National Tide 1980

If we say that the Jingcheng Badge Factory was inadvertently injured in the waist, it began to fail.

It is purely a mistake made by history.

Then other traditional arts and crafts manufacturers can't help but sneak out.

It can only be said that it was deliberately targeted and stumbled by history.

Moreover, when I got up, I stretched my legs and tripped, and when I got up, I tripped! An extremely bad situation!

Why do you say that?

Because this is the actual situation.

Although after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the arts and crafts industry in Beijing made real contributions to the national economy.

However, the fate of the entire industry is quite bumpy, and it has been repeatedly teased by history.

On the issue of survival, we have been facing extremely difficult situations.

Not to mention protection and development, it is already very difficult to maintain one's skills without losing ground.

This is definitely a regrettable thing that makes people quite depressed and helpless when mentioned.

There is no doubt that the arts and crafts industry is the treasure of our country’s traditional culture and art and the accumulation of five thousand years of civilization in our country.

Especially the arts and crafts in Beijing reflect the highest level of arts and crafts in my country because of its unique social environment and strong historical foundation.

This is not nonsense.

From the companion capital of the Liao and Jin Dynasties to the imperial capital "at the feet of the emperor" of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Governments of successive dynasties recruited a large number of outstanding craftsmen from all over the country to serve in the palace, and established various institutions dedicated to the management and production of arts and crafts.

Such as "Shaofu Jian, Imperial Jian, Manufacturing Office, Ruyi Pavilion", etc.

This has led to the formation of a gathering of famous teachers and skilled craftsmen in the capital's arts and crafts, which can draw on the excellent craftsmanship of various ethnic groups and regions.

Only then can we absorb the essence, integrate it and create a unique national traditional craft characteristic of "never getting tired of expensive materials, never getting tired of exquisite workmanship, never getting tired of skillful craftsmanship, and never getting tired of sophisticated products".

Only then can he be famous at home and abroad for his unique style, wide variety, exquisite skills, elegant and precious authentic palace art.

It is precisely because of this that the arts and crafts in Beijing have a strong vitality that is completely unmatched by other industries and have survived quite tenaciously during the major social and economic changes.

Like the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although there was the invasion of foreign capital.

However, the traditional arts and crafts industry in Beijing almost never encounters competition from corresponding "foreign goods".

Not only are the production techniques still preserved from generation to generation, but they are also gradually developed due to export needs.

Many of the capital's arts and crafts are regarded as treasures with high collection value by foreign art connoisseurs.

Especially after the Revolution of 1911, the maritime ban was greatly lifted.

The arts and crafts in the capital have become highly prized products that foreign countries are competing to buy, and there has even been a scene of "foreign estates".

(Note: Yangzhuang is an institution established by foreign businessmen in Beijing that specializes in collecting arts and crafts).

According to written records only from the Guangxu Dynasty to the 1920s, no less than 30 expositions were held around the world at that time.

The arts and crafts industry in Beijing only participated in the exhibition ten times, but won gold and silver awards each time.

It can be seen that the arts and crafts in Beijing have always been the pillar industry of Beijing’s economic development.

Even before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the reputation of "Beijing's work" and "Excellent work" was well-known both at home and abroad, and has become an inestimable intangible asset of our country and nation.

In the early days of liberation, even if all industries were withered, the arts and crafts industry was also facing a situation where it could not survive.

However, the newly established People's Government conducted a survey on the traditional arts and crafts industry and reached a very shocking conclusion.

A research report at the time stated, "Although there are only 19 special handicraft factories and workshops left in the city, as long as they can return to normal production levels, they can earn more than 10 million US dollars in foreign exchange a year. If this amount is used to buy The food is enough to feed the people of the city for two months."

Sure enough, with the government's strong support, remarkable results have been achieved.

The arts and crafts industry in the capital soon became the “top” export product at that time.

Live up to expectations and start supplying blood to the country.

Until 1953, it was only a few years.

The annual output value of the arts and crafts industry in Beijing increased from US$730,000 in 1949 to more than US$7 million, an increase of nearly ten times, which was very close to the original planning goal.

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The arts and crafts industry in Beijing, which had just made a splash, has lost sales and has fallen back into a situation of struggling to support itself and stagnating in development.

So on the one hand, the entire industry began to abandon the bourgeois sentiment of noble products and try the practical and popular route.

On the other hand, we have to find other ways of exporting with the help of the government.

Later, with the help of the big brother of the Soviet Union, exports began to shift to Eastern European countries, and the situation gradually began to improve.

It should be said that most of the fraternal countries in the socialist camp are relatively welcoming of ordinary products that follow the popular line in the arts and crafts industry because their economic development is generally not high.

This low-end approach of making small profits but quick turnover is considered relatively successful.

But I never expected that the political situation would change again and the good days would end so suddenly.

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In 1960, this export road also failed.

The export volume of Beijing's arts and crafts products has been severely reduced again, causing factories to reduce production and workers to switch jobs.

After finally relying on our own strength, we finally turned our export targets to Jordan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and other countries. The time came again in 1966.

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Since then, the industry has begun to undergo compression and consolidation, resulting in a large number of workers changing production and switching production.

The most common place for workers to abandon their original jobs is to go to electronic device factories.

This poor situation lasted until the early 1970s.

The arts and crafts industry in Beijing was able to recover from a long drought and receive attention again, and began to shoulder the task of earning foreign exchange and resume export production.

However, many industries and manufacturers have caused serious brain drain, and even the phenomenon of "people die and their skills are lost" has occurred, and it is really difficult to recover as before.

For example, the jade dragonfly of "Dragonfly Jia" has been lost.

For example, almost no one can make the ivory carving "brush wash" and cloisonné industry's "begonia bottle".

But that's nothing.

The most important thing is that in the arts and crafts industry, each relies on its manual skills and bears the same tax burden as modern industrial factories.

Due to the monopoly nature of the craft export system, manufacturers are not allowed to sell their products on their own, which has also led to serious conflicts between industry and trade.

The foreign trade unit responsible for purchasing and selling, in order to hand over profits to Duochuang, went so far as to strangle the supply unit's neck, and the price offered was too low.

For example, the "Shenlu Treasure Chest Bottle" was produced by the Beijing Arts and Crafts Factory in 1972, a product that combines multiple raw materials and multiple processes. The factory priced the product at 11,000 yuan, but the foreign trade purchase price was only 6,000 yuan.

After many negotiations, the factory demanded at least 8,000 yuan.

Before the price was agreed upon, it was sent to the Huacheng Export Products Fair, referred to as the "Canton Fair".

In the end, the actual sales amount was 27,000 yuan, and then Foreign Trade opened a purchase order.

This is still true!

Therefore, because of this serious bargaining phenomenon, manufacturers have to set two price standards for the same high-end product.

But even so, companies often cannot even reach the lowest price.

For example, Cloisonné's "Plum Blossom Jar" and "Plum Blossom Jar" were exhibited at the 1973 Spring Canton Fair.

The manufacturer charges 300 yuan per pair based on cost plus appropriate profit, but foreign trade is only willing to give 200 yuan.

This immediately caused the newly developed products to be "compensated immediately".

However, the foreign trade price was 600 yuan per pair at the trade fair, and they were successfully sold to foreign businessmen and received large orders.

Think about it, under this purchase and sale model, how can the arts and crafts industry obtain the funds needed for development?

In order to save trouble in foreign trade, they even refuse to accept works with traditional themes.

Many factories are terrified.

As a result, at the 1978 Spring Canton Fair, a traditional work produced by the Jingcheng Jade Factory in the past - the jadeite "Hua Xun" was sold.

It actually sold for a high price of 700,000 yuan, which is equivalent to exporting 25,000 domestic bicycles or 190,000 Beijing white ducks.

Therefore, the most difficult problem to solve is foreign trade, which takes money when it gets rich, and manufacturers who work hard to show their craftsmanship.

How stringent is it?

You can almost understand it by saying one thing.

For example, when Churchill Jr., the grandson of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, visited the Beijing Arts and Crafts Factory in 1973, he was extremely fond of a new cloisonné product, a large bottle.

He immediately asked the people accompanying him to buy this large bottle.

But the factory said it couldn't sell it. Churchill didn't understand it very much and said, "Why can't you sell the things your factory produces?"

The manufacturer explained that the newly developed products were exhibits and could not be sold.

Churchill Jr. said, "New products are also products. Isn't it necessary for factories to start producing products to make money? Isn't it okay for me to pay how much you say?"

The factory declined again and again, but Churchill insisted on buying it.

Helpless, the manufacturer finally had to ask the superior company for instructions. The superior company then asked its superiors for instructions.

Little Churchill waited from one o'clock in the afternoon until after four o'clock, when the factory was about to close, before he got instructions that he could sell this product. This large bottle of cloisonné, which is about one meter high, has no packaging at all.

In the end, Churchill had to carry it away on his own shoulders, but he repeatedly expressed his gratitude to the factory.

Even after the reform and opening up, some factories open to foreign guests were allowed to set up canteens, but the situation has not improved much.

Because although the manufacturer only sells products produced and processed by the factory, the commercial department still has to send people to the canteen as salespersons, and cannot go directly to the manufacturer's account.

All products for sale must first go through the merchant's account. The goods are taken out from the factory, and then the merchant receives the goods. This is the formality.

So, when Ning Weimin and Qiao Wanlin came to other arts and crafts manufacturers.

The scene they face is that these large foreign exchange earners generally live in poverty.

There is no other way. If you pay too much and keep too little, it will naturally lead to a situation where your family has little financial resources, little money, and heavy burdens.

In order to make some living money in their hands, these factories really have no choice but to rely on the foreign trade and commercial departments.

In addition, in terms of production, manufacturers do not like to make high-end products because they suffer too much.

This is normal. Who wants to do something like wasting effort and losing money to make a fuss?

What's more, if the factory doesn't have money, it won't be able to invest heavily and spend time training successors and researching and developing high-end new products.

Instead of working hard to make good things and cheap foreign trade people, let them eat well and achieve performance goals.

It is better to simply save some effort and produce more mass-market products with low technical requirements and obvious cost advantages. It is more economical to sell them domestically.

It also saves existing workers from complaining every day about poor wages and benefits, and complaining that they are in the wrong industry.

But in fact, it must be said that although these manufacturers in the arts and crafts industry have no money, their real wealth is still very strong.

Because almost every family has something in their library that has been refused acquisition due to restricted subject matter.

Or because the production cost is too high, they can't negotiate a price with foreign trade.

What's more, the city's domestic sales channels are quite limited. The only large-scale arts and crafts store in the capital is the Wangfujing Art and Crafts Service Department.

This results in the types of products that each manufacturer can send for sale being too limited.

Many of the products produced can only be kept in warehouses and sent to stores on a rotating basis.

So it is conceivable that this is something that makes Ning Weimin so beautiful.

This situation is extremely convenient for him to take advantage of.

Don't forget, he can get the district's license to seek cooperation with various manufacturers for the many products that need to be customized for the restaurant.

These seemingly troublesome tasks are handled on a special basis because they must be directly contacted with the manufacturer.

There is no need to consider the opinions of commercial outlets and foreign trade units when negotiating prices.

That is the meat and potatoes that urgent manufacturers are anxious for, which is equivalent to giving them real money.

Can manufacturers still not welcome him?

What's more, Qiao Wanlin is the head of the service bureau. He can't control the goods of the commercial system, but the people in charge of the commercial system are bad.

Even when they finally pay, they still have to go through the formalization process from the business end.

Those salesmen who sell goods in the factory don't dare to offend Qiao Wanlin, and must provide convenience.

Isn't it the right time, the right place, the right people, and all the opportunities come together?

To put it bluntly, it's as if the arts and crafts industry has suffered so many hardships because God deliberately wanted to make Ning Weimin rich and created this situation on purpose.

It seems that if he doesn't eat beauty, God will make all manufacturers continue to be unlucky!

ps: Although I had expected the negative review for today’s chapter, it was still quite uncomfortable. How difficult it is to write such "water", much more difficult than "not water". I felt like I was asking for trouble, just like the idiom "buy a coffin for a pearl", but after thinking about it, it didn't matter. Because those people who clamor about the main line every day actually don’t understand what the main line is. There are too many situations like this in life, just like a person I know who spit out the hazelnuts when eating Ferrero Rocher. When children eat dumplings, they only eat the skin and not the filling. My liking for reading is a personal feeling, and I don’t want to interfere. The ethics of writing books also require my own personal awareness in order to stick to them. It doesn't matter, just let it happen