Seeing the Tujia family as a living person

"There are people who have died in the family, and a dozen funeral drums and two help." The funeral of the funeral is a kind of ritual dance of the Tujia people in western Hubei. The drums are called songs, the dances are dancing, and the death and death are long-lived.

However, for those who are alive to "follow the funeral", at first it sounds ridiculous. In fact, it is another unique folk custom of Tujia people, also known as "shengzhai."

Due to the profound influence of the Taoist culture, the Tujia people believe that the life expectancy of the human being is given by God. If the fortune teller can't live to the age of the armor, and this person does not die, then when he is doing his 60th birthday, It is necessary to do both the funeral and the sorrow, in order to replace the dead.

It was the day of the first month of the Year of the Rooster. The sunset was snowy and the mountains were cold and cold. I followed several cultural people in the town of Ziqiu, Changyang Tujia Autonomous County, in western Hubei. I was about to go back to the town to have dinner. Suddenly, the distant mountains and the sound of the long and the long horns, the local Tujia folk expert Tian Changjie told us that this is a home in Zhangjiawan.

When we came to the enthusiasm for a while, we went to Zhangjiawan.

At the foot of the mountain, the three-eye cannons of the "bang" sounded on the mountain, followed by the sound of firecrackers, and the horn of "Ming------------" Eunuch euphemism, such as a woman crying loudly.

We walked into the rice field on the horn. This is an ordinary farmhouse. The house is three squares, the white earth wall, the black kiln tile, and the thick blue smoke overflowing from the tile seam, like a diesel boat that is launched.

The rice field temporarily set up a shed, and it was filled with guests. A table full of smiles came to Shantou, and we hurriedly pulled him up. Tian Changjie, who was accompanying, said the proverb. "You are filial!" I asked, "Is this the son of the old man?" Tian Changjie said: "The dutiful son who asked for the money, 5 yuan a day."

Put on the smoke and go to the tea. Calling, helping each other.

We didn't sit, but we looked around and looked at the unusual scene.

It’s hard to be a vegetarian in ten years. It’s really a crowded place on the Kwai’s rice field, and it’s so lively, it’s like a corner of the market. The old lady of the turban, the uncle who looks for the long rod, the daughter of the apron, the girl who has the long braid, the boy who wears the fur shoes, the little baby who is squatting, they come all the way, go into the hall, burn paper, hoe, and then go The old birthday star in the house asked Shengan, "You are a long life!" "You are blessed!", they will show their demeanor when they go out, laughing, playing, talking, walking, and sitting more exaggerated than in Japan.

In the middle of the hall, leaning against the inner wall, two benches are conspicuously placed with a "coffin", which is made of paper and the outer layer has been painted black. Inside the "coffin" lies a "dead man" made of thatch. Wearing a dark blue defense uniform, wearing a yellow cotton hat, a pair of liberation shoes, like a "cadre" during the Cultural Revolution.

Before the "coffin", there was a table, a magazine and a magazine, and the picture of the old man of Shouxing was placed on the table. The Tujia people called it "spirit." There is a small iron pot under the table, used for burning paper, which is full of paper ash. On both sides of the pot are two lifts, which contain soy beans, and a few pillars of incense stick in the lift, vomiting smoke.

Above the "coffin" is the rituals of various colors sent by the villagers for the "dead people". They are lined up in rows, and the words "Mu" are still written on the top, just like dead people.

The night was getting deeper, and the most beloved funeral began. I saw a middle-aged man with a turban waving his drums with both hands, slamming twice on the drum, and knocking on the drum, he sang high and began to call:

"Please come out, please come out,

Please some singers come on the scene,

Play better, jump a little,

Don’t jump in the wrong steps...”

At the moment, a few young men took the horn and should sing: "Yahah!"

"The guys like to play the drums,

The old guys like to fry tofu,

I heard the drums in the middle of the night.

No matter which side I go,

No tofu to give gifts,

Play a night of fun and count on the occasion..."

The four Chinese tigers jumped out, stepping on the drums, dancing and dancing, changing the dance, changing the singer, playing the dragon, playing the "four big steps", singing "Mr. It is "Phoenix spreading wings", but "Rhinoceros looking at the moon", but "Monkey climbing rock", but "dogs peeing", but "lazy woman washing dishes", but "big girl wants Lang".

The drummer sings and jumps. The music is simple and lively, cheerful and lively; the dance steps are strong and bold, and the words are vulgar and witty. The change of the singer cannot be elaborated. If there is a tragic and sorrowful death for the dead, then there is only joy and humor for the death of the living.

The feet danced and the more they jumped. Gradually, the men all took off the bamboo shoots and took off their clothes. After a while, the upper body silk cotton retreats, the copper-colored skin tumbling cheerfully under the light, and the sweat beads hang over the back like a soy bean. Also produced a batch...

After a while, the people gathered in the tide. It turned out that the two men who looked like each other stepped into the crowd. Someone told me: "This is the two old sons of Shouxing." Legs, high cavity should sing:

"This number has to change its feet.

If you change your feet, you will jump.

God is the scorpion,

Going to the ground is to go to the shuttle. ”

Singing and jumping, suddenly an old man is eager to enter the dance floor, and the visitors are once again squatting. The old man wore a brand-new gray polyester card, his eyes were beaming, his smile was hard to match, and his thin body flashed in the dance group. He is today's "dead man" today's birthday star. For a time, the singer drums more joy, singing more evil:

"The Bamen station that will not quit,

Eye drums like eggs,

The kitchen shouted for dinner,

The stomach is swollen like a tank,

Losing him is still a man..."

This is a funeral, it is a carnival at the celebration, and there is no cold shadow in the cold cottage.

Unconsciously, at midnight, the branch secretary shouted: "The birthday begins -"

The trombone and the short number "呜-呜-" screamed: three-eyed scorpion, firecrackers "squeaky, bang" screamed, and the gongs and drums shouted "Dangdang". Then, the two trombones lead the way, and the drummers follow closely. The visitors are lined up with sacrifices. The "filial sons" are stalking, and Tian Changjie tells me that "this is called funeral."

During the march of the mourning team along the rice field, four men with white headscarves in the rice field began to sit on the stools and chairs to form a "dead" character. Just "dead" came out, and then moved the bench and walked the dragon, turning the word "dead" into the word "sheng".

The word "sheng" was completed, and the sacred people and the passers-by went into the house, and went to the inner house to meet with Shouxing, wishing him a chance to escape the disaster.

Singing. Cannons. Drumming.

The four Chinese characters that have broken the word "death" into "sheng" have raised the "coffin", and the people who wished the birthday will follow the "coffin" slowly, cross the Tiankan, walk through the woods, and come to a barren hill. The "filial piety" squatted and the "coffin" slowly fell.

While the masters were thinking about the words, they burned the matches in their hands, and the paper baskets quickly rolled up the flames and ignited the fire. The fire reflected the hills and the red faces of the people. After a while, the paper basket and the mao are turned into ashes.

Like a beautiful piece of music, when it sings to a good time, it stops. A "shengzhai" ended in laughter.

The mountains are steadfast in time and space. The sound of birds and the sound of water that was invaded by gongs and drums, horns and firecrackers floated again. We wake up like a dream. The hills vacated the red sun, like the golden plaque, the elephant horn, and the face of a drunken man, dressed up every corner of the Tujia cottage. (Liu Hongjin)