Lion lantern in the mountains
Author: Chen Minghua
Reciter: Tang Jiqian
We are here in the houshan area of Zongyang in the ancient county of Anhui River, the mountains here are not very tall, but also undulating, winding and connecting, full of forest trees, sometimes see the rock Sensen, when the fog rises, there is quite a mountain weather. Let go of the eyesight, go west for more than a hundred miles, the remnants of the Dabie Mountains are hidden; more than ten miles to the east, it is the water of yangyang lake, swallowing the Yangtze River. In the mountains, the streams are full of winds, and large and small flat lands are born from the water; the mountain paths are winding, connecting the villages with a few points of cooking smoke, and the people in the water curve mountain nest make people want to see the quiet and peaceful.
In fact, the people in the mountains have the character of the people in the mountains. When the mountain people want to live in the loess of the mountains and rivers, and when they ask for dignity from the world, they always show a kind of simplicity and roughness and indomitability. The stone banks that resist the water, the dams with large rocks and bumps, are stacked with the hardness and expectations of the ancestors. The old house built of pebbles is a collection of wild and simple. The strange fields of high and low are engraved with the difficulty of survival and painted with all kinds of dreams of mountain people. To this end, they have to count the stars to catch up with the time, and find a fit with the birds and beasts. Everything in the mountains is either the dependence of life or the sustenance of the spirit.
Live in this mountain, but do not want to live in the shadow of the mountain. No one is willing to be easily conquered, and everyone hopes that the future will be better. In the sky and mountains, people lament their own smallness; frowning lightly is a flash of wisdom and prayer after thinking. This prayer is stored in a jar of pickles, in the incense of the temple, in the delicate or fierce dance... This prayer, which exists in the details of life, in the cycle of time, is finally pushed to the extreme in the New Year's Festival! The New Year's Festival is always seen as a new beginning, there is reincarnation, but do not want to repeat, always have to send full of hope. Therefore, no matter the table, no matter the etiquette, no matter the incense candle, no matter the gods and Buddhas, busy people are spinning, it is not too much, it seems that there is less than one point, and the taste of the year is not pure.
The New Year's Festival dance lantern is a carnival in the countryside, and it is also an ardent expectation, which is indispensable. Over the years, the screen has been full of dragon lights, both north and south. The dragon, the totem of the Chinese nation, has the hegemony of the heavens and the sky, and there is also the freedom to swallow the clouds, and the Chinese people should pursue it themselves. In fact, in traditional Chinese culture, lions are also worshipped. In the old days, the prince would be the head of the mansion or the mansion of the magnate, and the bronze and iron ring of the gate should also be made into the shape of a lion's head. The awe-inspiring stone lions on both sides of the gate, male and female, are not only the rules and style of large households, but people often have to give specific ideological connotations. The male lion's foot hydrangea is a manifestation of the majesty and metamorphosis; the female lion caresses the cubs, which is the auspicious rui of the prosperity of the blessings and heirs.
The small people do not have such a scenery, but they have their own way of understanding. The people in this mountain like to be direct, and directly let the "lion" integrate into people's lives, so the admiration for the lion has become the wild dance of the "lion lamp". This may also be the reason for local conditions, the ancestors must have seen lions in the mountains, they lived on the mountains, regarded the lion as the king of the hundred beasts, and people did not have a bad feeling towards the fierce lions that roared in the mountains and forests, but had a reverential heart. They did not have a sense of protection, and they identified the momentum of the lion screaming at the invincible, and believed that the lion could drive away evil spirits and bring good luck. This is perhaps the most immediate need of people. Therefore, during the New Year's Festival, the drama of the lion dance must be a vigorous gong and drum that shakes the sky. Even the country teasing babies had to cover their heads with their hands, make a lion dance, and hum in their mouths: "The lights are coming— the lights are coming—" and then the young and old laugh. When you think about it, it seems that it is more than just making fun of it. Even some entertainers who plan for their livelihood, holding props with lion heads and cloth strips in one hand, ringing bells in the other hand, and going from door to door will not be rejected.
Lion dance lamp, even the saying is exquisite, the country people always want to say "xing lantern", the lamp dance is alive, live is happy! It seems that simple people are not shallow to the lion lamp.
Obviously it is a lion dance drama, how is it called a dance lamp? This kind of performance choice is good at night, there are lights and dances, the lights are brilliant, the light and shadow are confused, breaking the darkness, and the rare grandeur and grandeur. This lamp, made very personal, has a special name called "light ball", the craftsman uses bamboo filament twisted into a mesh sphere, and even made into two layers inside and outside, covered with red silk ribbon. This is an important prop for the lantern dance, it makes the "lion" dance with the ball, and the ball bearer is the lead dancer. Dancing with the ball is said to be "playing the light ball", also known as "playing the lion's gate". The meaning of "fighting" and "dancing" does have a big difference in momentum and courage.
Earlier, there was a lion dance team in our village, and when my father was alive, he talked about this matter, painted a colorful story, and said that he was full of pride. Uncle Wu's drums beat and hissed, and Uncle Quan's big cymbals beat like rhythmic shouts, and when the small cymbals hit people's hearts, the rhythm was like a knife. He also said many rituals, what goes into the village to meet the water, into the house to worship the four sides. Especially when the lion enters the house, if the light ball is extinguished, it will be a taboo, and it will be regarded as ominous by people, and the master's family will not be spared... There is a story of saving the scene, which is simply the legend of the lantern dancers. The dance was in full swing, when suddenly a cold wind was ill-intentioned, and it pounced on the hole of the lamp ball, and the candlelight staggered to the point where he could not stand. The dancer, knowing that it was not good, between the electric light and flint, pulled open the horse's coat, half wrapped and sent to the lion's mouth, grabbed the lion with one hand, and drank: "The ball is a gift!" The dancer inside, his heart comprehended, exhaled to the "fire fold" prepared in his hand, the fire fold was on, and the lamp ball was red and bright, and the light was illuminated. The lion's ball stood in the air, and people never saw it before, which attracted a lot of applause!
I don't know if I want to make enough momentum. People always want to make the lion's head as big as a rice basket, the dark eyes as big as a fist, and they also turn around, the word "king" flying gold on the forehead is full of light, a large mouth of blood basin is danced by the lion dancers, and the fine hemp silk is embellished with every pore of the two connected sacks. A lion is made of sacred objects, incense sticks, firecrackers, animal rituals... As soon as the sacrifice is made, it is immediately sacrosanct and inviolable, and even not playful. However, at the time of the lion dance, the families of pregnant women and pregnant women also dragged down a silk hemp and stored it in the makeup box, saying that the things on the lion can remove the evil atmosphere and ensure peace.
The lion dance begins at the beginning of the New Year's Festival and continues until the Lantern Festival. Entering the room, the lead dancer leads the lion to worship on all sides, which is an indispensable ritual. "Rowing birds" is a must-have project for the lion dance, following the beat of the gong and drum, the light ball draws a changeable curve, and the "lion" imitates the movements of poultry and livestock, vividly appearing, sending a good omen for the prosperity of the six animals to the host family. The next wonderful and intense "Playing the Lion's Gate" quickly pushed the lion dance drama to a climax. A ball lamp moved up and down, flipping left and right, like a swimming flame, slow as a ball of light trembling, and quickly swimming like lightning. This ball-handler must be a martial artist, and his swift and rhythmic movements and agitated voice like a thunderbolt cause him to scream, and from time to time he drinks a "whoosh-" and shakes the beams of the room. The "lion" was excited, sometimes shaking its head and tail, sometimes the tiger stood up, sometimes it was waiting to jump, and sometimes it was in mid-air. The lantern watchers, the black crows, circled in circles. They'll be happy, and you won't blame your firecrackers when the lion dance reaches its climax. People throw lit firecrackers, individual or short, wind and rain to lions, which is a test for dancers. The dancers have their own golden bell covers, swinging and leaping, even if the firecrackers are dense as raindrops, but also dripping water is difficult to invade, the drums and shouts are intertwined, and the atmosphere of the scene is blazing.
Teenagers are even more fanatical followers. One after another, the lights do not stop, the people do not disperse; the lights stop, the momentum does not disperse. Their palms sweated, their feet were full of strength, and they extended the leap on the field to the dream, to the field, to the four seasons, to the next new year.
Rural people often like to fight, and the unique skills are constantly living in the folk. We have a Seven Family Mountain here, and there were seven clan names of Bai, Yang, Yin, Zi, Lu, Qi, and Chen. Each surname has a tradition of winning the lantern, which can be described as a big scene, clean up the empty rice field, and play "lion looking at the Yangtze River". According to the folklore, it is necessary to put on a large table of "seven seven forty-nine", whether this number is real or false, and no one can say how to swing it clearly. The countless oil-paper lanterns were affixed with five-colored paper, and the candlelight shone brightly; the whirring torches lit and extinguished, extinguished and lit, and the field was bright. The sea of people stretches their necks, the gongs and drums are tight and slow, and the lion dancers climb rocks like monkeys, jumping three times, climbing to the top, dancing wildly in mid-air. On the black canopy, a male lion flew from the sky, shaking people's hearts. People look up, and the sound is loud.
This kind of lion lamp is sometimes specially designed for performance, but despite this, it is impossible to play without skill. There is no doubt that that kung fu is not mixed with a little film and television special effects.
Boldness of execution stems from superb skill. Despite saying that "good lights do not dance in the street", the street town is the cultural center of the countryside, and out of the need for dignity, there are always strangers with strange abilities, hiding secret skills and magic skills, waiting to show their skills when necessary. However, some lion dance teams prefer to step on the market town, perhaps because of the temptation of cakes, sugar, cigarettes, coins, etc., or perhaps a kind of technical confidence. Competition is about rules. "Don't look at the lamp face to see the veneer." Out of the village to send lamp posts, one after another are some leading figures, each other to understand the rules of convention, as well as integrity and etiquette. Into the street lion dance, the streets and alleys are crowded, the cannons are dense, if a street dance comes down, the "lion hair" is burned, and it is regarded as a joke or a small matter. If you make a mistake, it will be a shame to give up the "light ball". But this does not stop people's interest in fighting skills. Bias towards the tiger mountain line, is it a last resort, or is it inherently persistent and confident? Maybe it is the indomitable character of the mountain people cultivated by this side of the water and soil.
I haven't seen a lion lamp like that in a long time. During the Spring Festival, people in the circle of friends continue to post small videos of dancing lights, which feel really showy, but they always feel that there is a little less flavor, but they have to chew in these words.
The old lion lights also had a very good time, which was generally the end of the lion dance, and the aftertaste was very long, "singing flower drum", also called "wearing flower drum". In this program, a man holds a flat small drum to lead the singing, and the remaining four young women each hold up exquisite and colorful small lanterns, singing in harmony, interspersing with each other, changing formations. Lights, glittering lights, songs, pleasing to the ear. In addition to the folk minor tunes adapted from many filial piety stories, it is the Ballad of He Chun. "It's the New Year in the first month, and every household is greeted with lights. Lion lantern into the village people Corning, six animals prosperous five grain abundance... Alas, hi, hi yo-"The melodious singing voice, like a shaking jade wind chime, ripples the breath of the countryside and calls for the fortunes of the new spring.
-END-
Tang Jiqian
anchor
Duty Editor: Zhang Chao
Review: Wu Fucheng
Final Judge: Wang Changxue
Organizer: Zongyang County Rong Media Center
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