan had a pedicure. "Almost all baths have pedicure technicians, and a century-old shop like tsinghua pool is more expensive." Modern pedicure industry combines western medicine techniques such as disinfection, injection, excision, hemostasis and dressing with traditional pedicure techniques. However, in many baths, you can take a bath before pedicure, and you can also carry out foot massage and drug pedicure after pedicure.

Darning is also a traditional manual occupation. It used to be common for darning mothers and aunts to pick bamboo bows to darn clothes and socks. "Zhuzhici" said: "The poor people's clothes are old and worn, and small holes don't fill big holes; I advise you not to worry, go to the streets and find a poor sewing girl. " With the improvement of people's living standards, few people are willing to wear patched clothes, and the skill of sewing clothes seems to have become history. But in real life, the darning industry of Seiko Technology has quietly recovered in the era of fashion. And today's clothing darning has already surpassed the concept of "sewing".

According to a clerk surnamed Yang in Beijing Rongchang Laundry, old clothes used to be patched, but now they are "beautified". Because modern people wear expensive suits, furs, sweaters and so on. It's a pity to accidentally cut a hole, prick a hole, or burn a hole with a cigarette butt, and it's unsightly to wear. Superb darning technology can repair these clothes without leaving any traces. Now darning also includes clothing renovation and color change technology, clothing modification technology and so on. In dingfuzhuang West Street, there are many "new clothes darning" in some shops. Many expensive clothes will be sold at low prices because of broken sizes or samples, but these "affordable" clothes may often have some defects. Therefore, many people find a darning shop to make necessary repairs to their clothes.

China traditional handicrafts have always been praised by the world for their unique materials, wonderful ideas and exquisite craftsmanship. However, with the changes of the times and the passage of time, many handicrafts have gradually become mechanized and large-scale and become pure tourist commodities. Some old artists who have mastered traditional skills have either died or been forgotten by society, and the phenomenon of "people dying" in traditional national handicrafts is becoming more and more serious.