[Going to the Grassroots in the Spring Festival] The password of the annual taste of ancient villages： non-legacy customers are all charming in spring.
Shaoguan, a thousand-year-old ancient city, has a long history and unique Hakka civilization, which has nurtured a profound local cultural heritage and created a strong flavor of the Spring Festival. During the Spring Festival this year, in every county and countless ancient villages in Shaoguan, dragon dance, lion awakening, grass lion dance, turtle and clam dance, money fork dance, spring cow dance, Yao song, folk waist drum and other programs representing Shaoguan’s outstanding folk art and intangible culture and folk customs were staged one by one. Hakka wedding, Yao embroidery, Bayin and many other intangible folk customs and folk arts and crafts products have also revived and spread among villages in various forms.
In Meizhou, which is known as the "guest capital of the world", plum blossoms are in full bloom all over the place during the Spring Festival, and colorful local programs such as dragon and lion dancing, hiking and enjoying flowers, and tasting all kinds of delicious food have paved the mountains and rivers of Meizhou with layers of joy.
Ancient Dance: A New Interpretation of Beautiful Legends
On New Year’s Day, the central stage of Shixing Jiuling Square was crowded with people. The local government has selected a large number of programs representing Shixing’s outstanding folk arts and intangible cultural folklore to be staged here. Similarly, all counties have selected a number of folk art programs with strong regional colors, which were displayed in various places during the Spring Festival, creating a fiery atmosphere of prosperity for the New Year.
The Hebang Dance, which is widely spread in ancient villages and towns such as Zhoubei, Tangxia and Longxian in wengyuan county, is a wonderful work of Wengyuan folk art. Born in the birthplace of "crane and clam dance" — — Luo Hanqiang, from Tangxia Village, Zhoubei Town, wengyuan county, devoted himself to the performing arts and inheritance of the "Crane Clam Dance" when he was about 20 years old. Now he is over half a century old and is the fourth generation descendant of the "Crane Clam Dance". According to Luo Hanqiang, the "crane-mussel dance" originated from an ancient folklore in the village of Xiaxia, and it has gone through a whole century from legend to creation, formation and development.
In Luo Hanqiang’s memory, an old fairy tale has been circulating in the area of Xiaxia Village in Zhoubei Town. It is said that there is an orphan who makes a living by firewood. He is honest and hardworking, but because of his meager family, he is still alone after he is over. One day, Chai Lang went out fishing and caught a clam to take home. After that, whenever he went out to get firewood, the clam essence in the jar turned into a beautiful woman to help him cook and wash clothes. Soon, they became husband and wife and loved each other. Unexpectedly, a local villain "Yaopo Tou" accidentally discovered this incident, coveted the beauty of mussel essence, and designed to take it away, which led to a battle between mussels and harriers, which ended in tragedy.
For some time after the late Qing Dynasty, a Cantonese opera class in Guangzhou lived in the village for more than two years. In the meantime, I helped a local artist named He to compile this legend into a short play "Fighting between Ducks and Clams", which was famous for a while. Later, He Liangrui and He Jitang, who were quite active folk artists, were inspired by the story of "Fighting between Ducks and Clams" and planned to adapt a folk dance. In 1955, the two men were responsible for the literary propaganda work of going to the countryside, and began to try to rehearse the "Crane and Clam Dance". In the same year, the "Hebang Dance" performed its first performance in Xinliuwu Village, a village in the countryside.
In the next three or four years, The Dance of the Crane and the Bangs was performed in the villages of Jiyi, Tangxia, Tangtou, Lakeng, Chencun, Huanghe and Muniuping for many times. In 1957, it was also invited to perform in Niushige (now Hongling) tungsten mine. In 1958, "Hebang Dance" went out of the county gate and performed in the towns and villages of Huangmiao, Huilong and Meikeng in Xinfeng County and Xinfeng County. After 30 years, there was almost no performance of "Crane-mussel Dance". Until the Spring Festival in 1987, "Hebang Dance" took part in the wengyuan county County Spring Festival Amateur Art Show on behalf of the town, and won the first prize.
According to reports, the "crane-clam dance" was originally a three-person dance (one crane, one clam and one fisherman), and changed in the middle (two cranes, two clams and one fisherman). In order to adapt to the square art, it eventually became a multi-person dance (four cranes, four clams and one fisherman). The role design is closer to that of a raw (crane) and ugly (fisherman). The main roads are: cranes, mussels, baskets, fish baskets, etc., which are very beautifully made; The dance is wonderful and lively, and cranes and mussels show that they can bring good luck and happiness to people.
Luo Hanqiang said that in order to bring the audience into the story as soon as possible, its props should be very realistic. The props of "Crane and Clam Dance" are all handmade. The main structures of "Crane" and "Clam Essence" are made of bamboo, while the "Tail" of "Crane" and "Shell" of "Clam Essence" are woven with silk and then painted on them, so as to make their shapes, colors and so on more vivid and more acceptable to the general public.
"He Bang Dance" is mostly performed in villages, government schools and city squares. The core idea of the dance is to warn the world not to covet personal and immediate small interests at the expense of long-term and fundamental big interests.
Similar to Weng Yuan’s "Crane and Clam Dance", there is also a touching story behind the turtle and clam dance spread in Shixing. According to legend, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Shixing’s climate was dry, the grain harvest was lost, and the six livestock were not prosperous. The turtle and mussel dance derived from this is to personify turtles and mussels with exaggerated methods. Through dances and fishermen’s performances, it reflects the ability of working people to transform and conquer nature, and expresses people’s good wishes for bumper crops, prosperous livestock and good weather in the coming year.
"Strange Lion" Dance:Cohesion of farming civilization and regional characteristics
During the Spring Festival, lion dance has become the most common celebration scene in ancient Hakka villages. But unlike other regions, Shaoguan, which has been a big agricultural city since ancient times, has developed a large number of unique "strange lions" according to its own farming traditions and regional colors.
The green grass lion in Chengjiang, Shixing County was created by Zhang Zhongyou, a local descendant of the Zhang family, who returned from studying martial arts at the South Shaolin Temple in Putian, Fujian. Zhang Zhongyou tied Li with grass and hung it at the gate. With Nanquan and other martial arts, he created a unique grass lion dance, and the name of the grass lion has been used to this day. In the 16th year of Kangxi, there was a record in Shixing County Records: "Lantern Festival, children dressed in bright clothes and danced with dragons and lions. People who come here are provided with furniture, wine, food and money. " Among them, the "lion dance" is the grass lion in Chengjiang Town, which has a history of more than 340 years.
In Nanxiong Zhuji Town, not far from Shixing, there is also a tradition of dancing grass lions. Zhuji Town is not only the birthplace of Guangfu culture, but also the famous hometown of culture and folk art in Guangdong. Among them, the grass lion dancing in Yanghu Village and the double lion dancing in Lidong Village constitute the representative works of Nanxiong Lion Dance.
Legend has it that in order to create a unique lion, Lu Shouhu, a villager at that time, tied the grass rich in the countryside into a lion, hence the name "Green Grass Lion". Compared with other types of lions, the body of the grass lion in Yanghu Village is several times larger than the general lion dance, which seems to be exaggerated. The most authentic grass lion needs seven people to dance together, one holding the lion’s head, four holding four legs, two holding the lion’s back, and another holding the ball. It takes more than two hours to perform the whole routine.
The ground-grinding lion, which originated in Xiayangfen Village, Hukou Town in 1928, took a slant with its sword. Although it is only over 80 years old, it is recorded that during the Lantern Festival in Nanxiong in 1939, a rare celebration of dancing with 82 lions was held, and the naughty and clever ground-grinding lion was awarded at that time. The ground-grinding lion is different from other mighty lion dances. It shows the strong feelings of kissing the earth in the form of short steps and squatting steps, showing the simple feelings of farmers in northern Guangdong who love the land mainly in traditional farming, and placing a good wish for a bumper harvest every year and peace in the New Year.
Sanxi frog and lion, commonly known as "toad lion" and "god lion", which is popular in Sanxi, Xiushui, Huangpu and other towns in Lechang, is a unique animal-like dance. Legend has it that the frog lion was originally the son of Lei Gong. He can not only prey on pests in the field, but also call for rain in the air to solve the drought disaster. To this end, every Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and other festivals, people will dance frogs and lions to realize their good wishes of gratitude and blessing, good weather and prosperity.
Frog lion has a history of more than 200 years in Lechang, which was recorded in sanxi town’s Daquan Deng Family Tree as early as 40 years in Qing Qianlong.
Hakka cuisine: washing away the wandering for a year
As one of the most important settlements of Hakkas in the world, Meizhou Hakka’s New Year folk custom is not only reflected in various kinds of colorful folk cultural activities compared with Shaoguan, but also in various folk activities that have lasted for more than ten generations and local delicacies overflowing with Hakka customs.
In ancient villages in Meizhou, the Spring Festival here often lasts from the 25th of the New Year to the 16th of the first month. From the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month every year, the villagers in Hakka villages will start a thorough cleaning, cleaning up their homes, ancestral halls, Guping and even country lanes to prepare for the New Year.
There are also many Hakkas who comb their makeup before the arrival of the New Year and get a beautiful haircut at the barber shop, which means "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new" and "starting from scratch". This brand-new little folk custom entrusts Hakka people with their hopes and expectations for the new year.
After cleaning the sanitation and cleaning up the appearance, Meizhou people will enter the food production link grandly and vigorously. During the Spring Festival, there is always a mellow and sweet Hakka Niang wine on the table of Meizhou people. Old Huang Ying, who lives in Songkou Town, Meixian County, told reporters that authentic Hakka Niang wine must go through a traditional "wine-roasting" link. In popular terms, it is to put Niang wine in a crock and roast it with fire. This link requires a high degree of craftsmanship and heat. The old people choose a ventilated and empty site, set flat bricks at the bottom, put away a sealed jar filled with wine, pile rice stalks and chaff around the jar and light it.
"Roasting wine" should be roasted with dark fire, and the dark fire should not be allowed to burn into a big fire. When the jar is roasted with dark red fire for about 1 hour, the wine in the jar begins to pop out fish’s eye bubbles, and the old people will solemnly open the jar mouth with bowls and plates, stir the slightly boiling wine with a clean wine spoon, and then cool and seal the jar after the wine in the jar has been evenly boiled up and down.
Hakka people all have a "root" complex. No matter how they settle down and live in other places, they always like to go back to their hometown for the New Year. When many distant wanderers are tired and travel-stained, there are always bowls of sweet-smelling Niang Jiuji waiting for them on the dining table. After drinking a bowl, you will feel slightly sweaty, comfortable and exhausted.
It is in this courtyard where the wine is lingering, the dazzling Hakka cuisines, such as making sweet sticks, evaporating sticks, frying oil, squeezing, frying crisp, frying meatballs, smoked fish, braised chicken and braised duck, are competing to appear, bearing all the thoughts of the hometown for the distant wanderers who are about to return.
(Text, map/wide newspaper full media reporter Bu Yu correspondent Huang Yingxiang, Wu Ting, He Xiaohong)