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Investigation on the Customs of Nanxiong Hakka during the Spring Festival

Hakka people in Nanxiong village in northern Guangdong celebrate the Spring Festival in a unique way. They have many customs in this grand festival, such as offering sacrifices to stoves, pressing stoves, going to Langdangwei and so on. There are also country wines, special snacks, New Year fruits, bacon and other special diets. Hakka people in Nanxiong village in northern Guangdong have many taboos, especially on the first day of the New Year's Day. Among the entertainment activities during the Spring Festival, the performance of Gannan tea-picking opera is refreshing. Many towns and villages in Nanxiong have different customs, and the most distinctive one is the activity of "wandering the gods" centered on Pingtian Town. All customs are effectively inheriting the history and culture of traditional Spring Festival customs, but the sustainable development of this custom culture is facing many difficulties, and people should take some effective measures to make it pass down from ancient times.

Keywords: Nanxiong; Country; Hakka dialect; Spring Festival; custom

Nanxiong City is located in the northeast of Guangdong Province, Dayuling (Meiguan, between Dayu in Jiangxi and Nanxiong in Guangdong), which was called Qin Guan in ancient times. Because General Xun Mei lived here in the Han Dynasty, it is also called Meiling. It is also called Dayuling, because only Yusheng kept it in the Han Dynasty. In the south, the north and east of the city are bordered by Dayu County, Xinfeng County and quannan county in Jiangxi Province; Shixing County, Qujiang County and Renhua County are adjacent to the west. Surrounded by mountains and hills, it is geographically called "Nanxiong Basin".

For thousands of years, the industrious and kind Nanxiong people have thrived on this land, creating splendid material civilization and spiritual civilization, and gradually forming a unique folk custom full of life. As a native of Nanxiong, I am deeply proud, and at the same time, I have a strong interest in the cultural connotation behind the custom of the Spring Festival. Therefore, during the Spring Festival in 2008 and the summer vacation in 2007-2008,

First, the current situation of Hakka Spring Festival customs in Nanxiong rural areas

The custom of the Spring Festival

Nanxiong people usually prepare for the Spring Festival from September and October of the lunar calendar, especially in rural areas, where wine is steamed from winter to the future. On the 23rd (or 24th) day of the twelfth lunar month, people usually call it the off-year holiday, which is a day for offering sacrifices to the kitchen god. Hakka dialect in Nanxiong village is generally dominated by 24 styles.

According to the survey, almost every kitchen in Nanxiong area has a "kitchen god" deity, which is unique in that in most cases, the "kitchen god" deity is used horizontally, while in many areas, such as Datong area, the "head of the family" is used as a couplet. On both sides of the "Kitchen God" of Hakkas in Nanxiong Village, it is written that "the kitchen is prosperous, the people and the money are both win-win, and the gods and the money are both good". From right to left, the text reads, "The boy who picks firewood is the first official to transport water; Nine days in the east, the kitchen god. " It has placed the people's infinite reverence and good expectations for the kitchen god.

From the 24th of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, it is called "Spring Festival Day", which is the preparation stage of the Spring Festival. Villagers buy new year's goods, clean the courtyard, and do a good job in personal and family hygiene at this stage, especially some old people who don't wash their hair for ten and a half months, and will find time to wash happily during this time to satisfy their psychology of quitting the old year and welcoming the new.

New Year's Eve is the 30th, the last day of the year. Hakka people in Nanxiong changed their minds, posted couplets, set off firecrackers and invited their ancestors. One of the most distinctive features is "Going to Langbo Fair". Like other places, the polder days in some towns in Nanxiong are generally staggered, for example, every 3, 6, 9 or 1, 4, 7 days. But on New Year's Eve, no matter whether we catch up with the polder day or not, every polder will meet a polder, which is the so-called "wandering market".

There is a saying in Nanxiong Village called "Wandering around the world", which means that on New Year's Eve, because everyone is pressed for time, people who go to the market come and go early, and they all come and go in a hurry (that is, "Wandering around the world"). In the past, the fair didn't break up until two or three in the afternoon, but it broke up early at twelve o'clock on the day of the "Wandering Fair".

According to the memories of elders, most people in the old society were very poor, and they often didn't raise money for the New Year until New Year's Eve, so they had to rush to the market to buy new year's goods that day. Gradually, the "Garden Party" on New Year's Eve has become an established folk custom. With the improvement of people's living standards, the "Garden Party" has become a lively and relaxing way for people after a year of hard work, so that their hearts can wander on that day. The adults in the village often say to their children on that day, "Let's play!" " It means to be vigilant against children who are bound, especially naughty boys. So on the day of "Wandering Market", all the markets were crowded with people, pushing and shoving each other, and it was very lively.

Most rural Hakkas in Nanxiong still keep the custom of giving lucky money to the kitchen god, which is called "pressing the stove" locally. "Nanxiong County Records" contains the old method of "pressing the stove": "A plate of rice is filled with silver, a tube of chopsticks and a key symbolize that everything will win." As far as I can see, they usually offer a bowl of white rice on the stove now, with a letter of profit pressed in it, from the New Year's Eve to the fifteenth day of the first month, aiming at the blessing of the kitchen god and praying for abundant food. There are also places like Hirata, where the profit is only one night. Whoever gets up early to cook on the first day of the new year will receive this profit, aiming at encouraging everyone to work hard in the new year. But since the late 1980s, this custom has gradually disappeared, especially for some young people.

After New Year's Eve, it is the first day of the New Year. People used to regard the 30th as New Year's Eve, but Nanxiong people used to call the first day as New Year's Eve. "The Spring Festival, commonly known as the Chinese New Year, is the most solemn festival of the Chinese nation. From the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar was regarded as' Year', and the date of the festival was fixed from then on, which lasted for two thousand years. New Year's Day was called' New Year's Day' in ancient times. 19 1 1 After the Revolution of 1911, the lunar calendar (solar calendar) was adopted, so it was called New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar 1, and the first day of the first lunar month was called Spring Festival. " [3] The most important day of a person's year is his birthday, and the most important day of everyone's year is a holiday. In China, the Spring Festival, as a traditional festival, is the most memorable day, and so is Nanxiong villagers. No matter how busy they are around the world, they try their best to go home to celebrate the Spring Festival. Even if you can't, don't forget to call your family.

(B) the Spring Festival custom case study

As the saying goes, "Different winds in a hundred miles, different customs in a thousand miles", it is true that many towns and villages in Nanxiong have different customs, but the most distinctive activity is "visiting the gods" centered on Pingtian Town (in fact, it is to worship people rather than gods), which consists of two activities: "telling God" and "thanking God".

Located in the northeast of Nanxiong, near Pingtian Town, Xinfeng County, Jiangxi Province, there is a small basin about 500 meters above sea level. There are 1000 families living here, mainly Ye and Deng. In ancient times, there was a Adutong Temple in the center of the basin, covering an area of about 100 square meters. (Figure 2) There is a statue of DuDu Bodhisattva about 1.5 meters high in the hall, and there is a statue of Lux about 0.8 meters high on the left and right, which is for two generals, Chen and Deng. According to legend, this temple is small, but it is very spiritual. Someone in the nearby village worships the commander-in-chief Bodhisattva. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, many good men and women will go to the temple to burn incense and pray. This place can be described as beautiful scenery and outstanding people; In ancient times, there were ten talents in Pingtian, and one was rotated every year, and activities of "telling God" (welcoming God) and "thanking God" were held. In August, choose an auspicious month to "tell God" and pray for Bodhisattva to bless people and animals, and the grain will be abundant. The second day of the first month of the second year is "Thank God", which lasts for 10 days. Raise your armor and worship bodhisattva, perform acting skills, and dance dragons and lions, which is very lively.

Now, the whole Pingtian Town and its neighboring Nanmu Town, about 30 kilometers away from Nanxiong City, and some people in Bandung Township and Shejing Township of Xinfeng County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province have joined forces to engage in this "fugue" activity. During the Spring Festival, I watched the whole activity carefully. The main process of the "Thank God" activity is as follows: Liu Jia, the host of the "Thank God" activity, began training in dragon and lion dances and performances around the winter (the actors are all participants in the "Tell God" activity in mid-August, and the "Tell God" activity is basically the same as the "Thank God" activity during the Spring Festival).

Dragon Dance and Lion Dance: Dragon dances in Nanxiong include Ruilong, Xianghong Dragon, Huanglong, Youlong and Shuanglong. The most distinctive is the "Ruilong" in Binyangmen, Xiongzhou Town. The dragon body was divided into 10 segments, tied with bamboo pieces, covered with transparent oil paper and painted with color, and danced by 10 shirtless heroes. The "Thank God" activity shows this kind of "dragon". During the "Thank God" activity on 10 from the first day of the Lunar New Year to the twelfth day, the dragon dance team will go to various armor to "dance dragons", and whoever dances will have to set off firecrackers, otherwise it will not bless his family's prosperity and happiness. In short, it is unlucky, and it is difficult to do things in the new year. Most lion dances are performed during the Spring Festival. Lions include grass lion, mandarin duck lion, ground lion, nine-horned lion, fragrant lion, wide lion, Swiss lion and stilt lion. Dances include single lion and double lion. The most distinctive features in Nanxiong area are the ground grinding lion in Yang Fen Village of Hukou Town and the grass lion in Luwu Village of Yanghu Village of Zhuji Town. They are quick in action, vigorous in pace, wonderful in dance and warm in atmosphere, expressing the joy and liveliness of working people in festivals and their infinite love for life and land. Nanxiong Lion Dance is influenced by Jiangxi Shoushi, Bench Lion, Anhui Qingshi, Hunan Wushi and Guangdong Xingshi, and developed from all over the world. The "Thank God" activity centered on Pingtian Town was jumped by a mandarin duck and a lion. In the "Thank God" activities over the years, the most lively day is the first day of this year. As I lived in a village near Du Tong Temple, I witnessed its later growth. According to my investigation, after the founding of New China, superstition was destroyed in the land reform movement of 1952, and both the Dutong Temple and the Bodhisattva were destroyed. 10 years later, 1962, someone rebuilt the temple and set up a bodhisattva, which was destroyed by the relevant departments. Thirty years later, in 1993, another person advocated raising funds to build a temple and set up a bodhisattva, which was once again stopped by the government. After a lapse of 15 years, in 2008, the temple was finally rebuilt with the donation of local and foreign believers in Pingtian, and a bodhisattva was set up (the bodhisattva was bought back from Jiangxi Society on New Year's Eve). Last winter, I witnessed with my own eyes the process of villagers building temples: the once-in-a-century heavy snow scattered all over Pingtian town, and even the bricks used to build temples were almost submerged. However, people braved the cold wind and Leng Xue were scrambling to get busy, and it was finally completed on the 30th. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, villagers from nearby villages and remote villages came to Doutong Temple to burn incense and pray.

At the dawn of the New Year's Day, the host of the event started from Jiangxi, danced dragons and lions, set off firecrackers and fired guns all the way, and carefully received Ye Dutong and his right-hand men Chen and Deng Er into the temple. Liu Jia people celebrated with their families, and other Jia people joined the long queue. Standing on the roof and looking out, I saw the "long dragon" extending from Du Tong Temple for 200 meters. According to the memories of the elders, during the period when there were no temples and bodhisattvas, the activities would still be carried out as scheduled, centering on the ruins of the previous temples. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, people were bound to perform tea-picking operas in southern Jiangxi, but in recent years, due to economic and human reasons, they could only perform occasionally. As 2008 is a relatively new year in the history of Doutong Temple, Gannan tea-picking drama, which has not been staged for many years, also made its debut. The author of Gannan tea-picking drama will elaborate on the entertainment part.

(3) Spring Festival diet

During the Spring Festival, Spring Festival celebrations will be held all over the country, and food culture is an important part of it. The Hakka Spring Festival food culture in Nanxiong countryside is like a lovely bunch of wild flowers in nature, which gives people pure beauty enjoyment, physical and mental pleasure and the cultivation of traditional cultural spirit. Next, the author will state Nanxiong's country wine, special snacks, New Year fruits and game.

Wine: Nanxiong people like to entertain guests with "national wine" during the Spring Festival. After the solstice of winter, every household began to steam wine, which is a traditional wine brewed by urban and rural people. In the past, Nanxiong was popular to make wine at home, including yellow wine, white wine and "barrel wine". New Year's Day family dinner, although there are other fine wines, must also produce a "barrel wine" brewed by respecting oneself. "Passing the barrel of wine" has both the strength of burning (white) wine and the sweetness of yellow rice wine. Few people in the city make their own wine now. In the 20th century, the whole mankind entered the transition from farming civilization to industrial civilization. Under the strong impact of industrial civilization, Nanxiong people are also suffering from the desalination crisis of traditional culture without exception.

Special snacks: the most distinctive is fermented bean curd (such as 5), which is a must-have snack for every family during the Spring Festival. The tofu in Nanxiong is different from that in Dongjiang. Dongjiang uses bean curd with water and bean curd with oil, and the stuffing is mainly meat, while Nanxiong's bean curd is mostly brewed with bean curd head with rich and varied fillings. Its practice is to chop fresh taro, crispy shrimp, chopped bacon, mushrooms, coriander and other materials and mix well. Some people will add different fillings according to different tastes. Then, make a small mouth of the large piece of oily tofu, dig out the pulp inside, brew it into a finished filling, and steam it in a steamer. Stuffed tofu is a non-spicy snack. If you want to eat spicy food, you can mix it with the traditional Chili sauce in Nanxiong village, or learn the authentic local eating method. Hot sauce and raw coriander can be eaten from the small mouth of tofu bag to the stuffing, which is delicious. The fillings are varied and the tastes are rich and varied.

Spring Festival fruits: fried taro slices and sweet potato slices; Wet sticky rice flour with spiced powder and Chili powder, make into thin slices, and fry into bean cake or shell cake; Cooked taro, mashed, added with lard, Chili powder and sticky rice flour, made into finger balls and fried into pig paste balls; There are fried fruits, fried rice cakes and so on. In addition, there are more than ten kinds of Hakka restaurants in Nanxiong during the Spring Festival, but almost every family has to be an oil restaurant during the Spring Festival.

Spring Festival bacon is a traditional seasonal food in winter and spring. Every winter around, every household should make bacon, including preserved duck, bacon, sausage, chicken, goose and dog, as well as bacon game in mountainous areas.

The most famous preserved duck of rural Hakka in Nanxiong is preserved duck. According to the records of Nanxiong Prefecture in Qing Dynasty, "drake is tender and fat, crisp, stained with tea oil, bright red and delicious for a long time, which is very expensive in Guangcheng." Nanxiong salted duck, also known as salted duck, is beautiful in appearance, with white and yellow skin and full oil tail.

Thin skin and tender meat, fresh red meat, crisp and chewy bones, unique flavor and high quality are the characteristics of delicious food for friends and relatives. Nanxiong salted duck,

It is also famous for its wax fragrance in Zhuji Lane. Laxiang, one of the workshops in Zhuji Lane, is famous for its refined bacon flavor.

(D) Spring Festival taboo

"Simply put,' taboo' is something that is psychologically taboo, and it is stipulated in words and deeds that it cannot be said or done." [5] Nanxiong has many taboos during the Spring Festival. For example, it is required to match words with deeds and advocate auspicious words. If someone accidentally breaks a plate, read "Peace through the years" immediately, that is, use homophonic to turn evil into good luck; Behavior also needs more attention, especially naughty children can't fight. .

In Nanxiong rural Hakka area, there are many taboos from grade one to grade five. My friend, when you go to a vegetable garden and want to pick flowers for fun, you must be careful. Be careful that your aunt gives you a "training class". There is "one chicken, two geese, three pigs, four sheep and five cows", and you may be confused after listening to this sentence. It means that every day from the first day to the fifth day represents the birth of a kind of poultry or livestock. "You can't enter the vegetable garden in the New Year, and you will bring the chicken in; You can enter the vegetable garden the next day, because the geese can't run in; It is forbidden to enter the vegetable garden on the third day, and pigs will be brought in; You can enter the vegetable garden on the fourth day, because the sheep won't hit the fence; You can't go into the vegetable garden on the fifth day, you will bring the cows in. " Such an inscrutable truth seems to be understood only by local people.

On the first day of the lunar new year, there are the most taboos, such as: you can't sleep late during the day, otherwise your field will slip; Generally, they don't sweep the floor from the first day to the second day. If the ground is dirty, they pick it up by hand. On the third day of the lunar new year's day, it is called "send the poor" and then take out the garbage. Eating breakfast in the morning can only be vegetarian, otherwise you won't eat vegetables this year; You can't wash your hair. There are mountain gods and water gods. Shampooing that day will pollute all water sources, and the water god will punish the shampooer and make everything unhappy. From the first day to the fifth day, it is the time for Chinese New Year. Everyone can visit relatives and friends except the third grade. The fifth day of the fifth day is called "Peace Day". After the sixth day, the countryside is ready for spring ploughing.

(4) Spring Festival entertainment

The Spring Festival is a day that people all over the country celebrate together. There are naturally many recreational activities in various places, and Nanxiong Hakka countryside is no exception. Tea-picking drama is very typical.

Tea-picking opera, with beautiful tunes, freshness and sweetness, is a traditional repertoire loved by Nanxiong people. Tea-picking opera was introduced into Nanxiong from Nankang, Xinfeng and Longnan during Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. Music singing is composed of Gannan tea-picking lamp and Nanxiong folk music. In the early stage of the play, there were fewer roles. The actors were born in Dan and Qiu, and five people could perform with a huqin and a big drum.

Action. Tea-picking plays use fan flowers in the performing arts, that is, both men and women hold a colorful silk fan as props in their right hands, and the fans are shaped in different positions, such as high, low, left, right, front, back, front and back. The stage performance adopts short footwork. According to the evolution of working people's movements such as going up and down the mountain and picking tea in labor, minuet dance is applied to stage performance. Among the old artists, there are many traditional movements, such as "xianggong" playing an umbrella, lazy people carrying a fan, crows lowering their wings, dark clouds covering the moon, beauties looking in the mirror, phoenix dressing, lions rolling balls, crows playing with water and so on. The performance is mainly in the local language. The aria is interspersed with three-character cavities: "Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, hue, hue, hehe, etc." , usually appears at the end of the last sentence or aria, preceded by a falling tone. 1953, the drama "Sister" of Chengguan Town Propaganda Team participated in the provincial amateur art performance and won the Excellence Award. In July 1958, 1, Nanxiong Tea-picking Troupe was established, and successively arranged, transplanted and created performances such as dragon boat race, bird hunting, shoe repair, white snake legend, butterfly lovers, mountain country Fengyun, president's daughter, Tian Laohan selling cattle, etc. " The more you watch, the more you love to watch "(Zhu)1976 won the Excellence Award in the provincial amateur art performance; "Happy Flowers" (Hua Yunjie, Liu Weidong, Zhong Yuhua) participated in 198 1 provincial professional performance in literature and art, and won the second prize for creation and performance. During the Spring Festival, the "Thank God" activity centered on Pingtian Town staged a tea-picking drama in southern Jiangxi, which was quite different from the above-mentioned tea-picking drama.

During the Spring Festival, there are still many Hakkas in Nanxiong Village who regard gambling as a kind of entertainment. Although people who never gamble at ordinary times will play a few games from the first day to the third day of the lunar new year, few people will gamble because they have the saying that it is unlucky to lose money in the new year and it is difficult to make a fortune.

Four. conclusion

Spring Festival is a festival celebrated by the whole country. As the largest traditional festival in China, it is highly valued and favored by the people. The Spring Festival is a more important day for Hakkas in Nanxiong countryside. For a long time, travelers who are far away from home every year will try their best to go home to celebrate this festival. The way they celebrate the Spring Festival is very distinctive, and there are many customs, such as offering sacrifices to stoves, pressing stoves, going to the market and so on. It also has a rich and colorful food culture, such as country wine, special snacks, New Year fruits and bacon, and so on. In addition, there are many taboos in rural Hakka in Nanxiong, northern Guangdong, just as there are many taboos from the first day to the fifth day of the lunar calendar, and the first day of the year has the most taboos; Among the entertainment activities during the Spring Festival, the performance of Gannan tea-picking opera is refreshing, with beautiful tunes, freshness and sweetness, which is a traditional repertoire loved by Nanxiong people. Tea-picking opera was introduced into Nanxiong from Nankang, Xinfeng and Longnan during Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. Music singing is composed of Gannan tea-picking lamp and Nanxiong folk music. Many towns and villages in Nanxiong have different customs, the most distinctive of which is the activity of "visiting the gods" centered on Pingtian Town, which entrusted the Hakka people in Nanxiong Village with their pious worship and happy expectation for Ye Dutong.

The Hakka Spring Festival custom in Nanxiong countryside, whether we are familiar with it or not, is effectively inheriting the history and culture of the traditional Spring Festival custom, but the sustainable development of this custom culture faces many difficulties. For example, many people go out to work or study in big cities, and the Spring Festival customs are facing assimilation. Some of the original Spring Festival customs gradually disappeared under the dual effects of internal and external, and gradually evolved into local folk customs. Another example is the tea-picking drama loved by some rural villagers, which is facing the danger of no successor.

Mr. Feng Jicai, a famous writer, writer, artist and folk art rescuer, thinks that "in the 1950s and 1960s, advanced developed countries began to rescue their own folk culture, but at present, our whole intellectual consciousness is not enough, and our folk culture is always in a state of self-destruction and nobody cares. Without rescue, it will really disappear. " Indeed, just like some Hakka Spring Festival folk customs in Nanxiong Village, they are facing a severe development situation, and people should take some effective measures to make them spread forever. As a native of Nanxiong, I also hope to do my bit, calling on modern people to pay more attention to the festival culture with strong local flavor, such as the Hakka Spring Festival custom in Nanxiong Village, while enjoying rich material culture, so as to promote the reasonable inheritance of the intangible cultural heritage of the motherland, such as seasons and traditional customs.