A dying art so much in demand they wrote a song about it
Print Edition
In the 1990s, a folk song entitled “Fluffing Cotton” was quite popular in Shanghai. At that time, a cotton fluffing artisan was badly needed as the new cotton was rare to be found, and the mothers of brides to be married had to have their used cotton fluffed to make refreshed quilts. With the times change, new cotton is no longer in shortage and old cotton fluffing workshops have gradually disappeared. Besides, the artisans have been replaced by machines.
However, in Malu Town, 66-year-old Jin Huijia hasn’t forgotten the skills developed over more than 40 years. Born in 1947, Jin started to learn cotton fluffing from his brother when he was 20. “My family was poor and I wanted to learn some skill to help support my family,” Jin said.
According to Jin, the key to master the skill of cotton fluffing relies on hands. Firstly, the artisan needs to hang a wooden bow in the air with a rope, as the bowstring must just be above the cotton.
Then, the artisan strikes the bowstring with a wooden hammer, and the string slightly sweeps the cotton, making it immediately soft.
“To make the cotton soft and well distributed, you need to handle the hammer and bowstring artistically,” Jin said. When the cotton is fluffed, the artisan will use cotton threads to fasten the cotton quilt and use a round wooden board to press the quilt to make it even and solid.
From his 20s, Jin began to travel around to search for cotton fluffing work when the farm work was over. He used to work in the cotton workshop in Jiading East Gate area for four years, and also worked temporarily at workshops in Zhenru, Liuyang Bridge and the West Gate areas. Sometimes, he also worked in customers’ home to fluff up cotton quilts.
Jin said he fluffed cotton for seven to eight hours a day at that time. It was hard work but he could earn 40 yuan (now US$ 6.5) a month. It was much more than he could earn in his former production team.
In 1986, he ended his travels, rented a 50-square-meter warehouse in his village and opened his own store. Business was good as he offered excellent results at a fair price.
Jin said that when he ran the store, he often processed seven to eight cotton quilts every day and could earn 300 to 400 yuan a month. It almost equaled the salary of an employee in the best enterprise in the town. Later, Jin’s cotton fluffing store was relocated several times. Jin decided to retire in 2010 for health reason and closed the store.
Jin said cotton fluffing is a tough job, and he was often hurt when the bowstring hit his hand. Today, a lot of calluses can be seen on Jin’s hands, and some of his fingers still look bruised.
Some cotton fluffing artisans also suffer breathing problems, because they deal with dust every day. Dust hid in old cotton quilts and it spread when being hit by the bowstring.
Jin suffers from a chronic sore throat and coughs a lot now although he was wearing his facemask during the work.
Jin said few youths can stand such a tough job and he has never received any formal apprentice. “When I was busy, only my wife could help,” Jin said. “Young people won’t like to do it, because it’s too hard and the income is not so good now. My children work in companies, and I also don’t want them to do it.”
Jin admitted that as the time goes by, his skill is about to become extinct.
However, Jin is proud of his traditional technique.
“Although the chemical fibbers have replaced the cotton ones for quilts, I still had many customers when my shop was open, and many of them came to make quilts for their daughters’ dowries,” Jin said. “So when I fluffed their cotton quilts, I would sing that folk song ‘Fluffing Cotton’ to express my wishes to them.”
Jin said his career could bring happiness to other people.
Last year, Jin donated his cotton fluffing tools to Malu Cultural Activity Center, and these old items will be displayed in the Folk Pavilion to show the history of cotton fluffing.
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