The history of folk puppet shows.

In our country, there has always been a folk custom of playing fugue games. However, times have changed, and this custom gradually faded out of people's lives in many areas until it was forgotten. In July, 2005, on the way to inspect the puppet troupe, the author was lucky enough to enjoy such a grand occasion again.

I. History

Gaoting Village is an administrative village in the south of Songyang County, Lishui District, Zhejiang Province. Wandering games have been here for generations. According to the local old people, except for the activities stopped during the Cultural Revolution, the rest are held every year. After the Cultural Revolution, Gaoting Village applied to the local Buddhist Association for the official name of "Gaoting Zhongshan Ancient Temple Buddhist Association in Songyang County" during the revival activities. In the eyes of the villagers, this is an umbrella to exclude the suspicion of feudal superstition. In addition, the special customs of Zhongshan ancient temple are also an important factor that makes this activity spread to this day. The staff of Zhongshan Ancient Temple are all volunteers, and the cost of the God Tour Competition is raised by the villagers in the village, and the amount is not limited. During the activity, the food needed in the temple, such as tofu, pickles, rice, etc. It is provided free of charge by the staff on the principle of "take whatever you have at home". All systems are completely in accordance with the traditional rule of "having money to contribute". Perhaps this rule was formed for the religious purpose that people have always hoped to achieve: only free services can do good for the people and accumulate virtues for themselves. This arrangement not only retains the traditional customs, but also advocates the fine style of diligence and thrift, which unites people's hearts and inspires enthusiasm. As a result, the fireworks in the ancient temple burned more and more vigorously, and the lively gongs and drums, humorous puppet shows and mysterious Taoist music all had their folk foundation for survival and development.

There is a custom of worshipping gods among the people in Songyang, and there are many names of gods, such as Princess Tiefan, Land Lord, Dragon King of the East China Sea, Jade Emperor, Empress Dowager, Grandfather Tai, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Heavenly King Lita, Seven Saints, etc., while villagers in Gaoting Village believe in Zhongshan Ancient Temple.

Second, wandering

According to tradition, villagers must ask God to go out on the Sunday between summer and summer. On that day, the whole village was full of lively atmosphere, immersed in fireworks.

At 8: 30 in the morning, with the sound of firecrackers, the worship ceremony officially kicked off. Worship must be arranged in a specific order, and under the protection of security personnel, a road will be opened up from thousands of onlookers, and it will slowly advance along the route of worship decorated like the Avenue of Stars. In the whole team, the Buddha giver needs abundant physical strength, and each Buddha statue is borne by four people. Although there is no difference between posture and sedan chair, a closer look reveals some differences: the Buddha sits in a dark red armchair, and his body and chair are fixed together. The Buddha giver just tied two red thick sticks to both sides of the chair, and then tied both ends of the sticks in the same direction with thick hemp rope, thus forming a simple sedan chair. The route of worshipping God is around the village. In the whole process, it is necessary to ensure that all the houses and farmland in the village appear in the sight of the gods one after another, that is, to familiarize the gods with the situation of the whole village, protect the health and safety of the villagers, and ensure that all farmland is free from insects and pests, and harvest in autumn. In addition to the four "safety officers" in charge of safety, there are two people who are responsible for setting off fireworks and artillery, which are called "guns" at the front and the last end of the procession to set off the atmosphere of the parade. In addition, more than 100 children carrying colorful flags marched happily in the middle of the parade. They were all volunteers. Different from adults, after the activity, everyone will get a one-yuan red envelope.

Third, drum music

As a form of folk music, drum music still exists widely in rural areas, especially in funeral ceremonies, and various drum music classes have been very active. However, folk art is inevitably impacted by fashion. Among the music played by these rural drum classes, the elements of pop music gradually increased, while the elements of traditional music dropped sharply, largely losing the original traditional style. However, Gaoting Village not only retains the complete traditional qupai, but also retains the performance form of Shen You gongs and drums.

The absent-minded gongs and drums band in Gaoting Village is small in scale, and it is divided into three groups in the absent-minded team. The first group to clear the way was called "Opening the Gong". The two men carried a big gong on their shoulders and used a thick wooden stick. The latter knocked while walking, and the sound was orderly; The second group, located in front of the statue, consists of three people, one banger, one cymbal and one gong, forming a triangular formation; The third group followed the idol, which was the most lively group. From time to time, a small horn blows a bright horn with a big third degree, followed by two big suona not to be outdone, followed by a small cymbal, a big cymbal, a small gong and a small drum. These musicians are not masters who attend weddings and funerals on weekdays, but out-and-out farmers in the village. They learn to play, only for the annual god-wandering event, and don't take a penny, so they can keep their ancient traditional nature.

Fourth, puppet show.

Puppet performance is the highlight of the ceremony of visiting the gods in Gaoting Village. In order to repay God's blessing, the villagers invite puppet troupes to perform every year to show their sincerity. This time, Gaoting Village invited Jiang Yongqing's class. Most of the puppets in Zhejiang are "marionettes" about 25 cm long, with figures carved on their heads. According to their roles, a puppet hangs a line from 10 to 15, and the puppet at the front desk holds a hook (a small board with fixed clues) in one hand and pulls the line in the other. The stage consists of a puppet shed, which is made of more than 20 thin bamboo poles and placed on a wooden platform. In front of the stage is a small stage paved with a single straw mat, which is used for puppet performances. At the back is the place to hang the spare puppets and put the play box. In the middle is the "front desk" where the thread lifter is located, separated from the small stage by the center of the stage (more than ten background curtains supported by two thin strips of wood). On the right side of the small stage is the background band, playing in the right direction. On the front of the stage, there is a red couplet. The first part is "Pray for good weather in Guimao Day", and the second part is "Welcome to the Summer Solstice", covered with "Happy Life". About this couplet, there is a saying among the villagers that the first five words of the couplet remain unchanged from generation to generation, and the last five words can be changed appropriately every year, so it is called "the same year after year, different year after year" by the villagers. The tone color, qupai, musical instruments and scripts of the puppet show in southern Zhejiang are basically the same as those of the Wu Opera in Zhejiang, and they mainly sing Hui Opera and play randomly. Because puppet artists are mostly family-owned country artists who are semi-agricultural and semi-artistic, both the scenes and the singing are passed down from mouth to mouth. In the process of inheritance, every thread-lifting artist shows the identity of the creator more or less. They always recreate the characters' language and personality in time according to the situation on the spot, the needs of the audience and their own aesthetic orientation, instead of performing in strict accordance with the script mode like a professional troupe, so they are free and flexible on the whole. Puppet Troupe has been active in the cold dock and backcountry for a long time, which determines that its personnel are lean (usually 4 to 5 people) and its costumes are simple (all puppet costumes and musical instruments are only one box), so it naturally forms a common feature of puppet troupes-the music and performance lineup are relatively simple. Another notable feature of the southern Zhejiang Puppet Troupe is that these troupes can all sing Songyang Gaoqiang, which is the biggest difference between the Puppet Troupe and the Wu Opera Troupe. After all, there are few fugue competitions, so this kind of troupe mainly performs the wishing drama in the first month and the peace drama on weekdays. This kind of drama is rarely performed, and it is slightly different from wishing drama and peace drama in performance schedule and performance procedure. Please ask God to carry him to the stage to watch the play after he has visited the village. At this time, the troupe will greet them with gongs and drums in the background. On the small stage, four puppets sit in the middle dressed as four Buddha statues and offer them a column of incense. At this time, it is the most concentrated moment of all factors in the wandering game. Puppet shows waiting to be staged, strange ancestral couplets, statues sitting peacefully, Taoist priests chanting Xuanjing and sonorous gongs and drums all converge on the same platform at the same time. Next is the performance of "dismounting from the circus"-The Story of Fresh Fish (an award-winning ancient traditional drama). In addition to the men, women and children in the village, there are also villagers who came from other villages to watch. The scene of more than 2000 people was spectacular, and the largest stand in the village was packed. The audience's yellow, black, yellow and black faces are even more enjoyable.

Five, Taoist chanting

Mysterious Taoist priests read books and sing songs. The mystery may be because, on the one hand, from beginning to end, most people don't understand what the Taoist priest is singing; On the other hand, Taoism is Taoism, and the classics read and sung are all taught by ancestors. There are no audio-visual images to shoot and no text to test. In the procession of wandering gods, the Taoist priest wearing a red and black gossip hat and a red and black gossip suit walked at the end. He holds a bronze bell in his right hand and a black dragon horn (made of bamboo and bent into an angle) in his left hand. During the procession, he rang the bell and blew the dragon horn from time to time, but he could only make a "beep" sound, and before each blow, he had to rotate the dragon horn in his hand several times to show his efficacy. Taoists in Songyang area have always been divided into scribes and warriors. Samurai are mostly active in exorcising ghosts and getting rid of diseases. When doing things, they sing and dance while holding swords, with rough and powerful movements, sometimes jumping, sometimes dancing and sometimes rolling. However, most of the scribes are active in praying for rain and gods, praying for disaster relief, turning over the dead, offering sacrifices and other occasions. Compared with samurai, on the surface, the biggest difference is that samurai emphasizes dancing, while scribes emphasize singing. When doing things, the scribes not only use the same musical instruments as the samurai, such as bells and dragon horns, but also use simple dance movements such as turning and bending, and always concentrate on chanting. At present, the few remaining Taoist priests in Songyang area are all scribes, and the so-called samurai's magical powers have not been handed down and disappeared without a trace in people's lives. However, this mysterious reading and singing music of the scribes has miraculously been handed down by customs such as the fugue tournament.

At 16: 30 pm, the "Circus" ended. At this time, it is necessary to send God back to the temple with the same team size. The only difference is that the returning team is not going back, but running back. Perhaps it is because in people's minds, God can always walk in the clouds, so running is used instead of God's "flying".

Although today's god-wandering games are far more entertaining than gods, we can't deny that the consciousness of god worship hidden in people's minds not only preserves the ancient traditional rituals, but also provides social impetus for the survival and development of folk arts such as god-wandering drums, amusing god dolls and Taoist singing.