In 1952, Qin'an County and Fengshan
□ An Junwei
In the pattern of ancient cities, the altar temple occupies a very important position. Qin'an Xiannong altar is a place in the old city of Qin'an, although the altar and temple no longer exist, but it is still used as a place name, such as "agricultural altar" and "spring field", and the first agricultural altar and spring field are related to the festival custom of Lichun.
Xiannongtan is one of the many altar temples in ancient China, originating from the primitive belief in China, which is to build temples for some natural phenomena such as mountains and rivers, thunder and lightning to pay homage to and worship, not a single religion, but a Confucian ritual system. The Confucian ritual system matured from the Zhou Gongdan ritual system in the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty When Dong Zhongshu absorbed the idea of "heaven and man induction" and consolidated it. Located on the west side of the Yongding Gate in the southern section of Beijing's central axis, the Temple of Heaven corresponds to the Temple of Heaven and was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties sacrificed to the Shennong clan and held ceremonies for pro-cultivation of the land.
Compared with the Beijing Xiannong Temple, the local Xiannong Altar follows the feudal hierarchy, and although the area is not large, it preserves the most core altars, temples and other buildings of the sacrifice activities, as well as ancillary buildings such as courtyards and theater buildings. There are certain specifications of the sacrifice at the time of the sacrifice. The ruins of the Qin'an Xiannongtan temple are located in Fengshan Village in the southeast of the county seat and in the south xiaohe river valley, and the date of construction is unknown.
In the 57th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1718 AD), a major earthquake occurred in the Tianshui area, and many houses, county houses, and temples collapsed, causing serious losses. In the early years of the Yongzheng Dynasty, Zhixian Yu Whale presided over the reconstruction of many temples including the Xiannong Altar, the Litan (also known as the North Temple), and the ShejiTan (present-day Fengle Village, commonly known as the Tan'erxia). According to the "Chronicle of Qin'an County", the Ancestral Agricultural Altar has three main halls (that is, three bay rooms), and one north and south jai rooms, with a gate. It no longer exists. In the entire Tianshui area, the only one that is better preserved at present is the Wind and Thunderstorm Altar in Wushan County.
Lichun is one of the twenty-four solar terms and is the first of the year. The Lichun custom is part of the agricultural cultural practice and is prevalent in civil society throughout the country, and its activities are rich and colorful. The ceremony of worshipping the god of agriculture (Shennong) is held on the day of Lichun. The emperor or the main local officials took the lead in participating, praying for a good harvest, for the "national ceremony", with the good intention of heavy farming and persuasion.
Fengshan Theatre
With the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the spread of modern ideas, official ritual activities also stopped. The western end of today's Xiannong Street (Fengshan Arch and its surroundings) is called the Spring Farm by the local people, and in the old days there were three holy palaces, namely: Dongyue the Great, the Three Virgins, and the Zhenjiang King's Palace, and the incense was very strong. The original two-story loft-style theater building in Chunchang, with the four big characters of "Chuntai Deification" written on it, no longer exists. In the old days, Qin'an County held activities here to "fight spring cattle" (also known as "playing spring cows"), but not necessarily on the day of Lichun, but in the time period from Lichun to "February 2". Because most of this time is in the first month, it belongs to the agricultural leisure season, during which there are activities such as the Nine Temple Fair (the birthday of the Jade Emperor) and the community fire.
Nine actors play the "Spring Cow": three children, a farmer, a peasant woman, a calf played by two, one wearing a bull's head mask, one wearing a sack piece, and two holding cymbals and a small drum. During the performance, after playing "Rapid Wind", the farmer's morning calf appeared with the accompaniment of "Wind and Snow" at the door. After passing through the door, the farmer sang "Spring Cow Song I":
In February the dragon looked up,
Open the circle door and bark the scalper,
A roar into the ground,
Busy ploughing, busy planting,
Planted two and a half buckets a day,
I haven't seen my mother-in-law deliver food yet.
The farmer holds the whip to support the plough and sings while ploughing.
When playing for the fifth time, the peasant woman carried a basket and twisted the dance on the stage, and after passing through the door, the peasant woman shouted "The old ghost is coming" and sang "Spring Cow Song II":
Turned around and got beaten up at my mother's house,
From now on, I will not dare to turn to my mother's house,
You eat and come to me to farm,
Let's discuss returning early.
This is a performance that imitates the scene of labor, which is witty and interesting, and has a local character. When I was a child, I listened to my mother hum "Spring Cow Song", which belongs to the folk song, and the melodious tune is accompanied by the warm wind of yangchun, which is unforgettable for a long time.
Qin An Wax Flower Dance in the Social Fire Performance
Nowadays, in the agricultural altar, the annual spring stage drama is still staged, generally from the eighth to the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, which is the morning of the year around Qin'an County. The custom of "playing with spring cattle" still exists sporadically in the social fire performance, but it has changed from the original function, and it is purely a game for entertainment.
Activities such as "whipping cattle" and "playing with spring cattle" contain a certain sense of play, which is a parody of farming life, very simple and pious, and is the affirmation and affirmation of the value of honest labor by peasants and other people from all walks of life. "People are not lazy", "there is no difficulty in being diligent in the world", "urging horses to whip themselves up", these proverbs are all advice to the peasants and the motto of the peasants. In Qin'an County's "Playing with Spring Cows" sitcom, the ridicule of women who are late for delivering meals contains this meaning.
Gansu Tianshui, Lanzhou and other places Lichun pay attention to eating leek cakes, leek boxes. Because leeks are seasonal vegetables and have a hair-growing atmosphere, they are most suitable for eating in the spring. Conforming to nature and respecting nature are the ideas left to us by our ancestors, and when we work hard and do not violate the farm, they are the spiritual wealth they have left us.
Leeks