Manufacturing technology of Yupingfeng

Yuping Xiao has a long history and is a typical representative of traditional handmade Xiao, which has a history of more than 400 years. It is made of bamboo unique to Yuping County, and goes through four technological processes: material selection, blank making, carving and finished product. The production process is numerous and complicated, and all of them are made by hand. From bamboo cutting to bamboo making, there are 24 processes for flute making and 38 processes for flute tuning. Finally, the surface of the flute is engraved with poems and paintings, and the bronze tube body is engraved with various patterns and poems, which is more quaint and elegant.

Among Xiao Yuping, "Dragon and Phoenix" is the most popular. This is a pair of male and female directors. Men are slightly thicker and women are slightly thinner. Blowing the male flute is rich and loud; Female flute is mellow, subtle and meaningful. Ensemble of men and women, like a couple in chorus, is so harmonious and beautiful. The material requirements for making Yuping flutes and flutes are very strict. It is necessary to use a unique bamboo that grows by the Yinshan River and rarely sees sunlight as the material. This kind of bamboo has long bamboo joints, thick meat, basically the same thickness of roots and the size of thumb. The time for chopping bamboo is also very particular, and it should be within two months after beginning of winter. At this time, bamboo contains less water and sugar, so the flute is not easy to crack and mold.

The selected bamboo must be straight, the head and tail (material part) are symmetrical in size, the bamboo joints are sparse (more than 30 cm), and the bamboo has grown for more than three years. The materials for making Yuping flute and flute are mostly taken from Fengfei Mountain and Taiyang Mountain in this county. Black Phyllostachys pubescens, which grows on these two mountains, has excellent texture and low yield, and is a good material for making high-grade products. There are four processes in the material selection process: material selection, blanking, baking and straightening, and inspection and warehousing. Planing the outer section: also called rough planing, it is the section for planing bamboo.

Scraping bamboo: Scraping bamboo skin.

Material selection and blanking: according to the length and thickness of the products to be made, select qualified bamboo for blanking.

Get over it and hit the head

Re-baking, heating and straightening (called fine straightening)

Planing two knots (also called fine planing)

Play the center line and roll the ink line

Sound hole

watermill

Eye repair

The making of flute must add two processes: opening and window opening. In the blank-making process, clamping flat bamboo and opening are the most important in the traditional flat flute making process. The technique of clamping flat bamboo is the only flute-making stunt in China at present. Before liberation, this stunt belonged to the Zheng family and has been kept secret. It was not made public until the 1950s. Clamping flat bamboo is a process of treating raw bamboo. The bamboo material is cooked with firewood, the bamboo tube is gently clamped from beginning to end with iron tongs, and gradually becomes an oval flat bamboo, which is straightened with wooden clamps. "Keep your mouth shut", that is, the blowing hole of the flute, is uncomfortable to open, and the volume, timbre and intonation are all affected. Xiao Su Yuping is famous for its exquisite carvings. Generally, the tube body is painted with bronze, and then beautifully realistic landscapes, flowers, birds and animals are carved. Some patterns are based on folk stories, poems and allusions. For example, the famous "Dragon and Phoenix Map" is not just a fairy tale of "Dragon and Phoenix Becomes Happiness" selected from the history of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. In the layout of carving art, it is superior to the harmony of poetry and painting, the unity of tone and pattern, and the coordination of natural markings and poetry of bamboo, which makes it exquisite in craftsmanship and has high artistic appreciation and collection value.

The carving of flute can be divided into lettering and drawing. Traditional products are initially only engraved with the store name and date. Since 1930, there have been sculptures of dragons and phoenixes, flowers and landscapes, and the contents of the sculptures have gradually enriched. Carving is roughly divided into four processes: deinking and grinding words, sticking patterns, carving and grinding paper scraps.

Carve words with a knife. Line, grass, seal engraving Yin, official engraving Yang. Traditional sculpture can be summarized into eight knife methods according to the "Eight-character Method": smashing, chopping, rowing, chiseling, picking, gouging out and spreading. On the knife transport, it is divided into vertical knife and horizontal knife according to bamboo fiber; According to the font strokes, it is divided into straight knife and reverse knife; According to the combination of materials and fonts, it is divided into vertical and vertical roads, horizontal and horizontal roads, oblique and oblique.

When carving, a single knife is used at first, and the blade must slide backwards, which is slow. In the 1960 s, it began to switch to double-edged lettering. All kinds of knife skills can be used freely without slipping back. The composition adopts banner style and intaglio carving. Since 1980, there have been panlong reliefs. After baking, water is added, washed with water mill, colored, rubbed and painted. In these four processes, the grinding process is the main one. First, use Polygonum cuspidatum to polish, wipe off the dust on the surface of the flute, and then use a jade chisel to polish. 1958 the back flute was polished with water sand and with longevity beads. This art continues to this day. Only through the four detailed steps of material selection, blank making, carving and finished product can we make a flute with exquisite workmanship and pure tone.