They are a group of people, but also a person, known as "great country craftsmen."
It is these people who let us find that in this noisy and hurried era, there are still some things worth reading carefully, and there are still some things that will never be forgotten by the dust of the years.
Chu Hongsheng is a famous cheongsam producer in Shanghai. A needle, a thread and a tape measure run through his life; He insisted on making cheongsam by hand for decades, pursuing perfection and perfection in details, devoted himself to one thing all his life, and always adhered to his simple heart and himself.
Chu Hongsheng, a great craftsman, is called "the last tailor". Together with his cheongsam, he performed a swan song of the times for us.
It is said that it is a woman's nature to love beauty. No matter what age, women will never give up their pursuit of beauty. In the middle of the 20th century, the most popular "fashion" in Shanghai's streets and lanes-cheongsam-has become the most daily collocation of Shanghai women, and there are beautiful women wearing cheongsam everywhere.
Shanghai style cheongsam is full of elegance and elegance, which represents the gentle and feminine personality characteristics of women. The style of cheongsam is extremely slim, so modern people often joke that "cheongsam" is the "ultimate standard" to test whether the figure is perfect or not.
As you can imagine, cheongsam swept through Shanghai's "fashion circle" with an irresistible trend, making rich women compete to customize the most eye-catching and unique cheongsam.
At the same time, with the help of this unprecedented business opportunity, tailor shops in the streets have quietly emerged.
In an ordinary tailor's shop in the alley, an ordinary apprentice was sent to the tailor's shop by his family to learn his craft because he could not afford the tuition.
/kloc-at the age of 0/6, he is humbly learning tedious and boring "basic skills", sewing, ironing ... and occasionally talking and laughing with guests who come in and out. As everyone knows, his brilliant life is about to open.
This little apprentice is Chu Hongsheng.
For the next three years, Chu Hongsheng has been repeating the most tedious basic skills, studying hard to buckle the iron ... and then to the cutting and plate-making design of the advanced version, step by step. With talent and hard work, the little apprentice finally stood out among the other disciples and won the appreciation of Master.
At the beginning of his career, Master gave Chu Hongsheng an arduous and glorious task, that is, to customize a cheongsam for Hu Die, the first beauty of the Republic of China and a famous film winner.
After receiving this task, Chu Hongsheng was pleasantly surprised. He cherishes the hard-won practice opportunity given by Master, but he is afraid that he will rashly smash Master's signboard.
Chu Hongsheng is bold and cautious, and dares to think and do. He thought it over and over for a long time, and finally decided to take a gamble, abandon the traditional production method, and use "imported" lace instead of common cloth to boldly design a white lace cheongsam for Hu Die.
Wearing this white lace cheongsam, Hu Die looks like a fairy, not a bit tacky. It is also this time that the appearance of "the first beauty" once again surprised the whole Shanghai beach.
Later, Hu Die himself became a "diehard fan" of Chu Hongsheng; The audience was full of praise for this ingenious design, and colleagues secretly praised his courage and wisdom. Since then, the name Chu Hongsheng has flourished in Shanghai. He and his needle and thread have won the courtesy and admiration of countless celebrity families, and they are as sought after as the popular "stars".
After the reform and opening up, Chu Hongsheng was also invited to customize cheongsam for popular actresses such as Maggie Cheung and Gong Li. Everything is amazing and its artistic value is unparalleled. I can't help but admire that what Chu Hongsheng made was not a cheongsam, but a work of art. He was not a tailor, but an artist.
In the early years, materials were scarce and productivity was underdeveloped. Cheongsam shops in Shanghai are basically handmade.
One needle, one thread and one tape measure, precise cutting, smooth cutting, complicated and exquisite stitching and embroidery constitute the "Shanghai style cheongsam" style in Shanghai in the last century, which combines the northern costume culture with the southern regional characteristics and shows the collision beauty of Chinese medicine culture and the unique beauty of oriental women to the fullest.
Cheongsam was just popular in those years, and the competition in the industry was fierce. Everyone wants to seize this rare business opportunity. So most tailor shops will spend a lot of time on detail carving. Even the simplest style and intensive production will take at least ten days and a half to complete a cheongsam.
Chu Hongsheng is no exception. He strives for perfection, and the cheongsam he wears is "good". It goes without saying that he works hard on stitches, even a small button will take hours to sew.
For Chu Hongsheng, it is common for a process to take several days. No matter how hard and tired he is, the thread in his hand has become a beautiful cheongsam and a fruit of happiness.
He has worked hard on his style and crafted it carefully. Chu Hongsheng customizes the most suitable styles for customers according to their different age characteristics.
For example, young female customers are more fashionable, picky and particular about the style of cheongsam, and tend to the latest style and the gentle and virtuous style of cheongsam, so the buckle styles of young female customers are mostly graceful and gentle.
In addition to customizing styles according to age characteristics, Chu Hongsheng will also customize different styles of cheongsam according to seasons and wearing occasions, and strive to create the unique beauty of women's personality, greatly avoiding the embarrassment of "bumping shirts".
Later, with the progress of the times, sewing machines replaced handwork, but Chu Hongsheng always adhered to his original intention, and every cheongsam was sewn by hand. His love for cheongsam has reached the point of obsession.
Eighty-two years later, before you know it, Chu Hongsheng has made thousands of cheongsam. I don't know when that fledgling "little apprentice" quietly grew into a veritable "craftsman".
Choose one thing in your life. Time flies, and decades have passed quietly. What changes is the hair on the head and the wrinkles on the face. What remains unchanged is Chu Hongsheng's initial heart.
The craftsmen of big countries are sticking to the border of decline and loss, and keeping simplicity and truth in the glitz of fast food era. They hold high the torch of classic inheritance, be warriors to protect excellent traditional culture, and use the power of life to restore the prosperity once covered by embers.
Skills may change, but ingenuity will never change; The times are developing, but the initial heart will never change. Dedication, Excellence, concentration and persistence will always be synonymous with "great country craftsmen".
The craftsman spirit will shine forever in the long river of history. The blood of a craftsman will be accompanied by a long and excellent traditional culture, which will be admired by future generations.