Yang Caixia's paper-cut works.
Members of the Xi'an "Ru Pasta Flower" intangible cultural heritage team introduced the noodle flower work "Dragon Soaring".
Unearthed in Shaanxi Shenmu Han Dynasty Spring God Jumang Portrait Stone, now collected in the Shaanxi History Museum.
Reporter Zhang Junchao Baihua.
On January 26, the snow-covered white snow decorated the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains with elegance and cleanliness, and Caijiapo Village, Shijing Street, Hubei District, Xi'an City, at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, already had the breath of spring.
In order to do a good job in the intangible cultural heritage display and social fire performance activities of "Spring to Ten Thousand Families, Happy Chang'an" on the day of the beginning of spring, intangible cultural heritage inheritors from various districts and counties in Xi'an gathered here for rehearsals and showed their skills.
The beginning of spring is the first of the 24 solar terms, representing the beginning of spring. Cut window flowers, paint New Year's pictures, steam flower buns, and make social fire ......On the land of Guanzhong, people are welcoming the arrival of spring in various festive ways.
Auspicious blessings in intangible cultural heritage
Yang Caixia, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage project Xi'an paper-cutting, came to the scene early in the morning. While cutting a work with a dragon motif, she introduced her paper-cut "Twenty-Four Solar Terms". In the work "Beginning of Spring", magpies and plum blossoms are clustered around a sturdy ploughing ox, the ploughing ox is stepping on the blooming lotus flowers, the big word "spring" is on its head, and there are jumping carp on both sides, lanterns with the word "Fu", and dolls setting off ceremonial flowers, just like a picture of "welcoming the new year".
Cutting window flowers in the beginning of spring is an ancient custom in Guanzhong, which expresses the festive atmosphere while placing people's expectations for a better life. Nowadays, window cutting has developed from a traditional folk skill to a colorful paper-cutting art, and the beautiful meaning has never changed.
The 24 solar terms are closely related to traditional agricultural production. Many of the pictures of Lichun cut by Yang Caixia have the image of ploughing oxen. "Ploughing cattle are a representative of farming culture. She said that the beginning of spring every year is the time of the year. In the past, in Guanzhong, people had to repair farm tools and maintain their cattle during this time to prepare for spring ploughing and production. Nowadays, there are some places where the custom of "beating spring cattle" is still preserved.
Not far from Yang Caixia's booth, a young man's embroidery works such as tiger head hat and sleeve attracted tourists to stop and watch. The young man's family lives in Xiangqiao Street, Lintong District, Xi'an City, named Xia Lulu, and is the fifth-generation inheritor of the Lintong Xia family embroidery family. When you first hear the name, many people will think that Xia Lulu is a clever embroiderer, but in fact, he is an out-and-out "embroiderer" in Guanzhong.
At Xia Lulu's booth, a fish dragon hat was particularly eye-catching. He introduced that the fish dragon hat reproduced the "Chinese late Qing Dynasty fish dragon shaped children's hat", after more than half a month of pattern-making, embroidery, and continuous adjustment.
In our local area, around the beginning of spring every year, many families will embroider some tiger head hats, cat baby pillows, Wufu vests and other supplies for their children according to their age, gender, birthday, etc., so that they can wear them during the Spring Festival. These supplies contain people's best wishes for their children's growth. Xia Lulu said, "I will continue to innovate and integrate the best wishes into every work." ”
Steaming flower buns and giving gift buns is an ancient custom in Guanzhong. These steamed buns are also a token of family affection, and are mostly used in birthday celebrations and other activities.
In fact, steaming flower buns in the beginning of spring is also a tradition of Guanzhong people. Wang Lei, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage project of "Xi'an" Pasta Flower, introduced, "Flower bun is the product of the combination of wheat culture and the art of kneading, and is the embodiment of the ancient farming civilization. In it, people place good wishes such as praying for peace, expressing good luck, and wishing for a good harvest in the coming year. At his booth, a noodle flower titled "Dragon Soaring" was particularly eye-catching. This was created by their team specifically to welcome the New Year of the Dragon.
Agrarian civilization in the fire
Song Zhirong, who is in his 70s, is the inheritor of the provincial social fire. Early in the morning of January 26, he rushed to Caijiapo from his home in Song Village, Caotang Town, Hubei District, to show his model of Shehuo and introduce the origin of Shehuo to the visitors.
The ancients called the earth god, as well as the place, day, and sacrificial rites of worship to the earth god. The folk community fire ** is the worship of the ancients for land and fire. In China, which is famous for its agricultural culture, land is the foundation of people's livelihood and the material basis for their survival and development. Fire is the source of people's cooked food and heating, and it is an indispensable condition for survival and development. In the ancient worship of land and fire, the custom of sacrificial shrines and fire gradually evolved.
The beginning of spring is the beginning of spring, people make a social fire in this season, in addition to adding a joyful and festive atmosphere for the festival, there is also the intention of warding off evil spirits and eliminating disasters, praying for blessings and auspiciousness, praying for good weather and abundant crops in the coming year. Song Zhirong said.
As the core area of Shaanxi's farming culture, Guanzhong has a long history and rich and diverse forms. "Since I was a child, I have followed adults to learn and act in social fire, and the social fire in our village is famous far and wide. Song Zhirong said, "Every year when the winter farming is off, many adults and children compete to sign up for the social fire team, and they are proud to be able to play the role of the character." The rehearsal and performance of the fire began at the beginning of spring and lasted until the second dragon raised its head in February, reaching a climax around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Many of the surrounding villages often invite us to perform. ”
Song Zhirong introduced that there are many styles of fire in Guanzhong, and the most common ones are stepping on stilts, twisting Yangge, running dry boats, carrying cores, etc. The 10-meter-high core built by their village fire team is made of steel bars in different shapes, on which several dolls can stand. The outside of the steel frame is cleverly covered with flowers and trees and other decorations, and the visual effect of standing on the tip of the umbrella and hanging people on the treetops during the performance is thrilling and exciting, and the audience is all amazed.
Planting swings in the beginning of spring is also a folk custom in Guanzhong. Song Zhirong said that in the past, every village would build a big swing for the entertainment of the whole village at this time. People compete with each other, and the higher they swing, the more praise they get.
When Song Zhirong was introduced, the fire teams gathered in Caijiapo Village began to perform. For a time, the gongs and drums were noisy, the dragons were churning, and the Yangge team stepped on the drums and twisted the dance steps through the village alleys, sending celebration and auspiciousness to every household.
A vision of happiness on the New Year's picture
At the same time that Caijiapo was bustling with activity, in a farmhouse in Nansuo Village, Yuxia Town, Hubei District, an old man was painting the scene of "Lichun" in his heart with a paintbrush.
70-year-old Zhang Qingyi has loved painting since childhood. Since 1973, he has been engaged in the creation of peasant paintings for more than 50 years, and his works are quite prolific.
Peasant paintings are a kind of traditional Chinese New Year paintings, which are mostly based on daily life, showing auspicious and festive scenes of farming activities and visions for a better life. Under Zhang Qingyi's brush, the 24 solar terms are his frequent theme. He had just recently completed a set of customized twenty solar terms charts for a friend. His 20 solar terms chart presents the typical scenes of each season, skillfully combining Chinese characters and painting art, with a strong visual impact and decorative beauty.
In one of his paintings, which depicts farming life at the beginning of spring, the distant mountains and the sky are set against each other, the trees surrounding the village seem to be covered with snowflakes and ice cubes, the wheat seedlings in the fields have awakened, the peasant women are digging wild vegetables in between, and the people are busy applying fertilizer, raking the land, and ......The whole picture seems quiet and vibrant.
My works are all based on rural life, and I want to pass on my love and blessings for life to everyone who sees these paintings. Zhang Qingyi said.
Zhang Qingyi painted his vision for a better life on paper, and in the new village of Huangbao Town, Wangyi District, Tongchuan City, the same wishes were painted on the wall. On January 31, as soon as the reporter walked into the new village of Huangbao Town, he was attracted by the village's clean roads, houses and exquisite painted wall paintings. One of the painted wall paintings depicts the 24 solar terms.
Xiao Pengyan, chairman of the Wangyi District Folk Literature and Art Association, said that since 2017, she has designed and organized the painting of theme wall paintings to promote traditional culture for many villages in Tongchuan City, and the 24 solar terms are one of the important themes. In the spring picture on the wall of the new village of Huangbao Town, an old gentleman is writing Spring Festival couplets for the villagers, and the big word "Fu" has been pasted on the door. **Shaanxi**.