[News Page-Taiwan Straits Network]
(New Year to go to the grassroots) Fujian Putian "sand flowers" to make a Lantern Festival Iron tree silver flowers to send prayers
On the occasion of the Lantern Festival, a "rain of iron flowers" bloomed in the night of Jindun Village, Xindu Town, Putian City, Fujian Province, and the sky was full of colors, interpreting the local Lantern Folk Customs that have been inherited for more than 300 years.
The Lantern Festival in Putian begins on the sixth day of the first lunar month and ends on the 29th day of the first lunar month, which is not only the longest in the country, but also forms a folk culture of "ten miles of different winds, one village and one custom".
Molten iron is baked. Photo by Wang Dongming
The sand-beater threw the molten iron on the tree, and for a moment, the fire splashed everywhere. Photo by Wang Dongming
Sand florists strike bamboo pieces with mallets. Photo by Wang Dongming
The sand-beater threw the molten iron on the tree, and for a moment, the fire splashed everywhere. Photo by Wang Dongming
Also known as the iron flower and the hushan sand flower, it is a folk performance staged every Lantern Festival in Jindun Village - the molten iron is thrown into the tree during the Lantern Festival, and the technique has been passed down from the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the present, enjoying the praise of "the fire tree and honeysuckle flowers never sleep", and was rated as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in 2011.
In the evening, in front of zongkong hall, the largest temple in Jindun Village, the furnace of blacksmithing became hot. Along with the flames, it was the enthusiasm of the onlookers.
Because of the epidemic, the sand flower performance has not been widely notified in the past two years, but on the same day, villagers from all over the world still wore masks and came spontaneously. 18-year-old Chen Xiaomei heard the noise outside the door at home, and knew that the next village was going to be sanded, "even if I look at it every year, but every time I see it, I am shocked."
At about six o'clock, only two rows of lanterns in front of zongkong hall emitted a hazy red light. Chen Yinhong looked at the black pressed sky and told the apprentices to start a fire and open the furnace. Pig iron, scrap iron, limestone, and coke were thrown into the sand flower furnace with an inner height of two meters in batches, and the blower was blessed on the side, and the purple-yellow flame rose higher and higher above the furnace. In about a quarter of an hour, the molten golden molten iron flowed out of the iron pipe at the bottom of the furnace, and the molten iron reached about 1400 ° C, and a large number of "sparks" jumped out and scattered with the wind.
Wearing safety helmets, the sand flower performers walked under the banyan tree, scooped up the molten iron with bamboo pieces soaked in water, swung their waists and arms, and hit them with a wooden mallet - "Bang", and suddenly splashed towards the tree, and the fire tree and silver flowers were staggered in an instant, bursting with brilliant light. Exclamations came and went.
Onlookers all stretched their necks and sideways, shooting while excitedly avoiding the "sparks" falling from the sky. Many people use their mobile phones to open video calls and share this glitter with relatives and friends who have not arrived at the scene.
In the eyes of local amateur photographer Lao Gong, the "iron flower rain" in Jindun Village is wonderful, part of the molten iron sprinkled on the trunk and leaves of the tree for a moment, "the impact of a 'spark'", the other part of the vertical landing, drawing a straight golden line, together to form a "brilliant ceremonial flower", especially suitable for high-speed photography recording.
Jindun Village was famous for casting in the Qing Dynasty, and most of the villagers were engaged in iron casting. According to Chen Yinhong, the inheritor of the Hushan sand flower technique, the old craftsmen were inspired to see the molten iron splashing on the ground and sparks when smelting. After work, the remaining molten iron was splashed on the trees, and the iron flowers that collided were more spectacular, and they were used in the Lantern Festival. Later, everyone found that the trees that were performed by "sand flowers" often grew better and better every year, and they were more willing to retain this entertainment skill.
"This is the romance of the ancients." Chen Yinhong admired that in the era before the invention of fireworks, old artists already knew how to make "fireworks" to entertain.
Chen Baiwu, the village secretary of Jindun Village, grew up watching "playing sand flowers". He still remembers the most lively time, nearly 10,000 people came to the Lantern Festival, "there was also a Puxian opera on the side, lively and extraordinary."
"'Flower' and 'hair' are harmonious, and the meaning is getting more and more." Chen Baiwu said that coupled with the colorful folk activities, sand flowers are already folk activities for locals to welcome good fortune and pray for career Tengda, coupled with being included in the provincial intangible cultural heritage project, sand flowers are gradually being paid more and more attention.
But the more sober reality is that there are fewer people who are good at sand flowers. There are three reasons, one is that the sand flower performance is called "the game of the brave" by the locals, the performers can not be afraid of hot, to have courage; the second is that the splashing technique that creates the effect of the four splashes of gold flowers is not easy to learn and difficult; the third is that there are fewer people familiar with the smelting techniques of blacksmithing, once almost every household in Jindun Village casts iron, and now there are only five foundries left, "everyone has turned to do something else."
In recent years, Chen Yinhong has set up a professional performance team to actively cultivate young people and is committed to passing on this folk art from generation to generation. Today, the team he has built has attracted more than 20 sand and florists and enthusiasts, including many "post-80s" and "post-90s".
In 1999, 19-year-old Chen Han followed Chen Yinhong to learn to play sand flowers. Today, he works in welding and machining. Every time there is a performance, Chen Han is very excited, "I am proud to perform such a wonderful 'Fire Tree And Honeysuckle Never Sleeps'. Chen Han was one of the performers of the night.
Every year, under the brilliant "iron flower", the villagers generally pray for peace and prosperity in the coming year. That night, Chen Yinhong and Chen Han agreed with each other's expectations: in the future, every year at the Lantern Festival, more and more new faces could be sprinkled with them on the "iron flower" tree. This is their wish. (Peng Lifang)
Source: China News Network