The Symphonic Prose of Ploughshare and cymbals

Rake is an essential agricultural tool for rural people in the past, and it is a sharp weapon to maintain basic life. It has left a deep shadow in the minds of generations and a deep imprint on the minds of crops. I remembered how familiar I was, and many stories about it were involved in my mind, so I began to remember it deeply and imagine it boldly. Plow opens the door to happiness in rural areas; The rake removes the sundries that lead to happiness in the countryside; Clock, smoothing the gully on the road to happiness; Polonium, sow the seeds of the road to happiness. Plows and rakes played a harmonious symphony in the vast fields, which made the rural people live a happy and beautiful life.

plough

The original meaning of plow: using cattle to pull tools and shoveling land. According to historical records, during the Spring and Autumn Period in China, until the 1970s and 1980s, cows were used to plow the fields, and most rural people still used cows to plow the fields.

Let time go back to the 1970s. Early in the morning, the villagers began to prepare plows and bullwhip for plowing. After breakfast, they shouldered the plough and drove the cows out of the house, facing the rising sun in the east and shining on their dark red faces. People and cattle walk towards the fields of hope at almost the same pace, which is a good picture of rural farming. The villagers occasionally shouted greedy cows on the roadside and slowly came to the field.

Put the plow in the field, tie the cow, look at the field for a while, take a rough step in the field, choose the center of the land, put the plow on, put on the cow, squat down in the field and eat a bag of cigarettes first, and start farming. The plow turned up the land and suddenly changed. I saw that the land was just flat and hard, and in a short time, it was like turning up one layer after another. After ploughing, the land becomes soft soil. Every once in a while, I grab a handful of loose soil, and it seems that there is still ground temperature. Then I put it on my nose and smelled it. It gave off a strong fragrance in the deep soil. This is the fragrance of the earth. This is the real deep soil. This is a masterpiece of plough and soil.

When I recall ploughing in those days, I think of a saying in the countryside: "The winter ploughs deeply, and the summer is peaceful." "The land is getting deeper and growing happily." "deep ploughing." "Intensive cultivation." "No pains, no gains." ..... This is the experience explored by rural people in long-term farming, which embodies the crystallization of collective wisdom of rural people.

Cattle pulling plows always bring people some space for inspiration and imagination. The picture of cows pulling plows constitutes a beautiful picture of rural plowing: women or children are pulling cows in front of them, crops are pulling plows in one hand and whipping them in the other, rakes are shaking left and right, and they are in step, sometimes yelling at cows and sometimes waving whips.

harrow

The original meaning of rake: a soil preparation tool for breaking soil, leveling land and eliminating weeds. Rural people use rake teeth to crush weeds, and use rake bodies to remove weeds and level the land. When I was a child, I often saw crops standing on two boards in the middle of the rake, staring at the land in front, holding the reins with both hands, grasping the direction left and right, leaning back slightly, and grasping the balance. Cows are pulling rakes, rakes are carrying people, and people are raking the ground. Accompanied by the brisk rhythm, they walked on the soft and vast land and drew beautiful curves with their steady feet. In today's words, it was so romantic and unique that I was envious at that time. The dancer in the wheat field saw my admiring eyes and put me on the rake, which really made me experience the feeling of raking the ground. I let out a cry like a farmer. Hearing the shouts, the two cows in front pulled up the rake very obediently and began to rake the ground. I also looked at the land in front of me, naturally leaned back and tightened the reins on the left and right sides with my hands. When the cow left, I pulled it left and right. "Shout", the cow stopped, so I struggled to lift the rake, clean up the weeds and walk back and forth. After several rounds of training, Niu has been obedient and cooperated very tacitly. Looking back now, standing on a rake to rake the ground is really like the posture of an athlete standing on a sailboat in a rough sea, which is deeply imprinted in my mind.

Leveling machine

The original meaning of the clock: it is used to level the land, loosen the soil and keep moisture. Secondly, rectangular farm tools made of Vitex negundo or Sophora japonica strips are mostly made of Sophora japonica strips in my hometown. Usually, Vitex negundo or Sophora japonica strips are put into water and soaked with stones. When they are soaked and have a special taste, they are fished out, matched with each other, woven by hand and stepped on with their feet, just like twisting. The function of a rake is similar to that of a rake. Generally, it is raked several times and raked again and again to make the land more flat. Its function of leveling land is much better than that of rake, which plays a role that rake can't play. At that time, in the countryside, you could often see adults driving cattle in front and walking on the field path with clocks on their backs. When they reached the field, people had to stand or squat on the clock. Sometimes they think people are too heavy, so they put a moderate stone on the clock, or let a child of the right weight hold the clock.

Animal seed plough

The original meaning of polonium: the name of the farm tool used for sowing. Donkeys are generally used to pull furrows and sow seeds. It is not clear when polonium was produced. It is said that it existed in the Han Dynasty. It used to be hung on the wall of rural breeding shed. Its shape is unique and beautiful. There are two poles in front of the poles, which control the animals that pull the rods. Now I can't remember whether there are two or three poles. The middle is empty and the bottom of the pole is pointed. They were bound by iron hoops. When sowing, the bell will knock on the barrel, making a crisp, loud and rhythmic click. With the knock, the seeds will flow down evenly. In many farm work, sowing is the most technical work. Usually a person leads the animal in front and controls the speed of the animal. Crops hold tiller handles at the back, which controls the direction, sowing quantity, quality and sowing depth of animals, depending on the amplitude and intensity of tiller "swing". This situation is difficult to grasp and crucial, because it is planted. My father used to grow crops by shaking cymbals. He is an accountant in the production team. When it's time to plant wheat, take him down to sow. Because his father is very careful, he can sow seeds evenly and moderately. Now he can still recall his father's even and crisp "snapping" sound, which struck his heart.

Plows and harrows are the products of the times. They have gone through a long time, accompanied by generations of ordinary people, and have gone through many hard years. Now that I think about it, they left us not only beautiful memories, but more importantly, their single function and collocation function were brought into full play, which was unparalleled and irreplaceable in the long rural life and confirmed in the hearts of ordinary people. On the other hand, without thousands of years of successful farming practice, it is impossible to produce today's modern working tools. Therefore, when we enjoy the joy brought by modern agricultural mechanization, we must not forget the plows and rakes that have maintained the lives and lives of generations for thousands of years. It should be said that farming is an essential tool to maintain the past life and a solid foundation to create a modern life. Nowadays, with the development of society and the upgrading of modern agricultural tools, ploughing has become history and gradually drifted away, but they have left us with beautiful memories.