Chinese New Year, inseparable from the New Year customs, inseparable from culture, in the poetry, ink and fragrance to send warm blessings, books, flowers in the fragrance of another deep meaning, plus red lanterns, festive gongs and drums, traditional and lively, long rhyme.
The first day of the New Year turns the head
Shangcun is my bloody land, in the southeast corner of Gaocheng Town, the street side, now becomes The Shangjia Garden, the old village only leaves a stone stele of the old site, the location of the stone stele is the pond outside the back door of my old house.
Chinese New Year is the Spring Festival, the first eight days of the lunar calendar eat Lapa porridge, adults began to busy new year. The harvest that has been busy for a year must be calculated, the work done must be calculated to win a yard, the accounts that should be collected must be collected, and the debts owed to people must be repaid; no matter how rich or poor, they must worship their ancestors in the New Year, they must entertain relatives and friends who come to visit the New Year, and they must always purchase some New Year goods. Busy for a year, the New Year is to treat yourself and your family, take a break, play, eat well, wear new, and have fun.
There is a very popular traditional cultural activity in our village for the New Year - the New Year's Day. Looking at the big head is the happiest thing for men, women and children in our village. Every year on the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, after eating glutinous rice dumplings and praying to the elders, the village gong and drum team gathered and sounded the gongs and drums ten times.
The Juban Gong and Drum is the opening of the big head, both as a performance and as a solicitation of the audience. As soon as the gong and drum sounded, the men and women of the whole village, young and old, all wearing new shoes and clothes and new hats, gathered in the garden.
In my memory, the Juban Gong and Drum in our village is very good, and I have not yet appreciated the Gong and Drum that makes me more passionate than it. The gong and drum team in our village is extraordinary, the drum has three drums, a drum, a big drum, the drummer is the conductor of the gong and drum team, and other gongs, shovels and other loud instruments must be performed according to his rhythm. Except for the drummer, who plays three drums by one person, there are at least two people in each type of sounder, and the gong and drum team has as few as fifteen people and as many as seventeen or eighteen.
The opening of the gong and drum is that the drummer first uses the drum hammer to "click" twice on the edge of the drum, and then all the loudspeakers start at the same time, and the opening melody is: click! syllable! Boom boom ...... The momentum is majestic, and the melody is high-pitched. Although I can't remember the total score of the juban gong and drum, I know that this set of gong and drum melodies is not only majestic and high-pitched, but also interspersed with many light and euphemistic melodies in the middle, and sometimes other loud instruments stop, only using the small hall gong, the small shovel and the gong to knock out "dang It takes about an hour or so to beat down the gong and drum. The elders of our village have passed down this set of gongs and drums as a traditional generation, and I was recruited into the gong and drum team for training as a new generation of successors when I was thirteen or fourteen years old.
After ten gongs and drums were knocked, the whole village almost gathered in the garden, and when the gongs and drums were finished, they staged a big tune.
Turning the big head is actually a funny game show that plays big heads. There are two performers. A monk with a big head and a big head in the form of Maitreya Buddha, wearing a robe and holding a whisk made of white horse's mane. The image of the big-headed monk is tall and fat, and his movements are slow and clumsy. The other plays a clever ghost, dressed lightly in short clothes, and the prop is a fan. This character is very difficult, not only must the posture and movements be dexterous and witty, but also must be able to turn over the hollow and fight.
The general plot of this game show is that the big head monk gets up in the morning, greets an east, and then stretches out a lazy waist, the person is fat and stupid, but the internal strength is very good, the waist is soft enough to lean back into a bow, and the body is not crooked. The clever ghost spun behind the monk with light effort and gently tapped the fan on his head. The big-headed monk turned around stupidly to find the person who knocked on him, and the clever ghost had already dodged behind him in a series of heels. The big-headed monk never saw the clever ghost, and it was not clear who knocked on his head. Until the end, the clever ghost knocked the big-headed monk with a fan, and the big-headed monk wanted to turn around but deliberately did not turn around, and the clever ghost still tried to hide behind the big-headed monk in a series of heels, but was caught by the big-headed monk.
This game show is not only festive and fun, but also the real kung fu of the actors makes the people who watch it can't help but applaud. I remember that around 1964, two professionals from the Jiangsu Provincial Mass Art Museum came to our village to learn about the folk art program of Chang Datou, which should be preserved as a traditional folk art program. This game has now been lost, but it is enough for us to see the pursuit and creation of Chinese culture and art by our ancestors.
A poetic welcome to the New Year
China is the land of poetry, and a "Book of Poetry" has been passed down for a long time. In Yixing, poets and poems from ancient times to the present are also emerging in an endless stream.
The Spring Festival is approaching, and some spring festival activities related to poetry have also been launched. Although the activities have become small and mainly online due to epidemic prevention reasons, it does not affect the creative enthusiasm of Yixing poets.
A few days ago, as a member of two literary and art groups, I witnessed the warmth of poetry welcoming spring.
The first activity, novel and lively and poetic, was sponsored by the Municipal Writers Association, the Poetry Committee of the Municipal Writers Association and the "Yunyou Yixing" Magazine, and the "'Poetry Station' Cultural Tourism Salon Spring Recitation", and the participants were some representatives of the Poetry Committee of the Municipal Writers Association.
Original poems, a deep recitation. Poetry is based on words. The poets present were members of the Chinese Writers Association and the Jiangsu Writers Association, and the poems recited in this exchange were all their new works, mainly praising the scenery of the motherland and Yixing, and had a certain degree of epochality, such as Wang Jianping's "The Most Vibrant and Most Yixing" and Xing Juan's "Beauty in the Place where the Rhododendron Blossoms". There is also Chu Wenxin's "Wait Until the Epidemic Is Over" and Yang Yang's "Come on Yixing".
Poetry friend Huang Shaodong is a policeman, and he was very emotional when he heard the anti-epidemic poems. He recalled that on New Year's Day last year, he and his colleagues were assigned to Wuxi to help fight the epidemic. Anti-epidemic poetry also reminds people of the hard work of anti-epidemic fighters such as doctors, nurses, and community workers. It is because of them that our lives are safe and happy.
Poetry friend Xing Juan said happily, a poem, a group of people, a lifetime, willing to travel with everyone on the road of writing poetry.
The poets were also delighted to receive two publications, "Poetry Tour Yixing" and "Cloud Tour Yixing". Tao Dufeng, editor-in-chief of these two periodicals, said that when the old is resigned and the new is welcomed, everyone meets friends with literature and greets the spring with poetry, which is close to the times and has a clear theme. Dai Jun, chairman of the Municipal Writers Association, sincerely wished everyone to write more elegant works that are closely related to the times and the people.
The second activity was a couplet writing activity initiated by Zhu Xun, vice president of the Jingxi Poetry Society. On that day, shortly after Zhu Xun launched the collection of five couplets for the cultural wall of Chaxi New Village in the Peaceful Community of Yicheng Street in the WeChat group of the poetry club, the poets in the group created enthusiastically, and dozens of couplets were quickly written, and they all closely followed the themes of family harmony and neighborhood mutual assistance, such as "Heyun Homeland Tea West Land, Auspicious Purple And Sunny Day" and "Peaceful and Lide Gate Wind is Good, Diligent and Thrifty Family Generation". Xiang Jun, secretary general of the poetry society, wrote three poems on the same day. Last year, there have been many poetry collections, and many members have published works in national poetry journals and won awards.
Chu Hui, general secretary of the General Branch of the Peaceful Community Party, said that he was very excited to be able to recruit the Spring Festival, a senior poet of the poetry club, so quickly. At the beginning, she and Zhu Xun envisioned creating a harmonious home for the residents in the form of a cultural wall created by the original Spring League in Chaxi New Village. Whenever the residents go home, they can see these Spring Festivals and feel the warmth and warmth, how good! Yes, this is a Chinese New Year gift that the poets have given to the residents with wisdom and enthusiasm.
Poems created by local poets in Yixing, with the fragrance of Yang envy tea and azaleas, add a strong warmth to the upcoming New Year.
The heritage in the bamboo basket
In the old mansion, a bamboo knife and a leather pad with a string of ropes were stored by us like treasures. Every New Year's Day, my father took us back to the old house to sacrifice our ancestors and eat a reunion dinner. After dinner, my father would always take out the bamboo knife carved with the traces of age and the leather pad with the rope and make a lantern for my daughter. My father said that this is our family's heirloom, precious!
The father took the bamboo knife, put the leather pad on his leg, split the bamboo into a bamboo basket, and then split the bamboo pipe out of the bamboo wire, flattened it, cut it smooth, put it in the bucket and slightly soaked it, and began to make lanterns.
The father's craftsmanship is exquisite, the bamboo fence seems to have a spirituality in the father's hands, and after a while, the framework of the lantern gradually takes shape.
In the dim light of the old house, my father concentrated on weaving lanterns, and I looked at my father silently, the years were not forgiving, he had white hair in his green hair, but he did not reduce his proficiency in this craft. The frame of the lantern was woven, and my father began to paste paper, and he always chose the red color, saying that the red was festive and beautiful. After pasting the paper, he lit a candle in the lantern, and the flame jumped, reflecting the paper red. My daughter happily took the lantern, and joy overflowed on her face.
Once upon a time, this bamboo knife and this leather pad with ropes were the surviving family of our family. When my father was very young, my grandfather lost his ability to work because of asthma, and my grandmother was illiterate and slightly disabled. At that time, the family was poor, and my father learned to weave baskets and chicken coops with bamboo when he was young, and to weave lanterns at the New Year to subsidize the family. Grandma carried a large burden of chicken coops with flat shoulders and walked the streets to sell. Later, his father started a business and his life improved, but he did not forget his roots, donated funds to study, helped the weak and the poor, and did his best.
Living a rich life, my father still never forgot to make lanterns for my daughter every year and tell her about that past. "Grandpa grandpa, I'm going to make lanterns too." The daughter begged playfully. "Well, Grandpa taught you to do it." The father smiled and agreed, and began to teach his daughter to chop bamboo. The bamboo knife in the daughter's hand seemed to become clumsy, not able to make the slightest strength, the daughter was anxious to blush, the father smiled and said: "Child, don't worry, take your time, see Grandpa show you." ”
Slowly, the daughter also split like a decent one. The bamboo grates and bamboo wires were fully prepared, and the father began to teach his daughter to weave lanterns. Two grandchildren, one earnestly studying, the other concentrating on teaching, I looked at this warm picture, my eyes were moist. Once poor, my father and grandmother relied on this bamboo weaving craft to support the family. They woven the hard-working and indomitable spirit into the bamboo basket, into the chicken coop and lantern, and into the blood of the descendants of the Sun family.
After pasting the lantern paper, my daughter said that she would also write on the lantern, and we were all curious about what she would write. "If faith has color, it must be Chinese red!" The daughter finished these words intently. What a sensible child! This Chinese red will definitely be passed down from generation to generation, and the flame in the lantern is also exceptionally bright at this moment.
The Chinese year in the bamboo basket is deeply Chinese.
Topic interaction
Travel with books
Zhang Xiaoqing
51 years old, teacher
In the past, every winter vacation and New Year's Day, I planned where to travel, but now because of the needs of epidemic prevention and control, it is not convenient to travel during the New Year holiday. I think it is better to find a few books related to travel to read, and it is also excellent to appreciate the beauty of the United States and understand the relevant stories with the United States.
The library is a great place to read a book. In the library, there are a vast number of books to choose from, and there are readers who are immersed in reading books as companions. New Year's holiday, people temporarily put down their work, people who love to read come here, choose a book they like, sit quietly at the desk and read it, why not give a vacation to their souls?
"Whose Courtyard in the Depths of Nanjing" is a book I have recently read with a lot of storytelling and fireworks. Its author's online name is "Nanjing Laoke", and the whole book is written around various attractions in Nanjing, some of which the average person may not have heard of. He also has a book called "Twilight In Search of Old Dreams", which goes from Harbin in the north to Gulangyu Island in the south, and the interesting scenery and stories from all over the country in the eyes of the author are displayed in front of the reader's eyes.
Time to read in the library always passes quickly. At the library, I met a student and his parents, who were also lining up to borrow books, and the books they borrowed included a set of Analects. The student's father said that there are many famous sayings in the Analects, and it is just the New Year's holiday at home, and there is a lot of time for parents to read this set of books together. How many books do we like! This can really make this Spring Festival full of joy.
"Couplet fan" Wu brother
Lu Jianxing
66 years old, retired teacher
Before the Spring Festival last year, Brother Wu Ganhua came to my office as a guest and presented a selection of "Yixing Ancient and Modern Couplets" selected by Mengjiang this week. ”
Brother Wu said that as early as 1995, Yixing Daily published his first creation of a place-name couplet, and colleagues rushed to read and congratulate him. Since then, Brother Wu has been fascinated by couplet creation and has become a "couplet fan" in the hearts of friends and colleagues.
Once, in the longbei mountain forest park solicitation activities, Brother Wu created a couplet "Literati gather Wenfeng Pagoda, talents and talents for thousands of years; dragons and phoenixes are auspicious longbei mountains, green leaves and lush spring". He sent the contents of the couplet to Shao Pingang, a well-known overseas villager in his ancestral hometown, who wrote down this couplet and sent it to Brother Wu.
A few days before the Spring Festival last year, Brother Wu took out a print of the couplet calligraphy work of "Yang Envy People Admire People, Yixing Changwang Changxing" and told me that this was also the hometown place name joint work he created. At that time, Cheng Wei, a member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, also specially splashed ink on this couplet and gave it to Brother Wu.
Flower City New Year Flower Language
Huang Chaopeng
39 years old, freelance writer
My hometown is in the flower city of Guangzhou. As we all know, Guangzhou has four seasons like spring, and flowers are everywhere. When it comes to the Spring Festival, every household has a floral fragrance. Guangzhou people's flower arrangement pays attention to a lively, a festive, a flower cluster, a vivid and wonderful.
The flowers of the Spring Festival have a different auspicious meaning. Every year before the New Year, my wife and I will run to the flower market, this year because of the impact of the epidemic, did not run to join the fun, but in the outside of the community on the roadside flower selling point can still buy bright and beautiful flowers. Peach blossoms are one of the unique annual customs of Guangzhou people, red peach blossoms, scorching blooming. Red peach is pronounced "hongtu" in Guangzhou dialect, which means that the host's family's career will be grand and prosperous in the coming year.
There is also a kind of annual flower that Guangzhou people love to plant called silver willow. Silver willow is the most resistant annual flower, even if you do not add water, dry inserted in the bottle, you can put it for a year, appreciate enough for a year.
In addition, Guangzhou people also love chrysanthemums, orchids, daffodils and lilies during the New Year, and love the three of them with noble character, ice and jade purity, and a gentleman's style. The most special kind of annual flowers is a group of pots of annual flowers planted together by lettuce, green onions, celery and garlic seedlings. Lettuce is pronounced "rich and wise", onion is of course "clever and clever", celery means "diligent and self-motivated", and garlic is "will count and live a life".
Different new year flowers represent the same hope and mood. New Year and new atmosphere, let a beautiful pot of flowers, a beautiful flower language, to open our new life in the new year!
The content is from the Yangxian page of Yixing Daily
Production: Yang Jie
Produced by Yixing Rong Media Center