Shek Mun, New Territories, has a "Hakka Culture Festival" last weekend, organised by the Township Council established in 1926. It is said that the activity has been opened for more than a year from application to launch, and the preparation time is not insufficient, but there is a lot of room for improvement, after all, this is the first time for the township council.
Principal Chen Jiamin is the trader of this Hakka Cultural Festival. She is a Hakka aboriginal of Tsing Yi Island, who has been rooted in the community since returning to Hong Kong after completing her studies in Canada, and has become the first female district councillor in Kwai Tsing District as early as 1988, and the youngest councillor of the year. She saw that the author was wearing a Hakka peasant woman's cool hat and a traditional costume, and laughed and said how she did not expect these signs and props that symbolized Hakka. However, we both said in unison, "It's okay, there's a next time."
JiaMin said, "The most unexpected thing was that he was pulled to the stage by the master to demonstrate the Dongjiang Zhou family mantis fist of Hakka kung fu." She and her master Li Tianlai actually only attended three classes, but their skills were extraordinary, and their spirit was even more commendable, and the whole audience clapped their palms, which was really "Hello cousin".
Life in Hong Kong is very fast-paced, and each has its own busy schedule, so one of the great pleasures of participating in the Hakka Cultural Festival is to meet many new and old friends, including Changjiang Quanfu, the Hakka Federation of Cross-Straits, as well as Miss Cheng Wenya, Mr. Deng Dazhi, the host of Phoenix Satellite TV, Miss Zeng Jingyi, Hakka linguist Professor Liu Zhenfa, and so on.
In addition to promoting the more than 300 years of Hakka kung fu, showing basic boxing routines such as "three-step arrow", "three-arrow rocking bridge", "four-board thrill", as well as Hakka mountain song performances, mini unicorn zazuo, tea kway brewery, Hakka snack stalls, etc., adding interaction and entertainment. However, some of the links were not rehearsed enough, such as a group of Hakka sisters holding song paper in their hands and bowing their heads, feeling that they were "reading mountain songs instead of singing mountain songs".
The Dancing Qilin is definitely a traditional feature of Hakka festivals. The Hakka people regard the unicorn as a beast, which can dissolve the anger and avoid evil. In the early mountain villages, the unicorn dancers combined fitness, recreation, home defense and religious rituals. The Qilin Dance in Hong Kong's New Territories has become an important element of community harmony and Hakka identity. Deng Zhaolin of the Zazuo Workshop said at the scene, "To make a unicorn, it takes a long time from tie-making to laying paper, so this time it is specially carried out in a mini form so that the public can enjoy the experience."
Tea kway is the most popular snack in Hong Kong. A large class of "Hakka cooks" were busy in the on-site workshop, adding to the festive atmosphere.
It is worth mentioning in particular the "Nine Gui - Hong Kong Hakka Traditional Food Culture" introduced by the scene with pictures and texts. Chen Jiamin told the author that the most memorable experience in preparing for this event was to go to the countryside and consult the mayor of Danshuikeng Village in Sha Tau Kok and several masters who made the Nine Great Gui. Because the first class of masters has their own busyness, it is difficult to make a date, "but I am good to insist on it", "Seeing the more excited the interviewee talks, the more excited the situation makes me feel very warm, today I can make the nine big guiyu mode in the brother class! 」
Huang Junjian, research and development manager of the Hong Kong and South China History Research Department of Lingnan University, said that the Hakka Jiudagui culture has been lost, but because many people have become interested in this food culture in recent years, it has set off a boom.
However, according to the author's superficial research, the Nine Great Gui is not unique to Hakka, and It is also popular in Guangfu. The "Nine Great Gui" is a vessel used in ancient times to place food, with both round and square shapes, and made of wood, pottery, and copper.
Gui first appeared in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which shows that the history of this artifact is not far from the "Ding". Jinben Town, Sanshui County, Guangdong Province (present-day Sanshui District, Foshan City) once unearthed an ancient tomb from the early Eastern Han Dynasty, which was called "Gui" by the Cantonese, which could hold five to six pounds of rice. Nine "oversized bowls" can be enjoyed by more than 100 people according to the amount of food eaten by ordinary people today. In other words, the Nine Great Gui only appear at the feast, not as a common thing.
As for the "Nine Greats", which symbolize "wind, clouds, thunder, rain, sea, fire, water, earth, and heaven", they are the best of all things. Placed on a table, it means rich and grand. At the banquet in the traditional Hakka village, each table has nine dishes, each dish is served in a chicken bowl, and dozens of tables are placed outside the ancestral hall of the clan, and the grand scene is enough to show the custom of the Hakka people living together and thriving in groups.
As a part of Chinese food culture, Hakka Jiu Da Gui has its own characteristics in terms of ingredients, which can be summarized as "the soil method is used to get on the horse, and the local materials are used". There is no beef, because in the farming years, cattle are the "best partner" for farmers. There is no fixed dish in the Nine Great Gui in the New Territories of Hong Kong, but "everywhere in the countryside", pork skin, radish, shiitake mushrooms, chicken feet, fish maw can be eaten, and the authentic color of Hakka cuisine is "salty, fat and fragrant".
This is the first time that the Township Council has hosted it. But Hong Kong's first Hakka Festival was held about a decade ago, with the planning of former Home Affairs Secretary Ho Chi-ping. His mother is an alumnus of the author and comes from a prominent family in Meizhou. We are also accustomed to calling Director Ho's celebrity wife, Hu Huizhong, a "Hakka daughter-in-law".
Some of the contents of the first "Hakka Culture Festival" organized by Ho Chi Ping are not available this time, such as hakka poetry and painting art, Hakka style clay sculptures, traditional rural pork stew competitions, Hakka culture forums and art performances, etc., whose experience and resources can be learned and passed on.
Author: Lin Wenying