Pingyao cloth shoes king's shoes story: inheriting crafts to lose money to earn money

Inheriting the traditional cloth shoes making process, losing money to earn money

Pingyao cloth shoes king's shoes story

Cartography Wang Chenxiang

He is silent and spends most of his life on the slow work of a single-needle and one-line sole. He is low-key and stubborn. In order to ensure the quality of Baolongzhai's shoes, he would rather lose a lot of money-making opportunities than to open another semi-colon and smash his own signboard. In order to make "old shoes" popular among modern people, he often even makes a loss to buy and sell shoes to customers in his own store. He is the inheritor of the provincial-level “non-legacy” traditional cloth-making skills – Hou Tianlong, owner of Pingyao Baolongzhai.

In September of this year, a video about Hou Tianlong's shoes was fired on Weibo. The people who uploaded it were the people's podcasts of People's Daily. The slogan of the video is: "This pair of shoes, only Chinese students understand." After the video was uploaded, it quickly attracted the attention of netizens and evoked the interest of everyone wearing cloth shoes.

During the National Day this year, there were many long vacationers. The reporter deliberately visited Pingyao Baolongzhai and met Hou Tianlong. He told him about the story of making shoes.

A less than 15 square meters but accommodates more than a thousand pairs of shoes

On October 3, the rain drove and the temperature plummeted. The city of Pingyao is bustling, and the interest of tourists has not been affected by the cold. After entering the ancient city, they quickly purchased scarves, umbrellas, raincoats, etc. on the streets of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and continued to appreciate the beauty of the ancient city in the autumn rain.

Finding Baolongzhai is not an easy task. According to the address stated on the Internet, Baolongzhai shoe store opened on Ming and Qing Street. However, when the reporter rushed to Ming and Qing Street, he found that there was no trace of Baolongzhai. When I went to a noodle restaurant, I asked a young buddy that Hou Tianlong’s brother was working in the noodle restaurant. The day was not there, and he could not say the specific address of Qingbao Longzhai. He only knew that he had moved from Ming and Qing Street. Later, it was opened near the Chenghuang Temple. "The house number does not know, you have to find it yourself."

Because the tourists were really crowded that day, the umbrellas became the root of the quarrel. The reporter walked back and forth a few laps around the Chenghuang Temple. No signs of Baolongzhai were found. Helpless, went to a shoe store opposite, and reported the name of Hou Tianlong. The other party only shook his head and said that he did not know anyone. The reporter had to re-visit and circle again on the road that had already gone a few laps. Just when the reporter was almost desperate, he looked up and suddenly saw the signboard of Baolongzhai. He suddenly rejoiced, and there was a kind of joy that “there was no need to break through the iron shoes.

There is only one young buddy in the store who is calling customers to try on shoes. When I saw the reporter coming in, he immediately greeted him with enthusiasm: "Through the shoes? Look at which pair? Try it on the foot."

The reporter asked: "Here is Mr. Hou Tianlong's Baolongzhai? Is he in the store?"

The man immediately smiled and answered: "It is Hou Tianlong's shop. I am his son. My name is Hou Xiangyu. He is now at the Baolongzhai Footwear Art Museum."

The reporter explained to Hou Xiangyu that he immediately called Hou Tianlong. While waiting for Hou Tianlong's gap, the reporter carefully looked at the entire storefront of Baolongzhai. The store is of a narrow shape, less than fifteen square meters, with shoes on both sides, and the shelves on the lower shelves are all kinds of shoes, some are silk, some are leather, and some are linen. Women's shoes are divided into slippers, embroidered shoes, cotton shoes, and the shoes are mostly thousands of layers. The style is light and beautiful. Compared with the shoes sold in online stores or in some small shops opened in the street, it is more. An original, hand-sewn ancient meaning. Among the men's cloth shoes, there are lazy shoes commonly known as ordinary people, and there are also shoes that have been modified to be more suitable for modern people's aesthetics. In addition, there are hand-made leather shoes with smooth, light and comfortable skin. What is most interesting is the row of shoes that are specially worn for children. It is very cute and very eye-catching.

In addition, at the top of all shelves, large and small shoe boxes are filled. In the final work area of ​​the store, many shoe boxes were neatly tidy. The reporter visually observed that there are thousands of pairs of shoes. Hou Xiangyu said that the total number of shoes is more than the reporter's estimate, most of which is produced by Baolongzhai Shoes Factory, and less than half by other manufacturers. Handmade shoes are more expensive, the price is about 200 to 400 yuan, the machine shoes are around 100 yuan, although cheap, but much rougher than handmade shoes.

While talking, Hou Tianlong walked into the store with a few customers. These are the visitors to the Baolongzhai Footwear Art Museum. Because they fell in love with the shoes, they specially followed him to the store to choose shoes. In a small shop, there was a busy scene immediately. Compared with the video, Hou Tianlong appears to be thinner and simpler. On him, there is a special kind of artisan temperament.

B. He often sends shoes to customers who love handmade shoes.

After the follow-up customer made a simple explanation to his son Hou Xiangyu, Hou Tianlong sat in front of his simple workbench and began to "pong and ping pong" to pick up a pair of shoes at hand and knocked it up. The shoes were taken by a customer in the store early in the morning, saying that the dress was a bit big, I hope to change the small point and come over in the afternoon. Hou Tianlong was busy, while holding the wooden hammer in his hand to repair the shoes, told the reporter: "Don't underestimate this hammer, it has been a hundred years of history, my father passed it to me. And my father is I took it from my grandfather." After that, he picked up a pair of scissors at hand and showed it to the reporter: "Scissors are the same, hundreds of years old things, with hands and feelings. Think about it already In the hands of Hou’s family, he has been inherited for hundreds of years, and his heart is heavy, and there is a responsibility in it."

The reporter took the scissors and observed it carefully. It was found that the layer of gold plated by the scissors had been polished, especially the two arcs that were often held by the hand. It was even brighter and lighter, releasing a kind of years. Guanghua.

“For the craftsman, the tools used every day are very important. If you don’t have a hand, or if you don’t have feelings, you don’t have the spirit to make it. Since my father passed this hammer and scissors to me, I have used three. For more than ten years, I used them to make shoes. I was very practical." Hou Tianlong said that he took the scissors from the reporter's hand, picked up a piece of cloth and cut a small piece, stuck it at the heel, and put the shoes on the hoe. "Pong ping pong" knocked.

Ms. Wu from Beijing is a media worker who once came to Pingyao to interview Hou Tianlong. When she returned to Beijing, she bought a pair of lazy shoelaces to give her father a gift. This National Day holiday, she deliberately come to Pingyao, in order to meet the wishes of parents, one person to bring them a pair of cloth shoes back.

"The old man is more and more nostalgic. He doesn't want to wear the kind of finished shoes that he bought in the mall. He wants to wear such hand-stitched shoes." Ms. Wu told reporters.

At this point, a couple from Taiyuan took the children into the store. The woman first selected a pair of black shoes for the children, and chose a pair of handmade shoes for herself. After trying some big, she asked Hou Tianlong: "Master, can this shoe be changed?"

Hou Tianlong quickly picked it up and put the shoes on the hoe and got busy. "Look, the leather of this leather shoe is a whole piece, no seams, and the leather surface is smooth. The sole is also cowhide, but the leather is not so good compared with the upper. It is a first-class leather. You see Italian handmade. Leather shoes are so popular because they are hand-stitched and privately made. Rolls-Royce is more expensive than ordinary cars, and because it is custom-made. In China, many people love to wear sneakers. The shoes that are processed on the assembly line. These shoes either wear the foot and the orphans on the feet come out. Or they do not meet the characteristics of the feet. Some people have higher feet than ordinary people, and some people have flat heels than ordinary people. What should I do? Manual customization can solve."

When Hou Tianlong handed the repaired shoes to the lady Taiyuan, she tried it again and felt that she had fit, and she paid the money to Hou Xiangyu. Hou Tianlong pulled out a pair of leather shoes from the corner and got up and handed it to the lady: "I see you really love to wear handmade shoes, give this pair to you, thank you for your support for our handmade shoes!"

C began to make shoes at the age of 15 and most afraid of "old shoes" lost

According to the reporter, the predecessor of Baolongzhai is Yongqingzhai, which has a history of more than two hundred years. It is a real old name of Pingyao. Under the family mission, Hou Tianlong studied his shoes with his father Hou Baoku at the age of 15. His fingers didn't know how many times he was hammered by a hammer, and he didn't know how many times he was pinched by the needle when he was wearing the sole. Until now, his fingers are still full of large and small wounds and needles.

In 1984, Hou Tianlong founded the Baolongzhai shoe factory and began to bring his apprentices to pass on the ancient craftsmanship of making shoes. At first, because he did not understand the market, he only dared to produce the most common round shoes. Later, he found that people coming to Pingyao came from all directions and the needs were varied. He began to increase the variety of shoes and began to learn to make handmade shoes.

In 1997, Hou Tianlong took his own cloth shoes to the Ming and Qing dynasty streets to sell, but did not expect to be snapped up soon. "I realized that this ancestral craft has a way to live and must be passed down. My apprentice and I have to get up early in the morning to make shoes. We can't be sloppy in one stitch and one line. We must strive for excellence. In order to seek uniqueness, we generally have a The style of the shoes is only one pair for each number. If the customer has no shoes number, we will register their contact information, pre-measure the foot samples, and send them in the past."

Some merchants who come to Pingyao to see the business opportunities of Baolong Zhaibu shoes, take the initiative to find Hou Tianlong to talk about cooperation, I hope he can open Baolongzhai in some cities, or engage in wholesale, let Baolong Zhaibu shoes go to the domestic market. Go to the city. Hou Tianlong made a difficult decision. He refused to open a semicolon, but tried to wholesale it for a while. “Wholesale itself requires quantitative production. We can make a pair of handmade shoes to go through more than 50 processes such as sample selection, piping, bottoming, and fine processing. Each process has strict requirements, such as 81 needles per square inch, one pair. The shoes should have more than 2,100 needles, and the stitches must be evenly distributed. When sewing the shoes by hand, the shape of the shoes is tight and flat, and the stitches of the shoes are evenly spaced. It takes five or six days to complete a pair of shoes. The sales are very good, but they can't match the sales.” Hou Tianlong said that he decided to stop the wholesale and only do Baolongzhai in the local area. In order to let more people understand the history and culture of the shoes, the production process, the use of functions, and the maintenance methods, he specially set up the Baolongzhai Footwear Art Museum. At the same time, he also studied many old craftsmen and old craftsmen at home and abroad, and found that the best inheritance is to make it fine and fine, and win the word of mouth with quality.

In 2004, Baolong Zhaibu shoes were designated as special recommended products by the Pingyao International Photography Festival Organizing Committee.

During the Chinese Year of Pingyao, Hou Tianlong exhibited a pair of one-meter-long shoes with a length of one meter and eight, which was hailed as the shoe king and the sole was 1068 stitches.

In October 2016, Baolong Zhaibu shoes were specially arranged in an exhibition area. The visitors were attracted by Hou Tianlong's exquisite skills, and they were fascinated. Those exquisite and beautiful shoes attracted everyone's attention.

In the same year, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture produced a special video for Hou Tianlong, using the lens to record every step of his shoes, so that the old craft can be restored in the lens. This video was suddenly uploaded by the people's podcast in September 2017 and caused a sensation. This made Hou Tianlong very surprised.

For more than 30 years, there has been only one thing that Hou Tianlong really invested in – making shoes. Because of his work all the year round, he suffered from severe cervical disease and his lumbar vertebrae were not very good. Although he has already made countless pairs of shoes from his hands and brought out some apprentices, he still worried that this old craft would be lost. He not only asked his daughter to study design, but also let his son Hou Xiangyu follow his own shoes and shoes. He intended to deliver young blood to the old craftsmanship, implant new cultural ideas, attract more young people’s attention and let them fall in love. Cloth shoes, fall in love with handmade shoes, so that this old craft can be carried forward.

"Wearing shoes is a return to tradition, and making shoes is a stronghold for old craftsmanship. Although it is difficult, I will pass on with my children." Hou Tianlong said.

Our reporter Zhang Wei

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