Ying (Ying) Laoye is a folk sacrifice cultural activity in Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province, Chaoshan people call the gods and immortals Laoye, the local folk are multi-god worship, each village has its own god. At the beginning of each year, there is a custom of camp masters in the Chaoshan area. It is to invite the idol out of the temple, go to the village to process, hold a worship ceremony in one place, and then send it back to the temple to be placed.
In the villages of Litai Town, Jieyang City, Guangdong Province, there are also nine-year worship "Mazu" activities. Since each village in The town of Tongtai takes several years to turn, the "camp master" is the top priority in each village.
Due to the impact of the epidemic in the past three years, various villages have no longer held camp master activities, and the atmosphere of the Spring Festival is not as lively as before. Let's reminisce about the lively camp masters activities in previous years.
I hope that the epidemic will end soon, and look forward to holding a vigorous camp master activity during the Spring Festival next year.
In 2019, it was the turn of Taoshan Eighteen-Wai Shitou Village in Guntai Town, and the author had the privilege of being able to observe it during the Spring Festival on February 16 of that year, and the scale of the worship and the richness of traditional activities were surprising and remembered to this day.
Protecting the gods in the Chaoshan region is diverse. In summary, the more influential deities in the Chaoshan region, such as the King of The Three Mountains, the King of Kaizhang, the Emperor of Guan, the Emperor of the North, the City God, and the Mazu, are all included in the category of "Laoye". Deities that are closer to local production and life will become the main targets of the "camp". The "old man" usually sat in a palanquin, carried by several men, and walked through the streets.
In Chaoshan Province, the "camp masters" mostly pray for smooth wind and rain and local tranquility, and mostly organize local organizations in villages and towns, so they have a very strong clan and rural color.
"Camp Master" is the cultural inheritance of chaoshan area, which is conducive to increasing everyone's confidence in overcoming difficulties and setbacks, regulating interpersonal relations between villagers, strengthening everyone's sense of identity, enlivening the atmosphere of festivals, and enriching the cultural life of villagers.
Wearing a silk satin robe and a top hat is the "squire" of the village and the most respected old man in the village. The camp master activity is organized by the village's respected chief boss "(the elder), who determines the auspicious day and auspicious time of the camp master's activity by throwing the "holy grail" (a tool for soliciting the opinions of the gods), and then raises funds, posts public announcements, arranges the procedures and personnel of the trip, and retrains the village gong and drum team.
In Shitou Village, the "Camp Master" activity is generally arranged on the day of the Lantern Festival. The village generally stipulates that the camp is once every six years, and the people in the village attach great importance to this activity.
At the beginning of each year, the Chaoshan region has the custom of welcoming the old master. It is to invite the idol out of the temple, go to the village to process, hold a worship ceremony in one place, and then send it back to the temple to be placed.
"Laoye" in the Chaozhou area refers to the patron saint of a town or village, generally in the first lunar month of the year, in a town every day a village each village takes turns to "make a noise" (equivalent to the northern temple fair) and (welcome) the camp of the old master.
The instrumental performances of the camp veteran parade include pulling erhu, playing guzheng, blowing flutes, banging gongs, drumming, and playing most of the teenagers in the township.
Many villagers stood on both sides of the road to watch, and in the parade, the gongs and drums were noisy, the cannons were thunderous, and the atmosphere of the event suddenly became high.
Although the drill before the parade is arduous, many of the young people in it can have a general understanding of musical instruments, so that the new generation of young people have a closer understanding of the traditional culture of their hometown, and it is also a common topic between the older generation and young people. This is not only a drill, but also a traditional inheritance, a kind of personality building.
In the procession, there were many handsome men dressed as ancient samurai, their faces painted with heavy makeup, wearing ancient samurai costumes, standard hands (carrying the flag), card players (holding cards), and walking majestically in front of the parade.
At the nine-year festival, nearly a thousand villagers from all over the village participated in the "camp master", and even the children of migrant workers rushed back to worship and actively strived to enter the parade, it is said that it is a very honorable thing for every family to have a young person who has the opportunity to participate in the parade.
Although the "Camp Master" parade is arduous, it makes the new generation of young people have a closer understanding of the traditional culture of their hometown, and it is also a inheritance of traditional culture in Chaoshan area.
There were also many children of about three years old in the parade, they were too young, the long march adults were very hard, not to mention the children, they cried as they walked, and walked all the routes with the patience of their mothers, which was really remarkable.
Today's "camp master" has the nature of a literary and artistic parade. The team of "camp masters" is very long, generally there are gong and drum classes, and even sometimes there are lion dance teams. The main component of the "Camp Master" team is the car lifting team, which includes standardists, players, car drivers, musicians and so on.
There were many beautifully dressed young ladies in the parade, dressed in Chinese costumes, carrying flower baskets on their shoulders, and walking in the procession with their boyfriends was particularly conspicuous.
"Alone in a foreign land for strangers, every festive season to think of relatives", the sons and daughters of chaoshan area like to wander around, in every corner of the motherland there are Chaoshan people busy figure, overseas there are also many Chaoshan overseas Chinese.
Although they work hard in other places, as soon as the New Year festival comes, they will return to their hometowns from all over the world to visit their fathers and fellow villagers.
After the festival, they hurried back to various places to live and work. Although they come from different families, different occupations, and have different lifestyles. But each of them has a god in their hearts, a master, who supports them in their way forward and is proud to be a descendant of Chaoshan.