A handful of leeks
Text: Zhang Baozhu.
I am a native of Jinan, and my family lives on the edge of the moat of Laodongguan. Speaking of the Chinese New Year, the past is vivid, and I feel as if I have returned to sixty or seventy years ago.
Zhang Baozhu in Daming Lake in 1965.
Little Gala
What I remember most was the Spring Festival in 1958, when I was 13 years old and was selected to participate in the performance of "Four Crab Lanterns". The four crab lanterns are a kind of folk costume dance that uses lanterns as props, which has been circulated in Jinan for two or three hundred years. There is a "crab" in the name of the four crab lamps, but in fact, there is no "role" of crab roe in it, mainly because the crab's activity posture is not good, so the other four creatures in the aquarium are selected as the "starring", namely: fish, turtle, shrimp, and mussel (called "gala" in Jinan dialect). People make colorful lanterns according to their images, which are exquisitely crafted and vivid and realistic. The actors wore lanterns of different shapes on their bodies, playing different roles such as fish, turtles, shrimps, and mussels. In addition, there are more than a dozen supporting characters dressed as clouds or water wave lanterns, each holding two props, which are lit by candles. Through the cooperation of dance movements, the actors perform with plots and stories, creating a vivid artistic image. The actors added many difficult martial arts movements to the performance: carp jumping over the dragon gate, turning and jumping, squatting and lying down, kneeling and eating, as well as story scenes such as mussels and turtles fighting each other, with movement and stillness, smooth rhythm and unique style. In addition, there are also donkey riding, rowing boats, ugly women fighting singles, etc., interspersed with burlesque performances, the band is gongs and drums plus playing suona and sheng. The atmosphere of the four crab lanterns is cheerful, festive and auspicious, expressing the people's expectations for a better life.
Four Crab Lanterns" performance.
The four crab lanterns are mainly spread in the South Gate, Dongshefang, Dongguan, Dikouzhuang, Luokou, Beiyuan, and Daming Lake. There are many puddles in these places, and the common people make a living by fishing and catching shrimp, and there is a tradition of practicing martial arts and boxing. They entertained themselves by performing the movements of fish, turtles, shrimps, and mussels that they usually observed in the water, with ornamental martial arts moves. At first, it was just a bamboo pole as a prop, but gradually the storyline and lanterns were added, and finally it developed into a dance with a strong life atmosphere, such as the four crab lanterns. Of course, this dance has exaggerated artistic processing of the movements of fish, turtles, shrimps, and mussels, but each movement is highly generalized and polished, and it is very down-to-earth. Back then, there was a "fishing" Wang Siye in Laoguan, and the fish he played was vivid, very vivid, and it was a must.
"Big Gala" and "Little Gala" are performing.
I was playing Xiao Gala at the time, and there were a lot of emotional scenes between me and Big Gala. Playing the role of Da Gala is an old man nicknamed "No Hand", who has lost one hand, so he straps props to his arm to perform, which is better than that of a person with sound limbs. I played the Four Crab Lantern to teach me "no hands", and I often played the big and small gala with him, and the cooperation was very tacit. The storyline is shown like this: the big gala is hatching the small gala, and the two shells are fanning one on the left and one on the right. Then the little Gala I played jumped out of it, fanning the little shell and doing all kinds of childish and cute actions. I have a lot of movements, sometimes I have a golden rooster to be independent, sometimes I turn in a circle, which attracts bursts of applause from the audience. I still remember my outfit at that time: I was wearing a flower dress for acting, with makeup on my face, and I looked a bit like Nezha and Red Boy in "Journey to the West". Because I was so cute, many people in the audience wondered if I was a boy or a girl, and they all looked around me after the show until they saw me walk into the men's restroom and realized that I was a boy.
Confession
When I grow up, I can't patronize and play during the New Year, and I have to be busy visiting relatives and friends to visit the New Year. In the old Jinan New Year, every household has to put incense burning, in some places it is also called "family hall", that is, to invite the deceased ancestors to go home for the New Year. On the afternoon of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, an offering table and an incense table should be set up in the hall, and the tables and chairs would be tied with beautifully embroidered tables and chairs. There is a large ** of the ancestors on the table, and a ** is placed in front of the table. At that time, no matter who you went to to pay New Year's greetings, you had to kneel on the ** first when you entered the door, respectfully kowtow to the ancestors of the master's family three times, and then go into the inner room to speak.
Zhang Baozhu's work丨"Confucius's Hometown".
I have received help from many people on my way up, and they are my benefactors and nobles. When I was younger, I used to go to them every year. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I walked 36 houses in one day. Among them, Mr. Hei Bolong and Mr. Chen Weixin are my mentors, and I definitely go to them every year. In addition to going to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the new year, I also have to go there before the Chinese New Year's Eve to give them a gift.
Zhang Baozhu's works丨"The Cold Picture of the Year".
Give a "gift" to your teacher
In those days, there were no valuables to give away during the Chinese New Year. Those who are in better condition will buy two catties of longevity cakes, chicken cakes, and peach cakes, but my family was very poor at that time and couldn't buy snacks. My family is a "farming household" and has vegetable fields in the suburbs, so I usually bring some celery, leek, and green garlic to give away during the Chinese New Year. At that time, there were no greenhouses in winter, and these dishes were very rare. At that time, the monthly salary was only more than 20 yuan, and green garlic could be sold for two or three yuan a catty. Sometimes a few lotus roots are brought on, a kind of white lotus root is abundant in the North Park and around Daming Lake, also called "Minghu Root", the water is sweet and crisp, very delicious.
Zhang Baozhu and his mentor Mr. Chen Weixin took a group photo.
One year, during the Chinese New Year, I carried a handful of leeks, a little green garlic, and a few lotus roots to give Mr. Chen Weixin a gift for the holidays. When I arrived at the door of Mr. Jiangjiachi's house, I hesitated a few times but didn't dare to knock on the door, and lingered in front of the door for a long time. I really feel that the two handfuls of greens in my hand are too shabby, and I am afraid that the teacher will dislike me. But it all came, and I finally gritted my teeth and knocked on the door and entered. Unexpectedly, when my wife saw it, not only was she not unwilling, but she also said happily: "Oh, there are leeks!" Great, there are leek buns (Jinan people call dumplings 'buns', editor's note) to eat in Chinese New Year's Eve! ”
Zhang Baozhu took a group photo with his mentor, Mr. Hei Bolong.
In fact, I was too worried, these old gentlemen didn't care whether you gave him a gift or not, let alone pay attention to giving more or less. Once, I slipped two fish to visit Mr. Hei Bolong, but when he saw it, he asked me, "What are you doing today?" Why don't you take the painting, what do we talk about if you don't take the painting? Just such a sentence touched me, I was sixteen years old at the time, and I really felt the love of Hei Lao for his students. Since this black old man "trained" me, every week or half a month, I went to the black old man's house, and every time I took a dozen scrolls to draw. Now, I often talk to students about this, and I want to put some pressure on them to make progress.
Burn paintings
Zhang Baozhu's work丨"Looking at the Mountain".
Now, these old gentlemen have been gone for many years, and I miss them immensely. My way of expressing my nostalgia is more special - "burning paintings" to pay tribute to them. They wanted to see me improve in my drawings when I was alive, and I reported my studies to them in this way. What I painted for Hei Lao was a picture of "Evergreen Pine and Cypress", and the inscription on the painting was "Pure Qi Stays in Heaven and Earth", and I burned it after painting. I painted "Mount Tai Welcome Pine" for Chen Lao, and I burned it after painting. I also burned a painting of one of my students, whose surname was Dong, who worked in a large railway factory and unfortunately died young. He liked the cypress tree I painted the most, so I painted a four-foot cypress tree for him and burned it to pay tribute to him.
Zhang Baozhu's work丨"Nishan Academy".
"Burning paintings" is not my originality, my painting friend Chen Yupu also had the experience of "funeral painting". In the 70s of the last century, just one day before he received the order from Qufu Normal University, his father died, and in the end, he was not able to see him turn from a farmer to a university teacher. In addition to grief, he picked out a few good long scrolls and put them in his father's coffin for burial. This thing is still sighing when I think about it.
Zhang Baozhu's work丨"Pine Shade Game Map".
Speaking of which, I also think of my mother, who is a very hardworking and kind person, with five brothers and an older sister above us, and she has a hard time pulling us apart. Happily, she lived to be 90 years old, which is considered a long life, and she also saw me make some achievements in painting in her lifetime. She was very supportive of my drawing. When I was young, my family lived in a dilapidated and small house, I worked in the second factory of national cotton during the day, and went home at night to paint, at that time I was copying ancient paintings, learning the ancients of the Song and Yuan dynasties, and I was fascinated, and I had to paint until more than three o'clock in the middle of the night every day. My mother had tracheitis, and once she woke up in the middle of the night coughing, and when she saw that the light in my house was still on, she shouted, "Baozhu, it's three o'clock, go to sleep!" "I don't know if it's a coincidence or what, but almost every day around one to three o'clock, my mother would wake up and call me to sleep. Whenever I heard her shout, I obediently went to bed and rode back to work at seven o'clock the next morning. For quite some time, this became almost a thunderbolt rule.
Zhang Baozhu and her mother.
My mother has been gone for fifteen years, and a few days ago, I heard my mother call out to me in my dream: "Baozhu, it's three o'clock, go to sleep!" I woke up suddenly, the hands of the clock on the wall were just past three o'clock, and I listened to the sound of the "tick-tock" hour hand, and I unconsciously wet ......my eyes