Yao's Essay on Killing Year Pig

"If you have money, you can kill pigs for the New Year." The pace of the Spring Festival is getting closer and closer. In those years, the scene of killing pigs was still fresh in my memory.

Jianghua is a Yao Autonomous County. Yao people usually kill Nian pigs on the 22nd to 25th of the twelfth lunar month, not on the 26th, because "Six" means that six animals are thriving, and all six animals have been killed. What are we talking about? Some people also kill Nian pigs one or two days before the winter solstice. The winter solstice bacon does not produce oil and tastes more fragrant.

In the 1970s and 1980s, my family killed pigs on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month almost every year. After setting a good day, parents told their families and relatives about the date of killing the pig, and invited them to eat "pig blood soup" for lunch.

The night before, the pig to be killed was not fed. This is because pigs are weak and easy to catch. In addition, pigs don't eat, and there is less feces in their stomachs, so it is better to clean up their intestines and stomach.

On the day of killing pigs, my parents got up at dawn to do some preparatory work before killing pigs. Mother cleaned up the yard and burned a large pot of boiling water with firewood to shave pig hair. My father sharpened his knife and counted the tools such as iron drills, wooden pots, wooden stairs and big scales one by one. My brother and sister and I were so happy that we couldn't sleep and got up early with the adults.

After breakfast, the uncles and aunts who helped kill pigs came in unison. Six or seven people went to the pigsty to catch pigs, some pulled their ears, some pulled their tails, some pushed their asses, and finally forced them into a room (the Yao family had killed pigs in the room). Mother has set up two high stools and a small wooden basin in the hall with a little water and salt. Several people joined forces to press the pig side by side on two long stools, so that the pig could not move. There is a custom in the Yao family that the pigs they feed cannot be "killers" themselves, and they have to be slaughtered by others, probably because they have been fed for a long time.

In fact, the mother's mood is the most complicated on the day of killing pigs. After all, the fat pig was raised from a little pig at home and served livestock for a year, and she felt very disappointed. However, whenever I see the children eating all over the table and their stomachs are full, my mother is a little relieved. After all, this is the result of hard work all year round, and it is also the only beautiful day when she can put down her stomach and eat meat.

At this time, the knife holder is quick of eye and quick of eye. He quickly ties the pig's mouth with a brown rope and kills the pig's knife. The blade is shiny and chilly. The knife holder shaved a few hairs on the pig's neck with a sharp knife and then blew them into the air. In an instant, a sharp knife more than a foot long struggled to stab the pig's throat until the handle was buried. With a scream, bright red pig blood gushed out. Mother immediately put it in a small wooden basin, kept stirring it in the basin with her hands, and then poured a little pig blood on the prepared paper money. When the pig's blood was exhausted and she was dying, the knife holder shouted "Let go!" Everyone threw the pig back and said in unison, "The big pig weighs 365 Jin!" It means that the owner feeds the big pig diligently, growing 1 kg every day, and the pig grows from 365 days to 365 kg a year.

Then, my mother went to the pigsty with a ladle and paper money and murmured, "The big pig is back, the big pig is back!" " "Pretend to feed the pigs, burn paper money, and pray for the gods to bless the pigs to grow up quickly.

I remember killing the pig one year. I don't know if the knife method is not accurate or the blood is not used up. The pig was still dying and ran around the hall several times, so I had to catch it and make another knife. We children, seeing such a bloody scene, are both afraid and feel sorry for the fat pig.

Then there is shaving pig hair. First, cut a small hole in the pig's ankle, insert a steel bar from the hole, and wear it everywhere. Then blow hard at the hole with your mouth, blow for a while, tie the hole well, hit it a few times with a clothes-beating stick, blow it again, tie it again until the pig is round and round, and then tie the hole tightly with a rope, so that it will be easier to scrape pig hair and the pork will be cleaner. Too many people, the cook slowly carried the pig to a big wooden basin with boards on it, and slowly boiled a pot of boiling water. "Chen Wenjing check!" In a short time, the furry pig became fat in vain.

The next step is to gut. Father carried out a staircase, put it on the ground, and lifted the pig flat. Tie a stick to the pig's hind foot with a brown rope, and then tie the stick to the stairs. Everyone Qi Xin together slowly lift the ladder, stand against the wall, and then calmly disembowel. Take out the large intestine, small intestine, suet and kidney while it is hot, put them in a dustpan, and then clean them. As a result, the pig is just an empty shell. Then break the pig from the middle of the back with a bone breaker, remove half of it and put it on the chopping board, then remove the other half of the stairs and put it on the chopping board, and weigh it to see who has the biggest pig. If someone buys pork, let him choose and cut it off on the spot. The price is cheaper than the market.

As soon as we hear the pig barking, we children will happily follow the sound to see who has the highest skill in killing pigs and who has the biggest pig. However, children are most interested in pig urine bubbles. Insert a small bamboo tube from the urine bubble mouth and blow it round and big to play as a balloon. The children also clamored for adults to cut off a few pieces of pork liver or lean pork and barbecue them on the fire. The smell makes your mouth water.

Then, divide the pork into strips weighing two or three kilograms, put them in a washed vat, pour in seasonings such as vinegar, white wine, ginger and salt, stir them evenly by hand, and marinate the bacon. Everyone started filling sausages, making tofu, wrapping rice noodles with lotus leaves, cooking and frying ... they were very busy.

Before lunch, mother offered food such as pig's head and pig's tail on the altar, lit incense sticks, burned paper money, bowed and told her ancestors that she would kill a big pig this year and a bigger fat pig next year.

/kloc-around 0/2: 30, a sumptuous meal was steaming on the table. At this time, all the troubles, worries and frustrations of the past year have been forgotten. While eating meat and drinking in a big bowl, we are guessing fists and joking, drinking to a better life and wishing the New Year.

At present, young and middle-aged laborers basically go to other places to work, and there are very few pigs. Killing pigs in the New Year is naturally less, and the scene of killing pigs can only be slowly recalled in the dream.