Li Chun, the first of the twenty-four solar terms, means the beginning of the unity and the beginning of the revival of all things.
The Ming Dynasty "Qunfang Genealogy" explains this: "Standing, starting to build also." Spring begins and builds also. ”
Folk proverb cloud: "Spring hits five or nine, spring hits six or nine." This means that the day of Lichun is either on the last day of May Ninth or on the first day of June Ninth.
This year's Spring Festival is on February 4, which is the first day of June 9. In the north, although the spring day is still cold and condensed, the spring cold is steep, but the breath of spring has come to the face, "five nine six nine, along the river to see the willow", the vast field has appeared a hazy layer of willow color, spring is striding towards us.
Playing spring is the common name of Lichun, why is it called "playing spring"? This stems from a historical legend in the pre-Qin period. According to legend, Shao Hao, the leader of the Dongyi clan, let his son Jurmang manage farming, and when winter and spring came, the yang qi rose, and Jurman urged the people to plough the soil and plough the fields and prepare to sow seeds. But the old cattle who ploughed the fields did not understand human language, and were still immersed in the laziness of the cat winter, too lazy to get up and work.
All winter, they are lying in the cowshed to enjoy the blessings, adding long flesh, and the bones of the body are lazy, and at this time people need to knock and beat it to wake it up. So some people suggested beating them with whips, but Jurman disagreed, saying that the cattle were our helpers, and that they were not allowed to abuse, and that it was enough to frighten and frighten.
How to scare it? Jurman asked everyone to shape it like an ox out of mud and whip it with a whip. When the sound of the whip in the air awakened the cattle, they saw that the clay sculptures of their kind were being whipped, and they stood up in fright, obediently obeyed the master's command, and went to work in the field...
Based on this ancient legend, the whip spring cattle are called "whip earth cattle", and Jurmang is revered as a god who specializes in overseeing farming. The "Whip Spring Ceremony" arose from the Zhou Dynasty, and the Zhou Li Moon Order reads: "Unearth cattle to send cold air." Later, it has been retained, but it was changed to Li Chun Day, which flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, especially after the promulgation of the "Earth Cow Classic" by Zhao Zhen of Song Renzong, the custom of whipping the earth cow was more widely spread, and even became an important part of folk culture. In the area of the Qi River in Shandong, "At the time of the spring, each official went out to worship the god Of Man, and each carried a spring staff to strike three cattle to show his intention to persuade the cultivators." The retinue xu soldiers smashed the cattle and horses, which was called 'fighting spring'. ”
So, how to fight the spring cow? The Southern Song Dynasty poet Yang Wanli wrote in great detail in "Watching Children's Plays to Fight Spring Cows", shiyun:
The child whips the earth cow, and the learner beats the spring first.
Yellow hooves and white horns of cattle, green grasshopper greentails.
This year's soil vein should be rain cream, last year is not like this year's music.
Children smell Nian Dengxi is not hungry, and cattle smell Nian Deng's sorrow is not fat.
Ears of wheat are seen as brooms, and rice is also full of pearls.
When the fields are ploughed but the mountains are ploughed, when will the cattle be idle from now on?
This poem depicts a childlike child learning to whip an earthen cow like an adult, full of childlike heart and childlike fun. The children learned to look like adults, first hitting the head of the bull and then the tail of the ox. The earth cow has "yellow hooves and white horns", and the shepherd boy wears a hat. This year the land should be more fertile than in previous years, and the mood of the farmers should be more joyful. The children rejoiced when they heard that this year was going to be full of grains, but the cattle in the family were worried that they were too tired to grow fat. The poet observes the earth cow with the eyes of a child and experiences the joy of beating the spring cow with the child's mentality. At the end of the poem, the poet expresses his feelings of compassion for the farmers by lamenting the endless cultivation of the cattle.
The Southern Song Dynasty poet monk Shi Huikong zuo has a set of "偈" poems, one of which also mentions "playing spring cattle", the poem said:
First hit the spring bull's head, beat the spring bull's tail,
Stir up the void into the lotus wire.
It can be seen that the order of beating spring cattle is to first hit the head of the cow, then the tail of the cow, and finally the body of the cow until it is broken. The crisp sound was illusory and haunting in the silent spring field.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the monk Cheng Vulture of Qingyun Temple in Guangdong wrote "Playing Spring Cow Song Three Songs", the second of which is:
Spring cow white, spring cow black, towards the south of the city twilight north.
Spring cattle barren, spring cattle fat, yesterday the eastern suburbs today in the west.
Whether it is mud cattle or real cattle, whether black cattle, white cattle, fat cattle and lean cattle, from morning to dusk, from the eastern suburbs to the western suburbs, every field has traveled all over, praying that this year people will be diligent in spring and early, and strive to cultivate, in order to harvest a good situation of abundant products!
When beating spring cattle, people smashed the mud cattle of the earth cows, and everyone competed for the soil of the spring cattle, which is called "grabbing the spring", in order to grab the head of the cow as auspicious, and the stolen spring cow mud was brought home and sprinkled in the bull pen to show their blessings. The Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Shu wrote in the poem "Sheng Chun":
Where to give birth to early spring, spring to the wild villa.
"Outside the gate of Whip Cow County, fight for soil to cover silkworm bushes." "Whipping" first and then "fighting" are the two parts of the ancient custom of welcoming spring and promoting farming. Whoever "fights spring" fights early, whose family has a strong sense of spring in the field; whose family "fights for the soil" comes out on top, and whose family spring silkworm spits silk thick!
Whip the spring cow and open the door of spring. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Su Shi was relegated to the "end of the world" on Hainan Island, feeling that this barbaric and remote place came early in the spring, a busy farming scene, and his heart was full of joy, and he wrote "Minus Magnolia Flower." Hexagonal Ear Spring Words:
Spring cow spring staff, infinite spring wind comes to the sea.
Poop spring worker, dyed peach red like flesh red.
Spring is spring, and a spring breeze blows wine to wake up.
Not like the end of the world, rolling up the poplar flowers like snowflakes.
Yes, the spring here comes very early, people lead the mud cows, hold up the mud plough staff, in the spring wind from the sea, invite the spring god, the garden of peach blossoms red and scorched. Erecting the green flag of spring and cutting it into the color victory of spring, this mighty spring breeze woke up the drunken and hazy me - who said that this is the end of the cape, the place of wilderness? The poplar flowers that have rolled up are even more beautiful than the spring snow in the north!
The scene of beating spring cattle is grand and festive. Zhou Xiyao, a lian official in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, described the grand situation of "beating spring cattle" in the "Bao'an Spring Color Chapter": "The sound of the explosion in the sky was all night long, and the boiling song was sung and the throat plate was knocked on the sandalwood. The spring cow is high and the patrol is strange, and Rui Lin is shadowy. "Playing spring cattle on spring day is also one of the important annual customs of the Spring Festival, when at this time, the sound of firecrackers, the sound of singing, people are surrounded by spring cows draped in red and colored, holding aloft the golden glittering spring dragon, singing and dancing in the fields where spring is sprouting, smiling and smiling, and placing so many beautiful wishes and hopes. This grand scene can be seen from a folk song of the Ming people: "Every spring, six or nine heads are beaten, and the fireworks are opened endlessly." Colorful flags and drums, surrounded by Fu Yin whip spring cattle. ”
In the huge team of beating spring cattle, Li Xu, who was holding the whip, also sang and sang while beating, Yun: "One whip wind and rain, two whips Guotai Min'an, three whips in a row, three whips in a row, four whips and four seasons of peace, five whips and five grains, six whips and six contracts in the spring, officials and the people enjoy together..." Then, everyone "beat the spring" together, and wrote four red characters on the door wall - the spring king is the first month. Until the spring cow was broken, the broken soil was mixed with grain and scattered into the air, praying for the queen to bless the new year with smooth winds and rains and abundant grains. In ancient times, this "sense of ceremony" of spring was always remembered by us for a long time.
Yu Qian, a famous minister of the Ming Dynasty, said in the poem "Li Chun":
Strike the mud cow phenology new, a whip divided with Wan Jia Chun.
Since then, in the "blowing noodles are not cold willow wind", in the "wet apricot blossom rain", the rough cattle of the peasants have hummed with a board and an eye, "Ah ho ho - ah ho ho - ah ho ho", the plough is shining, the mud wave is surging, and a wisp of hot air is rising. An ox, a plough, an old farmer, as well as qingdai distant mountains, desolate songs, constitute a simple and simple spring ploughing map...
-Author-
Liu Qirui, male, a native of Tancheng, Shandong, a veteran literature lover, published the essay collection "The Song of that year", "Nostalgia is a Curved Blue Moon" and the short story collection "Hedong Hexi".