The Southern Song Dynasty poet Xin Renjie's "Qingyu Case , New Year's Eve" begins with writing: "The east wind blooms flowers and thousands of trees at night, and blows down even more, and the stars are like rain." "The Lantern Festival is full of thousands of lights and flowers, and fireworks bloom in the air, which is called fire tree silver flowers. In our impression, perhaps the fire tree honeysuckle refers to the fireworks in the night, but for the people of the Yujin and Jin Dynasties, the fire tree honeysuckle may have another meaning, which has to mention the folk activities popular in The Yujin and other regions - playing iron flowers.
First, the origin of the iron flower
Playing iron flowers, in simple terms, is to shoot the hot molten iron with wooden boards and other objects into the air, the molten iron is violently slapped by the wooden board, it will burst open in the air, scatter into small pieces, and then slowly fall to the ground from the air, forming a dreamy and magnificent landscape of "stars like rain".
The custom of striking iron flowers is generally held in the first month of the month, mainly in Henan and Jin provinces, but there are also some sporadic distributions in other provinces, such as rice fat in Shaanxi and Suzhou in Jiangsu. However, if you want to trace the origin of the iron flower, you have to mention that it is known as "the most popular fireworks in the folk fireworks", "the wonder of the Central Plains culture" and "the first iron flower in China", and it is indeed a mountain iron flower, where the custom of playing iron flower originated, and now the most convincing is also the Henan Qishan Mountain.
Hit the iron flower
Located in the south of Henan Province, Qishan mountain is known as "the hinterland of the Central Plains and the throat of Yu'e". According to later research, the iron flower originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties. As for why this statement was made, let's first listen to a few legends about the iron flower of The Mountain, although the legend is not credible, but the historical logic behind the legend can answer some doubts for us.
The first legend about the Iron Flower of The Mountain is that "the Iron Flower Descends five ghosts". Legend has it that during the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a zhou surnamed Jiajia who built a mansion, but they encountered five ghosts in turmoil, resulting in workers dying one after another, and the Zhou surnamed family invited the Daoist monks of The True Mountain Leshan at that time to subdue the five ghosts. On the day of receiving the ghosts, the Leshan Daoist priests did things at the mansion to strike the iron flowers, causing the iron flowers to burst down in the air and drive away the five ghosts, and since then the custom of striking iron flowers to drive away evil spirits has been inherited by the people of Qishan.
Another legend also has a lot to do with driving away evil spirits. Legend has it that leshan was in a drought, the people asked the Leshan Daoist to set up an altar to pray for rainfall, in order to thank the Leshan Daoist for their kindness, the people repaired the temple for the Leshan Daoist and cast the bell to remember, but on the day of the bell casting, there was a bunch of crows hovering over the tree, the villagers thought that the crow was unknown, so they tried to drive it away, but no matter what method was used, the crow could not drive away. At this time, an old man stepped forward and said that he could use the method of striking iron flowers to drive the crow away, only to see the old man hit the iron flower into the sky, the spark cracked in mid-air, and in an instant the crow disappeared without a trace, and then the old man did not know where he was, and the people thought that it was "Taishang Laojun" who was under the mortal. The custom of striking iron flowers to drive away evil spirits has also been passed down.
After listening to the strange legends and stories, let's look at the historical logic behind the legends. According to the folklore morphology, we find that these two stories have some of the same elements: Taoism, iron, and the purpose of seeking refuge in bliss. The last element naturally goes into detail, but the first two elements are worth investigating.
In history, Qishan did have an indissoluble relationship with the iron smelting industry and Taoism. The mineral resources of Queshan are very rich, especially the iron ore is more widely distributed. This also laid the foundation for the development of the iron smelting industry in Queshan, so the iron smelting industry in Queshan is more prosperous. This may explain why it is iron flowers and not other flowers. The Taoism of Leshan County is also very famous in history, Leshan was once one of the holy places of Taoism in the Central Plains, and Emperor Huizong of Song once issued an edict to establish the Taoist temple "Lingying Temple" in Leshan. In the Ming Dynasty, the Taoist heritage here was even deeper. The "Leshan School" created by Jia Shanghuan in Leshan in the Ming Dynasty is one of the eight major sects of Taoism in the Ming Dynasty, and there are more than 30 temples and temples of Daoism in Qingshan, and GuangleShan has the title of "Nine Palaces, Two Views and One Worship Platform", which shows how deeply Taoism has taken root in Queshan.
Qishan Laole Mountain Scenic Area
In another legend, the blacksmiths of Queshan were in a slump, because the blacksmith's grandfather was also Laozi, and he could be said to be the same door of the Taoists, so the Daoist priests performed iron flowers to the people to expand the influence of the blacksmiths. In addition, there is also a rumor in The Mountain that "gold, silver, copper, iron and tin are indispensable to every family." Lao Jun's disciples, fortune and fortune step by step" "The Taoist chief and the craftsmen are one family, the old Juntang people have the Fate Law, the master and brothers kowtow together, and bless the peace and strike the iron flower".
It can be seen that the origin of the queshan iron flower is greatly related to the iron smelting industry and Taoism in the mountain. In history, the blacksmith flower is always inseparable from the two groups of blacksmiths and Taoists, perhaps the blacksmith and the Taoist two groups in order to entertain and expand the influence of the folk activities, in the creation of this folk activity, the blacksmith provides the material guarantee of the iron flower, to ensure that it is to hit the iron rather than hit others, and the Taoist is to cover the iron flower with a mysterious color, attracting more people to participate in it, expanding its influence.
The custom of striking iron flowers, which originated in the Northern Song Dynasty, gradually spread, and during the shame of Jing Kang, the people of the Land of Yu and Jin crossed south to bring iron flowers to parts of the south. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the custom of striking iron flowers was also once favored by the rulers and was strongly supported as an entertainment activity. The sixth son of Emperor Ming Yingzong was named king of Chongjing and buried in Qishan after his death, and it is said that when he built the Palace of Chongjing, he held a grand blacksmith activity when the construction began, which is in response to the first legend we said before.
Second, how to play?
As far as the author has seen, the procedure of playing iron flower is the most cumbersome and complex, and the most complete, while the iron flower in other regions is simpler, more like a reduced version of the iron flower. This may be the result of the fact that the program part of the process of spreading iron flowers has been absorbed by people everywhere.
Because of its close connection with Taoist culture, the influence of Taoist culture can also be seen everywhere in the process of striking iron flowers. According to the custom, when the mountain strikes iron flowers, it is first necessary to build a flower shed, that is, to build a six- to seven-meter-high double-storey shed in the empty place according to the "one yuan, two instruments, four images, five elements, and bagua", the flower shed used to be built with wood, and now it is built with steel pipes and other things for safety. At the top of the flower shed, the five-colored flag will be planted according to the elements of "gold, wood, water, fire, and earth", and a layer of willow branches will be laid, and fireworks and firecrackers will be tied to the willow branches. In addition, at the top of the flower shed, a pole called "Old Pole" is planted, and the old pole will be tied with larger fireworks and firecrackers, called "Set Color". What is the function of these fireworks, we will sell a pass first, and then we will talk about it later.
Flower shed
After the end of the shed and color, the venue for the iron flower was basically determined. In addition, the iron flower also needs to prepare the furnace used to melt iron and the flower stick needed to play the iron flower. When melting iron, generally choose scrap iron, but must be a small piece of scrap iron that will be cleaned of rust, in addition to scrap iron, generally add white corn starch, quartzite, magnesium powder, coke and other auxiliaries to the furnace, so as to ensure that the smelted iron juice meets the requirements of the blow, and when the high temperature in the furnace reaches 1700 degrees Celsius, it can be.
Flower stick is made of willow wood slapping object, generally in the willow end to dig out a groove, when playing iron flowers, a stick of juice, a stick used to hit, the production of flower sticks pay attention to straightness, size and length, but also require no cracks and other flaws.
After these preparations are completed, you can start the process of playing iron flowers. The tradition is indeed to strike iron flowers, and at the time of opening, a shrine will be built on the north side of the flower shed, and the gods of Taishang Laojun will be placed in the shed, and the people who strike iron flowers at night will also bathe and change their clothes reverently before starting, and pray for blessings and disasters in front of the statue of Lao Jun. Taishang Laojun was the ancestor of Taoism, so this move was often supported by Taoist monks.
When night falls, the exciting blacksmith begins in an exciting atmosphere. When hitting the iron flower, one person holds the flower stick and holds the iron juice, quickly runs to the bottom of the flower shed, and the other person uses the flower stick to violently hit the flower stick filled with iron juice, so that the iron juice is lifted into the air, and the iron juice breaks into small iron filings in the air, scattered in all directions, all kinds of changes, dazzling, like fire tree honeysuckle, people pouring, and like butterflies flying, making people dizzy. In the process of being raised, the iron juice will also ignite the fireworks on the flower shed, so when the iron flowers are often fired in unison, the fireworks bloom, and at this time, there will be dragons wearing flowers (that is, the dragon dance team) through it.
Playing iron flowers requires the cooperation of many people, these people are either naked on the upper body, some people will wear special protective clothing, and one person will pick up after playing the other, and it is intense and orderly. If someone can hit the fireworks on the old pole, he will shout his name in public, wear red and color, and give rewards. From the very beginning, the atmosphere of the whole mountain iron flower is full of enthusiasm, even carnival, under the spectacular, dreamy, magical iron flower and fireworks, it will make people feel trapped in it and unable to extricate themselves.
A craftsman who strikes iron flowers
Iron flowers in other regions are relatively simple, basically there is no process of setting up flower sheds, coloring and dragons wearing flowers, etc. The iron flowers in Zezhou, Jiangsu, Shaanxi Mizhi and other places basically only have steps such as lifting iron flowers into the air, but with this step, it is enough to make people linger.
Third, the iron flower in modern times
Striking iron flowers seems simple, but in fact, it requires superb iron smelting technology and flowering skills, and the custom of playing iron flowers in many regions has gradually disappeared after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Queshan Iron Flower was only held in 1956 and 1962.
In 1983, Yang Jianjun, deputy director of the Cultural Center of The Mountain County, who had seen the iron flower, decided to pass on the custom of playing iron flower, and he worshiped the former blacksmith as a teacher and visited many places to try to restore the appearance of the iron flower to the greatest extent. Thanks to his efforts, the iron flower reappeared in 1988 and 1990 on the land of Queshan, when Yang Jianjun also named the performance that night "Queshan Tiehua Fireworks Evening".
In 2002, Qishan once again ushered in the iron flower fireworks party, this time the influence of the iron flower is huge, there are many people from Anhui, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other people to come to visit, the number of participants is tens of thousands, can be described as a sea of people.
2002 Choushan Iron Flower (Source/ Zhu Dongliang: Research and Protection of Choushan Iron Flower)
After that, Queshan Hit iron flower became popular all the way, not only out of The Qishan to perform in Zhengzhou, but also went to Beijing in 2008 to perform this visual feast for the people of the capital, this performance not only amazed the people of Beijing, but also amazed the foreigners present. Therefore, this iron flower activity has also been praised by major media as "the iron flower of the mountain is in the capital".
That is, in the same year, the Quishan Iron Flower was listed as a "National Intangible Cultural Heritage". In the Spring Festival of 2017, Xu Fu and the famous director Sun Zhouhong created a micro-film "Iron Tree And Honeysuckle", which tells the story of the inheritance of iron flowers. From the brink of being lost, to the attention of the people of the whole country today, behind the iron flower is not only the great vitality and performance of the performance form of the iron flower, but also inseparable from the efforts of people like Yang Jianjun who are full of humanistic feelings and perseverance.
Movie Iron Tree Honeysuckle
Wen Shijun said
The custom of striking iron flowers is a cultural treasure created by the working people in ancient China in terms of production and life, combined with material and spiritual conditions, which highlights the beautiful expectations of the people to become rich and seek refuge, and also gives the people a chance to revel in entertainment. We should be thankful that the blacksmith has not been lost in history with time, all thanks to the rescue and efforts made by the folk inheritors, we should be entertained while watching folklore such as the iron flower, but also have a reverence, the reverence for the folk spirit, but also the reverence for the folklore inheritors.
bibliography
Zhang Fusheng: "Linqu Iron Flower", Folklore Research, No. 1, 1989.
Zhu Dongliang: "Cultural Wonders, Iron Flowers of The Mountains", Anhui Literature, No. 7, 2009.
Zhu Dongliang: "Research and Conservation of Iron Flower in The Mountains", Master's Thesis of Zhengzhou University, 2010.
Yuan Jiali, "The Inheritance and Development of Zezhou Iron Flower- An Example of Village Iron Flower", Jincheng Vocational and Technical College, No. 3, 2015.
Zhang Feng, "Research on the Folk Culture of "Qishan Mountain" In Henan Province", Master's Thesis of Qinghai Normal University in 2018.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Jingsu)
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