Soft Bronze Book

Lao Teng

Lao Teng is a member of the China Writers Association and the National Committee of the China Writers Association. He is currently the Secretary of the Party Group and Chairman of the Writers Association of Liaoning Province.

In the Lines of Bronze

Lao Teng

The Writers Publishing House

May 2022

58.00 （CNY）

When Shi Hongxiang took over the Shi family’s bronze store， the store had been established for nearly three hundred years. He wanted to offer a birthday gift to his father on his 100th birthday. While preparing the birthday gift， he found his father’s diary， which contained his father’s wishes. The first was to build a 1：10 scale bronze hall， and the second was to create a “Soft Bronze Book” to record his friends. That was how he found out in surprise that every one of his father’s friends had a legend.

Deep in everyone’s heart， there lives one or several people， not much， but they can make one feel grounded and act with confidence.

The most important person in the heart of Shi Hongxiang， the heir of Fufacheng Bronze Store， was his father.

In the eyes of Shi Hongxiang， his 99-year-old father was an indescribable miracle， like the central temple in the bronze industry. It was hard to believe that an old man nearly one-hundred-year-old could still maintain a clear memory and speak with a sense of purpose. When asked about the secret of maintaining good health， he would always say， “If you have a heart of bronze， you will never grow old.” Most of the listeners thought he was talking about a heart of a child， but in fact， his father， who used to be a coppersmith， was talking about the real metal copper.

Shi’s father was called Shi Guoqing， the authentic heir of Fufacheng in the Shenyang bronze industry. He was the second generation of the Shi Family.

Copper and iron would make people tough and hard， his father once said. His good health was due to his time spent with bronze.

Fufacheng Bronze Sculpture Art Company built its factory in the early 1980s. At that time， Shi’s father， who had retired from the state-run bronze factory， quietly founded the company and officially registered the Fufacheng company， the name of the family bronze store that had been sealed for thirty years， and became the owner himself. After years of hard work， the Fufacheng Company stood out as a famous bronze sculpture company in China， like a flamingo in a flock of ducks. At the age of seventy-three， Shi’s father handed over management of the company to Shi Hongxiang， who later became the chairman of the third generation of Fufacheng.

Although no longer in charge of business matters， Father often talked to Shi Hongxiang about Fufacheng’s past. Shi Hongxiang knew that his father had a purpose doing so. The first lesson of family education was， of course， family history education. One wouldn’t know where to go if he didn’t know where he came from. Through his father’s narration， Shi Hongxiang knew about his grandfather Shi Jiawen’s legendary experience.

Shi Jiawen was the chairman of the first generation of the Shi Family Fufacheng and the most skilled craftsman in the bronze industry. It was called Shi Family Fufacheng because the founder of Fufacheng had the surname， Fu. There was no way to find out how many generations Fufacheng had gone through， and all people knew was that it originated in Xiwayao， where there was an ancient well in the vegetable field as proof. The last chairman of the Fu family had no heirs. He trusted Shi Jiawen， an apprentice in the store， and passed the store on to him. Shi Jiawen went from apprentice to chairmen overnight， which turned over a new page of Fufacheng.

Grandfather Shi Jiawen’s most proud achievement was to improve the production techniques of Fufacheng’s Feng Gongs， enabling Fufacheng’s percussion instruments to be exported to Beijing， Tianjin， and Shanghai. Before the public-private partnership， Shi Jiawen had been the head of Fufacheng and was a dignified figure in the bronze industry. Shi Jiawen was born in 1888 and passed away in 1967 at the age of 79. In Father’s impression， Grandfather was a bit superstitious. According to Father， Grandfather often followed some subtle rules. For example， he required that miscellaneous copper should be carefully inspected before smelting to make sure that there were no damaged bronze Buddhas in the pot. The miscellaneous copper collected from folk was varied， and there were all kinds of objects， and once there were bronze Buddhas or bronze Goddesses among them， the pot of copper could no longer be cast into wares.

Father said that Grandfather’s life was like a piece of fine copper without a trace of blowholes.

Father vividly remembered that early morning in the spring of 1966 when Grandfather asked him to get a sapling， preferably a catalpa tree， and said he would plant a tree at the Qingming Festival. It was easy to plant a tree， but where did Grandpa want to plant it？ Father didn’t ask because there was an article in the Shi Family’s teachings： do as asked when ordered by parents. Since Grandpa said so， then he would do it. Father went to a plantation near the North Tomb， bought a catalpa tree thick as a bowl， and rode a rickshaw to pull the tree back home in Bawangsi. Grandpa smiled when he saw the tree. “Tomorrow is Qingming. Let’s go to Xiwayao，” he said. Father asked for the reason. “What else can we do to plant the tree，” said Grandpa. The next day， Father rode a rickshaw for more than an hour， carrying Grandpa and the tree to Xiwayao while Grandpa directed the way. The rickshaw stopped at the front of a vegetable field， and they went into the field until Grandpa said it was there. The road was flat， but it was still a long journey. Father， who was carrying the tree， was sweating all over as if he had just come out of the bath. Grandpa leaned on his cane and walked to an old well surrounded by barren grass， where he shook his cane to chase away some foraging crows， saying， “Yes， it’s here.” Then he pointed to a mound of earth next to the well， saying it was the Green Tomb. Father looked at it， and it was a small burial mound less than a meter high， covered with weeds just about to turn green. Do you know who is buried here？ Grandfather asked. Father shook his head， and Grandfather said， “My master Fu.” Father was shocked for a moment， Chairman Fu was the last owner of the Fu Family， Fufacheng， and he was a great benefactor of the Shi Family.

The next year， when the vegetable field in Xiwayao was full of yellow flowers， Grandfather died. In accordance with Grandfather’s will， Father quietly buried the old man’s urn by the Green Tomb. The only person who knew about this was Tang Wanqiu， and even Tang Wanqiu’s husband， Linghu Ping， was unaware.

Grandpa did not have Father involved in the burial of Chairman Fu. Similarly， when Father buried Grandfather， he did not have Shi Hongxiang involved. Father had no choice but to do so. In those turbulent years， everything had to be done carefully. It was not until the Qingming Festival in 1979 that Father brought Shi Hongxiang to Xiwayao， showed him the Green Tomb and the old well， and told him that Fufacheng was rooted there. Shi Hongxiang’s impression of the place was focused on the old well， while his impression of the Green Tomb was rather vague because it had no tombstone and the sealing soil was so low. He thought that the tomb would be flattened in a few years. Father told him not to forget to pay respects to the ancestors at Qingming no matter how busy he was and not to make excuses to put it off. For the ancestors， this was the day they were connected to the living， and pouring out a cup of yellow wine and burning a few pieces of paper money was the same as sending a message of peace to the ancestors.

After retirement， Father decided to restart the signboard of Fufacheng， so he took out a loan and established Fufacheng Bronze Sculpture Art Company. At that time， banks encouraged loans without requiring mortgages， but many people didn’t have the courage to lend because loans meant living in debt. Father gritted his teeth and took out a loan. It was said that before he did so， Father went to the central temple， closed his eyes， and prayed， and he saw Guan Gong smiling at him. Only then did he make up his mind to take out a loan. Friends advised Father to buy land in the center city to build a factory， but Father chose the site of the factory in Xiwayao， near the North Tomb. On the day he signed the agreement with the local village cadres， the village party secretary asked him in confusion， “Shi， why did you choose a piece of the vegetable field for the factory？ There is not even a decent road there.” Father said， “I have my eyes on the tomb， well， and catalpa tree.” The village party secretary said readily， “We will give away all the three things you like for free.” After Father rented the vegetable field， he built the factory along with the fence. The Green Tomb， the old well， and the catalpa tree were also enclosed， becoming landscapes at the southern end of the factory. Because the tomb was located in the factory， Father did not erect a monument but only decorated the tomb with paradise grass. When people passed by， they would not consider it a tomb but would mistake it for the undulating effect deliberately created by the horticulturist. The old craftsmen in the factory knew a little about the story of the tomb and the catalpa tree， but no one knew the full story.

After Shi Hongxiang took over the company from his father， the old well was repaired， the good platform was paved with granite， the mouth of the well was reinforced with a marble ring， and the windlass and bracket were consolidated. At the same time， the south side of the 60-meter-long courtyard wall was straightened and converted into rampart-style with crenels， on which lighting lamps were installed. On the wall， eight words in Chinese characters were written in white lacquer： “Continue the past and forge brilliance in the future.” All this was done to make his father happy because he would come to visit the tomb every year at Qingming.