The annual Spring Festival Ancient Fair is a major festival for farmers in Hequ and Baode areas.

After the autumn harvest, the weather gets colder and enters the off-season. In the twelfth lunar month, people prepare for the New Year by making New Year's goods, papering windows, writing couplets, and after the fifth day of the first lunar month, ancient fairs in each village are held in turn, which last until The Chinese New Year is celebrated on the second day of the second lunar month.

The ancient festival is a good day to visit relatives and friends, as well as to receive relatives and arrange matchmaking. Each village's ancient fair has a specific time, for example, the seventh day of the first lunar month in Yimen Village, the twentieth day of the first lunar month in Guojiatan, and the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month in Dongguan, basically every day. Liujiapan Village celebrates the tenth day of the first lunar month, starting from the ninth day of the first lunar month and continuing to the twelfth day of the first lunar month, with the tenth day of the first lunar month as the official day.

The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is called Po Wu. After Po Wu, there are no taboos and preparations for the ancient gathering begin. The person in charge of preparing for the ancient gathering is called the "hui leader". The leader arranges the affairs of the ancient gathering, and the villagers of the village actively participate. I remember when I was a child, I applied to participate in the high-bridge stepping and started practicing very early. Only those who can step well can be selected.

On the tenth day of the lunar month, all activities will be carried out. The process is as follows:

At around 9 o'clock in the morning, a group of people beat gongs, drums and suonas, and walked around one house after another. At the door of whoever's house you transfer to, that house will take out the garbage and cigarettes prepared in advance and give them to the transferee.

Taking out the garbage means sending away the God of Plague. After the garbage is collected, it is dumped into the Temple of Wealth. It is said that only the God of Wealth can subdue the God of Plague. If the garbage is taken out, good luck will come. Cigarettes are usually given in two boxes and collected into a bag for use in various activities.

We go to the door of each house and stay for a few minutes. At this time, the whole family and relatives come out of the house and start to firecrackers, mines, fireworks, and the sound of cannons continues. Rich people have many fireworks, but poor people only have fireworks. More or less, no family can be missing.

Nowadays, there are more and more enterprises stationed in the village, and the conditions are getting better and better. When transferring, in addition to the traditional transfer team, there is also a team driving a float, and there are singers on the float carrying When the microphone is turned to sing, the singing will float wherever it is, wishing all the enterprises stationed in the village a happy New Year.

This morning transfer time is also the time when "beggars" (beggars) go door to door begging for food. In my memory, there are the most beggars in Mizhi, Shaanxi. Usually, they go from house to house to the main door of the main house, accompanied by lotus flowers, and sing to themselves. The content of the rap includes "glass windows, painted doors, this is a good family", etc., rap for about five minutes, and shout "Shopkeeper" into the courtyard. Yes, give me some rice!" The host dug a spoonful of rice and put it in the bag on his back. In the past, parents taught their children, "If you don't study hard, I will buy you a lotus flower."

At around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the afternoon drama began to be performed, and at around 5 o’clock in the evening, the evening drama began to be performed. Usually there are two-person stage, and the troupes are invited from Hequ and Inner Mongolia, mostly from Hequ. In the past, open-air movies started immediately after the evening play.

Nowadays, every household has popularized television, and acting in movies is no longer attractive, and it has gradually become less attractive. My eldest brother Liu Jianjun recalled that in 1991, he went back to the village for an ancient gathering. The movie played in the village was "Xi'an Killing" and the song played on the loudspeaker was "A Good Man Lives in Peace", which still remains in his memory.

During the opera period, the theater is the busiest, with various stalls, which are a favorite among children. Children receive some new year's deposit money and can spend it at the theater, which usually sells food and entertainment. Things to eat include bowl rests, dried fruit peels, candied haws, melon seeds and peanuts, etc.; things to play with include rubber band guns, plastic guns, balloons, cut slices, etc.

After dinner, we started lighting lanterns. The lanterns need to be glued in advance. There are one or two lanterns for each family. The lanterns are glued by yourself, using white linen paper and colored paper to paste the windows on the straw frame. There are square, hexagonal and diamond-shaped lanterns, as well as personalized lanterns such as watermelon lanterns. The lantern maker should go to the brigade in the morning to receive a candle and register his name.

Just like the transfer, the team playing gongs, drums and suonas opened the way in front, and those holding lanterns followed behind, forming a long dragon dotted with stars under the black night. The lantern lighting procession starts from the main group and goes around each house. At each house, take out the fireworks and fireworks and ring them. After the sound is finished, go to the next house.

Sometimes, when the lantern is tilted, the candle inside will burn the paper on the lantern. If you are not careful, the entire lantern will catch fire and turn into an ugly black skeleton. Every year people burn lanterns.

I remember one time, a companion's lantern caught fire. In desperation, a naughty person shouted, "Quickly step on it!" As a result, the lantern was trampled to pieces, which made everyone laugh. In fact, it doesn't matter if it catches fire. It's just that the paper on the outside is burned, and the lantern can still be used.

Went around with lanterns, and finally returned to the brigade. Each lantern was rewarded with a box of cigarettes, which were the cigarettes collected during the transfer in the morning. No one lines up in rural areas and the scene is noisy, but those who smoke are aware of it and will not smoke more or less.

The lantern maker returns and the trickster comes on stage. The scene was crowded with people, including primary school students performing yangko, seniors stepping on high bridges, young wives playing canopy, young men dancing lions, older people playing big-headed men, and unique "Er Ghosts Duo Duo" (two ghosts fighting) and other performances. , which made people laugh and cheer endlessly.

Over the years, Liu Fengcai, Liu Fukuan, Liu Erchou, etc. are all veteran actors and have made great contributions to enriching the cultural life of the villagers.

After the tricks are over, the fireworks (fireworks) begin. In the 1990s, sponsored by the Liu Genmin Carbide Factory, the firearms were left open for more than an hour. Colorful fireworks spread all over the sky, the sound of thunder shook the sky and the earth was shaken, and all kinds of fireworks were dizzying. Some fireworks also have small parachutes, and children rush to pick up the fallen parachutes.

During the ancient gathering, it is also an important time to receive relatives once a year. I remember when I was a child, there was a gathering in the village. There were many relatives in my family, more than 20 people. It was the most lively time of the year.

The above pictures were taken during the Spring Festival of 2018.