An Investigation Of Xiangfen County’s The Carpenter Craft And Custom

Xiangfen County of Shanxi province is located in the southern part of Linfen basin.From the beginning of 1950 s,primitive culture with Dingcun and Taosi have been found in Xiangfen County,as the birthplace of Chinese culture,gaining attention by academic fields.With the excavation for relics of Dingcun and Taosi,there are more solid evidences to prove that Xiangfen County is the source of Chinese civilization.Taotang here tought people the concept of timing and how to grow crops,creating the conditions for the germination of craftsmanship,and the art of carpenter was born under this human environment.The skills of carpenter are applied throughout the different aspects of people’s life.In the long process of development,carpenters can skillfully use of tools for carpentry,and the specific regulations and customs have been formed.Under this condition,the art of carpenter become the vivid representative for local people’s custom.Combined with the methods of field investigation and reference literature,this paper takes carpenter group in Xiangfen County as the research object,studying the carpenter production,organization forms and related customs among them,to make the necessary reflection on carpentry heritage and development.The traditional regulations and customs of carpenter have formed in the long-term social practice,showing the carpenter’s work attitude and habits.Based on the handicraft industry,the organization forms have changed from family workshops,flow handicraft workshops,handicraft market,the cooperation of handicraft workshop to handicraft industry which shows the development from simplification to diversification.Carpentry can be inherited through family,impartment,organizations,occupation education and with the continuous change of social development,the regulations,customs as well as the relationship with the people’s life has changed.The carpenters can notbe isolated by their industry,and they communicate,express their feelings,and improve skills with their peers through industrial worship,and through all phases of the various aspects of daily life and life ritual to participate in people’s daily life.With the development of market economy,there are new connections showing between carpenters and people’s life.Skills and customs,artisan spirit and traditional functions have changed.How to adapt to the current social environment has become the carpenters who should consider about in Xiangfen County.Through investigation of carpenters’ living situation in Xiangfen County,and analysis of the causes of change,and the analysis of contemporary social skills bring enlightenment to the existence and development of the case for the inheritance and protection of traditional folk art.