Why is the "bowl wrestling wine" on Jitterbug a pseudo-folklore?

A small bowl of wine for five dollars, and the bowl is smashed to pieces after drinking. This heroic process to use the phone to record, and then send a jitterbug and circle of friends.

This is the "wrestling bowl wine", drink the wine, it seems to rise from Xi'an.

In a food street in Xi'an, there is a long line of people waiting to drink and smash bowls. In Shake Shack videos, pieces of the bowl are piling up day by day.

Now this kind of "bowl wrestling" has gone out of Xi'an, out of Shaanxi, and is being copied by scenic spots elsewhere.

This game of bowl wrestling is not so different from hitting a balloon with an air gun. Some people are willing to pay money, some people to make money, trade is just.

But some people have to link him with folklore and tradition, and say what to bad luck, bad luck, have to make a deal a god.

Is this really a revival of folklore and tradition? Shaanxi Provincial People's Association Vice Chairman Wang Zhi, he has a unique insight into the wrestling bowl wine.

The story of the bowl: curium bowl and bowl wrestling

Author | Wang Zhi

In 2009, I saw a game in Xi'an at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, a tourist attraction - wrestling plates and smashing bowls. The manager of the organizer said it was a custom from ancient matriarchal society.

In later years, I have seen a number of tourist attractions in the bowl of wine wrestling dishes, a kind of tourism game program. Organizers say, this is the traditional folk culture of southern Shaanxi, drink a bowl of wine can wrestle away the trouble, wrestle out of luck.

I thought that this kind of tourism to promote the so-called "folklore", only a small range of scenic spot to cheer up the program. I didn't realize that this wind is getting hotter and hotter, this year, with the help of jittery short video boost, the attractions are getting more and more intense, and has become a national event.

Wrestling bowl is not a traditional folklore

"Wrestling bowl" after the fire, many media and friends to find me to say this question, ask me how to see.

Wine is one of the symbols of Chinese culture, ceramic culture is one of the representative symbols of Chinese culture, the bowl is a symbol of life and survival in traditional Chinese culture. But "wrestling bowl wine" is culture? Is folklore? Is it a symbol of tourism culture? Is it a classic case of experiential integration of traditional culture into modern life?

When I think about it from the perspective of folklore, I always feel strange.

I have also repeatedly consulted folklore experts in northern Shaanxi and Guanzhong. They and I have the same opinion, wrestling bowl is not a traditional folklore, even if the existence of a very few places, there will be a special reason.

Of course, the bowl wrestling as a commercial attraction of an experiential means of promotion, there is nothing wrong. But if such promotional behavior is elevated to the height of culture and traditional folklore, it is really not appropriate.

The old people said that no one would smash their own bowls. Based on the farming culture of our forefathers were not willing to waste a grain of rice, just a few decades ago, a box of matches 2 cents many families could not afford to buy, let alone smash the rice bowl.

In the Chinese concept, the bowl is very important in life, food for the people, the bowl is the bowl of rice, the ancients, if you accidentally hit the cups and bowls on New Year's Day, to say a "peace of mind", in order to psychologically figure a good luck.

In film and television works, such as the "Bright Sword", Li Yunlong's independent regiment of soldiers on the battlefield to drink and break the bowl, that is to show the spirit of death. In the historical allusion, Xiang Yu's broken kettle, that is not to leave the way back to the courage to go forward to the death of life.

But in everyday life, smashing bowls is an incredible thing. The traditional perception of smashing the bowl, smashing the pot, are said to be unable to live, never positive.

It's a beautiful tradition to cherish things

This year's "bowl-smashing" trend started in Xi'an. I have been in Xi'an Shuangyi District and Fuping Liuqu town, investigating curium bowl technology. From the curium bowl craftsmen fine craftsmanship and serious attitude through the " precious things " " cherish things " feelings.

Contrary to the "broken bowl", curium bowl is a broken, damaged porcelain, pottery, etc., curium, fixed together in the repair craft. As the old saying goes, there is no diamond drill, do not take porcelain work, refers to this unique traditional skills.

And in the Chen furnace kiln and Yao Tou kiln investigation, the old kiln workers told me that the success of each kiln firing with or without the opening of the kiln is unknown, this technology is incredibly difficult and complex, in addition to relying on the exquisite and skill is also needed to also need to be the right place, right time, right place, right person and right place.

Yaozhou kiln bowl by mule and horse transportation to various places is actually very difficult. Guanzhong folk proverb, Guanzhong folk proverb, "May 26 under a little, quickly to Yaozhou kiln to buy a big bowl," which means that if the day of May 26th rain, it will herald a good harvest, the people will have to buy a big bowl to eat.

In addition, in the past in the Shangluo mountainous area, there are no conditions for kiln firing, grass weaving artists to do weaving grass bowls, brush lacquer, spinning wood craftsmen to do wooden bowls. The craftsman said, the reason why do wooden bowls, grass bowls, lacquer bowls, is less ceramic bowls, for fear of children accidentally hit the bowl. See people cherish the bowl.

China Yaozhou Kiln Ceramic Technology National Inheritor Mr. Meng Shufeng said, he has done a lifetime of ceramics, never heard of "wrestling bowl to drive away evil spirits" such folklore.

Making ceramics requires a lot of energy, releasing a lot of air and cinder emissions into the environment. The production of ceramics is a matter of energy consumption and environmental costs are relatively large. If the bowl is easily smashed, not only does it create a new environmental burden due to the increase in broken pieces, but it also wastes the previous environmental burden.

A friend from the opera world said that there are many cultural themes about bowls in the theater, such as nailing bowls, serving bowls, topping bowls, dropping bowls, etc., and there is also the sadness of the death-defying bowl wrestling, but there is no such a tradition.

Guo Ai, a master of Chinese three-color, and I said that China as a country of ceramics, ceramic culture is the most proud of the Chinese people's ancient skills. Wrestling bowl wine unless drunken drunkenness venting, or death row inmates severed head wine only. A good bowl bought as entertainment fell, is the ceramic people this hard work disrespect.

The environmental problems of bowl wrestling are permanent

Making ceramics requires a lot of energy, releasing a lot of air and cinder emissions into the environment. The making of ceramics is a costly endeavor both in terms of energy consumption and environmental costs. If the bowl is easily smashed, not only does it create a new environmental burden due to the increase in broken pieces, but it also wastes the previous environmental burden.

Green mountains are golden mountains. From the point of view of ecological protection, "wrestling bowl wine" is not suitable to be treated as a classic case of experiential integration of traditional culture into modern life.

Traditional Chinese thought and culture, a are advocating the harmony of man and nature **** life, such as Confucianism in the "unity of man and nature", Taoist thought in the "law of nature" and so on.

From the perspective of the development of human civilization, primitive society in awe of nature, agricultural civilization in awe of nature, man and nature are relatively in a relatively harmonious state. To the era of industrial civilization, man and nature into "man for the knife, nature for the fish" relationship, human activities have generated pollution has reached the most remote corners of the earth.

There is a point of view that the broken wine bowl can be broken back to the furnace to rebuild, will not cause permanent pollution. But this is not realistic. Ceramic experts believe that usually ceramics can not be reused, even if the ceramic fragments can be recycled, and then processed into ceramic powder porcelain powder, ingredients and then fired, the cost will be very high.

Guo Ai and teacher said, clay resources are also valuable resources, non-renewable, not to be wasted, clay glazed and fired, and then smashed, the fragments after weathering to return to the land into loess, perhaps hundreds of millions of years.

So, today's "wrestling bowl wine", ostensibly just a new form of entertainment featured in the era of Netflix. But this entertainment is getting stronger and stronger, to the whole country, was competing to imitate, is likely to evolve into a national waste, pollution trend, not only suitable for called folklore, but also should be treated with caution.

Author ? Wang Zhi: Vice Chairman of Shaanxi Provincial People's Association, folklore experts, expert adviser to the Oriental Style Research Center.