What do rural craftsmen pay attention to when making longevity materials?

The actual dialect of Shoumu in rural areas is called coffin, and Shoumu is a civilized term. The craftsmen who make longevity wood are usually carpenters. This type of carpenter has unwritten rules among the people. They can usually only do work related to longevity wood, and are not allowed to participate in the daily work of rural people such as building houses, making furniture, decorating, etc., even if it is work related to carpentry. . Since making longevity wood is a service for the deceased, it is somewhat taboo in rural areas.

About the statement that rural craftsmen cannot make longevity wood for themselves.

Rural carpenters generally make longevity wood for traditional homes. In other words, the art of making longevity wood starts from the ancestors and is passed down to future generations. Future generations should also focus on making longevity trees and not easily change careers to do other things. Unless it is passed down to this generation, their children are born as girls and cannot inherit this profession. According to legend, it is because men are yang and women are yin. The profession of making longevity trees itself serves the deceased, who is a person in the "underworld". The five elements of a woman are Yin, and working for the deceased has a very unlucky meaning for both the deceased and the deceased. Moreover, the folk themselves It is said that there are very few female carpenters.

In the past, some wealthy families, that is, wealthy families, usually made longevity wood one year before their elders lived. People who are fifty-nine years old, 69 years old, 79 years old, etc., will go to longevity wood shops to order longevity wood. They are made of high-quality mahogany, huanghuali wood, etc. They are then carved with dragons and phoenixes, and then covered with fine tung oil or paint. Some are even inlaid with gold and silver, as if they have not enjoyed wealth in this life. Enough, how extravagant should it be to be buried?

Of course, the longevity tree will be brought home before his death, and the clan members will treat it as a happy event.

In the past, for some people who lived a very poor life, it was enough to have a mat to wrap themselves around after their death. Usually, for people with poor living conditions and no money, this was usually done before or after the death of the deceased. Go to a Shoumu shop to buy a thin coffin made of longevity wood for your ancestors. Since the Shoumu shop makes longevity materials for the deceased, no one has ever taken credit from the Shoumu shop. I couldn't come up with any more money, so I had to buy some thin coffins made of low-grade wood. I didn't care about the material, let alone carved dragons, painted phoenixes, and inlays with gold and silver.

And. There is a saying in rural folk that craftsmen who make longevity wood cannot make longevity wood for themselves. Carpenters who make longevity wood generally inherit the family craftsmanship during the years of their masters (family elders and inheritors of longevity wood crafts). After half a hundred years, the inheritor needs to choose a few auspicious days, and after the master's selection and approval, and under the supervision and guidance of the master (elder), he will personally make longevity wood for the master, no matter how good the inheritor's craftsmanship is. Even if the skill of making longevity wood is better than that of the master, he should humbly accept the master's advice and even scold him, because this is the last time the inheritor will teach the inheritor to learn the craft, and it also marks that the inheritor will no longer be engaged in making longevity wood. One line.

The person who makes the longevity wood must have the disciple (the one who is passed on, the disciple) personally make the longevity wood. This indicates that the ancestors will not be defeated, and the person who makes the longevity wood can predict their own end. You cannot make longevity wood for yourself. Legend has it that if a person makes longevity wood for himself, he will cut off his own life, cut off his own way, and cut off his family. Taboo.

Rural craftsmen also pay attention to this.

There is a saying: long carpenter, short blacksmith. Carpenters generally don't use it. Generally, in carpentry work, the wood needs to grow into one piece. Even if it is too long for use, the craftsman would rather cut it. This is in line with the carpenter's work logic and does not shorten himself.

The butcher does not kill the five-clawed pig. Among the single numbers, 9 and 5 are the largest numbers in the odd number. In the past, only the dragon on the emperor's dragon robe had five claws, and the five claws of a pig were peculiar in itself. If you think of the five-clawed dragon, who else would dare to deceive the emperor.

Masons do not touch their own pits. In the past, every farmhouse had its own toilet. In the past, toilets in rural areas were not called toilets, but latrines and latrines. This means choosing a good place, digging a hole in the ground, asking a mason to build the hole with bricks, and painting it if possible. This pit is called Maokang and is used by family members at their convenience. Masons, on the other hand, cannot use this pit, which means that their own poop or urine cannot contaminate their craftsmanship.

Summary. Times have developed and society has progressed. Humanity has entered a new era of civilization. Many of the crafts and practices passed down in the past no longer exist. From the perspective of modern people, we cannot understand the practices of some craftsmen in the past, or we think it is superstitious. But there are two sides to the matter. When inheriting past civilizations, it is inevitable that there will be remnants of their dross. We should accept and accept them with a cautious and tolerant attitude, because these are the paths our ancestors have walked.