At the student meeting of hubei xiqu school to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the school, a row of old students who were old and rare in chu opera performed the shouting and shouting of vendors in Wuhan in the 1950s and 1960s. Xiong Wenbo, who was the third principal of the drama school, also made a role in this show. He studied the huqin of the band and has not been on stage. The shout that was assigned to him was "go down the river".
"Lower River" used to be carried by women carrying "golden buckets", dumping the manure in the sanitation bureau or farmers' dung trucks, and then going to the river to wash the buckets. "Lower river" is also synonymous with pouring feces. After the dung truck came, the trailerman shouted and "went down the river--" At this time, the "head" woman of the family seemed to hear the mobilization order, and immediately took action, carrying the bucket to the front of the car to stand in line.
Principal Xiong leaned a little shyly in front of the microphone, blushing slightly, pulling up his voice and shouting, "Go down the river—"
This "down the river" caused a lot of laughter in the hall, which made everyone return to the youth time; it also evoked the recall of the various shouts and shouts of the old Hankou.
Old Hankou Hanzheng Street
At that time, my family lived in Tiantai Lane, Hanzheng Street, Hankou, close to the Jijiazui Wharf of Hanshui. My family's life is closely related to these shouts and shouts. In my memory, the earliest shouts of the day are these:
"Down the river—"
The house in Tiantaili is an old-fashioned courtyard with two floors of wooden structure. Inside the door of one household, more than a dozen families lived upstairs and downstairs. There are no toilets and no running water. Each family has a "gold cabinet" with a "golden bucket" hidden in it, mainly for the convenience of women. Every day, after hearing the "go down the river" order, my mother rushed to the river after pouring the bucket, hurried home, and then rushed to work. I could see that she was very hard to go back and forth.
After a year, Tiantaili installed a water pipe. The family, like the neighbors, wrapped the "lower river" to outsiders. The contractor "went down the river" was a great aunt who took over the work of about thirty homes in two portals. Eight cents per month for each household. Because there is running water, there is no need to go to the river to wash the buckets. After she finished pouring the feces, she washed it in the sewer ditch in the alley, and around her was a long slip of "golden bucket". My parents went to work early, and my aunt took the bucket path to come and go. Sometimes when we went to school, the keys to the house were in the cupboard by the door, and my aunt would naturally unlock and lock the door. They are all poor anyway, and they trust each other. The aunt is very dedicated, "down the river" rain or shine. There are only three days off for the New Year, and the rest of the day is business as usual. If there was any delay, she would say hello the day before. In the cold or almost new year's months, I remember that the monthly money would rise to one yuan.
"Carrying water—"
On days when there is no running water, the family has wooden barrels to carry water or carry water back to eat by the Hanshui River. The water was dusk, and the adult put the alum into the water for a town, and the yellow water instantly became clear. Sometimes you will hear the shouts of the water carryer, "Carry the water-"Do you want water--" The water carryer is short and low, very strong, and looks honest and thick. A carton of water is only 5 cents, and the package is picked up upstairs and poured water into the tank. After the installation and operation of the water supply house next to the Shenjiamiao Post Office on Hanzheng Street, it will sell 8 cents to 1 cent per quintal of water. At this time, the water picker still has business, or 5 cents a burden. After the tap water installation was successively entered, the figure of the water carryer was no longer seen.
"Pour the scum—"
People in Wuhan call dumping garbage "dumping scum". This roar is often accompanied by a rattle. But the time when the garbage trucks came was not very fixed, sometimes before we went to school, sometimes at noon. Pouring scum is a job that my brother and I rush to do, and as soon as I encounter it, I will bravely come forward. One day, the garbage on the car was piled high. When I was about to throw the dustpan up, who knew that he was short and had little strength, and that the long handle was not enough to reach the wall panels of the garbage truck, and the slag and the ash were suddenly buckled back on his body...
When I was in elementary school, there were no summer camps or winter camps every winter or summer vacation. The base of the activity is the downstairs hall of our Grand Unity House. When I played military chess, checkers, beads, croquets, paintings, and sugar paper with the children in the neighborhood, from time to time there would be small traders going from house to house, and their shouts and shouts "attacked" the ear drums, arousing my curiosity and appetite.
People who call it "too early" (breakfast) are:
"Fa Mi Cang-"
"Foreign sugar hair cake-"
"Kang, heat and amaranth—"
"Tofu brain—"
The unified characteristics of their shouting are loud voices, heavy Huangpi accents, and the words "meat" reported out, full of enthusiasm, and some seduction.
The "middle" (afternoon snack) is called:
"Fried steamed buns withered flowers—"
This is to sell fried goods. Varieties include flowers, steamed buns, rice flowers, scattered, orchid beans, peanuts, etc., all of which are fragrant.
"Steamed cake—"
This is a finished steamed bun, carrying a small coal stove at one end and a half-cooked fine rice raw material at the other. There are two steamed cups on the coal stove, 3 points for rice cakes out of the big cup and 2 points for rice cakes out of the small cup. When the cake is made, there is a small plate, and it is also a bit exquisite.
"Yellow muffin—"
This is an "imported product", mostly operated by "Xiajiang people". The people of Wuhan collectively refer to the people around Jiangsu and Zhejiang as the people of Xiajiang. They use glutinous rice to make soft cakes like sticky rice, wrapped in sweet powder, very soft and sticky, some sprinkled with sesame seeds, and eaten sweet and fragrant. The shouting of the Xiajiang people is very different from that of the locals, taking the tone, soft and silky, as if the notes are composed.
Cool off from the heat:
"Popsicles, ice cream—"
"Beauty" brand popsicles and ice cream are the most attractive foods in summer, just like ice cream that children love today. There are many popsicle ice cream sellers, some adults and children, some pushing trolleys, and some holding thermos bottles. The sound of shouting has its own characteristics. Some are crisp: "Popsicles, popsicles—" Some are high-minded: "Popsicles - beautiful popsicles!" Some were vague: "Popsicle ice cream—" The shouting often tickled my appetite, but at that time my family was not rich (only 3 cents were given too early a day), so I had more time to swallow. Meeting my father on Sunday break or my eldest brother returning from Wuchang may make me feel relieved. For a long time, The popsicles in Hankou sold for 5 points, and the cream ice cream sold for 1 dime. By the time of the Cultural Revolution, Lieutenant General Zeng Siyu was the commander of the Wuhan Military Region. I heard that he made the decision to be close to the people, and lowered the popsicle to 3 points and the ice cream to 5 points. I'm older at this point and don't have much interest in cold drinks. Just secretly asked: Why didn't Commander Zeng come earlier?
"Osmanthus tea table soup——"
This is the clamor for selling osmanthus red bean soup, but somehow, I always hear "osmanthus tea table soup". Maybe the drinker is a foreigner, or I don't understand the official title of this food.
"Cold wine—"
Wuhan people often drink Fu juice wine is to boil and drink hot, every day early with it accompanied by fritters, noodle nests to eat, do not a little enjoyment. And the cold wine at this time is the juice wine, how is it cool? We curiously circled over. The liquor seller carries a burden like a cupboard, and bowl after bowl of rice wine is placed on the lattice inside the cabinet. He brought out a bowl: "Look, the bleaching is beautiful and refreshing, drink it to keep you cool and comfortable!" "Look at the thin layer of glutinous rice, white and transparent, like a white lotus floating in the bowl, the smell of wine. The seductive breath coupled with positive agitation provoked me to turn around and run back upstairs to withdraw 5 points of "private money" and hurriedly picked up the wine bowl. After tasting it, I felt for the first time what is called cool, sweet and ice. After that, I have unconsciously followed the bearer's burden several times through the streets, I know that he came out of the Ziyang Vegetable Farm on Hanzheng Street, and I have also been to the door of his small shop, but I did not go in, because I was shy. It's just that cool and sweet taste, which is still unforgettable.
Hanzheng Street has been a commercial street in Hankou since ancient times, and the commercial atmosphere is very strong. The business of small traders has also been done in the alleys along the streets. In particular, the clamor of repair and service industries can be heard all the time.
"Mend the pot—"
This roar is different from the shouting in the Hunan flower drum play "Filling the Pot", and their shouting is "Make up ah - pot -". The object of the patch is also different. They are iron pots, and here are mainly steel pots (aluminum pots), but also with repair enamel products. If you want to repair the iron pot, generally go up along the Big Jia Street to the fire road, where there are many merchants who make pots and pans, and raw and cooked iron pots can be made up.
"Umbrella—"
This shout is not to sell umbrellas but to repair umbrellas. At that time, plastic umbrellas had not yet come out, and people mostly used oilcloth umbrellas or oil-paper umbrellas. The oil cloth umbrella is solid but the umbrella bone is easy to break, and the oil paper umbrella is light but the umbrella coat is easy to break. I have seen craftsmen repair paper umbrellas with tung oil and leather paper. Brush a piece of tung oil at the hole, paste it with leather paper, brush another piece of tung oil, and dry it. It's quick and easy.
"Hoops—"
At that time, the family had wooden pots and barrels, because of the change of climate and the temporality of use, the material of the wood would dry and crack, and the wire ring of the hoop would rust, which would require the re-use of the wire circle to put the pot or barrel hoop on the hoop, so that these wooden utensils would not leak water. This process is called "hooping". However, in the population of Wuhan, the "hoop" is pronounced "dry".
"Rest the bandage rattan bed—"
The bed of Wuhan people has two major characteristics, one is a bamboo bed, and the other is a bandage. The bamboo bed is used for hot days and is usually used for sleeping bandages. The bandages were woven into a bed surface with brown rope on a quadrangular wooden frame, which was more comfortable than a wooden board, similar to the current Sims. Some rich family bandages are made of mahogany and are resistant to deformation. Some wealthy families wear rattan skins as bed surfaces, which are suitable for hot and cold climates. The craftsmanship of these bandages is relatively comprehensive, and carpentry, bamboo, rattan, and rope work must be taken down. Our family let him wear a bandage once, as if it cost 8 yuan.
"Dye clothes—"
At that time, people's lives were very frugal, and their clothes were old, and they would often dye and turn over. It's just that the dyes bought (called "indigo" by Wuhan people) are not easy to master, and sometimes the clothes are dyed. It is better to hand it over to the merchant to dye, spend a few dimes, save labor and labor. Drinkers often carry a stack of dyed and washed clothes on their shoulders, and put a small card on each piece of clothing, and use the small card to send old work and take on new work.
"Sharpen the scissors and shovel—"
In the modern model drama "Red Lantern" of Peking Opera, the "porridge shed wiring" is a scene, and the shout of the knife sharpener is "grind the scissors to come - the kitchen knife -" . The shouting of the Wuhan people is different from that of the northerners, and it is spewed out in one breath. At that time, the Wuhan Han Theater learned to perform "Red Lantern", and Li Luoke, who played the clown, played the protagonist Li Yuhe, while Wu Tianbao, the third son of the family, played the villain Hatoyama, and this play was really a bit interesting. In the "porridge shed wiring" scene, the knife sharpener's shouting cannot be copied from the Peking Opera, or listen to our "Han saucer": "Sharpen the scissors and shovels-" The shouting that came out of the spout suddenly came in for a full house. The audience's emotions were mobilized by the rural tone! I remember that the person who played the knife sharpener was Liu Xueqing, who specialized in the six foreign (Wu Laosheng) profession.
Some knife sharpeners in Wuhan like to repeat the words when they shout: "The blade grinds the scissors - sharpens the scissors -- Grind about 1 dime or 2 dimes at a time.
The vitality of this profession is very strong, after decades, it can be seen not only in Wuhan City, but also in Shenzhen, which is more than a thousand kilometers away. Once, when I was walking in the urban village of Shenzhen, I actually heard the shouting of "sharpening scissors - kitchen knife". I talked to him with great interest. The knife sharpener is a retired old man of a northern factory mechanic. His son works in Shenzhen, and he still has to hang out when he can't stay idle. Ask him if he has a business? He joked that he could receive an additional two to four thousand a month. He said: "I'm not here to make money, but to get acquainted with places...
Some of the shouts were in the service sector, while others were dedicated to women.
"Glass bottles for sale—"
This is the roar of Wuhan City to collect waste goods (waste). This recipient, with a very good voice, can spit out a series of waste (waste) names in one breath, which is really "better to say than to sing". My family had nothing left to sell, but once he also received meat bones, and I gladly handed him a few pounds of dried bones from home for more than 1 dime.
"Rip your face—"
This is a female voice, quite affinity. We only know "ripping off" and can't understand what "ripping faces" is. Once the downstairs neighbor's sister-in-law called in the "face-pulling" one, it opened the eyes of a few of our children. It is used to put several rubber bands on the face of the sister-in-law, so that the two rubber bands are like tweezers to pull out the hair on the face, after pulling, the face of the sister-in-law has indeed become a lot whiter. The "face-pulling" person is a middle-aged woman dressed spiritually, who is very careful in her work and very skilled in her hands. It's just that the person who is being ripped should be patient, and it is enough to hold his head up for a long time.
"Rose sesame oil, hair oil—"
This is also for women's makeup, combing hair, shouting clear and gentle. It is a male seller, who also raises his voice when he shouts, and never has a thick throat. They not only sell hair oil, but also comb people's hair. Once I saw them comb the head of a wife, she brushed her head bare. It was just that the hair was too tight against the scalp, as if it had just risen from the water. A few of us little ones actually circled around our wives like they were watching the hilarity...
"Printing oil—"
This shout is also light and gentle, but it comes from the mouth of a thin man, and it is not turned into a woman's service. At that time, many families had printing boxes for signature stamps, and the printing colors in the boxes often dried. To solve this problem, the merchant thought of this small business. As for why he whispered, it may be to be different and eye-catching.
There are also many shouts that do not use human voices, but are replaced by utensils.
The clanging sound of a single piece of gong is a blind man to tell fortunes;
The "continuous sound" of the copper sheet is that the coppersmith repairs the lock;
The rattle shook its head, and it was the cargo man who sold the goods.
……
It's strange that the industry of shaving heads and mending shoes is the industry that deals with people the most, but we've never seen them yelling in the alley. From time to time, they will occupy a place at the head of the alley or at the end of the alley, waiting for customers to come to their door to do business. Maybe this is also a method of management.
From childhood to adulthood, the sound of buying and selling in the streets and alleys of Wuhan has accompanied us to grow. I passed through alleys, main streets, and roads, and the loudest and most profound shout that impressed me was "Yangtze River Daily-".
From the bronze statue through Minzu Road, through Jijiazui, to Hanzheng Street, you often meet an unusual newspaper seller. He is more than one meter and seven meters tall, has a good appearance, has a beard on his lips, and has the style of a drama actor. A stack of newspapers was draped over his arm, and a large white cloth bag was tied to a thick stack of newspapers. He hurriedly walked, "Yangtze River Daily——, Hubei Daily—" and shouted non-stop. This is often the case in everyday life, in the wind and snow. At first, there was no People's Daily, but after the air freight version was printed locally, he also sold the People's Daily.
From elementary school to the later "Cultural Revolution", it seems that he has always been selling newspapers. From him, I bought a newspaper for my eldest brother, and I also bought a newspaper for myself. After the Cultural Revolution, I never saw him again. For many years, I only remembered the other shouts, and his shouts made me remember him as a person.
August 13, 2021