As a native of the north, when I was 17 years old, I went south to study, only to touch Guangdong for the first time, for the New Year in the southern country, I was very curious, in the winter of 2016, I decided not to go home for the first time for the New Year, stay in Guangdong, from Chinese New Year's Eve to fifteen, walking 9 cities, going deep into the homes of locals, experiencing the New Year customs and customs of Guangfu, Chaoshan and Hakka, so that I, the northerners, opened their eyes, three years have passed, still in sight, so in chronological order, write a travelogue of the flowing account for memories,
【Zengcheng】
China has many large and small urban agglomerations, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, but the attitude of the north and south seems to be somewhat different, Yanjiao can't wait to be classified into the Beijing Grand Seventh Ring, but Guangdong people seem to have an independent personality, there is always resistance, just like Shunde people do not say that they are Foshan people, Xinhui people do not say that they are Jiangmen people, Panyu people do not say that they are Guangzhou people, Zengcheng is also such a "city", I know that there is even a problem of "why Zengcheng people still do not recognize that they belong to Guangzhou", my Chinese New Year's Eve, It was in Zengcheng, although it was still in Guangzhou, but it took nearly 3 hours to arrive.
Although I read books in Guangzhou for four years and listened to a lot of Cantonese, when I arrived in the Hakka area, I became dazed, let alone in the countryside, and the dialogue I had with the villagers seemed to be chickens and ducks, and even the other party spoke a few words of Mandarin, and I still thought about it for half a day.
In the countryside with my friend Long Fei posted couplets, after pasting, I ran alone to the crops, blowing the mountain wind, enjoying the moment of being close to the land, Zhou Guoping once wrote:
A person's childhood is best spent in the countryside, and all life, including plants, animals, and people, comes from the land, is born on the land, and finally belongs to the land.
Everyone says that the taste of the year is faded, in my opinion, it is far away from the land for a long time, the land is the root, close to the land, is to go home. Looking back, the sunset reflected the sky into goose egg yolk, perhaps it also knew that today was the "Chinese New Year's Eve", and after two clicks, it hid behind the mountain.
In the north, Chinese New Year's Eve meals basically have to wait until the early morning, but here it starts at less than 7 o'clock, and white cut chicken is a single main dish for the New Year's Festival, such as a faith-like existence, which is also the first time in 17 years that I, a northerner, have not eaten dumplings wrapped in coins in Chinese New Year's Eve.
Before coming, I heard that Guangdong people do not watch the Spring Festival Gala, I don't know if it is the reason for taking care of me, the friend's home opened CCTV, after watching a few language programs in a hurry, he gave up the Spring Festival Gala that was spat on every year, the friend's mother was preparing red envelopes on the side, compared with the amount of hundreds of dollars in the north, pragmatic Guangdong people used profits to please a good intention, and the network will also ridicule the Cantonese red envelopes every year.
My friend Dragon flew outside the house to light fireworks, Beijing banned fireworks, no one cares here, the rural trails have no street lights, all rely on fireworks to illuminate the road, I have always felt that after the fireworks bloomed did not disappear, but became stars, left in the sky.
Especially at night in the countryside.
Early in the morning, Long Fei woke me up to watch the lion dance, I think I can finally see the authentic Lingnan lion dance, very excited, but Long Fei told me that this is more like "make a look", not a very professional lion dance, just two young people holding props, door to door to visit, the older people in the back of the gong and drum vibrating the sky.
Come to a family, this family will set off firecrackers to greet, the lion dance team finally arrived at the ancestral hall, the villagers' emotions gradually reached a climax, there is a pool of water next to the ancestral hall, the children grab the firecrackers, light them and throw them into the sky, when the firecrackers fall on the water, they can still ring for a while, tens of meters of red firecrackers are flattened on the ground, exploded, and the smoke left after burning is shrouded in the ancestral hall, looking at it from a distance, like a fairyland.
Coming out of the village, there are also lion dance gong and drum teams patrolling the streets in the town, and in the memory of the Spring Festival in the north, some folk activities with local characteristics are only performed in the temple fairs for a fee, which has become a real "captive" culture, while in the south, it has almost penetrated into life and become an extremely important part of the festival.
In the days that followed, I experienced more traditional Cantonese festivals, and these folk and unadorned customs and customs became the biggest gain of this trip.
Legend has it that He Xiangu is a small building person in Zengcheng, who built the Xiangu Family Temple to worship He Xiangu, and the incense on the first day of the New Year is very strong, and I also come to join in the fun. There are many strangely shaped gods in the Xiangu Family Temple, but this does not affect the continuous flow of people to pray for blessings, and the square has begun to be continuously firecrackers, presumably to celebrate, to give The Fairy a full of red makeup.
After coming out of the family temple, I took a boat to the ancient village of Baihu, which was quite primitive, and when I greeted the boatman, I immediately remembered Shen Congwen's "Border City", which is a small and famous village, and the bustle on the other side is completely different, the boulevard at the mouth of the village is very quiet, and going inside, there are many ancestral halls left at the end of the Qing Dynasty and buildings listed as cultural protection, although the ancestral hall is somewhat dilapidated, but the incense is continuous.
As the sunset fell, I also quickly left The White Lake Village, it is estimated that it is the reason for the New Year's Day festival, Len did not wait for the bus, asked for help from the owner of the roadside restaurant to find the mo back to the village entrance, Long Fei rode the battery car to pick me up 5 kilometers away, almost failed to go back, in the countryside by public transportation travel, always full of uncertainty.
On the third day of Zengcheng, invited by another friend, went to Zhengguo Temple and Huxin Island, there was no public transportation on the map, stopped the minibus along the road, and then transferred to a motorcycle, fortunately, the cost of motorcycles in the countryside is not high, and the cost of 10 kilometers is only twenty yuan.
For a short stay, we went to The Dongjing Village recommended by a friend, which is an undeveloped ancient village with many dilapidated old house ruins, I have always liked ruins, and found many old furniture and old bowls in the abandoned houses, and the bowls are printed with "self-reliance, striving to be strong", typical of the old objects of the Cultural Revolution.
In the evening in the countryside of a friend's house to participate in the family dinner, the road parked cars from the door to the village entrance, I heard that relatives each family has to set up a banquet, the Spring Festival every day there is a banquet, my most memorable is a large pot of black lacquered pig's foot ginger, enough for dozens of people to enjoy, but I think, if it is all me, I can also eat.
After dinner, we drove the motorcycle back to the urban area, there are no street lights in the village, surrounded by farmland, the countryside road shrouded in darkness is boundless, I don't know when it began, the villagers began to set off fireworks, left one right one, all the way to the south under the escort of fireworks, fireworks in the dark sky appeared big and bright, quite a sense of doom, can't help but think of the ace agent movie in the head explosion plot, this feeling is unparalleled, so far the aftertaste is endless.
【Chaoshan】
After returning to Guangzhou, I rested for a day, the 11th plane from Guangzhou to Chaoshan, Chaoshan three cities are not far apart, the culture is similar, the first stop I chose Shantou, I have long heard that Shantou has the largest number of existing arcades in the country, sure enough, the republic of China heritage is the best description of here, with a small park as the center, no matter which street you go, are all the same old arcades, for a person who loves old buildings, here is simply heaven.
It's almost all been transformed now
When I was in Shantou, I asked around where to see "Camp Lord", Camp Lord is a traditional folk sacrifice activity in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, the camp of the camp god is the Chaoshan dialect word, "LaoYe" in the Chaoshan area refers to the guardian deity of a town or village, and there are many gods in various places, and every year from the first to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, they must spontaneously carry out the folk ceremony of "making a hot" (also known as Laore) and welcoming the gods.
The date of the camp master is different in each village, from the first day of the New Year to the fifteenth day of the first month, almost every day there are meetings to greet the gods, and the neighboring villages have differences, the gods worshiped are also slightly different, as long as the time is enough, you can experience it every day, and when you reach the fifteenth day of the first month, the ceremony reaches its peak.
I saw the "camp master" twice in Chaozhou, the process is quite complicated, a variety of tricks, the most important thing is the "patrol land and security", people hug the "old man" out of the tour, firecrackers ring everywhere they go, there are honor guards in front and behind, by the flag, color scenery, wake up lion, song and dance, big gong and drum, tide band composition, camp old man when the villagers can touch the old man with their hands, it is said that they can bring good luck and ensure a year of peace.
It is said that every year of the festival, preparation and training must begin several months in advance, and for me, a northerner who has never seen such a large-scale god-meeting, it is completely shocking.
The King of Sanshan is a native deity of Chaoshan
Chaoshan has always been controversial in the worship of gods, locals believe that it is a traditional folk custom, and foreigners think that it is feudal superstition. But it is undeniable that in the face of the impact of modern culture in the past 30 years, its influence is indeed gradually weakening, and the native settlements in the Chaoshan area have slowly changed to emerging urbanized communities and community reorganization has occurred.
Among them, many young people I know once had a resistant attitude towards the camp master, believing that the next few generations would die. But in any case, the vitality of the traditional culture of the Chaoshan people really shocked me.
Chao Opera
From Shantou to Chaozhou, from Jieyang to Puning, each city has left me with a different impression, Shantou's Republic of China Arcade, Chaozhou's Yingshen Competition, Jieyang's modern architecture, you can use many words to elaborate on this journey.
【Shanwei】
Although Shanwei is generally not attributed to Chaoshan, but the culture is similar, after bidding farewell to puning's local tycoon friends, early in the morning to take the bus to Shanwei Jieshi, along the way no one on the bus, the whole process was wrapped by me, the driver saw only me alone, the highway is not on, late for a long time, it is too unruly.
Historically, hailufeng can be attributed to the Chaoshan people, but because they have been away from the Chaoshan base camp for a long time, there are great differences in language and customs, so they lack a sense of identity with Chaoshan and do not think that they are part of the "Chaoshan region", while the Chaoshan people in other places also have great controversy about whether to include Shanwei in the Chaoshan region.
Shanwei near Jieyang, and is surrounded by the Hakka cultural belt, commonly known as "mid-mountain guest", is the two kinds of ethnic groups deeply integrated and formed, unique, jieshi Xuanwu Mountain in the Chaoshan area incense is very popular, all the way along the street are looking at fortune-telling stalls.
I also tried to ask for a signature, and my friend came to know about signing the book, as if it was still a good luck.
Perhaps because the socialist materialist values of the north have spread well, such a large scene of worship has never been seen, and I, a northerner, are stunned every day.
【Huizhou】
I know Huizhou because of Su Shi, and he summed up his life in the poem "Portrait of the Self-Titled Golden Mountain": "The heart is like a ashes, and the body is like a boat that is not tied." Wen Ruping's life and deeds, Huangzhou Huizhou Danzhou. And he was demoted to Danzhou because he wrote down sentences like "don't quit being a Lingnanian", so I have always been fascinated by Huizhou.
In Huizhou there are friends to receive me, not to live on the street, Huizhou is located in the Cantonese culture, Hakka culture, Chaoshan culture intersection, when to the Lantern Festival, caught up with the West Lake Lantern Festival, the lantern will be north and south, not very unusual, the next day looking for the West Lake and Dongpo Ancestral Hall, Chaoyun Tomb, line to Shuidong Street Guan Ancient Building, only stay for one day, then set off to return to Sui.
【Foshan】
Guangfu culture to Guangzhou Buddha as the representative, and Foshan has comparable to guangzhou cultural heritage, because in Guangzhou to study for the sake of school, Foshan friends are not many, live in the homes of locals, in order to explore more deeply, Foshan two days, first to Dali to see the dragon dance and lion dance, and then line "Tongji Bridge", and finally go north to Lishui, experience the fire dancing.
"Xing Tong Ji" is a traditional folk activity in Foshan area, since the Qianlong years have been popular, as the saying goes: "Xing Tong Ji, no closure", that is, walking through the Tong Ji Bridge, there is no worry, every sixteenth day of the first month, no one came forward to organize, Foshan ten thousand empty alleys, holding windmills, shaking wind chimes, carrying cabbage, is to come across this bridge, I am worried that the sixteen people of the first month are too many, a day in advance, and the real pious people, it is better to go for two days.
There are a lot of cabbage sellers on the street
The next day, I stopped by the Nanfeng Ancient Stove and came to Lishui Town in the afternoon, where the jumping fire is quite famous, as the name suggests, it is to skip the campfire for good luck.
In the afternoon, the crowd gradually gathered in front of the ancestral hall to prepare, and after drinking and eating, the gongs and drums sounded in unison and the ceremony began. And it seems to have become famous here, the government's propaganda advertisements are plastered all over the country road, and there are many old men with long guns and short cannons who come to take pictures.
In the impression, when I was a child, in the countryside of my hometown in Shanxi, it was indeed a high bonfire that was lit every Spring Festival, so that when I grew up and came to the city, I felt that it was inconceivable that there was no bonfire during the New Year. Since then, there have been two experiences that have made me dream back to my childhood, one is the Yi Torch Festival in Liangshan, and the other is the jumping fire of Lishui.
I've been worried about whether they're going to get hurt
【Guangzhou】
Back in Guangzhou, the taste of the new year is not reduced, but only the flower street can be visited, similar to the temple fair in the north, the upper and lower nine Beijing Roads in the old city, the market, the performance, the intangible cultural heritage, the crowds, the hustle and bustle of the city.
Postscript: To be honest, this is a push that was late for a long time, the draft stayed in the background for three years, and every Spring Festival had to be turned over to make up for it twice, but it was all in vain, and this year's evening of rushing to Chinese New Year's Eve was finally completed, relieved.
Fifteen days all over the nine cities, really let me appreciate the perfection of the preservation of Lingnan traditional culture, the horizon is wide open, in general, the feeling is "the groove has not been seen", "the groove has not been seen", but I very calmly expressed my emotions, did not expect, wrote to the back gradually became a popular science article.
Be sure to thank the friends who provide accommodation all the way, the big New Year, but also to go to your home to disturb, sometimes there are misunderstandings - such as Chaoshan such a traditional place, if the girl takes a boy from a foreign country to go home for the Spring Festival, it is really a big thing - originally wanted to put a bunch of photos, but 3 years ago I was really ugly, I thought about it or did not let go.
At the end of the 21st year, in the tail tooth activity of the perpetual old things, I also told my travel experience in the form of a sharing meeting, because of the epidemic in the past two years, all in Guangzhou for the New Year, here, has gradually become my second home as a Yankee.