Langzhong City, Nanchong City, located in the northeast of Sichuan Province, has a long history of more than 2,300 years, is a famous historical and cultural city in China, and the hometown of Chinese New Year culture.
It is understood that the "Langzhong Spring Festival Customs" was included in the list of the fifth batch of intangible cultural heritage projects in Sichuan Province. It contains a variety of cultural expressions and spiritual connotations, completely retains many ancient customs and customs, and is a typical representative of the entire northeast Sichuan traditional culture.
The spring in Langzhong City, Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, speaks of spring customs. Photo by Wang Yugui
There are many kinds of forms of langzhong-aged customs, mainly including folk life customs such as eating laba porridge, painting door gods, and preparing New Year's food, folk indoctrination activities such as preaching sacred words and singing Taoist organs, folk blessing activities such as bleaching incense and welcoming Luan out of Luan, folk religious activities such as worshiping the god of stoves and ancestors, folk gatherings such as temple fairs, lantern festivals, and bright flower shoes, as well as sports and entertainment activities such as swinging and wandering on the sixteenth day of the first month.
In the villages around Siyi Town and Qiaolou Township in the northwest of Langzhong, the villagers still retain the custom of "catching up with the New Year".
Legend has it that Chinese New Year's Eve when night falls, the beast will go out of the mountain to plague people and animal crops. At this time, the young and middle-aged people in the village will beat gongs and drums, roar and shout, intimidate the Nian beasts, and protect the village, which is called "catching the New Year" by the people.
In the past, there were no fireworks, so the old man looked for the bamboo that grew in the bamboo forest, roasted it on the brazier, and made a huge sound of "boo-boo" after knocking, which is the most primitive "firecracker". These ancient customs have been passed down to this day and are still alive in the above-mentioned areas of Langzhong.
In the early morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, Lang Zhongchun dressed in ancient official clothes and began to "say spring". Adhering to the "Five Elements" of their ancestors, they went door to door to send Spring blessings to all walks of life.
After lunch, the ancient city of Langzhong is decorated with various folk celebrations, and the residents spontaneously form folk performance teams such as money sticks, clam crane dances, sister boats, stilt walking, dragon and lion dances, etc., dressed in festive costumes, walking along the streets, singing and dancing, and lively.
It is worth mentioning that in the ancient city of Langzhong, there are six forms of dragon dance alone: Hongshan bench dragon, three-section flower-wearing small color dragon, Boryeong family Shilong (also known as "farm tool dragon"), burning flower dragon, spring dragon, grass dragon.
Among them, the burning flower dragon comes from the ancient town of Laoguan in Langzhong. In the past, when the artists were in the dragon, they buried the fire twister made of paper on the "dragon's back", and lit it during the dragon dance, and the stars and dots of fire were particularly conspicuous at night. At present, the light source of the burning dragon is mostly replaced by cold lights, but when the artist dances the dragon, he will still burn two pots of molten iron next to it, while dancing the dragon, while playing iron flowers. The iron flowers spread out in the night sky, brilliant and gorgeous, and tourists look at it like a fairyland.
In addition, in Langzhong, there is a saying that "if you don't play the drum, it is not counted as the New Year". From the beginning of the first lunar month, the "Ba people" dressed in animal skins, holding long-handled animal skin drums, banging and shouting along the street, jumping and jumping, and changing formations. Its sound is "terrifying", its momentum is "majestic and spectacular", which is a true record of the ancient Ba people's strong and good war, and it is also a vivid portrayal of the contemporary Langzhong folk customs.
Layout Appreciation:
China City Daily ( 2022-01-24 Edition 14)
■ Author: China City Daily reporter Hu Anhua
■ Editor: Lina Zhu