So far used for more than three hundred years of sheepskin raft, why use the ram to make it?

Sheepskin raft is an important part of the Yellow River culture, and this Lanzhou sheepskin raft is still Gansu's intangible cultural heritage, is the crystallization of the wisdom of the people along the banks of the Yellow River. As we know, crossing the river can not be separated from the boat, ancient straw boat, wooden boat, leather boat, rafts, etc., and now, there are a variety of boats to meet the needs of water transportation and freight.

The raft first appeared in the historical record, there should be leather boat form. Leather boat, as the name suggests, is a boat made of leather, usually horse leather, cow leather, sheep leather in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of the Wu Zixu was ordered to commit suicide by Fu Chai, after his death, Fu Chai gave this order: ? Take Zixu's corpse and fill it with owl leather and float it in the river.?

The scops owl leather here is horse leather, and Wu Zixu's body was contained in a boat made of horse leather and floated on the Qiantang River.

That is to say, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, there were already boats made of animal leather, and in the historical records of the Han Dynasty, the army used horse leather boats to cross the river, as well as boats made of ? leather bags? Sewn into the boat, this time is generally known as the leather boat. And in the Tang Dynasty, the historical records appeared in the leather boat records, such as to? Cowhide as a boat? Bai Juyi wrote The poem "Crossing the Rope Bridge in a Leather Boat" was written by Bai Juyi. This is actually still a leather boat. But before the Tang Dynasty, few records of sheepskin, and in the Song Dynasty, the Song History? Wang Yande's biography" contains: ? Sheepskin as a bag, blowing solid floating in the water. As a result, sheepskin and cowhide became the most important raw materials for leather boat, and the leather boat gradually changed its name to raft. The Qing Historical Manuscripts recorded: "When I went to the Yellow River, I used a leather bag to float the raft at night. The Yellow River, the night to leather bag raft from Caiwan ferry, broke the thief Gaolan Longwei Mountain, won the auxiliary minister will be Li Tingyu.

The year is 1675 of the Kangxi period, Xining General Wang Jinbao led the attack on the attack on Lanzhou Wang Fuchen, in the crossing of the Yellow River, the use of leather bags knotted rafts, which is considered to be a large number of sheepskin rafts are a clear evidence of the use of more than three hundred years of history.

Of course, to really seriously trace up, sheepskin raft or can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of the leather boat, but after all, that time is the leather boat, so only traced back to a clear record of the Kangxi years, is also not incorrect.

Sheepskin raft looks extremely simple, even some simple, but its technology is not simple, is the Yellow River along the crystallization of hundreds or even thousands of years of people's experience and wisdom. The upper part of the raft is very simple, is a simple bundle of wooden strips, and will be bound up the wooden strips floating on the water surface of the Hunde is the key to the raft.

The Hunter is a leather bag made of the skin of the whole animal, and the Hunter of the sheepskin raft is naturally a leather bag made of sheepskin. The hondu is made from the entire skin of the animal, which means that when the sheep is killed, the entire skin is preserved and then soaked in salt water to remove the hair.

After the hair is removed, the stiff parts of the sheepskin, such as the neck and limbs, are then treated with vegetable oil to loosen them up a bit. The sheepskin is also dried for a period of time, and then the limbs and neck are tied up with a rope, revealing a small hole to blow air into, and when a bulging leather sac is formed, the hole is tied up, and a hundeh is made in this way.

A sheepskin raft in accordance with its size and load-bearing point of view, the need for the hunter less than just a few, more than the need for hundreds of. After the sheepskin raft is made, it can be used in the Yellow River, the water of the Yellow River has some sections of the river current is rapid, and the sheepskin raft shallow draught, and lightweight, it is an excellent tool for crossing the river, the so-called ? The Yellow River rolling waves, sheepskin raft when the boat?

So, people will not be afraid of sheepskin raft in the river crossing suddenly appeared bad situation, such as muddy off leakage? This is also a factor that people have to consider when making a sheepskin raft, so people will also work hard on the selection of sheep.

First of all, you can't use ewes, ewes usually give birth, and their own skin is slack, plus the nursing area is also thin, so it's hard to ensure that the hunds made in this way are not leaking or tearing.

Secondly, even if it is a male goat, it is mostly a goat that has been depopulated, these goats do not undertake the task of breeding, and are gelded when they are not old enough, so when they grow up, the skin is thick and the meat is good. This kind of goat skin is the best material for making hunter, hunter is strong and durable, don't have to worry about leakage and damage.

Sheepskin raft in ancient times is considered to be Lanzhou and other places across the Yellow River, a good water tool, lightweight and easy to use, however, with the development of the times, now the boat has become the main water tool, and sheepskin raft has basically withdrawn from the stage of history, but with the people for the traditional culture of the importance of the Lanzhou sheepskin raft has also been valued by the people and is regarded as an important part of the Yellow River culture. The Lanzhou sheepskin raft is also valued and regarded as an important part of the Yellow River culture.

So, Lanzhou sheepskin raft has also become the intangible cultural heritage of Gansu, if you go to Lanzhou and other places of tourism, you can even sit on the sheepskin raft, which has become a scenic spot in the Yellow River, it is worthwhile for people to go to take a look, touch, sit down, understand, and I hope that it can be inherited all the time.