How to make use of every inch of space in the countryside
What is earthen adobe? After actively engaging with the village in recent years, I slowly walked through the rural spaces alongside rural companions and elders, and only then gradually came to understand that the wisdom of the countryside is profound and unfathomable, by no means as we had imagined, lacking any distinctive character or interest.
Recently, while chatting with companions from the Gouba Community in Douliu City, we asked: what local things are representative here? As everyone brainstormed and chimed in one after another, someone blurted out: why don't we make earthen adobe! At that moment, the whole discussion fell silent, everyone looked around, and within ten seconds, the discussion suddenly became lively again; people began telling stories of the past, talking about what the whole rural environment was like 50 years ago, and sharing their own lives.
And so, after a series of interesting discussions, everyone made up their minds and agreed to give it a try together. When the agreed time came, everyone began discussing: what are the materials for earthen adobe bricks? Where do we find soil? How do we do it?... At this point an eighty-year-old uncle in the community stood up and said: come on, let's go look at my field; my rice paddy is about to be harvested, and the soil in it is fairly clayey, so for making earthen adobe it is absolutely the best choice. Later, once the uncle's rice paddy was harvested, we again followed our community companions to the uncle's field and saw that the uncle and aunt had already come joyfully to work in the field at noon. After briefly greeting the uncle and aunt, our group quickly joined the ranks of digging soil, loading soil and hauling soil, and just like that, we began the first step of production together.
When it came to the stage of playing with the soil, we also invited the children from the community school district to join the fun. Together with our community companions, we saw that after the day's soil had been soaked for two days, everyone went into the mud pit, scattering rice straw while dancing in the mud. Although some children did not dare go down to play in the mud, they all wore envious expressions as they watched from the side. At this point, the uncle and the community's Mr. Chen, the director, began introducing the children to the origins of earthen adobe. Earthen adobe bricks were warm in winter and cool in summer, and were also very good earthquake-resistant material. Back then, if anyone wanted to build a house, renovate a pigsty, a granary... and so on, they would definitely start preparing materials half a year in advance, and neighbors, adults and children alike would all come out to help, and there would definitely be constant laughter, because sometimes someone might fall down, and sometimes children would start playing with the mud.
As we listened to the uncle talking on and on, it was as if the scene from back then was reappearing, and it was also reappearing in the present environment. By this time the soil's stickiness was sufficient. At the uncle's command, we began working as porters together with our community companions and the children, moving on to the next action, "pressing earthen adobe." The task of pressing earthen adobe looked simple, yet it had an incomparable appeal, drawing adults and children alike into a time tunnel, laughing and giggling together. Some people accidentally got splashed on the face, some accidentally ate some soil, and the uncle said: it's all right, his soil is very nutritious, and they had all grown up eating the soil of this land since childhood.
This process of making earthen adobe looks simple, yet it contains incomparable wisdom. When asked when the uncle usually had free time, the uncle laughed and said: every day is a holiday for him, because he lives each day very happily. When he heard that earthen adobe was to be made this time, he felt an impulse inside, thinking that this was our business, so when he did these things together with this group of old playmates in the community, he felt younger inside, and was also quite happy.
Throughout the whole process, our community companions insisted on passing down this craft, and also insisted on the spirit of finishing today's work today. Working from morning until the sun went down, they finally completed this feat, pressing nearly a hundred pieces of earthen adobe. As everyone sat together in the pavilion looking at their own results, the expression each person revealed, I think that is confidence and persistence! As I looked and looked, for some unknown reason, I began to feel conflicted inside, or perhaps it was admiration from the bottom of my heart!