[Finishing Tips] After the beginning of spring, the spring breeze brings warmth. Miaozhai around the Spring Festival, rape flowers bloom all over the mountains and fields. Passersby look around and see the golden parts wherever they look. Perhaps people are still immersed in the joy of the New Year, but before they know it, the footsteps of spring have quietly entered the second month of the lunar calendar. Light-colored plum blossoms, snow-white peach blossoms, pink peach blossoms, and various unknown flower species bloom one after another, dressing up the warm spring in colorful colors.
The second day of the second month of the second month of each year, referred to as " February 2 ", is an extremely special day for the Miao people. There is a saying in our country that "the dragon raises its head on February 2nd", but the Miao people do not know much about this statement and seem to be less interested in it. What really interests them is their traditional national festival - the Miao Bridge Festival.
Speaking of the Miao people's Bridge Festival, also known as the Qiao Jing Festival, it is mainly used to worship the large and small bridges built by the Miao ancestors and descendants in various places since ancient times, for people to walk and cross the river, in order to add children to give birth to children and continue the incense, extend the Miao family's descendants, bless children with healthy growth, and make the family prosperous, reflecting the important thought of the Miao people living harmoniously with nature and unity between man and nature.
On the "February 2" Bridge Festival, in addition to the most important bridges, sacrifices for ancient trees, steles, water wells, mountain stones, tables and stools, rice jars, longevity bamboos, chopping boards, pig troughs, triangular horses, etc., all belong to the sacrificial category of the Bridge Festival. According to the 76-year-old Miao Village " Huangping Miao Ancient Songs and Ancient Ci Myths·Ancient Ci·Witch Ci" and Miao Wizard Yang Changgui, the inheritor of the Miao wizard, said that "February 2" is not only the Miao Bridge Festival, but also the self-evident Children's Day in Miao society. Because during the year, only on February 2nd every year, all adults revolve around the children. Not only do they put new clothes and shoes on the children, but they also hang red and green eggs on the children. Adults will do their best to meet the requirements put forward by the children, with the purpose of making the children happy and happy holidays.
"On the second day of the second month, boil red and green eggs, the children are happy and their children's faces are brilliant." Judging from these Miao proverbs, children may have known for a long time that "February 2" is an unwritten Miao Children's Day, so children will get up very early in the morning, and don't go to play anywhere after washing their faces. They just stay by their own fire pit to watch adults boil ducks and goose eggs (usually not boiling eggs), and listen to the elderly tell the stories of the bridge sacrifices passed down from ancient times. The main content of the story is the origin of the Miao Bridge Sacrifice Festival (that is, the historical origin of the Bridge Sacrifice Festival), and why children can hang red and green eggs on this day and play happily, etc. After the duck and goose eggs are cooked, the women and elders will dye these eggs with red and green mineral pigments, and put the red and green eggs into carefully woven egg sleeves one by one. They will leave long ropes on one end and beards on the other end naturally. They will braid the end of the long ropes into strings, ranging from a few to a dozen easter eggs, and then hang them on the neck (smaller children tie them on their waists). The red and green colors are interspersed, which are both beautiful and festive, and are deeply loved by children.
It is worth mentioning that these red and green eggs are not only edible, but children can also use these eggs to fight with other children's easter eggs. This is called "egg-making fight". In fact, it is the spontaneous "egg-knocking competition" of the children. Such activities are endlessly enjoyable in my childhood memory. When a child's easter egg is touched with multiple children's easter eggs, if the easter eggs on one side are kept intact, it is the final winner. The children will mark the egg as the "Egg King", and the egg will be given special treatment from the owner - find a place to put it for everyone to watch until the egg yolks are air-dried and they are reluctant to eat the egg. Although it is a spontaneous "egg-knocking competition", there are wins, losses, and losses in the competition, and they are not the only ones every year. It depends on opportunities. The children will not hurt their harmony if they break eggs between them, but they can satisfy the children's little competitive spirit.
When women wake up in the morning, their main tasks are to cook red and green eggs, steam glutinous rice, and choose onions (or leeks) to scramble eggs. The men take bacon and blood tofu from the fire pit to clean and boil, prepare wine and meat, fragrant paper candles, flower paper, flower bamboo strips, flower bamboo sticks and other bridge offerings, and go to the wild bridge after lunch.
Worshiping ancient bridges and trees has always been a major folk tradition of the Miao people in Huangping and has quite a local ethnic characteristics. It is not difficult to find from these folk phenomena that the Miao people believe in the theory of "all things have spirits", believing that there are mountain gods, trees have tree ghosts, bridge gods, and wells have wells. In short, it is believed that all mountain spirits, tree ghosts exist in nature, live in harmony with humans, and do not invade each other. But this is just a superficial phenomenon. When you truly see the essence by the appearance, you will find that these phenomena are actually the general understanding of nature by the Miao ancestors in the past and have a strong folk color.
According to the author's analysis, the Miao ancestors in the past may have extremely low natural productivity and cannot compete with the harsh nature. Therefore, in the continuous production practice, they gradually realized the importance of seeking profit and avoiding harm, and formed a relatively fixed national worldview and national values. From another perspective, the practices of the Miao people should essentially respect the natural environment and be an important manifestation of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. This has positive significance for protecting ancient bridges and trees, protecting nature, and protecting the green home on which humans rely on for survival.
"February 2" Bridge Festival, people who are interested in worshiping the bridge will prepare flower paper for ancient bridges and trees. The meaning is self-evident. Naturally, they are for the bridge god, tree god , stele god, water beach god, well god, table god, and stool god "dress red and hanging colorful clothes" to entertain gods, pray for blessings, and Najib, so that the gods can get the blessings of the gods, so that the main family and children can be healthy, the door is pure and safe, and everything goes well. This reflects the Miao people's sacred yearning for a happy life and their positive and optimistic attitude towards realizing their beautiful wishes.
In recent years, with the vigorous advocacy of the Ministry of Culture for the protection of intangible cultural heritage such as ethnic culture, the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" was promulgated from the national level, and the provincial level also promulgated the "Guizhou Province Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Regulations". With the vigorous implementation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Law and the Protection Regulations, the protection, inheritance and promotion of various intangible cultural heritage projects such as ethnic culture have encountered unprecedented opportunities.
As a native Miao family in Huangping, the author has lived in a Miao family in Baojiaoli Miao Village since childhood, Gulong Town, which integrates "witches, doctors, and songs". My grandfather and ancestors of all generations are Miao wizards, and grandmother and other Miao ancient song masters. I remember my grandfather often said that when his great-grandfather was a national and folk Chinese herbalist and Onmyoji. He relied on his barefoot to save the world and maintained the national and folk Chinese medicine characteristics of "witch doctors are of the same origin", which benefited the Ten Miles and Bali Villages in the Shankai Township area of Gulong Town.
I grew up in such a family with a strong national cultural atmosphere. Naturally, I was influenced by a large amount of national culture mastered by my grandparents. Coupled with my grandparents’ hearing and positive influence, I have had a special feeling for national culture since I was a child. Because she was taken by her grandmother before she went to elementary school, she had nothing to do at such a young age, so she taught her Miao songs every day and never got tired of it. Every time my great-grandmother comes to my house, I will shout at the old man to tell me the traditional stories of the Miao people at night. As time goes by and age gradually, I am growing up gradually and mastering a large number of Miao traditional stories, Miao customs and Miao ancient songs and lyrics cultures.
When I grew up, I graduated from high school. With the idea of going away and going out to see it, in 2010, I resolutely went to Shanghai, a coastal metropolis, and went to university for several years. Later, with great love for the ethnic culture of my hometown, I returned to my hometown’s cultural department in early 2014 after graduation and joined the county’s non-material cultural heritage protection center. I worked for three years. During the work period, we strive to complete all the tasks arranged by the leaders of the superior intangible cultural heritage departments and units, and assist the leaders of the bureau to preside over the Miao Ancient Song Competition during the annual "April 8" ethnic gathering in Feiyunya, Feiyunya.
In my spare time outside of work, I am not idle, who loves national culture very much. In order to save those national cultures that are about to be lost, I have not stopped storms. I have visited dozens of folk song masters, wizards, Li Laos, and Lusheng masters for three years. I went to the countryside to collect a large amount of national cultural materials such as audio, video, pictures, and text, and sorted them out in my spare time. Over the past three years, I have devoted myself to the rescue work of national culture and enjoyed the joy brought by national culture intoxicatedly.
Now, as the inheritor of the ethnic culture and the intangible cultural heritage of the Miao ancient songs of the younger generation, I feel that the traditional national culture (especially ancient songs and lyrics) has gradually weakened in the inheritance of the younger generation of the Miao people, and there is even a trend of breaking down. I deeply feel that the inheritance method passed down by the older generation can no longer adapt to the development of the new era. As young people go out to study since childhood and work in other places after graduation, they are gradually moving away from the fertile soil of the growth of national culture. The younger generation has less and less contact with ethnic cultures such as ancient songs and lyrics, which has led to further increasing the unfamiliarity with national culture. Based on this cultural concern, in the summer of 2015, the author independently established a QQ group on the Internet and carried out the teaching of "Huangping Miao Ancient Songs and Ancient Lyrics" as a lecturer and related public welfare teaching of ethnic folk and folk culture. This move was warmly welcomed by the young Miao generation of ethnic culture lovers and beginners of ancient songs and ancient songs and lyrics.
The scope of national culture is very wide, with many festivals and complex branches. If it weren't for those who were interested in rescuing national culture, it would be difficult to sort out the many things in it. For example, the series of bridge sacrifice processes of the Miao Bridge Festival, the younger generation is basically unfamiliar, and there are very few people who can familiarize themselves with the process.
Miao Bridge Festival is a festival with ethnic characteristics and mysterious colors in the traditional culture of Huangping Miao. The links that are not suitable for sacrifice to bridge decal paper, burning incense and burning paper, and sacrificing wine and meat are not missing. Because the "February 2" in 2018 is a weekend, I can just carry a camera home to go home with my uncles and elders in my family to worship the bridge. This trip can not only record every simple and moving moment in the bridge sacrifice activity, but also deeply experience the great charm exuded by the traditional national culture, and at the same time fulfill the responsibilities and obligations that should be fulfilled as a inheritor of national culture and intangible cultural heritage.
On the morning of the day of the sacrifice to the bridge, the author and my cousin returned to the hometown where I gave birth to me and raised me early - Baojiaoli Miao Village. As soon as I entered the door, I saw my grandma cooking red and green eggs, and my grandfather was chopping firewood and picking bacon. The two old men were busy. I exchanged a few greetings and asked my grandfather, "Have the flowers and paper been cut?" My grandfather said he was too busy. So I found red paper and green paper, followed my grandfather's usual paper cutting, and became a "wizard" and cut flower paper. Seeing this, my grandfather was afraid that I had never cut paper without experience, so he taught me step by step and instructed me: "Yes, that's it, you must look at the blade, the cut should be accurate, the flower should be straightforward, the pattern should be moderate, and the hand should not be fast. Be careful to hurt your hands." During this period, my cousin kept slapping paper for me, and occasionally gave me envious gazes.
About 3 minutes, a green flower paper pattern with Miao characteristics was cut. After seeing it, my grandmother smiled and said, "I have basically learned your grandfather's skills. It seems that it will be a piece of material for inheritors in the future." I replied, "Although I haven't caught up with the master, today is the first time I have become a master!" Everyone smiled and went to their own business.
According to grandpa, it is not easy to be a inheritor of systematic national culture, a veritable national culture, and intangible cultural heritage. In the old society, because this role was basically played by wizards, Li Lao, Zhai Lao, patriarch and others, only one of these people was qualified to learn and master everything. As for whether they had the ability was still second.
As the modernization process of society accelerates, these strict rules have been severely weakened, and have even declined to the verge of extinction, so there are no such strict requirements now. However, the national marriage, funeral, sacrifice to ghosts and gods, and all aspects of the yin and yang must be basically mastered. The specific terms are as follows:
The first is to be upright and upright, have a compassionate heart to help the world, and cannot be profit-oriented; the second is to understand the rules and follow the ancient etiquette, not to be perfunctory, and not to do things randomly; the third is to be eloquent and eloquent, be able to speak, recite lyrics, sing, and be able to speak; the fourth is to be able to speak; It is necessary to have strong hands-on ability. It is not only good at doing things, but also clever, do well and solidly; the fifth is to have good understanding and memory, the master understands it as soon as he says it, understands it at a glance, and remembers it as soon as he hears it, and can become a great person; the sixth is to have strong thinking ability, quick mind response, and be convinced by the rational word "制制"; the seventh is to be able to deal with people, behave properly, and leave a way out for everything; the eighth is to read diligently and read, and have a high traditional cultural cultivation of the Miao and Han ethnic groups; the ninth is to be diligent and studious, study hard, learn from others' strengths, and be able to become a teacher; the tenth is to be enlightened after the teacher, to be able to learn from the future, to connect with the past and the future, and to strive to carry forward it.
The ten items mentioned by grandpa are not only strict requirements for me, but also a code of conduct for dealing with people. They are also a concentrated reflection of family rules and tutors passed down from a Miao family.
About an hour later, dozens of small flower papers were cut out, red and green, and they looked very beautiful when put together. I completed the task of cutting flowers and paper, packed up the things and put them in. My grandma had already selected green onions at this time. Next, I asked me to prepare a unique delicacy of the Bridge Festival - fried duck eggs with green onions (leeks).
Grandma took out a large basket of duck eggs, and I washed them one by one and broke them. She poured out the egg yolks in a small basin, sprinkled with appropriate amount of salt, chicken essence, chili flour, and pepper powder, poured a small amount of soy sauce and vinegar, then put the cut green onions in and stir evenly, the color was yellow and green, and prepared the oil pan and it was ready to stir-fry.
I am responsible for cooking, and my grandma helps to cook firewood. Because grandma was raised by her, the grandmother and grandson cooperated naturally and had a tacit understanding, and grandma also mastered the quality of her.
Under the good policies of the Party, with the acceleration of the construction of the new countryside, the countryside uses electrical appliances to cook and cook, and there is little firewood. I thought I could use an induction cooker to scramble eggs directly, but my grandmother said: "Today is different from the past. Today is the Bridge Festival of our Miao family. In the past, there was no electricity in the past, and they used firewood. If you are used to it, just use firewood according to the traditions of our ancestors. The fried green onion eggs tastes more fragrant and the color is correct. The ancestors and gods may like it more during sacrifices!"
Since grandmother said that, I can only do what the old man said. Although this speech was not long, it was full of grandma's respect and respect for the late ancestors and gods, and deeply reflected the Miao people's "all things have spirits" and the Chinese Confucian tradition of "death is like life".
After lunch, each of the uncles and elders of the family carried baskets containing wine and meat offerings, hoes and hatches, etc., and began to gather in the open space in front of grandma's house. Nearly 20 people's bridge sacrifice team set off. As long as the children can walk by themselves, they can go to the wild bridge with them, talking and laughing along the way.
Because I wanted to go for photography, I naturally adhered to the principle of "go wherever I was lively and wherever I had the method of shooting", so I did not go to the Family Bridge with my uncles and uncles all the way to worship the family bridge like in previous years. In order to take good folk photography works, this year I can only do the opposite. I asked my cousin to bring the cut flower paper and run with me all the way, and rushed directly to the oldest ancient bridge in Miao Village, "Gadou Hangjiu", to pay tribute to the entire Miao Village in Zuli to take pictures.
In the spring of 2017, the Miao Village in Baojiaoli relied on the hundreds of years of stone-leied ancient bridge with a history of "Gadou Hangjiu" and the grand family-style bridge sacrifice activity of the village, which has been recommended by Huangping County Cultural Department as a county-level demonstration village of the "Miao Bridge Festival", and has been listed on the Shankai Village Committee. The next step will be to improve the information and continue to apply to the prefecture and province.
According to the old people, the ancient stone arch bridge "Gadou Hangjiu" was built in the past when the Miao Village was built. It was built from stones without a steel bar or a shovel of concrete. It can still be used normally for hundreds of years. According to the "Village Rules and Civil Regulations" stele erected by the bridge at that time, the ancient bridge collapsed and slammed, divided into two ends. The one near Miaolong Village was sacrificed by the Shangzhao Village, and the one near the village was sacrificed by the Shangzhao Village. In previous years, when we were worshiping the bridge, hundreds of people in the entire village gathered here to worship the ancient bridge. The smoke from burning incense and paper could cover the entire valley, with people boiling and artillery fire running all over the sky. The scene was extremely lively.
When worshiping the bridge, the Miao people's stickers of money and flower paper to the bridgehead, stele stones, ancient trees, Bodhisattva temples have always been the inherent characteristics of the Miao people's sacrifice to the bridge. The history of decal paper wearing red and hanging colors has a long history. According to the verses recorded in the ancient book "Miao Ancient Songs and Ancient Songs·Miao Ancient Songs·Big Songs·Yang Ousan", it can be traced back to the Hemudu period of our matriarchal clan society.
I was on the decal paper, and my cousin kept taking my phone to capture every moment. When I finished pasting the red and green flower paper and looked back, the ancient trees and stone tablets with quiet environment seemed to be angry. No wonder the old people said that the decal paper was for the bridge gods, tree gods and other gods to "dress red and wear new clothes" and it seemed that it really tasted. But then again, no matter whether there are so-called gods or not, all of this is enough to demonstrate the national characteristics of the Huangping Miao people's sacrifice to the bridge and express people's beautiful wishes.
According to ethnic customs, when the last ancient bridge is celebrated every year, everyone will first finish the sacrifice of the bridge, then take out all the wine, meat and fragrant papers brought on the ground, and ask the respected old men in the family to divide the house from door to door to everyone, one for each family. The Miao language is called "dividing reproduction and wealth". After the division is completed, everyone will have a dinner together, drinking, eating meat, and playing boxing. People in a family talk and laugh, while those who can sing ancient songs sing "Ancient Miao Songs, Ancient Songs, and Broadcasting Songs" until night falls.
Before going home at night, you can also negotiate to have a meal and drink at a family in the family and sing until late at night; of course, you can also go home without getting together, which depends on the wishes of the family's bridge sacrifice staff every year. But no matter what, you must take the things you brought back from the wild first, and burn incense and paper under the shrine in the main hall, pour wine and pinch meat to comfort the gods of our ancestors. The general meaning is: "Today I will go out to worship the bridge, thank you for the souls of the nine zodiacs of the bridge, and now I will bring back the souls of the descendants and the wealth of the descendants. We will report to the spirits of the ancestors of all generations, asking our ancestors to claim the responsibility and return to their ancestors in the future, so that we can make money, continue our incense, and extend our children." After the report, we said some auspicious words and asked our ancestors to bless us, etc. At this stage, the Bridge Festival is truly over.
Overall, the sacrificial behavior of the Miao Bridge Festival has a certain mysterious color, but the more important concept of "building bridges and roads" that the Miao people, which is deeply rooted in the Miao people, has positive social significance for protecting the natural ecology of the Miao area, not being deforested by random deforestation, and maintaining a high coverage rate of forests. It is worth learning and imitating by us and future generations, and is more worthy of publicity and promotion by everyone.
(Yang Zhengxin)
