Shandong Observatory

Sheep Beard

Duan Xiu Gui

In the 1950s and 1960s, many young boys in Tengzhou and rural areas of southwestern Shandong had "sheep beards".

A few years old when the boy shaved his head, if the parents asked to stay goat beard, the shaver will give the child to leave the back of the head of the small piece of hair. In less than half a year, the hair slowly grew into a lock, like the green goat chin chin growth of the beard, so the name "goat beard". Some boys not only stay goat beard, but also in the forehead fontanel (xìn) son of a piece of hair horizontally, commonly known as "crescent moon", there are also in the top of the head to stay a handful of hair, commonly known as "strange hair".

Once the boy left the sheep beard, shaving head shaving generally try not to trim, let grow, there are boys playing and running, long sheep beard will be floating up with the wind, like a Navy soldier hat after the ribbon, there are children's sheep beard was braided into a braid of hair when the mother of the mother, a shake of the head, the braid will be swinging with it. Of course, when the children fight, the sheep beard is most likely to become the "target of attack", by the other side of the small partners tightly grabbed not to let go.

When I was a kid, I belonged to the group that wore goatees.

Boys with goat beards, I do not know which dynasty began, but this custom should be in the old Chinese period in Tengzhou and its surrounding cities and towns is widespread, and other places may also have. At that time, the people's survival environment is poor, primitive health conditions, not only the maternal mortality rate is high, infants and young children die in infancy is not uncommon, and the feudal tradition of son preference, the boy appeared to be "expensive", and people think that the boy is not good Raba live, I believe that stay goat mustache may be able to ward off evil spirits, dispel the function of the disaster. To the child's head on the melon to leave a "grab hand", in case one day not pay attention to the evil "collected" away, praying for children to grow up quickly, healthy adults. This custom has been continued until the 50s and 60s after the liberation, until the 70s.

I am the eldest grandson of my family. My "birth" undoubtedly brought great joy and hope to the family. According to my mother, my grandfather spent a lot of money on silver bracelets and anklets for me. The most happy when the grandmother of the strong feudalism, modeled on the maiden name of a relative in the Hankou airport work, gave me and that relative the same girl's milk name, that is, when I grow up to have success, earn a lot of money. So, give me a goat beard is natural.

I vaguely remember a time when my oldest son (grandfather's brother) shaved my head - the oldest son had the amateur specialty and preference of shaving his grandchildren's heads, and I grew up "protecting my head" and didn't like to be shaved, so I cried and cried and my mother pressed me down on the bench. It was only with great difficulty that the Grand Master finished shaving my head. Not long after shaving my head, my great-uncle walked more than 20 miles to bring a male goat. According to this, I think it was the old man who shaved my head and grew a goat's beard this time. According to the rules of our hometown, if a boy has a goat's beard, his grandmother's family, whether rich or poor, will send a goat to his grandson. My goat mustache is a silent "wide and tell", grandpa and grandma know, immediately sent uncle sent the happy sheep. We have a saying here: "Nephews are the dogs of the maternal grandmother's family, and when they are full, they have to run away." As a grandchild (nephew) side, past and present, to the maternal grandmother's family to want something seems to be natural, and maternal grandmother's family to grandchildren (nephews) to send something also seems to be the natural order of things, the great-uncle to send the happy goat, of course, will be the parents of the "smile", therefore, it is said that there are places where the children's goat mustache called "Lai-uncle! The first thing you need to do is to get your hands dirty!

The big uncle sent a green male goat. The goat is not big, strong jumping, goat head with two gray horns, tied with a red cloth, probably has the meaning of auspicious and festive, chin chin with a lock of beard, and two good-looking little meat bell.

The young me do not know the male goat and my goat beard what is related, just, for this far away from the "playmate" quite strange, every day always take grass to feed it, wishful thinking close to it. But this guy does not seem to appreciate, to me very not "friendly", once I held it thought to play outside, who knows that a sheep pen, it ran forward desperately, until I yank (dèn) down on the ground. This morning, I secretly ran to the sheep pen to see this let me love and fear of the "old buddy", who knows just open the circle door, this guy suddenly from the sheep pen out, to me "Teng" is a corner! I was on my back, crying like a pig, and my legs were swollen for several days. From then on, I saw this guy, I was scared, avoided, and completely "cut off".

The sheep's beard does not seem to bring me health and good luck, young me weak body, from time to time and hospitals, clinics and dealing with superstitious grandmother sometimes also asked the God mother to give me "under the God called soul". I remember not only the pain in my buttocks when the nurse gave me an injection, but also the horror of being dosed with Chinese medicine by my grandmother and mother. The third year of the maternal grandmother to send sheep, I have yellow urine, always bad to see, although grandfather is a Chinese medicine doctor, but adhere to the "doctors do not know how to doctor" of the medical path, rarely personally to the grandson to see a doctor. The first time I saw this, I had to go to the hospital to see the doctor, and then I had to go to the hospital.

The Chinese doctor, a kind old man with a goatee, later learned that he was a famous Chinese doctor in my hometown, and I called him Mr. Wang Zhaojian, the "old master". Mr. Wang gave me a consultation, wrote a prescription, and asked my father to grab a pair of "tea leaves" (an alternative name for traditional Chinese medicine). When I got home, my grandmother and mother tried to give me medicine by all means. Not long after drinking the tea, I was cured. The mother's family sent this I love and afraid of the male goat, but for my healthy growth to do a selfless, vital dedication.

I grew up, the goat beard also accompanied my age year by year long. In the year before school, it is finally time to say goodbye to the goat's beard. According to superstition, the sheep beard to wait until there is a tearing of the wife's frame can be cut off. But the chances of women fighting are so small that they can be met but not sought. My luck wasn't bad. One evening when I was playing at home, I suddenly saw my mother come to the house quickly, holding a pair of scissors in one hand and dragging me to the street, which turned out to be the sisters-in-law of the "brute" grandma and the "wow" second grandma, who didn't know what to do and fought! I'm not sure what I'm talking about, but I'm not sure what I'm talking about!

My mother pulled me to run to the fight there, "brute" grandmother is not martial arts, roaring who do not understand the Chuzhou vernacular, is gripping the "nest" grandmother's hair buns, "nest" grandmother held down on the ground, "nest" grandmother. "A large wave of people were busy persuading and pulling down the fight, while a small wave of people watched my mother cutting my goat's beard. When it was too late, when the battle was in full swing over there, my mother clicked two scissors, and the goat's beard that had shielded me from the wind and rain for several years was immediately separated from me! I like the former Qing dynasty good people by the revolutionaries cut the braid, the back of the head immediately feel empty, for a long time to feel the neck through the wind.

Still according to superstition, sheep beard cut can not be casually discarded, to wait until the fall flood, thrown into the river behind the home. Mother gave me cut sheep beard that year, the North Boundary River just dug good, early fall rainstorms flooding, in the home to hear the village behind the North Boundary River in the whimpering flood sound. The rain stopped, my father led me to the river, only to see the full trough of the river, turbid waves rolling, the water from time to time there are upstream peanut seedlings and branches drifting past, my father walked to the water's edge, a hand, the red cloth wrapped in a sheep's beard thrown into the flood, slammed over a big wave, sheep's beard disappeared, along with the flood flow to the west and drifted to the Weishan Lake.

"Farewell" to the sheep's beard, also said goodbye to the carefree boyhood, means that my young life is about to happen a small butterfly change. From now on, I will become a backpack on the school school students, opened a long elementary school, middle school, university education career, embarked on a hard, road resistance and long road of life struggle.

If according to the old rules, I am now also to the age of goatee. The transition from "sheep beard" to "goat beard" is likely to be a long and difficult process, subject to decades of frost and wind, erosion, can be repaired "fruit". Just with the development of social trends forward, people's aesthetic concepts and living customs are also changing, it is impossible for anyone to save the goatee again, unless the individual extraordinary people. Imagine, wearing a suit and clothes, stomping shiny shoes, but the chin is hung with a fluffy white goatee, what kind of perception will give the contemporary people?

Goat beard as the back of my head once "standard", although with me "goodbye" has been almost 60 years, but the impression of childhood in the mind and will not disappear, it makes me remember my parents and ancestors of my upbringing and care. I encourage myself to live well, treat life well, and pass on love and affection to future generations.......

Author's profile: Duan Xiu Gui, a native of Tengzhou, Shandong Province, is a senior teacher of secondary school language. He has worked in Tengzhou No. 2 Middle School, Tengzhou City Sports Reform Office, Government Office, and Education Bureau. Now for the Tengzhou City, good country culture research consultant, Jining City, Confucius culture dissemination and promotion of the Council, Tengzhou City, Huaxia Culture Promotion Association member, amateur time to write some prose essays.

Mr. Zhang Jiushao's review of Goat's Beard:

The Chinese have done a lot of work on their hair, and have cut out a lot of patterns, especially on children's heads. Even in the same region there are different patterns. In my hometown, some of them leave a drill monkey on the top of their heads, some leave a horseshoe cap on their foreheads, a pig's tail or a duck's tail (yǐ) on the back of their heads, and some of them have goat's horns on both sides of their heads.

These "animals" have never "climbed" to my head, head shaved into a bare mountain bald ridge, was called a monk head. But every time I shave my head, I have to cry a lot, more painful than the monk precepts. It turned out that in order to save money on haircuts, my mother did not take me to a barber store in town, but asked a shaver who was not skillful enough to use old, blunt scissors to clean my hair. Even though I used hot water to burn my hair for many hours, it still hurt like hell, and my scalp was often cut and bleeding. Hairdressing such a small thing also have to pay blood and tears, this is my childhood!

Duan Xiu Gui's childhood was much happier than mine, he left a sheep's beard and received a green goat sent by his uncle. It seems that customs also reflect a different life.

The custom of sending a goat to the grandmother is very unique, never heard of it, perhaps only a small piece of the country Tengzhou, I think the custom of sending a goat with the blessing of the meaning of good luck!

This unique custom has probably disappeared for decades, and it makes sense to write about it in a salvage way.

Mr. Zhang Jiushao, male, Shandong Weishan County, Tengxian (now Tengzhou First High School) graduated from high school, graduated from the Chinese Department of Qufu Normal University. Director of the Chinese Prose Society, vice president of Shandong Province Prose Society, Jining City, Jining City CPPCC ninth and tenth vice-chairman, professor of the Chinese Department of Jining College, Jining City Writers Association Honorary Chairman, Jining Canal Culture Research Society Honorary Chairman.