Gypsum, the soul prose of rural community fire

Gypsum, the Soul of Rural Community Fire Fighting

Gansu Zhangye Linze County Cultural Center Liu Aiguo

Work factors, coping with social fires every year, the overall feeling, grand scene, more than lively, single form, lack of confidence. From the age of seven or eight, my father and I went to see the performance of Shehuo for the first time. Decades have passed, and my father has already passed away. When the rural community fire is still there, it is still thriving, but it is much more lively, and the humanistic care of folk culture is less, and the return of folk culture is less pure humanistic care and connotation.

On the eighth day of Dingda, on the land of the village, Lanxin high-speed railway roared westward from Qilian Mountain. The fields in spring are beautiful, and the small programs written and performed by farmers on the stage at the entrance of the village are getting more and more exciting. Especially in the Hexi Folk Village in front of the north gate of Zhangye Danxia National Geopark on the 14th day of the first month, I wrote, directed and performed the drama "Surprised Cow", which will also be rehearsed on a simple stage. Several leaders and colleagues of the Cultural Bureau and I will come to watch and guide the rehearsal. Before coming to power, Dongsheng Drama Club was rehearsing the social fire. I saw an old man with a tattoo on his left hand and a rattle on his right hand walking on the stage and singing: In the first month, it's the Spring Festival, the God of Wealth comes to the door, it's spring, the financial door of Quanming is open, and every household has a wide range of financial resources. The first month is the New Year, and the spring breeze blows everything, welcoming happiness and auspiciousness, and making every family auspicious. This is not the "plasterer" in the traditional social fire, I blurted out. An old man turned around and said, how do you know this is a "plasterer" at a young age? I said, old man, I'm not young anymore, and I'm also a man who has passed my own destiny. Do you look young? Now the society is very lively. Without the "plasterer", what would you feel missing? The old man said. Yes, old man, I feel something is missing, too. Without the "plasterer", the social fire will lose its leading role and the whole social fire will lose its soul. The old man is right. There is no "plasterer", just like a wonderful program without a host. That's right. This "plasterer" is the embodiment of the "agricultural official" and is in charge of everything on the farm. I heard this sentence from my father when I was a child. At some point, the lively social fire was staged on the stage. Four drums, four Hua Dan, four wooden sticks and four yellow croaker went into battle together, each going its own way. Drums are getting louder and louder, and gongs are ringing. This is the traditional old social fire. The old man said that the number of roads is traditional, but the content is modern. While speaking, the waist drum team and Taiping drum team performed in turn.

Then I remembered the social fire when I was a child. From the second day of the first month, I began to pay New Year greetings to every household. "Plaster" led the team, drilled through the street gate of every household, first called it (the first room) to pay a New Year call, and then entered the yard. Lion dancers are dancing in the yard, and the "plasters" sing lyrics according to various situations, some praise the elderly, some praise the daughter-in-law, some praise the dutiful son, and some praise the mother-in-law.

Every day before the social fire performance, the "plasterer" who leads the social fire team is well prepared. He knows what to say and sing. Most of this "plasterer" is a squire and celebrity who is active in the countryside. They went door to door to mediate neighborhood disputes, conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and presided over weddings and funerals. They know the details of each family like the back of their hand, and their singing skills are perfect. Very popular with the people in the four townships and eight neighbors. Liu Sanjie and Mo Xiucai in the movie Liu Sanjie are as witty and humorous as songs.

The lyrics are recorded in the head of the "plasterer" and can be sung at will. When I was very young, there was a "plasterer" named Tian in the village. Seeing more and more people in the performance venue, he walked around the tattoo method and sang as he walked: Don't squeeze, don't push, squeeze out the money, and then squeeze out the good news; Push away Lu, push away longevity; Don't push, don't squeeze, watch the social fire, enjoy the ancestors, know the rules, know the etiquette, respect the world, respect everything and enjoy people. When he sings like this, he doesn't squeeze or push. It's very orderly. Walking on stilts in the stadium is thrilling, lions drill fire circles, and dragons pedal high ladders, which is even more fascinating and applause comes one after another. It can be said that it is wonderful and climax after climax. Next, lantern dance in the social fire is even more radiant. The thirty-six lamps on the head represent twenty-four stars, twelve days of drought, three hundred and sixty days, eternal light, good weather, abundant crops and prosperous livestock.

Far away, active agricultural officials in rural areas, improvising "plasterers" in social fires. Random lyrics, slang that is considered dirty today, may hide mysterious symbols of rural culture, and those words with earthy fragrance warm my heart. Listen, loud gongs and drums resound through the vast Hexi Corridor. In the ravines and depressions of Hexi Corridor, in the humble small villages on the yellow land, the back of the "plasterer" is still printed in the rural memory. Who planted the whirling tree in the sky? The onlookers replied: the jade emperor planted it; Who is driving the Yellow River on the ground? Dragon king opens; How to live a happy life? Work hard. The melody of those popular scenes and lyrics lingers in your mind for three days and never stops.