Spring cow is the protagonist of the Spring Festival. Spring cow patterns are often printed on old calendar books and Han folk woodblock New Year pictures, which are generally described according to the scene of "beating spring cows" in ancient times, meaning to welcome the spring, open up wasteland and harvest crops. Every spring, fireworks and firecrackers never stop. Colorful flags and drums surrounded the prefect and whipped the spring cattle. Yuan Zhen, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the poem "Spring Life": "Whip the cattle outside the county gate and fight for the soil to cover the spring silkworm." "Whip first" and then "fight" are two ancient folk words to send winter cold and welcome the new year. Whip spring cattle, also known as whip cattle, originated earlier. Zhou Li Yue Ling: "Digging cows to send cold." Later, it has been preserved, but it changed to spring and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Especially after Song Renzong promulgated the "Cattle Slaughter Classic", the custom of whipping and slaughtering cattle spread more widely and even became an important part of folk culture. Whipping spring cattle was more common in Song Dynasty. "Tokyo Dream Record": "The day before beginning of spring, Kaifeng entered the spring cattle and whipped the spring; In Kaifeng and Xiangfu counties, spring cows are placed in front of the house, and spring is played in the house, such as Zhou Fangyi. " "Old Things in Wulin": "The day before beginning of spring, Lin 'an House built a big spring cow and set it up as a Funing Pavilion; And fortunately, officials whip cows with five-color silk sticks. ..... made dozens of Koharu cows in advance, decorated with colorful flags and snow willows, and distributed them to temples and pavilions. ". After Song Renzong promulgated the Classic of Native Cattle, the wind of whipping spring cattle became increasingly active, spreading from the imperial court and government to the countryside, which made the custom of whipping local cattle spread more widely and even became an important part of folk culture. Yang Wanli's poem "Looking at Spring Cattle in Children's Play" vividly describes the activities of whipping spring cattle in Song Dynasty.
When the spring cattle were whipped in the Song Dynasty, all four doors were open. The unearthed cows are decorated with colors and greeted with drums and music. People dressed up as Ju Mang, the god in charge of plant growth, whipped the cattle in spring. Local officials paid tribute to incense. On the one hand, it announced the beginning of a year's work, including farming, and on the other hand, it prayed for a bumper harvest that year. The palace also held a "whip spring" ceremony presided over by the emperor. Citizens have come forward to grab things like spring cattle in order to make a fortune. At that time, people thought, "Those who get beef have silkworms at home and cure diseases." There are many Koharu cattle made of mud for sale in the market. In order to satisfy the people's good wishes for spring cattle and make up for the regret that the citizens didn't grab the local cattle, we specially imitated Koharu cattle and sold them around the house. These Koharu cows are lined up with hundreds of characters on them. They are very beautiful. People rush to buy them, or take them home to enjoy them as works of art, while seeking good luck. "Guang Ji at the Age of Years" contains: "On the Spring Festival, people around Kaifeng Prefecture sell Koharu cows, as big as cats, drawing boards, and cows stand on them; Mud is also used for music and willows. Its city is outside the south gate of the government, near the west of the jade steps. Drive one more car, just look at it and buy it as a gift. " Therefore, the spring cow is not only the protagonist in the Spring Festival ceremony, but also the mascot on the occasion of the Spring Festival. In the vast rural areas where the spring whip ceremony is not held, it is popular to stick pictures of spring cattle on the wall to observe the four seasons. The activity of whipping spring cattle was mainly carried out in the Central Plains at first, which was a custom of welcoming the Spring with the Han nationality as the main body. After the Tang Dynasty, it gradually spread to all parts of the country, and directly influenced and spread to the ethnic minorities such as the Khitan and Nuzhen in the north. In the ninth year (969) of the reign of Emperor Mu Zong of Liao Dynasty, on the day of beginning of spring 1040 years ago, he prepared good wine and "visited the pavilion and performed the ceremony of native cattle" ("Guang Ji at the age"). The Khitans also held the "beginning of spring Ceremony" in beginning of spring on the same day: the emperor entered the temple, worshipped the portrait of the first emperor, drank wine, and then bowed by hundreds of officials. Then, the emperor conferred the title of "Kun Sheng" on the official, and gave the ceremony of "burning incense before the ox, three libations", and the master of ceremonies "announced the arrival of spring, whipped the ox three times", "spread corn beans" and "beat the ox to eat spring vegetables". Similarly, the rulers also inherited the custom of whipping spring cattle to welcome spring. It is clearly recorded in Jinshihai Ji Ling: "Watch and attack the local cattle when beginning of spring is here". It is even more common to record the custom of flogging spring cattle in Jin people's poems. "Striving for the ox to beat the drum for thunder" (Yue Chunfu: beginning of spring) and "Native ox persuading the ox to whip" (Zhu Editor: Live a long life, except beginning of spring) are the true portrayal of the custom of whipping the spring ox in beginning of spring in the Jin Dynasty.
The custom of spring cattle also spread to the Yuan Dynasty established by Mongols. Influenced by the customs of the Han Dynasty, the court of the Yuan Dynasty also had activities such as welcoming the spring cows and flogging the spring cows. Every year before the spring, Taishiyuan reports the specific date of spring, and moves to wanping county or Daxing County to prepare spring cows and Ju Mang gods. Three days before the spring, Taishi Museum and the Department of Agriculture invited officials from Zhongshu Province, Zaifu and others to meet Tai Sui Shen Niu in Lounan, Zheng Ji. Early that morning in beginning of spring, "Si Nong, the earth-guarding officer, led the red county magistrate to worship the chief and beat the cow three times with a colorful staff. The local official sent Ju Mang to worship. " (Analysis of the Golden Branches) Zhongshu saves the city department to send spring cattle to emperors, princes, queens, kings, Zaifu and various central officials.
In the Ming Dynasty, the etiquette of welcoming the Spring was more extensive. In the Hall of Minghui, it is clearly stipulated that there is a spring whip. The custom of whipping spring cattle not only welcomes the arrival of spring with local cattle, but also attracts people's attention by checking and expelling diseases, praying for a bumper harvest and good fortune. It is considered that the soil of whipping spring cattle can be used to draw stoves but kill insects and ants, and it is suitable for mulberry and raising livestock, which can be called spring auspicious. Zhou Ming Yao Xi's Bao 'an Spring Festival: "The sky explodes overnight, and the soundboard knocks on sandalwood. Cattle are patrolling in spring, and the shadow of Rui Lin is lingering. Yuan Hongdao has "Spring Festival Song", which proves that the Spring Festival ceremony has evolved into a grand song and dance activity. In the Ming Dynasty, spring cattle were whipped, accompanied by Kirin. In the Qing Dynasty New Year pictures, elephants and spring cattle were even painted as companions, meaning "Vientiane is renewed".
The Records of Ji 'nan Prefecture during the reign of Kangxi recorded: "The day before beginning of spring, the imperial court led the people, with spring cows and gods, to welcome the spring in the eastern suburbs. Make a five-coriander, commonly known as spring vegetables, drink spring wine and hairpin spring flowers. People and businessmen in the village dress up as fishermen and farmers, and the festival is a spring building, while children in the city, wearing colorful clothes and ghost faces, dance back and forth, which is also the legacy of the ancient hometown Nuo. At the beginning of spring, officials have their own colorful battles. There are three people who beat local cattle. This is called whipping spring to show their intention to persuade farmers. Cattle from Koharu are sent to the gentry's home in various places, and drums are played to offer sacrifices, which is called seeing off the spring. "The significance of whipping spring cattle is not limited to sending air conditioning and promoting spring ploughing, but also has certain witchcraft significance. Shandong Han people want to cut off local cattle, and everyone competes for the soil of spring cattle, which is called grabbing spring and taking the cow's head as auspicious. The spring cattle in Zhejiang are characterized by kowtowing to the spring cattle in turn when they meet them. When they are finished, people rush to the cradle, crush the spring cattle, and then take the robbed spring cattle mud home and scatter it in the cowshed. It can be seen that whipping spring cattle is still a kind of breeding witchcraft, that is, spring cattle scattered in the cowshed after the Spring Festival can promote cattle reproduction.
Summary of Spring Cattle Dance Spring Cattle Dance is a kind of singing dance among the Han nationality in the mountainous area of western Guangdong. With a long history and strong local flavor, it is deeply loved by the masses. This kind of cattle dance in spring is popular in mountainous rural areas during the Spring Festival or the farming season every year. "Spring Cow" is usually performed by two actors, one jumping the bull's head and the other jumping the bull's tail. The bull's head is made of wood or bamboo sticks, which is twice as big as the real bull's head. It has curved horns, big eyes, black fur and a bull's nose, just like the real one. The ox body is made of cloth, the actor is covered inside, and the ox body and oxtail jump alone.
Before the performance, "Niu" was lying on his side. In the cheerful sound of gongs and drums, an old farmer dressed as a figure took the cow up, walked around the field for several weeks, and said a few words to "Niu", which made the audience laugh. In spring, there are usually seven to nine people who dress up as saints and clowns. Posada and other characters. During the performance, Xiao Sheng was carrying a calf tied with paper, the clown was holding a small wooden plow, Xiao Dan was holding a flower basket (rice basket) and a small bucket, and Po Dan was holding a sunflower fan, singing and dancing in the sound of gongs and drums. The dance steps were mainly "stride" and "short step". The tune of "Spring Bull Dance" is smooth and cheerful, drums and dances are harmonious and unrestrained, and the lyrics are lyrical and narrative, catchy and easy to understand. The musical instruments of Spring Cattle Dance mainly include suona, Mangdong drum, small postscript, high-edged gong and hard gong, among which the most distinctive one is hard gong, which makes a "beep" sound when struck, which is crisp and pleasant, so Spring Cattle Dance is also commonly known as "beep".
The lyrics of "Spring Cattle" not only praise cattle, but also praise festivals and farming seasons, showing the process of labor. There is an episode at the beginning of each paragraph: "Spring Cow is High-"Spring Cow Dance is one of the traditional dances for entertainment in Zhuang folk festivals. Every year, from the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month, the Zhuang people living in western Guangxi will have an entertainment activity of "dancing spring cattle" to celebrate the Spring Festival.
"Spring Cattle" is made of bamboo strips. First, make the frame of ox horn with bamboo pieces, then stick thin paper on the outside, then paint the colors of eyes, nose and mouth, and sew the ox body with yellow cloth or gray cloth. The lyrics of Spring Cattle Dance are mostly Zhuang language in Guangxi. Zhuang language can be roughly divided into two dialects, namely northern dialect and southern dialect. Although there are differences between the two dialects, * * * is the main one. According to the statistics of 1982, there are more than 70,000 minority language place names in Guangxi, most of which were named by ancient ancestors of Zhuang nationality. It can be seen that Zhuang language has profound cultural connotation. After 1949, the Zhuang language borrowed many words from Chinese, which further enriched the vocabulary and expression of the Zhuang language.
The lyrics of Spring Cow Dance are mostly Cantonese or Cantonese Hakka. There are brain spring cattle in villages of Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, but the scale is different, the content is the same and the form is the same. Dong people hold humorous spring cattle activities, vivid Dong multi-leaf performances, and colorful activities such as walking on stilts, playing top and passing colored balls. Among them, brain spring cattle are the most distinctive. Spring cattle are made of bamboo sticks and colored cloth. A cow's head and a cow's tail are tied together, and the cow's head and horn are pasted with paper towels to draw the cow's eyes. Cattle are connected by a piece of black cloth or gray cloth, and skilled and strong boys dance, one playing with the head and the other playing with the tail. Later, with bullwhip in hand, beating gongs and drums, young men dressed up as women carrying bamboo baskets and reeds, young men dressed up as women with umbrellas and braids, young men dressed up as men with dolls or grass dolls on their backs, two singers and a team of young men and women 10-20 formed a mighty spring cattle team. However, it is not like a lion dance, but steady, generous, humorous and approachable.
As they walked, they fished for fish and shrimp. Some carried hoes, some operated plows, some carried duck cages and birdcages, and some carried fish baskets. They sang and danced with the spring cattle, imitated the scene of labor and performed the action of spring ploughing. The most interesting thing is the group of young men carrying fish baskets and pretending to be women fishing. They play the role of catching tadpoles in good times, but their fish baskets are upside down, with their mouths down, because if they don't turn the fish baskets upside down, then funny people will throw stones into them. The funny woman deliberately smeared pot ash on her face, and the other party smeared it unceremoniously. The two sides scuffled into a ball, which made the onlookers laugh. Humorous and interesting performances, festive gongs and drums, singing with spring cattle, singing and laughing everywhere. The sound of spring cattle gongs and drums, every household. Every time you go to a big hall, the host will put fragrant tea and set off firecrackers to greet you, in order to pray for the prosperity of the six animals, which is also a tribute to the "god cow."
The lively scenes add to the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival, and the people who make spring cattle bring joy to farmers. The activity of herding spring cattle, which has been passed down from generation to generation by Dong people, is because cattle are the hard helpers of Dong people, so every household happily sets off firecrackers to greet them, wishing the arrival of spring and praying for good weather and bumper harvests in the coming year.
Whenever you come to Dong township, you will taste the mellow rice wine of Dong family and see the simple and generous folk activities. You will realize that the modern Dong township is moving towards the new century and show the ancient and traditional Dong culture to the world. The rich and simple activities of the Dong people to drive the spring cattle penetrated into the folk customs of the Dong people, which promoted their boldness, enthusiasm, pursuit and praise for a better life.