spring festival
The dragon lantern dances to celebrate the New Year, the windmill cuts paper to send auspiciousness, and the car will twist out the ...... of the New YearIn Tongzhou District, which has a profound cultural heritage, these intangible cultural heritage cultures that exude a strong local flavor are the most intuitive memories of folk customs, New Year's festivals and liveliness. During the Spring Festival, the towns and villages in the region will set off an upsurge of intangible cultural heritage, and various forms of intangible cultural heritage activities will present a cultural feast that cannot be missed for the villagers who have been busy for a year.
Spring
section
Miao County Town
The 190 Canal Lantern Festival is famous everywhere
Knock knock, knock knock ......"The Spring Festival is approaching, the gongs and drums in the backyard of the Dragon Lantern Museum in Zhangzhuang Village, Miao County Town, two majestic and vigorous blue dragons take off with the drum beat, sometimes rolling, under the exquisite and skillful techniques of the dragon dancers, they are soft and stretched, and go straight to the clouds. The dragon dancers are stepping up rehearsals for the Spring Festival performance.
The canal dragon lantern festival in Zhangzhuang Village is famous in all directions. This ancient technique can be traced back to 1834, that is, the fourteenth year of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty. The "Canal Dragon Lantern" has distinctive features: a square head and a large mouth, long antlers, a pig's nose and round eyes, a blue body with golden scales, a goldfish tail, and a total length of 18 meters. The canal dragon lantern is one of the most distinctive performance forms of the North Canal, with a strong local flavor and regional characteristics of the Grand Canal. In 2005, the Tongzhou Canal Dragon Lantern was listed as a representative project of Beijing's intangible cultural heritage, and was officially named "Tongzhou Canal Dragon Lantern Festival".
Xie Zhaoliang, the intangible inheritor of the Canal Dragon Lantern Festival, introduced that the Canal Dragon Lantern Festival in Zhangzhuang Village has a history of nearly 190 years. The blue double dragon is their characteristic, and the performance routines are even more varied, and they have excavated and sorted out more than ten kinds of techniques such as "dragon turning", "heads-up dragon handle" and "dragon fighting".
At that time, the Dragon Lantern Festival was very popular in the Grand Canal area. There are six grades in Tongzhou, which are distributed in villages and towns along the river, including Xidian Village in Majuqiao Town, Jingezhuang Village in Xiji Town, and Juntun Village, Matou Village, Changlingying Village and Zhangzhuang Village in Miaoxian Town. However, only the canal lantern festival in Zhangzhuang Village started the longest and has been passed down to this day. Xie Zhaoliang gave a detailed introduction to the Dragon Lantern Festival of the Canal: The blue double dragon is very rare in Beijing, because of the waterfront, the people along the canal believe that the blue dragon is the dragon of the Grand Canal, which can bless the villages and people along the canal with good weather and abundant harvests. The canal dragon lantern festival has to "get up" every New Year's Festival, also called "walking meeting", praying for blessings and auspiciousness.
The unique blue double dragon of the Canal Dragon Lantern Festival in Zhangzhuang Village has been to many places, has been invited to perform at the Changdian Temple Fair, and has also participated in the performance of the World Horticultural Exposition and the performance of Wuqing District of Tianjin, etc., and has received rave reviews.
As an important part of the canal culture and Beijing culture, the "Canal Dragon Lantern Festival" has entered various schools in Miaoxian County, integrating the canal history, intangible cultural heritage culture, and dragon dance exercise system into interest courses to promote the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt. Through the carrier of the dragon lantern, under the guidance of the intangible cultural heritage inheritor, the students learned the production process of the dragon lantern weaving keel, mounting the dragon body, and hooking the dragon tendon of the Zhangzhuang Canal.
Seeing that it was the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon again, Xie Zhaoliang and everyone had already begun to gear up, "Don't look at the average age of our team is over 60 years old, dancing these two nearly 20-meter-long dragons is still very imposing." If you don't believe it, come to the village to have a look, on the first day of the new year, we will see you or leave! ”
Zhangjiawan Town
Li Ersi car will be famous in Jingdong
The Folk Flower Festival is a traditional dance performance during the New Year's Festival. The flower society of Tongzhou began to be popular in the Song Dynasty, becoming a Ming dynasty and flourishing in the Qing Dynasty. The car meeting is one of the most common forms of performance in the flower party, and the most famous in the Jingdong area is the Zhangjiawan Li Ersi car meeting.
Han Decheng, the intangible inheritor of the Liersi Car Club, introduced that in history, there were folk flower activities in Zhangjiawan, Yongle Dian, Xiji, Niubaotun, Majuqiao, Chengguan, Tongzhou Town and other places. The car club is also known as the Taiping car. The wooden frame is covered with cloth with painted wheels on the cloth, and the frame cover is tied around the performer's waist, like a woman sitting in a car. Another person pushes a cart, and through the cart to hurry, go up the mountain and cross the bridge, etc., singing and dancing are very lively. There are about 25 supporting characters, such as Mr., Silly Boy, and drum accompaniment.
According to the record of "Beijing Chronicles and Temple Collection": "There is a temple fair on April 4 at the Sihe Shrine in Lier, and the temple is on the shore of the Zhangjiawan Canal. In the past, the two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were transported by inland rivers, and dozens of grain ships were berthed here, pooling money to act and reward God. Tourists from near and far ......There will be 10,000 people in the year, red men and green women, and few long and salty gatherings. "That's what it was like hundreds of years ago. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were two temple fairs every year, and the South Eight Meetings and the North Eight Societies performed here, and of course the Li Ersi Car Fair was also among them. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Liersi trolley would have been established at least in the Qing Dynasty.
In the early 20th century, Li Ersi held two temple fairs a year, on the 15th day of the first lunar month and the first day of the fifth lunar month. Especially on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it is the most prosperous, and the people of ten miles and eight towns come here to pray for "good wind and rain, and peace in all seasons". On this morning, the South Eight Societies and the North Eight Societies composed of villages in the south and north of Li Ersi will come to Youmin Temple to hold a ceremony of pilgrimage to the top. When the incense is in the temple, before and after the archway outside the temple, it is the time when the flowers will show their skills and perform to their heart's content, and the audience is surrounded by water, and it is very lively.
The Liersi Car Club is a folk art team formed at that time, which has continued from generation to generation and has been inherited in an orderly manner.
I was on call for the Spring Festival performance. Wang Yanfen, who plays the role of the car lady, is 55 years old this year, and seeing that the Chinese New Year is about to begin, she began to sort out the "phoenix crown xiaxia" that she spent a lot of money on. "Our car will be authentic, and in the past, it could perform a maximum of 10 performances during the Spring Festival. Dozens of pounds of 'car' tied to the body, plus the head is tight, it's uncomfortable, but I already like this role deeply, and I'm willing to stick to it until someone **. But now there are not many young people who want to learn this. Wang Yanfen said that she was ready before the Spring Festival this year, as long as she said hello, she would be ready to perform.
Because of the special geographical location, in addition to the car club, the stilt club is also quite famous.
Stilts have a long history, and they are vividly depicted in "Liezi Shuofu". In the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was called "stilts", in the Song Dynasty, it was called "stilts", and in the late Qing Dynasty, it was called "stilts".
Unlike the aging of the car club actors, most of the members of the Li Ersi stilt club are teenagers. In 2008, the village committee of Liersi Village formulated and implemented a plan to cultivate young stilt clubs in the village-run primary school, and more than 40 young people participated in it, becoming the 14th generation.
The stilt clubs organized in the village generally start practicing one month before the Spring Festival to prepare for the performances of the Spring Festival and the 15th day of the first lunar month. Xu Baorui, a villager in his seventies, is the master in charge of teaching stilts. He introduced that the roles of Li Ersi stilts include 4 Wujiao, 4 Wenjiao, 2 Jungong and 2 Ugly Drums, and sometimes the Ugly Po and Hanako, a total of 14 people. Most of the characters are Liangshan heroes in "Water Margin", in addition to performing various actions, they also have to perform step by step according to the gongs and drums.
The Li Ersi stilt club is a folk Yangge dance, which has been passed down through more than ten generations of oral teaching for hundreds of years, and has been passed down to this day. The biggest feature is that it is unpretentious and rich in lyrics, we have preserved 58 old lyrics, and also adapted many lyrics to adapt to the new era. Xu Baorui said proudly.
The inheritance of intangible cultural heritage is not only the preservation and development of various forms of culture and skills, but also the inheritance of people's living memories from generation to generation.
For the ancient town of Zhangjiawan, the various intangible cultural heritages rooted here are the crystallization of wisdom left by our ancestors, the "living fossils" with vitality, and the carrier of the humanistic memory of this ancient town.
West Market Town
Paper-cutting welcomes the Year of the Dragon
In the suburbs of Beijing, in addition to buying New Year's goods, cleaning, and pasting Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival, the folk custom of cutting window flowers has a long history. In the past few days, Wang Wenmin's family, the intangible inheritor of "Tuanhua paper-cutting" in Wangzhuang Village, Xiji Town, is welcoming the New Year in a unique way of paper-cutting, adding an auspicious and festive atmosphere to the upcoming Jiachen Year of the Dragon.
In the old man's home, dozens of auspicious dragon works have been arranged. The auspicious dragons in these works are lying down, curling, coiling, or playing, with different expressions, smart and lively, which is lovely. An ordinary cardboard has become a cute little paper dragon between the scissors flying, including the "Ping An Dragon" with the shape of the apple, the "Fortune Dragon" with the ingots, the "Rich Dragon" with the peony, and the "Annunciation Dragon" with the magpie, etc., which look particularly festive. "Paper-cutting is an artistic treasure left by our ancestors, and it should be passed on and carried forward. In the folk, the paper-cut dragon has the folk function of eliminating disasters and praying for good fortune. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, and I have prepared auspicious and festive Chinese dragon paper-cuts to present to the New Year, such as the eight-sided Ling 'Dragon', the 'Dragon' of the Seven Tricks Ling, the re-appearance of the 'Dragon', the 'Dragon' blessing of the water, the blessing of the dragon, and the radiance of the dragon. Wang Wenmin said.
When it comes to Tuanhua paper-cutting, many people may not have heard of it, in fact, Tuanhua paper-cutting has been prevalent in the north since the five dynasties, but it is currently only reserved in a few areas of northern Shaanxi, and it is almost lost in North China. Wang Wenmin's old man's tuanhua paper-cutting should start from when he was a child. He grew up in his grandmother's house, the family conditions are not good, he often uses paper-cutting instead of toys, follow the adult's ears and eyes, when he was five or six years old, he can cut some simple patterns, and then gradually develop a hobby, to grope to draw some antique patterns, chrysanthemums, peonies, dragons, phoenixes, magpies, etc. Until now, every time there is a New Year's holiday, a wedding or a funeral, Wang Wenmin will use the traditional art of paper-cutting to express his wish to pray for blessings and welcome auspiciousness, showing the simple farm life and folk customs.
For more than 60 years, he has used paper-cutting skills to cut modern high-rise buildings, 12 zodiac signs, and various situations of life. A stack of red paper, a pair of scissors, exquisite ingenuity, clever hand sketching, fingers flying to present a vivid work. As long as there is free, the whole family will sit together to make paper-cut works, the Spring Festival these days, many neighbors come to ask for group flower paper-cutting. "Usually whoever has a happy event also asks me to cut two pictures, both for a festive picture. Wang Wenmin said. There are heirs inside, apprentices outside, and now Wang Wenmin, who is full of peach and plums, is very pleased to look at these works. He hopes that the intangible cultural heritage of Tuanhua paper-cutting can be known and passed on by more people, "These beautiful things should be passed on from generation to generation." ”
West Market Town
Tongzhou windmill "car turns happiness".
Like Wang Wenmin, every Spring Festival, it is also the busiest time for Liang Jun's family, the "windmill king" in Wuxinzhuang Village, Xiji Town, and this year they have to make hundreds of windmills to send to the market and temple fairs to welcome the New Year.
Mr. Liang is over 80 years old, and his ancestors have been making traditional windmills and kites for generations, and he is already the third generation. In 2007, Tongzhou windmill was included in the list of Beijing Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects. In 2008, he was named the representative inheritor of the Beijing Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Project. When he was 10 years old, he learned to make windmills from his elders, and the windmills he made were different. "Don't look at the windmill as a small object, it's not small, it has something to do with Jiang Ziya in "Romance of the Gods". ”
As soon as the windmill was mentioned, Mr. Liang's face was full of pride, and the conversation box was opened. The windmill has to go through forty or fifty processes, and the soil made of the mud drum of the windmill is very particular. First of all, it is necessary to select the soil with high viscosity and not stiffness, and through the process of making mud, filtration, and sedimentation. The sludge is mixed into the paper and stirred to blend it together. Then make the mud into a drum with a standard size and consistent thickness and leave it to dry in the shade for 3 to 5 days. The drum surface is cut into a slightly larger square than the drum with relatively thin kraft paper, and glued to the drum surface with latex, which needs to be flattened and tightened. The windmill frame is made of a kind of red sorghum straw, which is tied according to the designed shape and connected with bamboo nails. One of the more troublesome processes is the production of windmill wheels, also known as drum wheels. First of all, choose the bamboo strips, gently scrape them flat with a knife and split them into strips, soak them in warm water to soften, and tie them in a circle with a fetal tool. Then add the wheel strips to color, and dye the wind wheels in the symbolic red, yellow, and green colors.
Mr. Liang pointed to the windmill and said that the coloring of the windmill has meanings, green represents the earth and environmental protection, red represents the sun, and yellow represents the descendants of Yan and Huang; The 12 wheels on the wind wheel represent 12 months, one end of the 12 wind wheels is bonded with the rim, and the other end is connected with the central shaft, a total of 24 heads, which represent the 24 solar terms, enclosed to form a circle, which contains the four seasons of the year, which is intended to bless the four seasons of the four seasons. The small windmill contains the harmony and unity of heaven, earth and man.
Now that Mr. Liang is old, he still makes and ponders windmills by himself. Although there are many mass-produced windmills on the market, the traditional production of Tongzhou windmills has been passed down from hand to hand, so that people can feel the authentic Beijing culture. "The wind blows the windmill and turns the car into happiness. The old man said, "As long as my body is okay, I will continue to make windmills." ”
Seeing that the Spring Festival temple fair is about to open, as a frequent visitor to the temple fair, Mr. Liang's family is busy again.
Reporter from Beijing City Deputy Center Daily: Guo Lijun, Feng Weijing.
Photo: Tang Jian.
WeChat editor: Zhan Yi.