A Wire-Rod Operator's Life Rooted in Angang

问您大概是哪一代人？

QRoughly which generation are you?

答1960年代

AThe 1960s.

问您与鞍钢/相关单位的关系？

QWhat is your relationship to Angang / a related work-unit?

答本人在鞍钢

AI myself worked at Angang.

问您当年大概做哪一类工作？

QRoughly what kind of work did you do back then?

答一线操作

AFrontline operation.

问您大概在哪个时期参加工作？

QRoughly in which period did you start working?

答1980年代

AThe 1980s.

问您愿意说说当时为什么进这个单位吗？（学校分配 / 家里安排 / 自己选择 / 亲友介绍…）

QWould you share why you joined this unit back then? (School assignment / family arrangement / own choice / introduced by relatives or friends...)

答我进入这个单位是鞍钢招工考入这个单位的，学校统一分配。当时鞍钢是本地最好的出路，安稳有保障，是最好的去处。

AI entered this unit by passing Angang's recruitment exam, through a unified school assignment. Back then Angang was the best path locally — stable and secure, the best place to end up.

问您还记得刚参加工作时的一天吗？带我从早到晚走一遍：几点上班、先去哪、主要做什么、和谁一起。

QDo you remember a day when you first started working? Walk me through it from morning to night: what time you started, where you went first, what you mainly did, and with whom.

答都是8点到岗，7点从家出来。我们单位在立山线材厂，需要坐通勤车，7点35分到厂，上二楼换工作服，7点45分开班前会，8点接班。我是原料操作工，把钢坯送进加热炉，进行加热轧成盘圆。我操作到11点30分，午饭后接着操作到4点整，我们两个下班。

AWe all clocked in at 8, leaving home at 7. Our unit was the Lishan wire-rod plant; I had to take the commuter bus, reaching the plant at 7:35, going up to the second floor to change into my work clothes, holding the pre-shift meeting at 7:45, and taking over the shift at 8. I was a raw-material operator, feeding steel billets into the reheating furnace to be heated and rolled into coiled wire. I worked until 11:30, then after lunch kept working until 4 o'clock sharp, when the two of us got off.

问当时学技术主要靠什么？

QBack then, how did you mainly learn the skills?

答技校/大学。在技校学的技术，师傅带、单位培训、同事互教。

ATechnical school / college. I learned the skills at technical school, plus a master mentoring me, unit training, and coworkers teaching each other.

问您觉得当年最重要的本事是什么？（技术，或吃苦、细心、配合、经验、判断力）

QWhat do you think was the most important ability back then? (Skill, or endurance, care, cooperation, experience, judgment)

答技术、经验、配合、判断力，加上能吃苦。

ASkill, experience, cooperation and judgment — plus being able to endure hardship.

问有没有书本上学不到、只能靠师傅或经验学到的东西？举一个普通例子即可。

QIs there anything you couldn't learn from books, only from a master or from experience? An ordinary example is fine.

答我是熟练工，靠自己学到的经验去工作。比如往滚道下三根料没注意，下了四根料，我就靠经验把第四根留在原地，让三根向前走。

AI was a skilled worker who worked by the experience I'd built up. For example, when you're meant to feed three lengths of stock onto the roller table but by mistake four go down, I'd rely on experience to hold the fourth one in place and let the three move forward.

问「单位」对生活影响大吗？体现在哪些方面？

QDid the 'work-unit' have a big impact on life? In what ways?

答住房、医院、退休。住房、医院、退休福利完善，子弟入学、幼儿园，聚居邻里都是同事，生活全依托单位，对我影响极大。

AHousing, hospital, retirement. Housing, hospital and retirement benefits were all comprehensive; children's schooling and kindergarten too; the neighbors we lived among were all coworkers. Life depended entirely on the unit — it affected me enormously.

问先用您自己的词：那时候大家对鞍钢/单位的感觉，像什么？（然后再挑：一份工作 / 一个大家庭 / 一个社区 / 一种身份 / 不好说）

QIn your own words first: back then, what did people feel Angang / the unit was like? (Then pick: a job / a big family / a community / an identity / hard to say)

答一个大家庭。像一种身份，一座完整的家。

AA big family. Like an identity — a complete home.

问带我走进一个地方：澡堂、厂门口、车间、家属院……挑一个您印象最深的，说说那里的样子、声音、气味、人。

QTake me into one place: the bathhouse, factory gate, workshop, family compound... pick the one you remember most vividly, and describe how it looked, sounded, smelled, and the people.

答我下通勤车进入厂门口，就能看见我们线材厂的大理石玉雕，像大雁在飞的样子，还有喷泉，特别美，印象深刻。

AWhen I got off the commuter bus and walked in through the factory gate, I could see our wire-rod plant's marble jade carving, shaped like wild geese in flight, and there was a fountain too — it was especially beautiful, it left a deep impression.

问那段时间，单位或岗位有没有明显变化？

QDuring that period, was there any obvious change in the unit or your post?

答没太大变化

ANo major change.

问您当时大概属于哪一类？

QWhich category did you roughly fall into at the time?

答留原岗

AStayed at my original post.

问单位一般怎么通知这些变化？

QHow did the unit usually announce these changes?

答开会

AThrough meetings.

问当时对您影响最大的是？

QWhat affected you most at the time?

答收入、住房/福利、医疗/退休

AIncome; housing/benefits; medical/retirement.

问比一比：和您认识的另一种岗位的人相比，那几年你们俩受到的影响一样吗？不用说人名，说大概。

QCompare: versus someone you know in a different kind of post, was the impact on the two of you the same in those years? No names needed, just roughly.

答我是操作工，他是吊车工。有一年鞍钢给我们分开了，我是主体，他是协力，我们的工资相差很多，他比我多开了很多钱，我俩受到的影响真的不一样。

AI was an operator, he was a crane operator. One year Angang split us apart — I was 'core' (main body) and he was 'auxiliary'; our wages differed a lot, he earned much more than me, and the impact on the two of us was really not the same.

问岗位变化后，您或身边同事一般去了哪里？

QAfter the post changes, where did you or nearby coworkers generally go?

答其他厂/相关行业

AOther factories / related industries.

问以前学到的本事，后来还有用吗？

QWere the skills you learned before still useful later?

答用处不大

ANot much use.

问哪些本事容易带到别的工作里？（认真、守时、机械经验、管理、看设备、带徒弟、与人打交道…）

QWhich abilities transfer easily to other work? (Diligence, punctuality, machine experience, management, minding equipment, mentoring apprentices, dealing with people...)

答认真、守时、看设备、与人打交道、带人带徒弟、机械操作经验、待人处事、沟通协调。

ADiligence, punctuality, minding equipment, dealing with people, leading and mentoring apprentices, machine-operation experience, handling people and affairs, and coordinating communication.

问哪些本事离开原单位就用不上了？说大概即可。

QWhich abilities became useless once you left the old unit? Just roughly.

答我的本事离开原单位就用不上了。我在原单位是操作工，离开原单位我当上了保安。

AMy abilities became useless once I left the old unit. In my old unit I was an operator; after I left, I became a security guard.

问如果有人离开鞍山去外地，您觉得最难适应的是什么？您身边有这样的人吗（只说方向，如「去南方工厂」，不用姓名）？

QIf someone left Anshan for elsewhere, what do you think is hardest to adapt to? Are there such people around you (just the direction, e.g. 'went to a southern factory,' no names)?

答离开鞍山去北京当了保安，最难适应的是身份的转换。去南方工厂最难适应气候、厂区管理模式，与家乡亲友熟人圈的缺失。

ALeaving Anshan for Beijing to be a security guard, the hardest thing to adapt to was the change of identity. For those going to southern factories, the hardest things are the climate, the factory management style, and the loss of the hometown circle of relatives, friends and acquaintances.

问遇到岗位变化时，谁对您帮助最大？

QWhen you faced the post changes, who helped you the most?

答老同事

AOld coworkers.

问大家会互相介绍工作、打听消息、互相照顾吗？说一般情况，不必说人名。

QDid people introduce jobs to each other, ask around for news, and look after each other? Describe the general situation, no names needed.

答老工友【化名】、【化名】经常互相打听用工政策，谁家晚辈找工作也会互相搭线照应。

AOld workmates [name withheld] and [name withheld] often asked each other about employment policies; when anyone's younger relative was job-hunting, they'd connect and look out for each other.

问有没有老同事聚会、同学聚会、饭局、微信群帮大家联系？（可只答「有/没有」）

QAre there old-coworker gatherings, classmate reunions, dinners, or WeChat groups keeping people connected? (You may just answer yes/no.)

答有

AYes.

问您觉得是正式渠道帮助大，还是熟人/老同事帮助大？

QDo you think formal channels helped more, or acquaintances / old coworkers?

答熟人

AAcquaintances.

问您现在还和老同事联系吗？

QDo you still keep in touch with old coworkers?

答偶尔

AOccasionally.

问您去过鞍钢博物馆、孟泰纪念馆或类似的地方吗？

QHave you visited the Angang Museum, the Meng Tai Memorial Hall, or similar places?

答去过

AYes, I've been.

问您觉得这些地方能让年轻人了解以前的工厂生活吗？

QDo you think these places can help young people understand factory life of the past?

答能

AYes, they can.

问您觉得现在年轻人还了解「钢城」这段历史吗？

QDo you think today's young people still know this 'Steel City' history?

答了解一点

AThey understand a little.

问您家里是否还保存和工作有关的东西？（可多选）

QDoes your family still keep anything related to your work? (Multiple choice)

答工作证/厂牌、工作服

AWork ID / factory badge; work uniform.

问如果您愿意分享其中一两件，可以做文字描述。

QIf you're willing to share one or two items, you may describe them in words.

答物件1：褪色的老式鞍钢工作证。描述：上世纪八十年代鞍钢职工证件，封面磨损，印有厂徽章，标注工种轧钢技工，当年凭它领工资、进厂区、免费使用厂区食堂、子弟学校，见证工厂包揽一家人生活的岁月，是老一辈单位即鞍山的缩影。物件2：磨出划痕的技工等级证书。描述：泛黄纸质八级技工资格证，记录多年一线实操考核，是老一辈心中「一技在手不愁生计」的证明，印证技术工人越老越吃香的时代，和当下年轻人对蓝领岗位的认知形成鲜明对比。

AItem 1: A faded old-style Angang work ID. Description: an Angang staff credential from the 1980s, its cover worn, printed with the factory emblem and marked with the trade 'rolling-mill technician.' Back then it was used to draw wages, enter the plant, and freely use the plant canteen and the workers' children's school — it witnessed an era when the factory took care of a whole family's life, an epitome of the older generation's world where the unit was Anshan itself. Item 2: A grade-8 technician certificate scuffed with scratches. Description: a yellowed paper grade-8 technician qualification recording years of frontline hands-on assessment; to the older generation it proved that 'with a skill in hand you never fear for a living,' testifying to an era when skilled workers were prized more with age — a sharp contrast with how young people today view blue-collar jobs.

问您的孩子或晚辈有没有进入钢铁、机械、工程、制造相关工作？

QHave your children or younger relatives entered steel, machinery, engineering, or manufacturing work?

答没有

ANo.

问您当年希望孩子继续进类似单位吗？

QBack then, did you hope your children would go into a similar unit?

答随他们

AUp to them.

问您会给孩子讲以前单位里的故事吗？

QDo you tell your children stories from the old unit?

答很少

ARarely.

问您给下一代最想说的一句话是什么？（工作、做人、技术、吃苦、选城市、选职业…都行）

QWhat is the one thing you most want to say to the next generation? (About work, character, skill, endurance, choosing a city, choosing a career... anything)

答先学会做人，要能吃苦，工作一定要认真，手握真本事，兼顾安稳与热爱，踏实吃苦但别盲目内耗。

AFirst learn to be a good person; be able to endure hardship; always take your work seriously; hold real skill in hand; balance stability with what you love — work honestly and hard, but don't burn yourself out for nothing.

问您觉得年轻一代和您这一代，对「单位 / 稳定工作 / 技术工人」的看法有什么不同？

QHow do you think the younger generation and your generation differ in their views of 'the work-unit / a stable job / the skilled worker'?

答职业认知是时代经济水平、成长环境、价值观念的直接体现。在就业市场多元化、职业选择自由化的当下，不同代际有不同看法：老一辈对单位稳定体系秉持稳定优先、安全至上的择业理念，而新生代年轻一代成长于市场经济、产业迭代快速的环境，观念更个性化。对体制内稳定工作、蓝领技术类职业的看法差异，直接影响青年就业选择。制造业待遇及社会认可度不高，对于体制稳定工作、技术类职业的看法差异，反映出在择业标准、职业价值、社会地位认知上的代际分歧。（并提出引导建议：厘清两代人在择业标准、职业价值、社会认知上的分歧；不建议一味劝年轻人不愿从铁饭碗、老一辈定第一编制的观念；老一辈手艺终身可靠、技工跨行，听得懂年轻人偏好，别把高端技普遍看轻蓝领；就业选择要尊重差异，观念分歧源于时代不同、择优选位、环境、行业偏见。）

AOccupational attitudes are a direct reflection of the era's economic level, one's upbringing, and one's values. In today's diversified job market with freer career choice, the generations differ: the older generation, toward the unit's stable system, holds a 'stability first, safety above all' philosophy of job choice, while the newer younger generation, raised amid a market economy and fast industrial turnover, thinks more individualistically. Differences over secure jobs inside the system and blue-collar technical trades directly shape young people's employment choices. With manufacturing's pay and social recognition not high, the divergence in views on stable in-system jobs and technical trades reflects generational splits over job-choice standards, occupational value, and perceived social status. (He also offers guidance: clarify the two generations' differences in job-choice standards, occupational value and social perception; don't simply push youths off the 'iron rice bowl' or impose the old fixation on a permanent post; the old generation's craft is a lifelong reliance and technicians can cross industries, so understand young people's preferences and don't dismiss blue-collar work; respect the differences in job choice — the divergence of views stems from different eras, priorities, environments and industry prejudice.) [Long, densely written answer; transcribed to the extent legible.]

问先不看选项：如果用一个词形容以前的鞍钢/老单位，您会用哪个词？为什么？

QWithout looking at the options first: if you used one word to describe the old Angang / old unit, which word would you use? Why?

答对老一辈鞍钢职工而言，单位不只是上班领钱的地方，配套的澡堂、食堂、医院、子弟学校，从生老病死到子女上学，单位都包揽一家人的生活；技术工人在这里由徒变熟。这也是老一辈技术根植鞍钢、单位即鞍山的缩影，是他们最初也最踏实的依靠、生活的保障。

ATo the older generation of Angang workers, the unit was not just a place to clock in and draw pay — with its attached bathhouse, canteen, hospital and workers' children's school, from birth-aging-sickness-death to the children's schooling, the unit took care of a whole family's life; skilled workers here grew from apprentices into seasoned hands. This too is an epitome of how the old generation's craft was rooted in Angang, where the unit was Anshan itself — their first and most solid reliance, a guarantee of life. [Long, densely written answer; transcribed to the extent legible.]

问您觉得这段经历中，最该被年轻人记住的是什么？

QWhat in this experience do you think most deserves to be remembered by young people?

答1、稳定不是束缚，而是脚踏实地的生活作风，是接住生活的底气，不必一味求稳定。2、手艺永远有价值，无论蓝领白领，专业技能的本事都能提供底气。3、两代人对稳定无对错，只是成长环境不同。4、择业兼顾热爱与现实，别追逐盲目、一味求稳定。

A1. Stability is not a shackle but a down-to-earth way of living, the confidence to catch hold of life — you needn't chase stability blindly. 2. A craft always has value; whether blue-collar or white-collar, the ability of professional skill gives you confidence. 3. Neither generation's view of stability is right or wrong — only their upbringings differ. 4. In choosing work, balance passion and reality; don't chase blindly or seek only stability. [Transcribed to the extent legible.]

问您觉得像我这样的年轻人，最容易误解你们那一代人的地方是什么？

QWhat do you think a young person like me is most likely to misunderstand about your generation?

答1、误以为长辈择稳定就是思想保守、不敢闯，其实他们是吃过无保障的苦，怕孩子重蹈覆辙，是给家庭兜底的底气。2、觉得推崇技术就是跟不上时代，其实老一辈见手艺养家、敬重技术的年代，深知一技之长的抗风险能力。3、看不惯长辈费劲对考编、进厂，觉得是束缚自己，忽略他们判断工作的标准从来不是喜欢不喜欢，而是能不能扛住生活变故。以为长辈看不起灵活就业、新兴行业，本质是两代人对「安全感」的定义不一样，并非否定你的选择。

A1. Mistaking elders' preference for stability as conservatism or timidity — in fact they've tasted the bitterness of having no safety net, they fear their children repeating it, and it's the backbone that backstops the family. 2. Thinking that prizing skill means falling behind the times — the older generation lived in an era when a craft fed a family and skill was respected, and they know deeply the risk-resistance a trade gives. 3. Disliking how elders push hard for civil-service exams or getting into a factory, thinking it constrains oneself — while overlooking that their standard for judging work was never like/dislike, but whether it can withstand life's upheavals. Assuming elders look down on flexible work and new industries — essentially the two generations just define 'security' differently; it's not a denial of your choice. [Transcribed to the extent legible.]

问今天有没有哪部分您希望我不要记录、不要引用，或引用前必须再问您？

QIs there any part today you'd like me not to record, not to quote, or to ask you again before quoting?

答没有

ANo.

问整理好后，您想先看一遍再决定是否公开吗？

QOnce it's organized, do you want to review it first before deciding whether to publish?

答不用

ANo need.

问以后若需要补充访谈，您是否愿意通过介绍人再联系？

QIf a follow-up interview is needed later, would you be willing to be contacted again through the introducer?

答可以

AYes, that's fine.

问您是否愿意日后接受一次更深入的访谈，把您的故事更完整地记录下来？

QWould you be willing to give a more in-depth interview later to record your story more fully?

答再说

AWe'll see.

问【物件登记卡】1. 这是什么？

Q[Photo/Object Registration Card] 1. What is this?

答老照片、工作证/厂牌、奖章/纪念章、工具/实物、工作服。您的回答：老照片、工作证、奖状、工作服、旧工具。

AOld photo; work ID / factory badge; medal / commemorative badge; tools / physical objects; work uniform. Written: old photos, work ID, award certificate, work uniform, old tools.

问【物件登记卡】2. 大概是哪一年？

Q[Registration Card] 2. Roughly what year?

答上世纪八十年代中后期

AThe mid-to-late 1980s.

问【物件登记卡】3. 上面是谁？

Q[Registration Card] 3. Who is in it?

答家里老一辈鞍钢职工

AThe older-generation Angang worker in our family.

问【物件登记卡】4. 在哪里？

Q[Registration Card] 4. Where?

答鞍钢厂区车间内

AInside a workshop in the Angang plant.

问【物件登记卡】5. 是什么场合，或在做什么？

Q[Registration Card] 5. What occasion, or doing what?

答日常在岗巡检设备

ARoutine on-duty inspection of equipment.

问【物件登记卡】6. 这件东西是怎么来的、一直由谁保管？

Q[Registration Card] 6. How did this item come about, and who has kept it?

答当年上班统一发放，一直由家中长辈收存保管。

AIt was issued uniformly for work back then, and has been kept and preserved by an elder in the family ever since.

问【物件登记卡】7. 上面有没有字、印章、编号、奖项名称？

Q[Registration Card] 7. Are there any words, seals, numbers, or award names on it?

答没有文字、印章、编号以及奖项相关字样。

ANo text, seals, numbers, or award-related wording.

问【物件登记卡】8. 它为什么对您或家里有意义？

Q[Registration Card] 8. Why is it meaningful to you or your family?

答这是老一辈一辈子扎根鞍钢的见证，藏着当年车间劳作、师徒共事、家属院生活的全部回忆，是一代人踏实做工岁月的念想。

AIt witnesses how the older generation rooted their whole life in Angang; it holds all the memories of workshop labor, master-and-apprentice work, and family-compound life back then — a keepsake of a generation's years of honest work.

问【物件登记卡】9. 这张照片 / 这件东西，您愿意我们怎么使用？

Q[Registration Card] 9. How are you willing for us to use this photo / item?

答可以公开展示

AMay be publicly displayed.

问【物件登记卡】10. 署名方式？

Q[Registration Card] 10. Attribution preference?

答匿名

AAnonymous.