▎补漏、打磨、上油完成翻新
Leakage Repairing, Polishing, Oil Coating for Renovation
今年的五一假期，黄剑挺不在自己的龙船厂里，而是忙于上门服务。整个假期，他都在大龙街新桥村龙船坞为刚出水的龙舟翻新打磨。“龙船在水里藏了三年了，今年要把前三年没干的活儿全补齐。”
During this year’s May Day holiday, Huang Jianting was not at his own dragon boat workshop but busy providing on-site services. Throughout the holiday, he was at the dragon boat dock in Xinqiao Village, Dalong Street, renovating and polishing newly launched dragon boats. “The dragon boat has been hidden in the water for three years, and this year we need to make up for all the work that hasn’t been done in the past three years.”
“先补漏，即把显示有缝隙的地方全部扒开，清理积尘后重新咬合拼接，以保证不漏水。然后经过打磨刷漆，龙舟看上去更光洁亮丽，之后再装上龙头龙尾、罗伞、旗帜，龙舟便焕然一新。村里的一条龙船出去探亲访友，代表着这条村的形象，所以村民都想将本村的龙船装扮得漂漂亮亮。”黄剑挺说。
“First, we need to fix the leaks by opening up all the areas with gaps, cleaning the accumulated dust, and reassembling the parts to ensure that the boat is watertight. Then, after sanding and painting, the dragon boat will look smoother and more beautiful. After that, we’ll install the dragon head and tail, umbrella, and flags, and the dragon boat will be as good as new. When a village’s dragon boat goes out to visit friends and relatives, it represents the image of the village, so the villagers want to dress up their dragon boats beautifully.” Huang Jianting said.
记者采访的这天晚上，黄剑挺和修船师傅趁着夜色专程赶到江门鹤山修龙船。“客户反映龙船有点软了，我们赶紧赶过去调一下将军柱和龙筋。” 黄剑挺解释说，一条40多米的龙舟，在水中高速划动就像在“跳舞”一样，年久使用会导致“龙筋”松动，船身变软。
On the night of our interview, Huang Jianting and the boat repair masters rushed to Heshan, Jiangmen, to repair a dragon boat. “The customer told us that the dragon boat was a bit soft, so we hurried over to adjust the general column and the dragon tendons.” Huang Jianting explained, a 40-meter-long dragon boat, when rowing at high speed in the water, is like dancing，and prolonged use may cause the dragon tendons to loosen and the boat body to soften.
“龙筋”其实在上漖龙舟制作工艺中叫“龙缆”。 龙缆相当于桥梁的斜拉索作用，配合将军柱，把龙舟前、中、后三段主心骨用拉索的形式拉紧形成牵扯力，牵引几十米长的龙舟，比赛时龙舟翘动会使龙缆的松紧度发生变化，龙缆之间的牵引使得龙舟张弛有度而不失牢固。“为什么叫龙缆而不是龙筋呢，一百多年前这个结构用的就是一条粗缆绳，上漖造船工艺人把缆绳改良为坤甸木结构，强度更强而且经久耐用。”黄剑挺说。
The dragon tendon is actually called the “dragon cable” in the Shangle dragon boat making process. The dragon cable serves a similar function to the stay cables of a bridge, working in conjunction with the general column to tightly connect the front, middle, and rear sections of the dragon boat’s main structure using a cable system, creating tension. The tens of meters long dragon boat is pulled by the tension between the dragon cables, allowing the boat to flex without losing its sturdiness during the race. “Why is it called a dragon cable instead of a dragon tendon? More than a hundred years ago, this structure used a thick cable rope. Shangjiao craftsmen improved the cable rope into a wooden structure made of belian, which is stronger and more durable.” Huang Jianting said.
多年来坚持上门修龙船，黄剑挺说这是祖辈流传下来的传统，“父亲曾说过‘上门维修是龙船世家百年声誉的根基’，外出维护龙船我们船厂不赚钱，收的工钱全部分给师傅，算是工人的福利。”
For many years, Huang Jianting has insisted on providing on-site dragon boat repairs, a tradition passed down from his ancestors. “My father once said, On-site maintenance is the foundation of the century-old reputation of a dragon boat family.Our boat workshop does not make a profit from maintaining dragon boats outside the workshop. The wages are all distributed to the masters, which is considered a benefit for the workers.”
上漖村与龙舟的故事：珠三角九成传统龙舟都来自这里
Stories of Shangjiao and the Dragon Boat: 90% of the traditional dragon boats in the Pearl River Delta come from here
上漖村所在的沙滘岛珠水环绕，河网纵横，村民世代临水而居。同时，珠三角水乡地区对龙舟的需求量大。上漖村南边的三支香水道，江水流速平缓，且在水道与村相邻处有一块面积较大的浅滩，水运交通方便，利于木料的运送和新龙舟下水，是造船的天然良港。得天独厚的地理位置，加上村民的勤劳智慧，使上漖村成为远近闻名的造船基地。
Shajiao Island, where Shangjiao is located, is surrounded by the Pearl River and crisscrossed by a network of rivers. The villagers have lived by the water for generations. At the same time, there is a high demand for dragon boats in the water towns of the Pearl River Delta. The Sanzhixiang Channels to the south of Shangjiao have gentle water flow, and there is a large shallow beach adjacent to the channel and the village, which is convenient for water transportation, facilitating the transport of wood and the launching of new dragon boats. This makes it a natural harbor for boatbuilding. The unique geographical location, combined with the villagers’ hard work and wisdom, has made Shangjiao a well-known boatbuilding base far and wide.
20世纪60年代，社会、经济逐步恢复和发展，龙舟活动也逐渐恢复。第三代龙舟制作人黄寮的长子黄辉、次子黄福（黄剑挺的爷爷）继承父业将造船技术发扬光大。20世纪80年代，龙舟制造进入鼎盛时期。巅峰时期，上漖龙舟一度远销至东南亚和南非。20世纪90年代后期，鼎盛时期过去，受自然环境、经济形势等因素制约，龙厂船数量逐渐减少。至2014年，上漖村剩下的龙船厂不足10家。
In the 1960s, as society and the economy gradually recovered and developed, dragon boat activities also gradually resumed. Huang Hui, the eldest son of the third-generation dragon boat maker Huang Liao, and Huang Fu (Huang Jianting’s grandfather), the second son, inherited their father’s business and carried forward the boatbuilding skills. In the 1980s, dragon boat manufacturing entered its heyday. At its peak, Shangjiao dragon boats were exported to Southeast Asia and South Africa. In the late 1990s, after the heyday had passed and due to constraints of the natural environment and economic situation, the number of dragon boat workshops gradually decreased. By 2014, there were fewer than 10 dragon boat workshops left.
目前，村里只有7间龙船厂，从业人员30多人，有黄氏、卢氏、梁氏、陈氏四家在经营。现在，上漖村仍以传统龙制作为主要优势，传统龙的市场份额仍然占据珠三角地区九成以上。
Currently, there are only seven dragon boat workshops in the village, employing more than 30 people, with four families – Huang, Lu, Liang, and Chen – running the businesses. Now, Shangjiao still relies on traditional dragon boat making as its main advantage, with traditional dragon boats still accounting for over 90% of the market share in the Pearl River Delta.
然而，传承问题始终困扰着这门古老技艺。黄剑挺说，自家船厂最鼎盛时有三十多个工人。后来他们陆续退休。目前，厂里50岁以下的工人只有两个，都是黄剑挺的侄子，“两人都超过40岁。现在上漖龙船厂工匠中基本没有二三十岁的年轻人。”
However, the issue of inheritance has always troubled this ancient craft. Huang Jianting said that at its peak, his family’s boat workshop had more than thirty workers. They have since retired one after another. At present, there are only two workers under the age of 50, both of whom are Huang Jianting’s nephews, “Both of them are over 40 years old. Now, there are basically no young people in their twenties or thirties among the craftsmen.”
龙船制作技艺传承的情况不容乐观。洛浦街道方面表示，如今上漖村龙舟制作从业人员锐减、年龄结构不合理，现在从事龙舟制作的人员不及鼎盛时期1/3，且大多是四五十岁，甚至六十岁以上的老师傅。
The situation of the inheritance of dragon boat making skills is not optimistic. The Luopu Subdistrict Office stated that the number of people engaged in dragon boat making in Shangjiao has sharply decreased today, the age structure is unreasonable, and the number of people engaged in dragon boat making is less than one-third of the number during its heyday. Most of them are in their forties, fifties, or even over sixty years old.
黄剑挺说，制作龙舟是一项体力加技巧的工作，工作环境差、收入不高且不稳定都影响了年轻人选择这一行。另一方面，龙舟制作全凭师傅的经验，其技艺多为家族传承，这给工艺科学化以及大规模地发展带来困难。与其他制作技艺不同，龙船制作是一门综合性技术，完整打造一条龙船起码要七八个人配合才能完成，龙舟制作传承需要一个稳定的工匠群体，“如果我们龙船厂只剩下三四个工匠的话，将无法完成一条龙舟修造，想传承也传承不下去，最终将导致传统龙船无处可造。”
Huang Jianting said that making dragon boats is a job that requires both physical strength and skills. The poor working environment, low and unstable income all affect young people’s choice to enter this field. On the other hand, dragon boat making relies entirely on the master’s experience, and its skills are often passed down within families, which makes it difficult for the craft to be scientifically standardized and developed on a large scale. Unlike other crafts, dragon boat making is a comprehensive technology. It takes at least seven or eight people working together to build a complete dragon boat. The inheritance of dragon boat making requires a stable group of craftsmen. “If our dragon boat factory is left with only three or four craftsmen, we will not be able to complete the construction of a dragon boat. The inheritance will not be possible, and eventually, there will be nowhere to build traditional dragon boats.”
文/广州日报·新花城记者：肖桂来、何钻莹、吴多
图/广州日报·新花城记者：李波、陈忧子、莫伟浓
Text/ Guangzhou Daily · Xinhua City Reporter: Xiao Guilai, He Zuanying, Wu Duo
Reported by Xiao Guilai, He Zuanying, Wu Duo/Guangzhou Daily (Guangzhou Converged News Center)
Photo by Li Bo, Chen Youzi, Mo Weinong/Guangzhou Daily (Guangzhou Converged News Center)
