Original title: Octogenarian craftsmen are more craftsmen

Guangxi Daily reporter Qin Weili Correspondent Wei Yanmei

Liu Ruihong, the successor of hand-made lanterns, was making lanterns when he was found. "It takes one or two months to make a big lantern. Young people are unwilling to learn this skill, and fewer and fewer people can make it by traditional hand." Liu Ruihong sighed while busy.

Every year on the 13th day of the first lunar month, Hakka people have the custom of lighting in ancestral temples. In Hakka, "Deng" is homophonic with "Ding", so "Shang Deng" means "Tian Ding".

Liu Ruihong, 80 years old, became the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the autonomous region in 2015. As a child, he lived in the wing room of Xiatunbiyi Gongci, Jilong Village, Labao Town, Liujiang District, Liuzhou City. Since childhood, he was very interested in making lanterns. He was not only comfortable, but also very careful.

After the Spring Festival in 1962, for various reasons, the Lantern Festival of the Liu family in Xiatun, Jilong Village was closed. This stop is 20 years. "In the winter of 1981, the clansmen renovated the Ancestral Temple of the Liu Family." Liu Ruihong recalled that although the old appearance of the Ancestral Temple had been restored, the clansmen were still empty in their hearts - the simple and solemn upper hall was only missing the lantern that hoped for Hakka people. The old man in Tunli decided to resume the ceremony after discussion. However, in the past 20 years, most of the people who made lanterns have died or are in their twilight years. Who will be in charge of making lanterns? In that year, Liu Ruihong was less than 40 years old, and with the memory of helping to tie lanterns when he was young, he volunteered to take up this important task. He learned to make lanterns independently by learning from his elders.

In the 1982 Spring Festival, the Liu family finally resumed the Lantern Festival. The clansmen who came back from all over the country made concerted efforts to hang the first lantern Liu Ruihong made in the ancestral hall.

"I hope more young people will learn how to make lanterns, so that the craft of hand-made lanterns can be passed on." Liu Ruihong said that he has received two apprentices. This year's "Lantern Festival", two apprentices completed the lantern making independently under his guidance.