在宁夏中卫沙坡头景区，43岁的筏工童进定身兼多重身份——白天他撑筏运送游客在黄河上往返，晚上则围坐篝火为游客讲述古老的羊皮筏子文化[1]。2020年，童进定被评为宁夏中卫羊皮筏子制作技艺的市级非遗代表性传承人[1]。
羊皮筏子古称"革船"，是黄河中上游古代的水上交通工具，其结构独特——皮囊以"五、四、五"的个数分布排列成三排[1]。制作过程完全依靠手工完成，需要经历选皮、熟皮、缝制、充气、修补等多个工序[1]。童进定从16岁开始跟随爷爷学习这项技艺[1]。
为了让游客更深入地了解这门技艺，童进定在民宿中设计了互动环节，邀请游客亲手触碰和体验羊皮囊[1]。通过讲述黄河治沙故事和西北先民的生存智慧，他将羊皮筏子这项古老技艺与黄河文化紧密结合[1]。
Tong Jinding, a 43-year-old raft operator at the Shapotou scenic area in Zhongwei, Ningxia, has become a living guardian of an ancient craft.[1] As the municipal-level representative inheritor of sheepskin raft-making techniques since his designation in 2020, Tong combines his daily work with cultural storytelling to keep this traditional art alive.[1]
By day, he poles sheepskin rafts carrying tourists along the Yellow River; by night, he gathers visitors around campfires at his guesthouse to narrate the history and manufacturing secrets of these historic vessels.[1] Through these narratives, he shares stories of Yellow River sand control and the survival wisdom of ancient northwestern peoples, ensuring the knowledge reaches a new generation of audiences.[1] Tong creates interactive moments where guests can touch and experience the sheepskin bladders firsthand, deepening their connection to the craft.[1]
The sheepskin raft, known in antiquity as a "leather boat," is an ingeniously simple construction featuring leather bladders arranged in three rows with a distribution pattern of five-four-five units—a testament to the engineering ingenuity of ancient water transportation on the middle and upper Yellow River.[1] The craft demands meticulous handwork across multiple stages: hide selection, tanning, stitching, inflation, and repair.[1] Tong learned this laborious technique from his grandfather starting at age sixteen, embodying a lineage of artisanal mastery now recognized as an intangible cultural heritage worth preserving.[1]