Source: People's Daily - Guizhou Channel Original draft
"Hmm... syllable...... Whoops..." It was the bright-paced sound of a gong.
"Four anti-security should be vigilant to prevent fire and theft." The front door should be closed, the back door should be closed, the gas canister should be tightened, and the smoke pot should be pinched out. "It's playing more people yelling.
Open all in the fight more night patrol.
Whenever it is late at night (23:00), on the street of Songkan in the ancient town of Tongzi County, Guizhou Province, there is an old man dressed in Tang costumes, wearing a melon skin hat, carrying a small horn, carrying a large copper gong, and speaking in an authentic rural tone, walking along the street, beating a gong while shouting. He is a volunteer in Songkan Street, Zhang Laosan. At this time, parents who have children jumping on leather bands and playing hide-and-seek outdoors also call on their children to hurry home. As for the children, they all put away their play hearts and toys, went home to wash their faces, feet, and went to bed. Those who open shops, at this time, they all pack up their goods, routine security checks, and lock the doors and close. Only those shops that open for late-night snacks are either holding umbrellas or setting up tables and stools at this time, busily displaying food stalls, steaming late-night snacks, and attracting customers.
This is the late night in the ancient town of Songkan, which is both lively and quiet.
Songkan Town is located deep in the Dalou Mountains in northern Guizhou Province, adjacent to the city of Chongqing. The narrow street is built along the Songkan River, and the street is about two kilometers from the end of the street. The name Songkan has a history. On Ma'anShan, at the northern end of the street, there used to be a thousand-year-old pine with vigorous branches, shaped like an umbrella, which needed to be hugged by several people. The ancient post road passes under the tree, whether it is a heavy porter, a foot picker, or a wanderer, a passer-by, the south and the north like to rest under the tree for a while. In order to facilitate the rest of passers-by, the ancestors built several stone ridges like benches under the trees. Passers-by called this place Songkan, and over time, it was called Songkan. The wise Songkan people found that within the jurisdiction of Songkan Town, the thousand-year-old pine is not only Ma'anshan, but also the green pine, and there is still a group of villagers named after the big pine tree in the rock chair village of Songkan Town. The town of Songkan is located in the north of Tongzi County. In the north, the water is not decanted, and the gua elephant is kan. The Songkan River flows rapidly and flows all the way north into the Yangtze River, and the origin of the name Songkan has quite a cultural connotation.
Songkan Road in all directions.
Since it is an ancient town, there is something to say.
Songkan is the shipping dock where Sichuan salt flows into Qian, and has been famous for hundreds of years. The salt boats are flown up the Qi River, and all the boats must go together. In the rapidly flowing beachhead, except for the commander who holds a pen on the boat to grasp the direction, the rest must go ashore to pull the boat. The person who pulls the boat is called a porter. Carrying a long thick rope, the porter arched his body while walking on the shore, and shouted the trumpet neatly and forcefully, although it was a little difficult but also very lively. Every day, the salt boats that arrive at Songkan Pier one after another, about 20 more or so. The salt boat arrived at the dock, carrying the salt bartenders, the vendors selling tofu, pork, and mountain goods, and the boatmen who cleaned up the rope and cooked on the fire. Songkanchang is a distribution center for trade in goods in the surrounding area, with cloth shops, dye shops, inns, restaurants, tobacco houses, and tea houses. However, the best business on the street, the most is to push tofu to sell, earn soybean residue to feed pigs of small merchants, every three or five shops is one. These small merchants are famous for their water bean blossoms and dried beans, and there is no shortage of customers. Songkan Field opens early. For example, those who go to Dongxi Town, Qijiang County, Chongqing, to sell native cloth, to Catch Water Town to sell fruits, to Meitan County in Guizhou to sell rice, to Suiyang County to sell peppers, to Anshun to sell opium, to Zheng'an County to sell local tobacco, and to Tongzi County to sell paper cigarettes and shisha small traders and hawkers also have to go to Songkan a day in advance to spend the night. On the day of the rush, both sides of the street are stalls selling local products, charcoal, chicken, duck and eggs, and pork. On the narrow streets, the backs, the burdens, the customers, the shovels (bargaining) of local specialties, you come and go, rubbing shoulders, bustling, extra lively. There is no shortage of salt in SongkanChang, which has become the most popular "currency" in the market. At that time, or 10 eggs for 1 or 2 salt bars, or 1 quintal of rice for two or three pounds of salt bars, accompanied by the market, clearly traded, but also did not deceive people, did not harm people.
The former site of Songkan Yanbu Wharf.
This is the historical face of the ancient town of Songkanchang. In the northern mountains of Guizhou, Songkan is a well-known wharf and downtown, and once set up an Anbian Tong prefect, which is not comparable to ordinary rural areas. Let's say that there is no ordinary rural field, but there are special people in songkan field. This shows the status and influence of the ancient town of Songkan for more than a thousand years.
Before the founding of New China, the homes of ordinary people in Songkan were illuminated at night with tung oil lamps, pine oil mallets, or candles poured with oil, not only there were no electric lamps, but even the families of people who used kerosene lamps were very few. At night, only shops such as stacks and smokehouses hang lanterns on the narrow streets to attract customers, and the rest of the places are dark. Therefore, Songkan Field has to play more night patrols. As far as the fight is concerned, all the places where the change is made are the beginning of the night, and the people who patrol the night will knock on the pole to report the change. Each more knocking method is different. If you fall more slowly and faster, hit three times in a row, hit two times faster, hit three times in a row, three more slow and one slower and two faster, four more one slower and three faster, five more one slower and four faster. The content of the barking is also different. If the day is drier and dryer, be careful of the candle. Second, close the door and close the window, anti-theft and anti-theft. Three more peaceful. Four more cold and frozen. Five, go to bed earlier and get up early, take care of your body. However, the Songkan field only plays three more, that is, it starts from the sub-time and ends at the ugly time (1 a.m.). Far from it, let's say that on the eve of the founding of New China, as long as you arrive at Sangen, you can see Uncle Zhang, who lives behind the street, wearing a long shirt, wearing grass shoes on his feet, hanging a nan bamboo pole around his waist, holding a lantern in his left hand, and holding a small wooden stick in his right hand to the street. While tapping the bamboo tube, he shouted loudly: "Every household, be careful with the candles." Go to bed early and get up early, safe and sound. After that, his figure disappeared into the night with the sound of shouting and shouting.
Songkan Town Kong Dao Chuan Qian, xiang is known as the gateway. As a wharf for Sichuan salt into Qian, the shipping of the Songkan River has become a history. Nowadays, the Sichuan-Qianqian Railway, the Chongqing-Qianqian High-Speed Railway, the 210 National Highway, the Chongzun Expressway, and the Zhengxi Expressway go south-to-north through Songkan, which is no longer comparable to the past shipping era. With the pace of the country's reform and opening up, the Songkan people, who are full of commodity economy awareness, have gained geographical advantages, not only repaired the narrow old streets, but also built new streets on the east bank of the Songkan River. The old street is classical, the new street is modern, and the two different styles of buildings face each other across the river, which is a perfect combination. Antique stalls, snacks, palatial restaurants, restaurants, decorate the streets with dazzling. From Old Street to New Street, it seems to have the feeling of traveling through time and space. With the promotion of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization strategy, the water of the Songkan River has become greener. Under the trees on both sides of the Songkan River, on the wide square, the sound of dancing music from time to time is undoubtedly a reflection of the picturesque life of the Songkan people. However, with the development of society and the development of the economy, many Songkan people also feel that the ancient town with a thousand-year history seems to be missing something. What is missing? The Songkan people are thinking, looking.
The ancient town of Songkan.
The Songkan people found the long-lost beater and beat it louder. Now the name of the changers is also Zhang, called Zhang Kaiquan, he is not tall, has passed 60 years old, lives in Laojie, is an authentic Songkan person. Because he ranked third, when he was a child, he called him Zhang Laosan, whether he was older than him or younger than him, he was called Zhang Laosan. As for him, no matter who shouted, he happily agreed and never bothered. He didn't look amazing, but he was born with a good voice, and his voice was unusually crisp and loud. When he was young, he followed his father to Chongqing and other places to run rivers and lakes, sell herbs, and see the world. After that, he married his daughter-in-law and became a family, and started a small business to live a stable little life. Songkan has developed, changed, and he is as happy as many Songkan people. The comrades of the neighborhood committee found him and asked him to come out and fight more, and he was also a former fighter and gladly agreed. He walked down the street carrying a gong, "Oh... syllable...... After the beating, just like Uncle Zhang who beat more before, he opened his throat and shouted: "Four anti-security should be vigilant to prevent fire and theft." The front door should be closed, the back door should be closed, the gas canister should be tightened, and the smoke pot should be pinched out. "I don't know what kind of relationship he had with the previous Uncle Zhang, but the ancient town of Songkan has another beating person, and he can hear the beating again." Also like Uncle Zhang before, the People of Songkan soon became accustomed to Zhang Laosan's shouting.
Zhang Laosan, who played more, is not only a landscape of the ancient town of Songkan, but also a well-known figure. At the beginning, he bought an alarm clock for fear of mistakes and reminded himself to go out on time. After that, no matter whether it was spring, summer, autumn or winter, wind and rain, he never delayed a day. He was injured, and the pieces of steel on his body that should have been taken out long ago did not bother to take them. He was not afraid of pain, but he was afraid that after going to the hospital, no one would take over for him. He and his shouts are now integrated into the life of the Songkan people, and he only wants to fight more things. His family was also very supportive of him. He was kind and enthusiastic, and the neighbors had big things and small things, and they had to help. However, when it was time to fight more, he beat more, and even when the children got married, they went to fight more as usual. Late every night, he would bark all the way down the street, some would give him a smiley face, some would give him a greeting, or throw him a friendly gesture. Even the man who drank high in the tavern could not forget to hand him a cigarette.
Where there is giving, there is gain, and you can win respect. The ancient town saw more people beating people again, and heard more beatings, and the news did not go away. One day, several photographers in Chongqing went to Songkan Town to invite Zhang Laosan to perform and play more, and specially photographed his figure to make a beautiful article for dissemination. After hearing about it, photographers in Zunyi City and Guiyang City also drove to Songkan to take pictures of him and make vibrato. Local and foreign media people also went to him to edit news and put it on the web page. The Scattered Songkan people, staying on the Internet to see his videos and performances, homesickness suddenly arose, praised him and thanked him. Some tourists who went to Songkan to watch him perform more were indispensable to be funny and ridiculed, saying that he was like JiGong, saying that he was like Pan Hunchback, and saying that he was like Wu Dalang. And he, listening to it, just smiled slightly, saying that it doesn't matter if it's like that, as long as people can remember the ancient town of Songkan. So he became a news figure. His bright-paced gong sound and infectious shouting have already brought historical and cultural phenomena back into people's vision. The old salt barn on the banks of the Songkan River, the traces on the stone path on the shore, and the loud Chuanjiang boatman's trumpet all seem to jump out of memory, and with a new cultural form and power, they are floating and spreading to the far side.
The ancient town heard more noises. Today, the construction of Skynet and Xueliang projects is complete, and civil air defense and technical defense measures have been implemented. The Songkan, where the sense of security and happiness has generally improved, and the sound of gongs and shouts by Zhang Laosan are no longer simple folk preventive behaviors, but a cultural reproduction. With the continuous advancement of the rural revitalization strategy, this may be the culture that needs to be excavated and studied.
At the end, I end with a small poem "Overnight in Songkan":
Twilight casts in Songkan Town, and the night smells louder. The mother summoned the boy, and the young man hid the door.
Merchants guard the department store, and spectators are busy with vibrato. The old street is full of food, and the new market is brightly lit.
Bean blossom soil bowl scoop, roast wax rod scale weighing. Rice peel brine boiled in pot paste plate.
The small shop is not closed, and the wine is good and the laneway is deep. The ancient station is picturesque and drunk with other townspeople.
This scene should be long and famous. (Text/Hu Mingbin Photo/Han Zhenshun)