Is it your hometown on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month? The annual temple fair in Leqiao Village.
Temple fairs must have something to do with temples. Leqiao Temple is located on the west side of the north gate of the village, and Laoying River flows from the north of the temple from west to east. But I have never seen this temple, because before I was born, it was demolished for many years and turned into a school. When I was in the village school, the quaint and shabby guidance office was said to be the main hall of the temple, which may be the only building left by that temple in those years. There is a locust tree in front of the main hall, and only a few people can hug it. After hundreds of years of ups and downs, it is still flourishing and full of vitality.
According to legend, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month is Buddha's birthday, but is it his hometown? On the day of Leqiao Village Temple Fair. Temple Fair on April 8th is a famous gathering in dozens of villages in Fiona Fang. Generally, the temple fair lasts for three days, usually on the sixth day, the stage is set up, and the first scene begins on the sixth night. Relatives from every household will come to visit relatives and watch the theatre. Villagers from four townships and eight villages also came to catch the temple fair, and vendors from all over the country gathered, adding another atmosphere to the rural festivals. "April 8, barley and wheat wear persimmon flowers", probably because April 8 is near the wheat harvest season. I remember when I was a child, I sold mostly sickles, brooms, hoes, dustpans and straw hats, followed by summer clothes, shoes and hats and various snacks, fruits and vegetables. On the stage, the actors sang the melodies of Henan Opera and black banhu gongs and drums, which were very sonorous. The runner-up artist performed magic acrobatics in the corner of the temple fair, surrounded by a sea of people, and cheers broke out from time to time.
The most crowded place is in front of the stage. In the past, people's spiritual life was relatively poor, and there was a play in the village, which was indispensable. Men, women and children came to the stage early with small stools to grab a good position. Look at the top platform (next to the front of the stage) are young and strong young men, often bustling, shoulder to shoulder, and sometimes it is inevitable that there will be a little friction. Later, with the popularity of TV, especially mobile phones, the young people in front of the stage disappeared, and the stage became the world of the elderly.
When I was a child, I often went to the theatre with my grandfather. Going to the theatre with adults is the happiest time for children, because at this time, children can ask adults for money to buy sugar people, flowers, zongzi, or buy all kinds of gadgets, and they can also shout around the stage and have fun. Sometimes, I will follow the adults and sit under the counter in front of them to watch the actors do somersaults, play gun games and sing songs, but I just don't understand what it means. Occasionally, I understand a sentence or two and just watch the fun. I'm not like those kids. Maybe it was influenced by my grandfather. I like going to the theatre. Of course, I didn't understand it at first. What attracted me was not the content in the play, but the flags and long pheasant feathers on the backs of military commanders, the rockhopper in Hua Dan and the painted faces of clowns. Later, I gradually learned a little, and I gradually liked the theater. Red face, blackhead, niche, Tsing Yi, Peking Opera blues ... I like watching, and my favorite is blackhead drama, that is, Bao Gong drama, and sometimes I will hum along with it. At that time, I learned several lyrics of Henan Opera, such as the one in My Beauty Case in which Bao Gong advised Chen Shimei, "About eating or home cooking, about wearing or coarse cloth ..." And the "Ten Guaranteed Officials" section in Luan Jia, and so on, all of which can be properly studied.
As I grew older, my interest shifted from the stage to the book stand under the stage. Every April 8th Congress, there are several book stands under the stage, and all kinds of books, large and small, are placed neatly. Of course, the picture book attracts me the most, and I can read it for a penny. In those years, Liu Lanfang's storytelling "Biography of Yue Fei" spread all over the country. Of course, listening on the radio is not enough. I am addicted to reading the full set of comic books of Yue Fei Biography on the bookstall. Other children ask adults for money mainly to buy delicious food. I basically "donate" the money I want to those who set up bookshelves. In those years, besides Yue Fei Biography, Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Tang Dynasty, etc. Most of them started to contact from the bookstall under the stage.
In recent years, with the progress of society, great changes have taken place in the contents of temple fairs in my hometown. There are basically no farm tools such as sickles at the meeting place, but those who sell clothes, shoes, hats, snacks and fruits occupy almost all the stalls on the east, west, north and south streets. There are no more donkeys and wagons coming to the meeting, and even bicycles are almost invisible. Cars and electric tricycles have become the main means of transportation. It's hard to see street performers. Instead, there are all kinds of large children's toys. The village has built a permanent and harmonious square and stage, and the original stage is gone, and the book stand under the stage is gone.
I don't know why, in my memory, there is always a faint yearning, a time that looks poor but has endless joy, and an old book stall under the stage.