kungfuzu
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 24, 2024 11:29:19 GMT -8
Very nice video. Imagine the patience required to make such a thing. This is anti-"division-of-labor" production which is contrary to that promoted by Adam Smith and his followers.
I owned a couple of paper umbrellas while living in Hongkong. They were nice, but I think they are best to keep the sun off of a woman's head rather than protection from the rain.  |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 24, 2024 15:18:23 GMT -8
That guy has a whole slew of videos making things that one presumes is the time-honored way. I don't know where he got this knowledge. He doesn't seem old enough to have acquired it.
They are just a bit lacking because I can't, alas, read Japanese. The videos have no English subtitles. They have only the Japanese hard-coded captions. I guess it's up to me then to learn Japanese. It seems this guy has done more than his share of the bargain. At least I assume he's Japanese.
Yes, he is definitely anti-Adam-Smith. No one but a Leftist nut would argue that mass production hasn't brought us great benefits. And there is high-art at least in the design and manufacture of mass-produced products, even if the end result is often uninspiringly utilitarian and (often) disposable.
But there is something different in these hand-crafted items. This guy makes some blue die out of some plants that he grows and then harvests. Yes, we may have learned how to make a bazillion gallons of blue die via automated processes. But we get a glimpse at where the idea started.
And like the chalk video that started this thread, we can often see that these hand-processes are the measure of quality – a quality that we probably forget exists as we mass-consume mass-produced products.
Yes, and I wonder if those umbrellas don't ultimately serve best as decorations for the ladies.
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 24, 2024 17:20:25 GMT -8
When I started watching the video, I had a feeling he might be Japanese. Everything he did had an old-fashioned Japanese feeling to it, at least it did to me. He looked Japanese, somewhat more delicate looking than a lot of Chinese, but that is not always the case. He is also very tidy and orderly like the Japanese.
Yet I quickly started to wonder if he might not be Chinese. What finally convinced me that he was Chinese was that the script was only Kanji, there was no Hiragana or Katakana mixed in, which is very common in such Japanese videos.
I scrolled down and finally found the guy's name which appears to be Lu Lei. This is definitely Chinese unless he has taken on a Chinese pseudonym.
It may not have started out that way, but as time went on, I am pretty sure that became one of the main purposes.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 24, 2024 17:30:36 GMT -8
Good detective work, Mr. Kung. What especially had me wondering is that he seems to be way out in the sticks with lots of wild, open land. I've seen a few mountain shots that I don't think you'd ever gave in Japan.
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 24, 2024 17:44:39 GMT -8
I immediately had the same feeling. There are many mountains in Japan, but the ones he harvested his bamboo from just don't seem to be in Japan, as far as I was concerned.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 25, 2024 8:06:06 GMT -8
Somebody translated and listed the "chapter" titles of this video, although many would have probably known (I did not) that he was growing rapeseed for the oil. As someone noted, "The amount of labor for the volume of oil is extravagant." I wonder if this fellow works as a demonstrator of ancient practices for a Chinese bureau of cultural heritage, or something like that. He sure does seem to have access to enormous plots of land and endless complicated machinery. However, if that was the case, you would expect official attribution in the video. The method of pressing is interesting and looks highly Chinese. I just don't see Eli Whitney, or some Western inventor such as that, using what seems to be an inefficient method. Wasn't the worm screw known in ancient China? Still, what they're doing works. It's not for me to criticize. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 25, 2024 11:54:50 GMT -8
It must be something like what you say. Or perhaps he is the son of an eccentric billionaire who wanted to get back to nature. I'll assume the first.
As to the"extravagant amount of labor," that was the lot of most of mankind for millennia. Nothing came easy. Scratching a living out of the soil was the standard well into the 19th and even 20th century. Most Westerners today have about zero idea of what life was like before they popped out of their mamas.
Farmers the world over are conservative. The Chinese are particularly tradition bound. I seriously doubt that many farmers would have had such a press. I would guess that they would have probably taken their seed to a central place, possibly owned by a "wealthy" farmer to get it pressed. The small farmer had little incentive (and probably less money) to look for a new way to press seed, and the "wealthy" farmer had less as he was making money and things were going very nicely. Why change a good thing?
Some year ago, I read something by my ancestor Kung Fu Zu, which purported to be a Chinese precept, "Why make something simple if you can make it complicated?"
That's a joke, but it was my experience that many Chinese love to make things much more complicated than necessary. Why they do this, I can only guess. I suspect that for some part of the reason it to keep away competition. For others it is to make them look busy for their employers. For others it is to confuse trading partners or buyers. For others, it seems to be part of their mindset. Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 25, 2024 12:18:57 GMT -8
While watching the second video, it hit me that one of the main reasons that I originally thought it might be Japanese was that everything was so clean and tidy.
I traveled extensively in China during the 1980s and believe me, the countryside was not neat and tidy. In fact, it was often filthy. Unlike the Japanese, the Chinese are not naturally a clean bunch. I have seen this myself, heard it from others who lived among them going back to the 1930s and even Mdm. Flu says this. While living in Hongkong, both she and I advised visitors not to inquire too closely into Chinese restaurant kitchens.
While the videos are entertaining and informative, they present a very sanitized version of farm life in ancient China. The guy never breaks a sweat. Read some Chinese history. That said, I find them extremely interesting and hope you can find some more.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 25, 2024 17:09:33 GMT -8
And they are all set to girlish Zen music. I get what he's trying to present. And I ultimately cut a guy like this a lot of slack because he's at least doing something traditional. He's showing hard-won knowledge and skill. If it's all a little sanitized and girlified, well, I can at least still find the aspects that I'm interested in, although standard narration about what he's doing would be much preferred. For one or two videos, that Zen thing is okay. But after a while it leaves you wanting more substance, less style. And I think you're right. I peg him as the son of some billionaire Chinese businessman. If the EMP bomb ever drops, 99% of us are screwed. We just can't make our own stuff like that Chinese guy does. That run on toilet paper back at the start of KFF shows you just how vulnerable people seem to know they are. Or just ignorant. I mean, if you can't find a substitute for toilet paper in even a mild emergency and feel the need to horde it by the case, then god help you finding food, medicine, clothing, etc., if an EMP bomb takes out all electronics. At least we know the Vegans will all die!  I have no doubt that you are right. After all, I believe it was quite normal to use the same technology more or less unchanged for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Living in modern times, it's easy to forget this...assuming anyone actually has been taught that in between "gender studies" and all the other Commie crap the Commissars of corruption try to ram down people's throats. Steve Jobs was an asshole, but he wasn't wrong about the big stuff. The early computer days is an excellent example of a bunch of ivory tower geeks making things more complicated than they needed to be. This kept the hoi polloi at bay and everyone dependent upon them. The enormously convoluted systems kept the computing power in their hands. Personal computers such as the Macintosh really did break down those walls. My old Mac friend calls it The Geek Aristocracy. And he's not wrong. Same with taxes. Why not simplify the tax structure? Because it would put a lot of accountants and IRS workers out of work. The more things change… |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 26, 2024 7:34:11 GMT -8
Our little Chinaman may be breaking a sweat and suggesting hard work in this video summary of producing rice.
A few of these steps escape me. I know that he is separating the husks from the rice grains at one point. But I'm not sure why the rice is pounded.
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 26, 2024 9:59:47 GMT -8
You read my mind. In our discussion last night, I was thinking the guy should show how rice is farmed. Nothing easy or romantic about that. I saw many farmers in Japan and China doing this back-breaking work in the paddy. One reason so many Asians were bent over in the old days, (forty years ago) was that they spent their lives planting and harvesting rice.
This video gives a good idea of what work is required. One very important part was left out. That rice is grown on terraces and those terraces had to be built by farmers. Imagine the work which went into that.
I believe the second pounding was to remove any remaining husks. But I could be wrong.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 26, 2024 10:13:56 GMT -8
That makes sense because he does show a close-up after, and it still looks like grains of rice. I was wondering if he was pulverizing the grains. But apparently they can take quite a pounding without breaking apart.
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 26, 2024 10:38:32 GMT -8
Happily, my expertise as regards rice is limited to eating it. My Chinese nick name wasn't "Rice bin" for nothing.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Aug 26, 2024 13:55:14 GMT -8
Our go-to rice for stir-fries is basmati. It's medium on the glycemic index. I usually get the white variety from the bulk bins at Winco.
What I like about it over other types I've tried is that it tolerates well reheating in the microwave. It doesn't become all gummy or otherwise messed up. It holds up rather well.
And it tastes good. The brown variety is good as well, but I prefer the tenderness and taste of the white.
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Post by kungfuzu on Aug 26, 2024 14:58:38 GMT -8
We also generally use basmati rice. But we also like Jasmine rice, particularly for Chinese food. For Japanese food a short-grain glutinous rice is best. |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 9, 2024 6:44:06 GMT -8
I think this is a video that, if you want to, you can skip to the end to the finished product after watching the preamble.
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 9, 2024 11:14:32 GMT -8
My initial thought is that the end product was not worth the effort. |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 9, 2024 15:45:14 GMT -8
I thought the process was cool. He's got a website where he sells stuff. I like the bowl but probably wouldn't shell out a few hundred pounds for it. The Sea Urchin is a steal at 695.00. I wonder what he got for the bowl pictured in the video...assuming he sold it. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Sept 9, 2024 16:23:36 GMT -8
I watched a couple of his videos and there is no doubt that the guy has talent. The bowl in the first video didn't speak to me at all. The Sea Urchin is another matter. It is very Asia in look.
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Post by Brad Nelson on Sept 10, 2024 7:31:07 GMT -8
I admire his lathing skills more than anything. I took a shop class in junior high (which was composed of grades 7 and 8 at the time). We used lathes, and not always with the greatest safety in mind. You would never have seen one of these signs in Mr. Ducker's (yes, that's his name) shop:  At the time, our small gang of boys were making cannon barrels for some reason. I don't remember why. That's what boys do. I don't believe anyone brought theirs to completion with the addition of wheels, etc. I'm pretty sure we didn't. But we knew how to take a rod of metal, put it in the lathe, and have at it with the tools meant for metal. I think we were smart enough, or supervised well enough, not to use the lathe tools meant only for wood. But that would be an optimistic assessment. So anyway, someone is lathing away on their would-be cannon barrel and several of us boys are standing around watching. I don't entirely remember the exact sequence of events. But one doofus (no better name for him) took his own black rod of steel and put it between the rubber belt and the wheel that the belt ran around in order to drive the lathe. This is why I assume that supervision was a bit lax. But things can happen fast even in the best of controlled systems. The metal rod immediately whipped off the lathe, flew through the air a good 12 feet, and hit another boy on the back of the head who was at his own lathe attending to his own work. He never saw it coming.
Just desserts did not come through on this one. The prankster should have been the one receiving the blow but it was an innocent bystander instead...his name was David (Curley), by the way. I don't remember the prankster's name but I can see his face.
A bit of blood flowed and Mr. Ducker immediately went into action attending to the casualty. One wonders what all parties involved in the event are doing today. I may have continued to work on the lathe in subsequent classes, but I don't remember touching a lathe since then. |
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