Blindness is no handicap for master woodworker
Print Edition
Selecting wood, drilling, assembling, polishing ... amidst roaring machines, Lu Xiangning completes making a wooden stool in about an hour. The only thing different with the 58-year-old carpenter and his peers is that he is visually impaired.
Lu lives in a small village in Long鈥檃n County, south China鈥檚 Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. He lost his eyesight due to illness at the age of three.
When he was a teenager, he began to make bamboo cages and duplicate keys for a living before he became obsessed with wood.
He would visit furniture shops to touch and feel the shape and length of objects, such as beds and chairs, and then tried to make similar things back home. 鈥淚 just wanted to be a self-dependent person in life,鈥 Lu said.
He slowly honed the talent for crafting with the sense of touch through resolute practice.
He grew familiar with the categories of wood, and their length and size by simply touching and feeling the materials. He can even recognize inferior quality materials and refuses to use such substandard goods.
Through continuous study and exploration, he succeeded in forging handmade wooden products that were strong and durable. His perseverance and unique ability won him a lot of fame locally. Parents whose children are about to be married would queue up to place orders.
Supporting the disabled
While other carpenters could sell their stools for less than 2 yuan (30 US cents), Lu鈥檚 go for 6 yuan each due to their fine quality.
There are about 85 million people with disabilities in China.
While the country is set to finish the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects with no one left behind, the government has guaranteed the basic living needs of people with disabilities.
Apart from his income as a carpenter, Lu enjoys government-paid healthcare, as well as 80 yuan of allowances for the disabled every month. For those hard to support themselves, the government provides more financial help.
Lu has succeeded in becoming an independent man. He is a family man now and owns a four-story house built in 2016. The courtyard and kitchen operate as his workshop.
鈥淏eing a carpenter is not only my interest but also a way to make a living,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 am blind, but life still goes on.鈥
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