? 76-year-old Uncle Hangzhou melted 280 tons of copper and put a colorful coat on the Leifeng Tower, which only corroded 1mm in a thousand years.

This poem, written by Yin, a poet in Yuan Dynasty, depicts the beautiful scenery of Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou West Lake. "Leifeng Sunset Red" is one of the top ten scenic spots in West Lake and the first colored bronze sculpture pagoda in China.

To go to Hangzhou, you must go to the West Lake. When you go to the West Lake, you must climb the Leifeng Tower. From the tower, you can overlook the beautiful scenery of the whole West Lake, blow the warm wind of the West Lake, feel the rich Buddhist culture, and then relive the love story of White Snake and Xu Xian together. It's definitely a wonderful life experience.

We can enjoy such a beautiful pagoda now thanks to a 76-year-old grandfather from Hangzhou. His name is Zhu Bingren. It is because of his efforts that the Leifeng Tower not only reproduces its former style, but also has a solid coat because of his bronze carving technology, which is not afraid of wind and rain erosion.

Zhu Bingren 1944 was born in the family of a bronze sculpture artist in Hangzhou. His family has been engaged in bronze carving for generations. Since the Qing dynasty, their family has had its own signboard and excellent craftsmanship. Their bronze sculptures are exquisite in craftsmanship, lifelike in patterns and vigorous in calligraphy, which are deeply loved by people and well-known in the local area.

After several generations of inheritance, Zhu Bingren is the fourth generation. When I was a child, I often saw my father doing something meticulously in the room. Although I don't know much about it, I am curious and often look at it in front of my father. Whenever a beautiful work appeared in front of Zhu Bingren, he opened his eyes wide, jumped up excitedly and clapped his hands. A small seed about bronze carving was deeply buried in Zhu Bingren's heart.

Zhu Bingren's father saw that his children liked bronze carving very much, so he planned to teach him bronze carving skills. At first, my father didn't let Zhu Bingren learn bronze carving, but began to learn calligraphy. Every morning, after my father got up early, he would wake Zhu Bingren up and let him learn calligraphy from himself. Sometimes I am sleepy and my eyes are always "fighting", but when I see my father's stern eyes, Zhu Bingren immediately becomes active.

Rome was not built in a day, and learning calligraphy is not an easy task. Zhu Bingren thinks he can learn it in a few short months, so that he can learn his beloved bronze sculpture. After more than a year, my father still feels that he can't write well and has been letting himself learn calligraphy. I handed in the copybook again and again, but my father shook his head again and again.

Just when Zhu Bingren wanted to give up, his father called him over and said to him earnestly, "Bronze carving is a craft studied by several generations in our family, and it is the painstaking efforts of several generations. We must treat him like our own life, and we must not be sloppy at all. " After listening to his father's words, Zhu Bingren understood a lot and devoted himself to his father's study without complaint.

After several years of hard work, Zhu Bingren finally wrote a good hand, and he can learn bronze carving. Father asked Zhu Bingren to be his assistant first, starting with some simple things. At this time, Zhu Bingren discovered that it takes a very complicated process to make a beautiful bronze sculpture, which generally includes metal smelting, forging, carving, gold plating, polishing, painting, writing on a copper plate, etc., to form the final product.

Zhu Bingren didn't live up to his father's expectations. After his father's teaching and unremitting efforts, Zhu Bingren finally learned the craft of making bronze sculptures. Zhu Bingren didn't slack off after studying. He is determined to develop the art of bronze carving.

Leifeng Pagoda was built in the Northern Song Dynasty. King wuyue believes in Buddhism. In order to pray for the prosperity of the country and people, he ordered people to build Leifeng Tower. After natural and man-made disasters, the original wooden stupa was already destroyed, and the brick stupa rebuilt in Qing Dynasty was also damaged by thieves and finally collapsed.

Leifeng Pagoda is a famous Buddhist building with high historical and artistic value. Many people want to restore it and make it reproduce the past. During the Republic of China, Mr. Liang Sicheng put forward the idea of rebuilding Leifeng Tower, and thought it was more appropriate to restore it as it was. Because the country was at war at that time, the country had no intention of rebuilding the Leifeng Pagoda, so the Leifeng Pagoda has never been rebuilt and protected.

In the 1980s, in order to give full play to the unique features of the West Lake, people from all walks of life in Hangzhou once again proposed to rebuild the Leifeng Pagoda and established the Leifeng Pagoda Reconstruction Promotion Association. However, due to various reasons, the reconstruction of Leifeng Tower has not been implemented. It was not until July 1999 that the government finally decided to rebuild Leifeng Tower and invited Zhu Bingren to help design and build it.

After the reconstruction work began, the first question before people was what material to use to build the Leifeng Tower. At that time, most people wanted to imitate ancient times and build a wooden Leifeng Tower. Because when it was built in the early Northern Song Dynasty, the Leifeng Pagoda was made of wood, which can preserve the original appearance of the ancient Leifeng Pagoda to the maximum extent.

Wooden buildings have their own defects, which are easy to get wet in water and difficult to put out in fire. For Hangzhou, a city with more rain, wooden buildings are really difficult to preserve. Everyone is trying to rebuild the Leifeng Tower. It would be a pity if it was damaged just because of a rain.

How can Leifeng Tower be preserved forever? Zhu Bingren tried many methods, but none of them could be implemented. Just when he was at a loss, Zhu Bingren suddenly saw his bronze sculpture. He had an epiphany and made the Leifeng Tower into a copper tower. The state of copper is very stable and it is not easy to be damaged. It can only corrode one millimeter in a thousand years. If it can be built, the Leifeng Pagoda will last as long as the story of White Snake.

Zhu Bingren is very excited about this idea, but after all, there is no precedent for using copper towers, and it is hard to say whether it can be successful. Experts who work together are also skeptical. Zhu Bingren didn't give up. He personally searched for information, collected data and repeated experiments. The previous scheme design took several months. After a period of research, Zhu Bingren confirmed the feasibility of building a copper tower and persuaded other experts.

After the preparatory work is completed, the actual reconstruction work begins. In order to put a colorful coat on the Leifeng Tower, he made 280 tons of copper and more than 20,000 pieces of copper himself. The tiles, arches, beams and columns, walls and various decorations on the top were all made of copper. This process is very hard, but for Zhu Bingren, as long as the Leifeng Tower can be perfectly restored, no amount of suffering is worth it.

Because copper towers have their own advantages compared with other towers. Wearing copper clothes on the copper of Leifeng Tower can not only reduce the risk of building oxidation, but also buy people time for rescue in case of fire, so that the internal structure of the tower will not be damaged by fire. In addition, the copper sheet also has the function of moisture-proof, which can effectively cope with the rainy weather in Hangzhou.

After nearly two years of hard work, a dazzling copper Leifeng tower appeared in front of people, attracting many tourists to visit. It is precisely because of Zhu Bingren's outstanding contribution to the reconstruction of the Leifeng Tower that Zhu Bingren became the well-deserved "father of bronze architecture" in China.

Zhu Bingren's research on bronze sculpture is not only hard work, but also his love. It may be the blood of the bronze carving art flowing from his ancestors, which kept him immersed in the world of bronze carving, constantly learning and innovating, and gradually improved the bronze carving art, giving off different vitality and vitality.

In 2006, Zhu Bingren participated in the construction of Tianning Tower in Changzhou. At the last moment of completion, a fire broke out in Tianning Tower, and the whole building was almost destroyed. In the face of this sudden fire, Zhu Bingren was very sad. He was surprised to find that the copper melted in the high temperature flowed around, as if something were guiding them to form different shapes, with a free and natural beauty.

Zhu Bingren saw these, the in the mind for one move. In the past, people used molds to make bronze sculptures. What did the bronze sculptures look like and what the molds looked like? What will happen if there is no mold?

After returning to China, Zhu Bingren did relevant experiments immediately. After groping bit by bit, Zhu Bingren created the art of melting copper on the basis of the traditional art of copper carving. The art of melting copper, which was initiated by him, made copper products break the shackles of molds, made copper water flow naturally until it solidified, and made it have a natural beauty.

Beauty comes at a price. Molten copper is different from other bronze sculptures. Zhu Bingren often needs to work in a high-temperature studio for several hours. Every time he comes out of the studio, his clothes are soaked with sweat, and he can't stand straight after standing for a long time. But as soon as I see his works, his mouth will show a smile, which is a "beautiful flower" watered by his sweat.

The art of melting copper gives more possibilities to his bronze sculptures. He can make works with different shapes every time, and sometimes he has unexpected joy. Zhu Bingren is not satisfied with this. In the past, bronze sculptures only had three colors: yellow, purple and cyan. Although many shapes can be made, they look very monotonous.

How can we make it appear in different colors? To this end, Zhu Bingren read a lot of ancient books. When he saw the pastel and enamel in porcelain, he was very inspired and decided to make bronze sculptures by using the method of making pastel and enamel in porcelain. After hundreds of experiments, Zhu Bingren finally realized his idea, which made the bronze sculpture show colorful changes like porcelain.

When Zhu Bingren was 60 years old, his father told him that it was enough for a person to make several works handed down from generation to generation in his life. You have far exceeded this figure, so you can retire and enjoy your old age.

Facing his father's concern, Zhu Bingren said, I haven't done enough. Bronze sculpture has just entered the national museum, but it has not yet entered the lives of ordinary people. I want you to feel the artistic beauty of bronze sculpture.

Zhu Bingren said so and did the same. He hasn't rested for a moment, and he has been rushing about art exchange activities at home and abroad. He spared no effort to introduce the art of bronze carving to people and impart the experience of making bronze carving. Zhu Bingren has only one purpose, and that is to let more people in the world know about the art of bronze sculpture.

At the G20 Summit in Hangzhou on 20 16, Zhu Bingren was invited to give a keynote speech, and looked forward to the development and future of bronze carving art ... He believed that as one of the intangible cultural heritages of China, the bronze carving art disappeared in people's lives for a long time due to the impact of other materials and the limitations of copper products. Such a beautiful thing needs someone to pass it on, and the best way is to let more people like it and let it enter people's lives.

In order to let people take the copper culture home, Zhu Bingren and his son founded the brand of "Zhu Bingren Copper", constantly improving the practicality of copper products and making it truly used by the people. Thanks to their efforts, "Zhu Bingren Copper" has appeared in many shopping malls in China, attracting many consumers to buy it.

Zhu Bingren said in an interview: "Van Gogh is like a' God' in the eyes of our world, and I am very confident in my work! Moreover, we use different artistic techniques. " From this, we can see Zhu Bingren's confidence in bronze sculpture art, and believe that it can be accepted and respected by people like Van Gogh's works of art. ..

At the annual meeting of Boao Forum for Asia 20021,Zhu Bingren attended the meeting as a representative inheritor of national intangible bronze carving skills. At the meeting, two giant colorful molten copper murals created by Zhu Bingren in half a year were permanently collected by Boao Forum for Asia and displayed in the central hall.

With the passage of time, Zhu Bingren's bronze art has been gradually recognized by the world. Behind the exquisite bronze sculpture is Zhu Bingren's craftsman spirit. It is a spirit of not being afraid of difficulties, constantly learning and pursuing perfection. In repeated failures and forging, it has achieved the bronze carving art that attracts worldwide attention.