Grandpa Huang Youxin, an 86-year-old copper spoon master, was concentrating on making the copper spoon in his hand. "Goodbye, never see you again." When I walked out of my grandpas old house in Sanheyuan, I said goodbye because we only met once. Grandpa Huang Youxin, who was as friendly as a familiar elder, also said goodbye to Taiwans last ice spoon craft.
The time of beating a dozen copper spoons
This beautiful Sanheyuan is the home of Grandpa Huang Youxin and his studio. The working place is the stove foot of the Sanheyuan. There are many old utensils in the stove foot. Accompanied by the sound of the radio and the sound of the fan running, everything in front of me is like an old photo condensed in time and space. The protagonist of the picture is Grandpa Huang Youxin with a determined expression, the last copper ice spoon craftsman in Taiwan.
When my grandfather was twenty-five years old, he met a master who was willing to teach him how to make keys and use a copper ice spoon. It took him three years and four months to become a master. He has been doing this job for a lifetime and supported his family of five. There are many ice spoon masters in Taiwan. I originally thought that ice spoons are only used in Taiwanese traditional ice cream stalls. Unexpectedly, copper ice spoons are widely used in Taiwanese snacks. There are more than 20 sizes in total. The smallest size is sold to The largest size is sold to the Liangtou family and the Rouyuantou family. Various sizes are purchased by people who are accustomed to it. The ice spoon has a wide range of uses. Grandpa said that in the 40th year, Taiwan began to use machines to produce tin ice spoons. Because the price was much cheaper, many ice spoon masters were affected and gave up making copper ice spoons. It was not until the 50th year that Taiwan started making copper ice spoons. He was the only one left.
There are more than twenty sizes of copper spoons. The smallest size is sold to Liang Yuantou family, and the largest size is sold to Rouyuantou family. Each size has its own purpose.
A life-long focus
Ask Grandpa Huang Youxin: "Whats the hardest part of this job?" He smiled and replied, "Sitting all the time is the hardest." It sounds like this job is easy, but its not. That day, I watched Grandpa Huang Youxin working for several hours. I watched him focus on the work at hand without thinking or daring to disturb him, because although making a copper ice spoon does not require labor, dangerous tools are used throughout the process, such as burning. He had to use a hot soldering iron, hydrochloric acid, a non-stop gas stove, and soldering tin... He was seen constantly dipping the soldering iron into molten tin beads and hydrochloric acid, and gluing the spherical spoon body made from copper sheets to the handle, using his bare hands. Hold a red-hot soldering iron and keep touching it to a copper ball with excellent heat conductivity. When the tin beads of the soldering iron hit the copper ball, it will make a hot sound like "hiss~~". The soldering iron and the soldering iron often touch the copper ball. On the fingertips, just looking at it can't help but shrink your hands, but Grandpa Huang Youxin is calm and composed.
Huang Youxin and his uncle used a "hand drill", a cross-shaped stick that was nearly half a man tall. He was so thin that he had to use all his strength to drill a very small hole
I wonder how long he endured this physical pain before he could be so calm and calm? In addition to these physical pains, many details are quite exquisite, especially in the last few steps, the "hand drill" he used was a With a cross-shaped stick half as tall as a man, he had to use one hand to twist the knot in the stick to drive the drill to drill holes. He had to use all his strength to drill the copper sheet with the manual drill. To make very small holes, you need to exert great force without deviation, and you have to be very precise, otherwise all your efforts will be wasted. This step needs to be repeated several times, and small copper strips must be passed between the holes. He constantly corrects the holes, and his calm expression becomes sharp and confident, and there is an aura of hanging on for life between his eyebrows, which makes people feel awe. .
Losing the craftsmanship passed down from generation to generation
After reading the entire work process, it is not difficult to imagine why the skill of copper ice spoons has been lost. There are many details in this work that "have to fight for life" to continue to endure the hardships. Few young people are willing to endure such hardships but only To earn this little money, one can also imagine that grandpa must have loved his children and was reluctant to let them suffer his own hardships, so the copper ice spoon lost its heirloom.
There was not much conversation throughout the interview, and Grandpa always responded calmly and happily. Eighty-six years of life, more than a decade of hardships in a career, are not like the soldering iron that no longer feels hot when held in the hand, or the manual drill that does not feel heavy when exerted with great force. Everything that looks shocking to others , it’s just a “life” that he enjoys drinking water, how can he write about it? But this “life” may not be lived by anyone in Taiwan in the future, so I can only watch my grandpa talk and do lightly, and deeply relate to him. He said goodbye to the scenes of copper ice spoon craftsmanship in front of him.
[For complete content, please see the January 2016 issue of "LaVie"]
