Big house small home

Many, many years ago, in the south of Jiangxi and some places in Fujian, people used to live in a super large house. The foundation of the wall of the house is made of stone or green brick, the wall is very strong, the doors are high, some of the walls have plum blossom gun holes, and the four corners of the enclosure are equipped with gun towers and watchtowers.

In the era of constant war and banditry, building a house like this can make the people who live in it feel more secure, and once a foreign enemy invades, everyone becomes a warrior to defend their happy home.

The big houses are square and round, two or three stories, with wells, barns, ancestral halls and even stages. Such a large house, of course, is not only inhabited by one family, but often has dozens or hundreds of households.

It's hard to imagine so many people living together now – fireworks, chickens and dogs barking, children happiest, never worrying about finding a playmate. "Are you coming to play with the officers and soldiers to catch the robbers?" Whoever shouts in the courtyard, upstairs and downstairs, immediately hula gushes out a large group of children.

Of course, the children of the east family scratched the face of the children of the west family, and the children of the south made an appointment to bully the north side, which is also common, but they do not remember revenge. Because there is no way to remember revenge, they are all relatives, the same clan, and the same blood.

If our nation is a towering tree, this family is the branch of the tree. For thousands of years, this big tree has experienced wind and rain, fire and lightning strikes, but it has become more and more deeply rooted and leafy, full of vitality.

With the development of the times, people's lives have undergone great changes, and more and more people have moved out of the enclosures, moved into the small Western-style buildings they built, and even moved into the buildings in the city. Dozens of large houses, hundreds of families lived in slowly empty, so empty that only a dozen or a few remained, and some of them did not have any left.

People who move out, no matter where they go, no matter how far away, every year on the first day of the New Year, they will return to the enclosure, which is the home of their ancestors for generations, and the people gathered in the enclosure are their relatives. A lively and happy day made up for the thoughts and worries of the past year, and also harvested many happy and sincere blessings.

For children, this is naturally a day of crazy and energetic eating, some children have never lived in the enclosure at all, and the meaning of "going home" with adults every year is: feeling family affection, worshiping ancestors and recognizing the ancestors, knowing where they come from and where their hometown is. When you grow up, no matter where you go, you know where your roots are and where I come from.

On this day, people who return to the enclosure gather together to drink tea, drink wine, talk, worship ancestors, and an important ritual is to continue the family tree. It is a traditional custom to record the names of newborn boys in the family tree, but to exclude girls, but the times have developed, will girls also have their own ideas? This is a very interesting question to think about!

Therefore, when I came to the enclosure, I observed and described such a story, and came together to experience the warmth and changes of the enclosure.

A girl named Xu Jiayuan was not happy, she did not understand that her brother's "Xu Jiajie" could be written in that "big book", why not her "Xu Jiayuan"? The name is also very good...

In the end, it was she who tried to make herself happy, wasn't it just writing a name? It doesn't matter if she doesn't let her write about the "big book", she is in the first grade, she can write, she can write those three words anywhere in the enclosure, write as much as you want, and write as much as you want.

In the process, she sees "herself" and recognizes "herself", which is magnified by herself. And when she looked back, she saw the warm light coming out of the window of the house in the cold night, and the sweet wine made by her mother, and the cute smile of her brother, which was enough.

It doesn't matter if her name is written in that "big book" or not, what matters is that she has a big home, a big home with a small home, a small home with a father, a mother, a brother, and "herself."

There is love, there is affection, which has a beautiful childhood and full of happiness.

(The author's affiliation is 21st Century Publishing House, and this article is the author's "Walled House" creative handwriting)

China Teachers Daily, October 27, 2021, 16th edition

Author: Peng Xuejun