An analysis of the folk customs of Suining Spring Festival in Sichuan

Suining has a legend that "three sisters of Guanyin Bodhisattva eat in the same pot and practice separately" since ancient times. The elder sister practices in Lingquan Temple and the second sister practices in guangde temple. Only Sanjie practiced far and practiced in Putuo Mountain in the South China Sea. Guangde temple and Lingquan Temple, as Dojo of Guanyin, are famous for their prosperity. Guangde temple once commanded more than 300 mountains in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and was awarded the title of 1 1 by the emperors of Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. Known as "the first Zen Forest in the West", he owns the Jade Seal Square, a rare and unique cultural relic in Sichuan, the Guanyin Jewelry Seal given by the Emperor of North Song Zhenzong and the "gift" given by the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. Every year, Guanyin Bodhisattva's birthday (1February 9), enlightenment day (1June 9) and becoming a monk day (1September 9). In Suining's folk activities, there are February 19 (Guanyin's birthday), June 19 (Guanyin's enlightenment day) and September 19 (Guanyin's nirvana day) in the lunar calendar every year. Especially the February Incense Festival, from the first day of the first month to the third day of March, lasted for more than two months. During the incense festival, Suining pilgrims traveled all over the city as far away as Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi and Nanyang. In addition to believers all over Sichuan, there are pilgrims from Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hunan, Hubei and other places, with more than one million people a year. Incense into the mountains, material exchange, business negotiations, cultural performances, etc. , are grand and lively.

Sichuan Zhong Da Music: Folk Percussion Music. Formerly known as "Penglai Dale". Popular in Suining city and its marginal areas. According to legend, this kind of music was invented by the court musicians of the Zhou Dynasty in China, and spread to the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. When the emperor of the Tang Dynasty heard this kind of music, the tone was high and melodious, and the performance team was spectacular and magnificent. It was specially named "Da Le", which was dedicated to the emperor when he ascended the throne. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, a young musician left the palace because of the war, and later settled in Zhongjiang, and formed a band with his own skills, so several generations attacked each other and were introduced to Pengxi during Guangxu period. At the beginning of the 20th century, Zhongjiang, Jintang, Pengxi, Shehong and Nanchong counties in Sichuan were very prosperous. Sichuan music is divided into two groups: the main music group consists of foot basin drums, cymbals, gongs, Rao bowls, hairpin, Su bowls, Su Chai, clang and cymbals. When the auxiliary music group played, the two groups of bands overlapped and alternated, with a huge lineup and spectacular scenes, ranging from dozens to thousands of people. There are more than ten kinds of Qupai, such as "Yun Ding Fan", "Feng Nod", "Moth" and "Yi Teng". The original Penglai Daqu has a cheerful rhythm and is full of warm and festive momentum. It combines the masculinity of northern gongs and drums with the gentle and charming style of Sichuan folk percussion, and has strong artistic appeal and local cultural characteristics. After that, Pengxi County Cultural and Sports Bureau organized a special person to carry out excavation and finishing. According to the traditional mode and the characteristics of Bashu culture, Pengxi Dayue was renamed as Zhongchuan Dayue, and a new musical instrument was created, namely "Wuzhou Qingrui". The combination of musical instruments has been improved, and the drum music formation has been adjusted, which makes the scene of Zhongchuan Dayue more magnificent, the rhythm more intense, and the climax is repeated, making it heroic and generate. People praised "Sichuan Zhong Da Music" as the "majestic gongs and drums" in Sichuan.

Taolong: Suining folk dance, commonly known as "disjointed dragon", is named for its disjointed peach shape. According to legend, at the "Empress" meeting in northern Sichuan, every family had to go to the temple to present peaches in order to get the blessing of sending their sons to the Empress. Later, at the Guanyin Conference and Lantern Festival, people combined bamboo-woven peaches and colorful decorations into a dragon. When dancing, one person holds the treasure to play with the dragon, one person holds the dragon head, five people hold the dragon body and one person holds the dragon tail, and eight girls each hold two colorful clouds to dance with the dragon body. Because Taolong is a disjointed dragon, performers can move back and forth at will, one after another, like dragons rolling and undulating in the sea of clouds. There is a folk saying that "the dragons have their own tricks and are connected by ridges." The production technology of Suining Taozilong is very particular. In 1980s, Tao Zilong, made by folk artist Peng Keshui, was organized by Suining County Cultural Center to participate in the national folk arts and crafts exhibition, which was well received and collected by China Museum.

Acrobatics: China Suining Acrobatic Troupe was founded in 1974, formerly known as Tongjiaban Acrobatic Troupe. There are more than 80 cast members, and the troupe is divided into an actor team and a student team. The average age of the actors is 19.5 years old, and it is a capable and energetic young acrobatic team. On the basis of inheriting China's traditional acrobatic skills, the troupe extensively absorbed the advantages of sister arts, creatively created and rehearsed, and performed nearly 30 acrobatic programs with strong national characteristics, full of charm of the times, diverse forms and beautiful skills. Top Bowl, Top Skill Climbing Ladder, Great Martial Arts, Pedal Circle, Hovering, Pole, etc. have won prizes in various acrobatic competitions at home and abroad, among which Top Bowl won the Bronze Lion Award in the National Children's Acrobatic Competition. For a long time, the troupe not only insisted on touring in major cities in China, but also was invited to perform in France, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries and regions, which was well received by friends. It has made positive contributions to enhancing friendship and cultural exchanges between people of all countries. 1999, at the invitation of the Organizing Committee to celebrate Macao's return, the acrobatic troupe went to Australia to perform, which won unanimous praise from audiences at home and abroad.

Dragon lantern dance: traditional folk dance, also known as "dragon dance", "dragon lantern" and "dragon play". It is said that it began in the Han Dynasty. Dragon lanterns are danced from the first day to the fifteenth day of the first month every year. Dragon-shaped varieties are diverse, including "colorful dragon" and "fire dragon". Colorful dragon tap, the dragon body is composed of various soft segments, about 9 series 10, with exquisite shape. Dancing is often accompanied by colorful lights such as fish, shrimp and clam shells. Dragon dancers, regardless of sex, dressed in double-breasted colorful clothes and red ribbons, held pole, bent down to dance with treasure hunters for a long time. Accompanied by percussion instruments, fire dragons use colored faucets. These dragons are dressed in colorful robes. Each part has a bamboo cage with candles or twisters built in, which will glow when dancing. The fire dragon is longer and bigger than the colorful dragon, generally 10 knots, and the pole is longer. The pole of the dragon is about 2 meters long. Because many dragon-burning ceremonies in the Yuan Dynasty were held at midnight snack, it was named "Fire Dragon". Fire dragons generally have a double dragon Shuang Bao. Burning dragons in the Lantern Festival symbolizes the success of the New Year celebrations, in order to pray for "peace and happiness". Dragon dancers wear straw hats and underpants, barefoot and bare-backed, and dance around the dragon. Around them, people hold firecrackers, mix iron flowers and charcoal rings and spray them at dragons. I saw sparks flying, fire dragons rolling, flames soaring and colorful. When the dragon body was brightly lit by fireworks, the dragon dancer raised the dragon frame and ran to the river, meaning to send the dragon back to the sea. Chuanshan Township, Suining City regards dragon dance as a characteristic cultural project, inherits the tradition, expands the scale and makes the dragon dance more colorful. In 2000, the Ministry of Culture awarded Chuanshan the title of "China Dragon Dance Town".

Multicolored lotus boat: also known as "rowing boat" and "flower boat", it is mostly performed during the Spring Festival and large-scale cultural activities. It was performed by two people, Medicine Valley and Weng Zhong. With the sound of gongs and drums, Weng Zhong then paddled on the stage, and the two of them sang and danced together, forming a relaxed and happy duet. The performance of the colorful lotus boat is mainly to simulate the action of sailing on the water. Yao Gu's dance movements can be summarized into four sentences: "Wrist shaking, leg shaking, waist diligence and height", and Gong Gong's dance movements such as "stroking" and "stroking and sucking" are consistent with the short posture in Sichuan Opera and echo Yao Gu's rowing and swimming. Dance vividly shows the boat on the water, sometimes boating flat, chic and elegant; Sometimes sail and break the waves, ups and downs. The dance begins with a leisurely swing and ends with a leisurely swing. It has strong folk characteristics.

Car headlights: Also known as "teasing girls" and "roller-boating". Mainly performed before and after the Spring Festival. 3 performers, sister 1, little face 1, coachman or winner 1. There are also seven performers, in addition to the above three, there are also four "reporters" (performers) holding lanterns. Led by old artists with high performance skills in rural areas, the lantern class connects some people who like to play with lanterns in series to form a temporary "lantern" team, which plays with lanterns everywhere during the Spring Festival and disbands as soon as the Spring Festival is over. In the performance of "Car Lights", Xiaohua ran around with a folding fan, and amused the girls (mostly men) who were sitting on the "float", wearing sunglasses and dancing with colorful towels, and then improvised various humorous words related to festivals, farming and folk customs, mainly humorous. On the bus and the boat, Yaomei held the edge of the car with her hands and swayed back and forth with the lyrics, looking shy. The driver or driver paddles the car according to the melody. After Xiao Hua led the singing, others sang in chorus. After each performance, traditional routines such as "turning the gold ingot", "holding the ants" and "screening the lotus flowers" are used to change the formation. Its performance skills are summarized as "Yao Mei should be steady, Hualien should be funny", and the aria has two parts: super-cavity and several-cavity. Most of the lyrics belong to the upper and lower structure, and the sentences rhyme, mostly 7 sentences, often with lines and embedded words. The singing is a whisper and the tune is repeated. Accompaniment instruments include erhu, March, gong, drum and four panels.

Lion dance: also known as "playing the lion", is a comprehensive folk art that integrates martial arts, acrobatics and folk drama. It is said that it began in the Han Dynasty, and the first to fifteenth day of the first month of each year is the climax of lion dance. This kind of dance is generally composed of three people, two of whom are hidden in the belly of a lion, decorated with lion-shaped props, and perform dance movements with the lion's head and tail. 1 People play smiling monks or the Monkey King, wearing masks and holding dust to tease lions to do various actions. The Monkey King is naughty and lively with a golden hoop. The lion dance is accompanied by percussion instruments and several people carrying lanterns. There are seventy-two literary arrays and thirty-six martial arrays in lion dance. The performances are divided into "Wenshi" and "Wushi". Shi Wen's performances are mainly related to solve riddles on the lanterns and couplets. They are lively and interesting, and there are also actions such as scratching, licking hair, curling hair and shaking hair. Martial arts teachers are mainly good at jumping, stepping on the ball, jumping, climbing, turning and other martial arts, making them brave and fierce. In form, there are "Gaotai lion", "platform lion", "stilted lion" and "ground lion". The platform lion performs on the platform made of square tables; The lion on the high platform is overlapped by two square tables, and the lion dancer performs with four legs. There are also more than a dozen square tables on the high platform, which makes the performance more difficult. The lion climbed to the desktop layer by layer by turning, jumping and jumping. , and performed actions such as "Guanyin sitting on the lotus platform" and "fishing for the moon in the sea" on four legs of the table; When the lion on stilts performs, he will improvise acrobatics and other antics; Ground lions tend to roll and jump. Lion dance can also be divided into "single lion", "double lion" and "group lion". The performances include "killing lions for the New Year", "stealing Ganoderma lucidum", "turning over the iron threshold", "drilling the fire circle", "opening and closing the four doors", "drilling the knife circle", "red light entering the treasure", "swinging the lotus arch" and "Dashun farming".

Waist drum: commonly known as playing waist drum. Its drum frame is made of wood, long, small at both ends and large in the middle, with double skin. When drumming, tie the drum to the dancer's waist with silk ribbon, hold the drumstick in both hands, and play alternately, accompanied by dance movements. Its style of play can be divided into "big flower school", "small flower school", "war drum school" and "comprehensive school". There are often pots and cymbals in front of the team, with obvious drums, distinct rhythm, diverse dances and warm atmosphere.

Playing Lotus Flute: The performer holds a three-foot long bamboo pole with copper coins on it and beats his feet, legs, hands, shoulders, arms and other body parts with both ends evenly and rhythmically. He can also squat and run, roll and fight, or several people fight each other. The rhythm is clear, pleasant to hear, singing while playing, and the lyrics are easy to understand. Holidays often go with other performing teams, which are colorful and popular.

Drumming: It's called "playing friends". After dinner or after the wedding, invite or invite four or five "playmates" to sit around and sing. There is no stage, no makeup, no clothes, and it is usually held in bazi or teahouse. The playmates are sitting in their seats, playing and singing with banjo, Tanggu, Chuangu, Chuanhu and cymbals in their hands. The drummer is the drummer, and other musical instruments are directed by the drummer's gestures, drum labels and drums. The cost of drumming around drums is low, so it goes deep into the people and spreads widely, meeting the requirements of Sichuan opera lovers who love to sing and listen.

A traditional form of folk performance. The platform was assembled and bound with wooden boards, and eight people carried the performance. On the stage, everyone plays a standing role in a play, and the characters are mostly in the foot color of the Ming play. Later, people put the stage on large vehicles to perform.