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Choosing people for learning corridor bridges building techniques
Wufuyong is making the model of corridor bridges.
"He must be able to lift a big axe or a big saw, having the good skills in digging and striking. He should be strong and bear hard labor. He should also be in good communication with me, considerate and smart." Wu Fuyong (吴复勇), a 55-year-old legendary craftsman in wooden corridor bridge building in Qingyuan of eastern China's Zhejiang Province, expressed the main criteria of a workman should have and could inherit the becoming-lost traditional technique.
Wu is one of the living and young masters who can still build long, wooden corridor bridges in Qingyuan. He urgently wants that this building technique can be inherited forever. He strongly expresses to journalists that he wants the media to help searching young people, who like to be craftsmen, for him.
In October this year, the Fourth Inter-governmental Conference on UNESCO's Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage has been held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, the corridor bridge building technique was enlisted in the directory "Intangible Cultural Heritage that is Urgently Needed Protection". And Qingyuan is one of the main places famous for corridor bridges.
Although this is good news, old craftsmen are not happy because there are few young people who like to do the job. They are worrying that the technique will be lost.
Wu had six apprentices, but they had faced strong pressure in their livelihoods and they changed their jobs. Apart from the artistry in bridge building, Wu Fuyong has great affection in designing and making corridor bridge models. There are 8 model bridges now collected in the studio at his home. Four of his masterworks are collected in the Qingyuan Corridor Bridge Museum.
Wu said that he wanted to give the bridge building knowledge to young people when he's still healthy and strong enough, and to make the technique flourishing forever.
This news article is a translation from original Chinese texts on www.chinanews.com.cn for travel reference. It does not represent the views of AbsoluteChinaTours.
