英语新闻视频 Chinese Gourds

Making a living doing exactly what you enjoy doing is a blessing¹. There’s one lucky man called Bai Zehua who owns a shop selling handicraft made from gourds³.
Working with gourds has always been my hobby. I enjoy painting on them, carving⁴ designs on them and embossing designs on these gourds.
For embossing, the gourds should be chosen carefully. Gourds with a soft skin are easy to emboss, but the skin bounces back as soon as you apply pressure to them. Patterns embossed on gourds with hard skins might look shallow, but the final effect is much better.
The art of embossing gourds originated in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, artisans used bone tools, but nowadays we use tools made from agate⁵ or steel. Now, I will show you the whole process of making embossed gourds. First, you should design a pattern on the gourd² and then carve the outline with a sharp knife. After that, choose a suitable type of knife to emboss the pattern on the gourd.
Gourds are very popular in China. People use them in many ways, as these gourds have many meanings.
Gourds are considered very auspicious⁶. The pronunciation of gourds in Chinese is “Hulu” which sounds similar to the Chinese word happiness and wealth. And gourds have a lot of seeds inside, symbolizing⁷ a big family with many children. Nowadays, people still like to keep gourds to avoid evil spirits.
To make a unique gourd, artful decoration isn’t enough. The curvaceous shapes of gourds can be molded artificially as it grows.
The shape of gourd handicraft is very beautiful. This one in my hand is a specially-shaped gourd manipulated by using several kinds of techniques. What you see is not its natural shape. In order to make it looks like a “Ruyi”, we tied ropes on it and put it in a mold before it became ripe.
Because gourds have a high degree of elasticity⁸, different designs can produce different effects. Gourd handicrafts can be made using different kinds of techniques, such as tying it with rope, burning designs on it, carving it with a knife and scratching it with a needle.
I love gourds and I’m so happy to work with them. It is a way to carry on historical and cultural traditions.

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 gourd   

n.葫芦

参考例句：

• Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去？你一定是疯了。
• Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我，我好把水舀出去。

3 gourds   

n.葫芦( gourd的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Dried gourds are sometimes used as ornaments. 干葫芦有时用作饰品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The villagers use gourds for holding water. 村民们用葫芦盛水。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

5 agate   

n.玛瑙

参考例句：

• He saw before him a flight of agate steps.他看到前面有一段玛瑙做的台阶。
• It is round,like the size of a small yellow agate.它是圆的，大小很像一个小的黄色的玛瑙。

6 auspicious   

adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的

参考例句：

• The publication of my first book was an auspicious beginning of my career.我的第一本书的出版是我事业吉祥的开始。
• With favorable weather conditions it was an auspicious moment to set sail.风和日丽，正是扬帆出海的黄道吉日。

7 symbolizing   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This symbol later evolved into a common hieroglyphic symbolizing victory. 这幕场景后来逐渐演化为象征胜利的普通象形文字。 来自时文部分
• Mooncakes reunion, is symbolizing the Mid-Autumn festival will feed. 月饼象征着团圆，是中秋佳节必食之品。 来自互联网

8 elasticity   

n.弹性，伸缩力

参考例句：

• The skin eventually loses its elasticity.皮肤最终会失去弹性。
• Every sort of spring has a definite elasticity.每一种弹簧都有一定的弹性。