Yunyang Fenghuang Deng

Phoenix is the king of birds in China ancient myths and legends, and it is a kind of divine bird, which has many animal characteristics and symbolizes good luck and eternal life. In the long and splendid culture of the Chinese nation, it keeps pace with the dragon and is admired and worshipped by people. /kloc-More than 0/00 years ago, local literati and folk artists in Yunxian made exquisite phoenix lanterns based on historical records, folklore and imagination, and created a unique phoenix lantern dance in Yunyang.

However, with the changes of the times, there are fewer and fewer performing groups and activities of Phoenix Lantern Dance. In the 1970s, there were about 30 performing groups in Yunxian County, but now there are only six, and there is the possibility of further shrinking.

In order to save the Phoenix Lantern Dance, at the end of last year, Yunxian recommended "Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance" to the Ministry of Culture as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage.

The proposal of Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty made the phoenix lantern dance.

During the Spring Festival every year, dragons and lions are played all over the country, and people in Yunxian county can dance unique phoenix lanterns. "Yunyang County Records" records: "The fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the thoroughfare is decorated with tents, flamingos and silver flowers, lanterns and candles are brilliant, and fire dragons, phoenixes, bamboo horses and lions are all decorated with bamboo paper ..." Chu people worship phoenixes, and their ancestor Zhu Rong is the embodiment of Vulcan and Fengshen. According to the ancient book "Jade Cliff and Stone Bird", the shape of the phoenix is "the head of a chicken, the neck of a snake and the tail of a swallow-jawed turtle are five colors, and it is six feet high." Chu doctor Qu Yuan said, "Birds from the south gather in the north of China." These records provide a basis for the production of phoenix lanterns. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi listened to politics with supreme power. Because Gu Long is the symbol of the emperor, there is a saying that "the dragon is above and the phoenix is below", and Cixi changed it to "the phoenix is above and the dragon is below". In order to cater to Cixi, the image of "Phoenix" used by the ruling and opposition parties has increased.

Yunxian County is located at the junction of Hubei, Henan and Shaanxi provinces, where diverse cultures such as Chufeng, Henan Opera and Shaanxi Opera gather, which promotes the innovative development of local culture. There are many kinds of folk songs, minor, folk art and dances, especially lantern dances performed on holidays.

Wang Mingde of Yunyang Mansion was a scholar in Guangxu for nine years (according to the historical data of the Complete Works of Honest Officials, it was the twelfth year of Guangxu, namely 1886), and once served as a "scholar" in the Qing court. After resigning from his post and returning to his hometown, every Lantern Festival, a phoenix lantern made of bamboo sticks and colored paper will be hung at home. The phoenix lantern he made can move around the neck and light candles on the head and body, which is bright and dazzling.

One Spring Festival, Wang Mingde suggested to some folk artists in the county: "You play the lion dragon lantern every year, can you play a fresh phoenix lantern!" Inspired by this, the artist took the phoenix lantern hanging in his home as the prototype and made it in enlarged scale. This is the embryonic form of the Phoenix Lantern Dance now.

Since then, the phoenix lantern dance has been passed down from generation to generation by folk artists, and it has been continuously improved with reference to pictures, dramas and legends, and music and performances have been added, from coarse to fine, and it has become increasingly perfect.

On the fertile soil of Yunyang, Phoenix Lantern Dance has gradually formed a lantern dance with complete programs and unique styles, which integrates folk arts and crafts, dance and music. It's dazzling. "The scales before and after, the snake neck and the fish tail, the dragon pattern and the turtle body, the swallow jaw and the chicken beak ... are all colorful." This is the Phoenix Lantern described by China people in Shuo Yuan.

Yunyang phoenix lantern dance has phoenix lantern, lantern and sun lantern. These lamps are made of bamboo, leather paper, twisted leather paper, colored paper, bamboo poles and other materials, which are bound, pasted, painted and combined. Phoenix Lantern consists of six parts: phoenix head, phoenix neck, phoenix body, phoenix wings, phoenix legs and phoenix tail. The shape, size and color of each part are strictly regulated. These regulations are clearly described in the picture book with the relationship between master and apprentice, and cannot be changed without authorization.

When tying the phoenix head, the artist first bakes three thick eyebrows into a circle, and two peach-shaped eyebrows make the back of the head and cheeks of the phoenix respectively. Tie a 2 1 cm cross on the circular cross, and then tie the upper end of a 220 cm bamboo pole with this cross. This is the handle of the dancing phoenix head. Then, the artists baked a bamboo stick about 75 cm long into a "U" shape, put it on both cheeks and tied it with the back of the head. Then a number of short eyebrows are tied between the cheeks to reinforce it, forming the main skeleton of the rockhopper. Then, fine iron wire and bamboo wool were tied into the skeleton of "doll crown", "hair", "nose steamed stuffed bun", "phoenix mouth", "face crown" and "hanging crown", and tied to the main skeleton for fixation. Then, wrap each part with fine white cloth and sew it firmly with needle and thread. Finally, dyeing and drawing. The colors of rockhopper are mainly red, white, black and blue. The red ones are bright red, rose red, vermilion, early dawn red, pink and so on. , colorful and gorgeous. According to artists, the production of various parts of the phoenix lantern is so elaborate.

After all the parts are combined, a light phoenix is born alive. It is about 8 meters long from beginning to end and 2 meters wide when its wings are unfolded. When performing, its wings can flap and its tail can tilt.

Props for the Phoenix Lantern Dance include flowerpot lanterns and sun lanterns. 5 to 10 flowerpot lamp, mainly peony; Sun lamp 1, with pictures of the sun, clouds and flames.

Every year during the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, every household in Yunxian County will perform Phoenix lanterns. During the performance, two young men danced with phoenix head and phoenix tail, and six others held four lanterns, 1 peony lantern, 1 sun lantern, to set off the atmosphere. The performance was carried out in turn according to the procedures of leaving the nest, visiting the garden, looking for peony, beating peony, scratching, flapping wings, tidying feathers, taking a nap and nodding. The sound of gongs and drums, the phoenix that combines static and dynamic, is elegant and delicate, both warm and unrestrained and exciting. An overseas wanderer in Yunxian once lamented the phoenix lantern dance: "Listening to a piece of homesickness is infinite, and the charm of Wan Li is unforgettable." Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance originated from the people, spread among the people, and passed on and developed by artists from generation to generation.

The late old artist Wang Chuntang, known as "the Seventh Master of Wang", loved literature and art since childhood and was the main inheritor of Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance. When the local people mentioned the Phoenix Lantern Dance, they all said that "Master Wang Qi" performed the best and danced most vividly.

In order to show the life habits and body movements of Phoenix, Wang Chuntang consulted many ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, and specially raised "chicken-beating" (castrated cock), devoted himself to observing and studying its life forms such as feathering, flapping its wings and taking a nap, and imitated them and applied them to the performance of Phoenix Lantern. After long-term practice, he groped and summed up the performance formula of "feet, eyes, hands, body, heart, spleen and lungs" 10. He plays with the phoenix in his palm, with delicate, vivid and emotional movements, which everyone admires. He applied the tunes of some traditional operas to the music of Phoenix Lantern, adding the characteristics of simplicity, elegance, softness and fluency. He taught these to many folk artists, which made the Phoenix Lantern Dance popular in Yunxian County and spread to this day.

1956, 70-year-old Wang Chuntang died of illness. At that time, the backbone of urban and rural literature and art who were participating in the "literary and art generation meeting" in the county were very sad to hear this news. More than 300 delegates wore white flowers to pay tribute to him.

Geng, an old artist who promoted the development of Phoenix Lantern Dance in Yunyang, was called "Phoenix Idea" by his grandfather, father and uncle. Professor Geng has taught more than 65,438+00 people, his disciples and has become an excellent performer of the Phoenix Lantern Dance. He was invited by Shiyan, Danjiangkou and other places nearby to teach him the skills of making and performing phoenix lanterns, and he readily agreed to pass on this art selflessly, leaving a much-told story.

It is urgent to inherit the style of the past.

Phoenix Lantern Dance has been continuously developed and perfected in the artistic exploration of artists and lantern dance teams from generation to generation. Now, Shiyan, Danjiangkou, and Jiangxia District, Wuhan, thousands of miles away, all have phoenix lanterns dancing. It is understood that the Phoenix Lantern Dance in Jiangxia District of Wuhan was handed down with the relocation of immigrants when Danjiangkou Reservoir was built in the 1960s. However, with the changes of social life and the impact of more modern forms of entertainment, Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance is losing its former dazzling style. In the past, the excitement of thousands of people vying for the phoenix lantern has become a nostalgic sigh of the old people. The reporter learned from Yunxian Culture and Sports Bureau that Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance is in an endangered state! Some successful inheritance artists gradually retired and died because of their advanced age, and many stunts of dancing lights and blowing have not been passed down; However, few young and middle-aged artists are unique or prestigious, and some of them have reduced their performance skills due to lack of training.

"The performance of Phoenix Lantern has the characteristics of family inheritance, and the performance team is also composed of families or relatives. However, with the weakening of family values and the mobility of artists, there are fewer and fewer performing groups and activities. In the 1970s, there were more than 30 performing groups in Yunxian County, but now there are only six, and it is likely to continue to shrink! There is an urgent need to strengthen the construction of performance groups and the training of performers. " Li Guilin, member of the Standing Committee of Yunxian County Party Committee and Minister of Propaganda, lamented.

In order to protect the Phoenix Lantern Dance in Yunyang, Yunxian has done a lot of work in terms of funds, personnel, performance publicity and foreign exchange, and formulated new protection plans and measures. At the end of last year, this native folk art was recommended to the Ministry of Culture and became the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage.

Li Guilin said that the county has started a comprehensive investigation to deeply understand the historical evolution of the birth and development of Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance, as well as the performance groups, talents, performance styles, music features and binding techniques, and carried out relevant academic research.

"Establish Yunyang Fengwu Cultural and Ecological Protection Zone, focusing on protecting six performance groups including Yunyang Fengwu Art Troupe and Yunxian Geng Shi Fengwu Performance Team, and eight folk artists including Henry Lau and Yijinshan, as well as other matchmaking backbones, performance backbones, percussionists and choreographers." Li Guilin told reporters that they will also hold the annual Spring Festival Folk Lantern Festival and Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Art Festival with Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance as the main content to promote its inheritance and development. "Strive to make the historical grand occasion of Yunyang Phoenix Lantern Dance reappear before 20 10.

Yunyang Phoenix Lantern is a unique performance form of phoenix dance in China, also known as Dafengfeng Dance. It originated in Shiyan city in northwest Hubei province, and Yunyang is the ancient name of Shiyan city. The performance of the Phoenix Lantern follows the sequence of "Hundred Flowers Out of the Nest-Phoenix Garden-Feng Ming-Phoenix Looking for Flowers-Phoenix Beating Peony-Phoenix Dance-Phoenix Inserting Feather-Phoenix Sleeping-Phoenix Spreading its Wings-Phoenix Rising Sun-Phoenix Nodding-Phoenix Returning to the Nest", which is simple and elegant, graceful and lifelike, as if it were a lifetime ago. There are all kinds of snacks in Yunxian county, and the famous "three-in-one soup" is a must in the local diet. It is said that the production of Sanhe soup originated from the custom specialty of muslim food, a Hui compatriot in Yunxian County. At that time, only Zhang Gouwa's three-in-one soup was famous in the old town of Yunxian County. His production skills are handed down from the authentic ancestors, unique and suitable for all ages, and are now carried forward by many stores. But the authentic Sandao Soup is also a halal restaurant in Chengguan Town.

Generally, no matter how elegant and luxurious the pavement decoration is, the owner of Santou Soup will put a large iron pot with a diameter of about 1-2 meters at the door, with an iron ring in the middle and a big casserole sitting inside. Its purpose is to separate the main components of food and soup inside and outside. If you go to the cauldron, smell the delicious fragrance and look at the deep red braised beef, the thick and tender scallion, the red and sharp old pepper and the orange and oily hot soup, your legs and feet will not listen to you. If you want to walk away, you will hesitate to pay for a bowl of three-in-one soup and have an addiction.

The main ingredients of Sandao Soup are: tough and thin sweet potato vermicelli, jiaozi wrapped with top-grade beef stuffing, and finely sliced braised beef. The preparation method is as follows: firstly, catch the fine powder strips with a bamboo cover, filter them, put them into an iron ring or casserole in the middle of the pot, cook them repeatedly for 3-5 times, and then pour them into a big bowl; Then, take six cooked jiaozi, put thin slices of beef in a bowl, and then scoop two spoonfuls of hot soup (preferably oil soup made of boneless cows and pigs) from the pot, and pour it on it until the ingredients are submerged. Finally, sprinkle with monosodium glutamate, pepper, coriander powder, chopped green onion and minced garlic and serve. When eating, adjust according to your own taste. Add a spoonful of Chili oil for spicy food, and drop a few drops of mature vinegar for sour food. A bowl of delicious, hot and delicious three-course soup is ready.

Three soup business is the most prosperous in winter and spring. Especially after beginning of winter, the number of diners in Sanhe Soup Shop will be overwhelming. People will eat and taste, and sigh from time to time. Men eat full head and sweat, women eat tears, and a bowl of three-in-one soup is warm all over, which has the dietotherapy effect of relieving fatigue, treating asthma and rheumatism.

Sandao soup has been a famous snack in Yunxian since ancient times, so there is a saying that "Yunyang does not eat Sandao soup, which is equal to the end of Yunyang". Yunxian old yellow rice wine originated from the people and has a long history. It has spread all over the county, and everyone likes to drink it. It is one of the traditional drinks. In recent years, immigrants from Yunxian County brought old yellow rice wine to Wuchang, Jiayu, Hanyang, Jingshan and Yicheng counties. After the locals tasted it, they all called it the best, vying to teach yellow rice wine. It is not difficult to make Yunxian old yellow rice wine. Housewives can also do it, but they have a unique skill in koji-making ingredients and wine-making. The main raw materials for making yellow wine koji are whole wheat flour, or bran and colored grass. The production method is to collect fresh flowers and plants in summer and summer, soak them in clear water until they are sticky, then throw them out and use the soaked flowers and plants.

Water-mixed materials should be kneaded, and the materials should be put into a mold and pressed into bricks, commonly known as "stepping". Cover the prepared koji and ferment until it smells like loose wine, and take it out to dry. The longer the storage time, the better. Brewing raw materials include glutinous rice, yellow rice, corn and so on. And glutinous rice is the best. Because of the different ways of mixing koji, there are two kinds of koji wine and mixed koji wine. Its practice: take a small amount of glutinous rice, steam it, air dry it in summer and stir it while it is hot in winter. Before mixing, break the brick and soak it in clear water for several hours. After filtering, it is mixed with qu water, cooled and sealed, and the jar is opened after half a month, and the wine is overflowing, thus obtaining the yellow wine. Yellow rice wine can be brewed all year round, and it is best to brew it with pickled water in the second year of the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Qing Tongzhi's "Yun County Records" records: "All brewers must take preserved water for it, and the experience is not bad."

The longer Yunxian old yellow rice wine can be stored, the better. When drinking, the jar will be full of fragrance, with the color of Huang Liang, mellow and delicious, slightly sour, thin and peaceful in taste, full of stamina, and it will not hurt people when drinking. Drinking rosy cheeks in spring is cool in summer, relaxing in autumn and keeping warm in winter. It is a good product in the four seasons and is often used to keep fit and prolong life.

At present, many scholars at home and abroad believe that 2 1 century will be the century of functional food. Yunxian old yellow rice wine has the most functional food characteristics, such as antioxidation, improving immunity, dredging channels and promoting blood circulation, delaying aging, preventing cancer, lowering blood pressure, resisting fatigue, removing blood stasis and resolving hard mass. Old yellow wine made of red glutinous millet can also treat many gynecological diseases such as irregular menstruation and postpartum blood stasis, so it has become a good habit for pregnant women in Yunxian County to drink yellow wine during confinement. Pastes and pills made of yellow wine can treat traumatic injuries, reduce swelling and relieve pain. There are more than 65,438,000 varieties of Chinese patent medicines made from yellow wine in Yunxian County. It can be seen that yellow rice wine plays an important role in traditional Chinese medicine.