Carpenter, is a very ancient and ordinary industry, thousands of years, carpenters and people's lives are closely related, in the past, people live in the house, living furniture, some farming and other production tools, all need carpenters to make, is the old people can not do without one of the four craftsmen (stonemasons, masons, carpenters, blacksmiths).

The carpenter's grandfather is Lu Ban, in fact, before the Spring and Autumn Period in which Lu Ban lived, there were already craftsmen engaged in carpentry, but Lu Ban carried forward the carpenter's line.

Carpentry is also a very mysterious trade. From ancient times to the present, there are many stories about carpenters, carpenters follow Luban as their ancestors, and the legendary "Luban Book" handed down by Luban is the origin of these mysteries, which has become the talk of people's idle pastime, and it is the capital of carpenters in the old days to walk all over the world and boast about themselves.

Legend has it that the Book of Luban is a kind of strange book that records curses, witchcraft, and spells, which are used by carpenters to protect themselves, deal with evil and unscrupulous employers, and even use them to harm others.

Because people's lives are inseparable from carpenters, coupled with some legends that seem to be nothing, carpenters in the old times are still more respected in society, and because carpenters are still a ninth-rate line in the old days, they have a certain social status.

According to the legend, the carpenter is all utensils to ward off evil spirits, such as the carpenter's axe, ruler, and adze, which are all things that ghosts and evil things are afraid of, especially the carpenter's ink fountain, which is said to be used to catch ghosts and suppress demons.

In the past, carpenters had to walk at night in order to be in a hurry, often passing through wilderness, mass graves, and mass graves. In the past, once these places were at night, ordinary people rarely dared to walk through them, but carpenters dared to walk in these places at night.

It is said that most of the people who are carpenters are tall in the heavenly court, and the yang fire between the eyebrows of Yintang is sufficient, and they are bold, and the ghosts and evil yin things are afraid of this person, not to mention that there are those evil guys on the carpenter.

In the past, carpenters would eat and live in their employers' homes most of the year, because most of the carpenters' work in the past was long-term work, such as building houses and making sets of furniture for their employers, which could not be completed in three days or five days.

In the old days, no matter how poor the employer was, he invited a carpenter to work at home, and the wine, meat, and tea would be served in place, and there were many rules to follow. Legend has it that some landlords were retaliated against by the carpenters because they were stingy and did not treat the carpenters they invited or deducted their wages.

The carpenters' means of revenge were naturally those spells, witchcrafts and spells recorded in the Book of Luban, and when they built houses, they did something under their foundations, or on the rafters, beams, or furniture, which would cause these landlords and rich people to lose their wealth and suffer crimes, or at worst lose their officials, go to prison, or even ruin their families.

It is said that these spells include burying witch Gu and other town objects, carving and creating strange carpentry gadgets, and chanting spells. The carpenter collectively referred to these methods as "Luban technique", and the witchcraft Gu Zhenwu such techniques were also called "disgusting techniques" and "lower operators", which was a kind of witchcraft called "sitting on the ground and raising feng shui, and killing people on the beam" in the old days.

In the old days, carpenters with high craftsmanship and a certain reputation were called "big carpenters" in the carpenter industry or among the common people, and "big carpenter" was a title and a qualification.

In the past, not every carpenter could be called a "great carpenter". For a carpenter to qualify as a great carpenter, he must have more than two generations of apprentices and grandchildren, which means that at least his apprentices must also accept apprentices. This may seem like a simple requirement, but it's not.

In the old carpenter's trade, if a young man learned to be a carpenter from the age of fifteen, from an apprentice to a master of the arts, it generally took three to five years, and after three or five years, he had to go out to experience and make a name for himself, and this process generally took another five to ten years, which is that he was almost thirty years old.

And to reach the level of accepting apprentices, but also depends on his ability and creation, the average carpenter does not wander in the society for one or two decades, does not learn the carpentry skills of Tiannan and Haibei, and has a certain reputation in the far and near circles, before he is forty years old, there are few people who will come to the door to apprentice.

After all, there are many respected old carpenters in those utensils (the more formal carpenter workshops in the old days), and there are many apprentices and grandchildren all over the world, who would spend a lot of money to find a carpenter with no reputation and no foundation to learn the arts?

If a carpenter finally comes to the door after about 20 years of training, he is about 40 years old, and his apprentice has begun to accept apprentices after 10 or 20 years of training, and he is almost 60 years old at this time. Moreover, this cannot be reversed - that an old carpenter in his fifties or sixties must be a great carpenter.

In the old days, the carpenter industry had a strict teacher's inheritance, and it was natural to have people's reputation for reaching the level of accepting apprentices, as well as the evaluation of carpenters' peers and guarantors - in the old days, if a child of a family wanted to learn to be a carpenter, he first had to find a guarantor, and the guarantor would recommend the carpenter.

Some carpenters have ordinary qualifications, and they can never take on the big work alone - such as building a house for a family, but they need to work together with their peers (carpenters help each other and the concept of cooperation is different) to do it together in order to take over the next job, naturally earn less, and most of the work undertaken is a corner road, such a carpenter, may not have anyone to come to the door for a lifetime, even if he accepts an apprentice, his apprentice may be even more mediocre in qualifications. In the past, a lot of older carpenters were still in the single gang, and naturally no one called him "big carpenter".

However, in the past, in addition to carpenters with more than two generations of disciples, they could be called "big carpenters", and there was also a kind of carpenter who could also be called "big carpenters" - carpenters who knew Lubanshu.

It is said that in the carpenter's business in the old days, carpenters who knew Luban art were rare, and even many carpenters had only heard of their peers who knew these spells and had never seen them, because Luban was not something that anyone could learn and everyone could learn.

This is the same as the peerless martial arts in martial arts novels, and only the protagonist or villain can learn a truth. If anyone can learn peerless martial arts, then it must not be peerless martial arts. In the same way, if a carpenter can learn Lubanshu and learn it, then the "Book of Luban" and Lubanshu are definitely not legends, and they will not be so mysterious.

For thousands of years, it is precisely because of the extreme rarity of carpenters who can learn Lubanshu that the legends of those carpenters who can Lubanshu will be miraculous in the carpenter industry and among the folk.

It is said that if a carpenter knows how to do the art of Luban, no matter how old he is, even if he is young, the carpenter in the circle will give way when he sees him, and if a large employer invites this carpenter and several other carpenters to work at the same time, when he serves wine and dinner, his peers will take a seat and toast him, and when he receives the salary, he will let the carpenter receive a large portion, and so on.

This is the same as today's people who have the ability to eat openly in society, and Yigao is not old! In the old days, the carpenter who knew how to use Luban with both hands was definitely equivalent to the existence of the supreme master in the martial arts. What is Luban used for? That's a trick used to make people harmful! If you offend the carpenter who knows how to Lu Banshu, maybe people will use some tricks behind your back and make the next operation to rectify you!

It is a carpenter who can learn Lubanshu in the old days, even if he does not accept apprentices, even if he is young, he is also a "big carpenter" respected by everyone in the circle, not to mention, how can a carpenter who can learn Lubanshu be mediocre in terms of talent and qualifications? The carpentry skills are definitely not far behind.

When I was a child, I heard many stories and legends about carpenters, and my grandfather was a carpenter. The author once asked my grandfather, is there a "Book of Luban" in the world? Does a carpenter know spells?

To the author's surprise, my grandfather said that "Luban Book" is very common, and all carpenters who are a little older have a "Luban Book" at home. The author asked my grandfather at the time, do you know how to spell? At that time, I begged my grandfather to come out and see the spell.

I remember that my grandfather laughed at the time, saying that "Luban Book" is just a set of reference and guidance books for carpenters to do carpentry handed down from ancient times, and there are no spells and tricks, and no carpenters now know what Luban skills. (Some readers may have seen this kind of "Luban Book", which is actually a textbook that instructs carpenters on how to make house furniture, and it is also called "Luban Jing".) ）

Seeing that the author was very disappointed, my grandfather said another sentence, he said that there are many kinds of "Luban books" in the world (that is, there are multiple versions), but no one knows which version has spells and spells, at least the "Luban books" in the hands of him and his colleagues are ordinary carpentry reference books.

It is this sentence that makes the author think for a long time in the past that there must be a magical version of the "Book of Luban", which records the spells and spells of Luban, but this kind of "Book of Luban" must be more difficult to find and find than those magic books in martial arts novels, and only those who have a major opportunity can get it, so as to learn the above spells.

Do carpentry aversion and Luban art exist? Whether there is that kind of magical "Luban Book" or not, this is not the scope of this book's exploration, this may have to be measured from the perspective of evidence and science, after all, this book is a novel, and it is a relatively YY online novel. But for thousands of years, the carpenter's Luban technique has been passed down in the world, but it is definitely not groundless.

It is a pity to the author that my grandfather did not take out his "Luban Book" to show his family until he died. No matter how much the author begged him, he refused, and the reason was absurd: children can't watch it.

I remember that once the author took his grandfather out to work, and the author searched for his "Luban Book" in his warehouse, but not only did he not find it, but he was also beaten by his grandfather after he came back.

Later, the author saw a yellowed traditional Chinese character "Luban Book" in the local museum of the county seat, a woodworking textbook with pictures and texts, and there was no record of spells and spells. Later, when I heard what an elderly man in my hometown said, I roughly understood the reason.

The god said that in the old days, the "Book of Luban" handed down by carpenters could only be read by the descendants or apprentices who wanted to pass on the art, and other people, especially women, could not read it. There were many taboos and rules in the carpenter's business in the old days (which will be gradually mentioned in the main story of this novel), and the carpenter's "Book of Luban" is one of them.

If the person who reads the carpenter's "Book of Luban" is a woman, then the carpenter's craftsmanship will be lost, which is very taboo in the carpenter industry in the past - for thousands of years, the carpenter's craft has been passed on to men but not to women, since ancient times, only men have been carpenters and no women have been carpenters, this is the rule set by the ancestor Lu Ban, even if this woman is strong and ingenious.

Secondly, the carpenter's "Luban Book" can only be shown to his descendants or his apprentices who want to continue to engage in the carpenter industry, if his children and grandchildren and apprentices are not willing to be carpenters and want to switch to other industries, but read his "Luban Book", then this descendant can only be a carpenter for the rest of his life! No matter what other industry he changes to in the future, he won't be able to learn or do well...... This sounds a little scary, as if there is a mysterious curse hanging over the book, and the author who listened to it at the time was very tight, because the author had read a few pages of "The Book of Luban" in the museum.

At that time, the author understood the reason why my grandfather did not want his children and grandchildren to read his "Book of Luban", because the author's father did not become a carpenter, and the author could not be a carpenter. Men who don't work as carpenters can't read the carpenter's "Luban Book".

Fortunately, for so many years, the author has not encountered anything that I can't learn or do well in the industry, and my worries after reading "Luban Book" have long been put down. Thinking about it today, my grandfather's worries may only be effective if there is a strict division and limitation of the three religions and nine streams and three hundred and sixty lines in ancient times - in the past, a carpenter was a carpenter, a stonemason was a stonemason, and a blacksmith was a blacksmith, but there are not so many professions with blurred industry boundaries, strict division of labor, and intensive types of work today.

With the progress of the times, the carpenter industry is no longer a single industry in society, and the figure of "carpenter" is gradually blurred in people's lives. In the old days, being a carpenter was a very deliberate choice for a man, a craft to support his family, and a carpenter had a teacher's trade, and a series of important rituals such as finding a guarantor and holding apprenticeship ceremonies.

Carpenter is a profession with thousands of years of cultural connotation and craft inheritance, in ancient times, carpenters and other craftsmen were classified as "agriculture" in the "Shinong Industry and Commerce", only one level lower than reading and being an official, although it will also be despised by some officials and gentry, large families, but in the old times accounted for more than 98% of the total population, illiterate Bai Ding, carpenter is not a lowly industry, a family has children and grandchildren to learn carpenter, will be very serious to take care of and operate, poor families can not even afford to learn, because to be a carpenter apprentice to learn art requires a certain amount of money to pave the way, It is not exactly the so-called industry that only those who have no culture and no ability will do.

But today, if a young man aspires to be a carpenter, he will be opposed by his family and looked down upon by others, and in people's consciousness, today's carpenters seem to be only those who can't read books and have no way out.

In addition, the houses and living furniture of modern people have gotten rid of the shackles of relying on carpenters in the past, modern buildings are mostly reinforced concrete projects, and the carpentry work is needed less and less, and many modern furniture are pressed by factory machines and lathes, and at the same time, the invention and popularization of a large number of power tools and modern tools that are easy to operate have made many craftsmen carpenter, such as the current decoration workers, plasterers, and plumbers will mostly point carpentry.

With the popularization of power tools, the cutting and assembling of some wood does not require the carpenters of the past to make a hand-made axe, saw and chisel.

This has led to a fait accompli: in today's society, there are fewer and fewer real and pure carpenters, and even almost disappeared, and the carpenters we invite when we renovate houses today are more appropriately called "carpenters" than carpenters - they are not carpenters, but carpenters who can do carpenter's work.

Writing this book, although I can't escape the clichés and trappings of online novels, the author has respect for the carpenter, especially the nostalgia for his grandfather, and picks up some rumors in the back cast by the carpenters who are drifting away.

―――――――――――――――――――――― Zhang is uninhibited