Go back to the valley to farm

Chapter 11 Bamboo Pole
Chapter 11 Bamboo Pole

Li Junge trotted all the way out of the village entrance, turned onto a small stone road, passed through several paddy fields, and came to the bottom of a hillside.

The bottom of the hillside is full of bamboo forests, and there are many varieties of Nanzhu, westerly bamboo, hard-headed yellow, cizhu, and water bamboo in the bamboo forest.There is a small house among the bamboo groves. There is a dam in front of the house. There are many bamboo poles being dried in the sun on the left side, and a small stool on the right side. There is also a hatchet for cutting bamboo, and there are many unfinished bamboo utensils beside it.

Under the eaves, there are also many bamboo poles hanging upside down on the left side. A stone is tied to the bottom of each bamboo pole. The bamboo poles are pulled heavily and straightened while drying in the shade.

On the right wall are all kinds of woven bamboo wares.

Once on the dam, Li Junge shouted, "Uncle Bamboo Carpenter, is Uncle Bamboo Carpenter at home?"

A middle-aged man walked to the door with a large enamel cup in his hand. He wore a blue tunic suit of serge cloth, black trousers on his lower body, a pair of straw sandals on his feet, and a large blue cloth apron tied around his waist. The bamboo shavings and bamboo shavings, when he saw that it was Li Junge, he turned around and walked to the back room, as if he was about to close the door.

"Hey, hey!" Li Junge shouted hastily, and ran forward to hold the door: "Uncle Bamboo Carpenter, it's me, Pi Wa, I've come to visit you, don't pretend you don't recognize me!"

The middle-aged man put on a gesture and said: "Your son is a night owl, I will have nothing good to see you, hurry up, I don't want to see you."

Li Junge said with a salivating smile: "Uncle Bamboo Carpenter, you are too out of touch, hurry up and give me the cup, I ran all the way from the uncle's house, ouch, I'm thirsty." After finishing speaking, he went to catch the middle-aged man cup in hand.

The man hurriedly protected the cup: "Go away, go away, I won't give you a drink, you deserve it if you die of thirst!"

Li Junge simply grabbed the middle-aged man's neck and shook him. "Oh, my good uncle carpenter, quickly take out my things. I heard from my little cousin that you have been embarrassed in front of him a few times."

The man hurriedly protected the cup to prevent the water from coming out, and said, "Hey! I haven't given you anything that belongs to you."

Li Junge said with a smile: "Isn't it because I miss the clumps of bamboo in my house and the uncle's house? Cut it! Go to my house tomorrow and chop it up! Cut off the bamboo in the uncle's house too!"

But the man didn't buy it, and sneered: "It's as if I didn't know the winter to choose bamboo, and I'll cut it tomorrow! It's not true!"

Li Junge smiled again: "That's because I'm thinking about the wild bamboos I found on the mountain. It's easy to talk about it. We will go into the mountain tomorrow and point out several places to you."

But the man said: "Come on less! I have a lot of work these days, and I don't have time to accompany you to go shopping in the mountains."

Li Junge rolled his eyes and said, "I said Uncle Bamboo Carpenter, it's no fun for you to push back and forth like this. Let me think about it, maybe there are flaws in this thing, and you are embarrassed to show it to others?"

The man stared, and was about to get angry, when he suddenly sneered and said, "What's the matter? You want to provoke me? It's not so easy to be fooled!"

Li Junge was at a loss, he cupped his hands repeatedly at the man, and said with a smile, "Oh, Uncle Bamboo Carpenter, I just have no move."

After finishing speaking, he pointed to the door and said, "Well, as long as you give me something, I will lie at your door today and accept punishment until you are happy. How about it!"

The man couldn't hold it back, burst out laughing, and said, "Your baby is really a second-hand man, is she relying on me? The things are in the back room, go and get them yourself!"

"Hahaha, I'll just wait for your words!" Li Junge jumped three feet high, and hurried into the bamboo strip maker's house.

On the wall of the back room, there are three long shelves nailed in a row. On each shelf is a light brown flannel bag. Li Junge took them down one by one and opened them. Inside each shelf was a bamboo fishing rod.

Each of the three poles has four sections, and when plugged together, each will become a complete fishing rod. This kind of pole is called "inserted pole" in China, and "Bingji pole" in RB.

The birthplace of RB bamboo hand poles is Hashimoto City, which is located at the northeast end of Wakayama in Kishu, in the middle of the Kii Peninsula, with Osaka in the north and Nara in the east.Various traditional handicrafts are produced there.Among them, the Kishu hand pole, which is designated as the No. [-] traditional handicraft in Wakayama Prefecture, is even more famous all over the world, and is called "wa pole".

The reason why Kishu Hegan, which fully maintains the traditional hand-made craftsmanship, can be praised by the world as "the best of all poles" is not only because it combines practicality and ornamental value, but more importantly, each piece The birth of Kishu hand poles has been devoted to the painstaking efforts of several generations of Kishu pole makers who are "meticulous and meticulous".

Since ancient times, there has been a saying in China that "a pole of wind and moon" refers to leisurely fishing and enjoying life's unrestrained romance.The realm pursued by the ancients is also fascinated by many modern fishermen.

However, with the continuous development of modern scientific rod making, many fishing rods, fishing tackle and production techniques with artistic value are unknown and disappear.

Li Junge was deeply concerned about this matter. He once saw a photo of Boss He fishing in an old magazine, and the fishing rod that Boss He held was the same as the "He pole" standard. He knew that this rod-making skill is not unique to RB. .

So he conspired with Uncle Bamboo Craftsman to try to restore the craft of making rods from China.

However, things are not so easy.

The first is material selection. Bamboo material must be selected in winter.

Winter is the period of the slowest bamboo growth and the least moisture in the flesh.Bamboo harvested in severe winter has the characteristics of thick flesh and toughness, which are necessary conditions for making poles.

Li Junge traveled all over Bifeng Mountain, and only found a few suitable bamboo forests in the snow. After two or three years, he selected [-] or [-] suitable bamboos from thousands of bamboo forests.After another half a year of drying, the bamboo material suitable for making hand poles was obtained.

I handed over the bamboo material to Uncle Bamboo Carpenter, but I also handed over my troubles to Uncle Bamboo Carpenter.

There are many kinds of materials for making handmade fishing rods, such as bamboo, wood, glue, pulp, silk, and lacquer. Each type of material is divided into many sub-categories.

According to the use and toughness requirements of each section, the rod body generally needs to be matched and combined with more than two kinds of bamboo materials.

According to the different strength requirements of the jade mouth, joint eyes, internodes, etc., the artisans adopted the method of winding silk for reinforcement.Improper length and strength of silk winding will lead to insufficient strength, which will cause the rod body and interface to break when used.

It is also necessary to develop a variety of paint materials, which are respectively used for pointing holes, painting silk, priming the rod body, and paving the surface.

The glue is used to bond silk, knots and handle materials.

Even if the materials are prepared, there is still the process.

The carefully selected bamboo must first be arranged outdoors for several weeks or even months to dry according to the state of the bamboo, and then moved to the workshop for a long period of natural drying. The water in the bamboo evaporates and is completely dry before being used. Used for rod making.

At this time, the combination of flexibility, elasticity, curvature and thickness of bamboo will directly affect the next process, which requires the author to have a keen eye and rich experience.

The matching process of bamboo is also the place that can best reflect the personality and taste of different craftsmen.

The next step is fire roasting. After fire roasting the selected original bamboo, not only can the bamboo be straightened, but more importantly, the fiber quality of the bamboo can be tightened and fine-tuned by fire roasting, so that the bamboo has more strength and toughness.

Then there is the hollowed-out and jointed hand pole, which is generally closed into two sections.Except for the pole tip and the second section, the remaining sections must be hollowed out.The first section is included in the third section, and the second section is included in the fourth section.and so on.

A special drill is required to hollow out the slub.Depending on the size of the inner diameter of the bamboo, the thickness and length of the drill bits used are also different.

When engraving and drilling bamboo joints, it is very difficult to master the strength, and a little negligence often leads to wasted efforts. Therefore, the rod maker is required to have superb skills and delicate techniques.

The next step is to cut the joints. In order to make the joints of the previous section and the jade mouth of the next section have a good fit, the joints must be cut to a certain V-shaped angle.

The size and smoothness of the angle must fit tightly with the jade mouth, so that the whole rod can be integrated and ensure that the joint is evenly stressed.Strength is not affected.

Then wrap silk around the rod body.

When threading, uniform strength and complete seamlessness must be achieved in order to lay a good foundation for the next painting.

The silk is hand-woven from the highest grade natural silk.This kind of spun silk has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, fine texture and flexibility.

Next is the first paint job.

The first lacquering refers to the method of lacquering the surface wrapped with silk at the mouth, joints, internodes, etc. to reinforce the process again.

Painting can not only improve the luxurious feeling of the pole, but more importantly, it can play the role of waterproof protection.

These lacquers are all made from natural tree lacquers.

The lacquer pens used for painting are also very special, and the width, hair quality, and hardness of the lacquer pens are all very particular.

The number of times of painting is generally six to eight times. Before each painting, repeated water sanding and natural drying are required.

This is followed by the chiseling of the jade mouth.The jade mouth following the previous section must also be chiseled into a V-shaped angle that matches the section insertion.

When chiseling, first slowly rotate the chisel inwards in stages, and then use rod-shaped steel files of different thicknesses to file and polish the inner wall of the jade mouth after the basic shape is formed, so that it can reach the same angle as the joint. .

Then it is the processing of the grip.

The handle is the most frequent contact between the fisherman and the rod, and it is also an important part of increasing the counterweight to adjust the center of gravity of the rod. The quality of the handle will directly affect the fishing feeling of the rod user. And pay special attention to the shape.

Hard wood or bamboo is often used inside the handle, and some artisans use the traditional paper wrapping method.

The materials used for the surface decoration of handles are very rich, such as abalone, snake skin, antelope horn, shark skin, gold platinum, feathers, bamboo chips, egg shells, cotton thread, wisteria, etc., and sometimes even inlaid according to the requirements of fishermen. Decorate jewelry and jade objects.

The next step is the most difficult part of making, which can best reflect the craftsman's level: making the pole tip.

The pole tips are made of six to seven-year-old top-grade bamboo species.

A section of bamboo with a thick bowl mouth can only be used as a small area in the back of the sun. Usually, a section of bamboo with a diameter of about [-] centimeters can only be made into two to four pieces after processing. pole tip.

When making pole tips, the bamboo must first be cut into square sticks, and then cut into bamboo pieces one by one with a special knife.

Each set of cut bamboo slices are exactly the same, like orange petals, they can be put together as a whole.

Four or six pieces of bamboo are glued together with special glue to form a perfect tip, which is then planed to perfection.

Adjust the angle and direction during the planing process, so that the tonality of the rod tip can perfectly match the whole rod body.

This process is the most demanding and difficult one in rod making.All with rich experience and skilled techniques.

Then there's the varnishing.

Its craft fully maintains the traditional hand-painted method - "wiping" paint method.

The "wiping" paint method is to apply the paint evenly on the rod body with your fingers, and then gently wipe it with a special cloth, so as to cover the surface of the rod body with a thin layer of paint.

After natural drying, it is repeatedly polished and wiped with water sandpaper of different meshes, and then painted and wiped again.

After five or six coats of primer, use a more precise varnish for more than ten coats of wiping paint.

After each painting, the pole must be placed in a special "paint room" to dry naturally.The paint room is generally a perforated wooden box with a length of two meters, a width of about [-] centimeters and a height of about [-] centimeters.

These paints harden in a completely different way than normal paints.

Ordinary paint is hardened and dried after the natural evaporation of the solvent contained in the paint, while this kind of paint is formed by chemical reaction with moisture in the air, and can get a good coating under the condition of specific temperature and high humidity .

Therefore, artisans often nail gauze inside the "paint room" and spray water properly to maintain the air humidity in the paint room.

After the rod body is painted, it can achieve the effect of anti-acid and waterproof.And it can increase the hardness and corrosion resistance of the surface of the rod body.The gorgeous and exquisite lacquer color can highlight the luxurious feeling of bamboo poles.

Finally, the lacquered rod body will be fired for fine-tuning again, and the craftsman will engrave or brand the imprint on the rod after the posture is perfect.

A bamboo fishing rod is officially completed.

(End of this chapter)