There are many temples in Changsha since ancient times, and incense is flourishing. There are countless temple fairs, large and small, which constitute the folk cultural life of working people in urban and rural areas of Changsha in the old days. Temple fair is not only a form of gathering national scenery and folk literature and art, but also a form of ancient traditional market.
Among the old temple fairs in Changsha, Taogong Temple Fair is one of the largest and most influential temple fairs. The temple is located in Linxiang Mountain, Langli Town, Changsha County.
According to the records in the Book of Jin and Changsha County Records, Taogong Temple was built in 505 years (the fourth year of the Southern Liang Dynasty), 149 1 year ago. It was built by local literati who admired the fame and virtue of Taiwei in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Dan Tao and Tao Huan, descendants of Tao Kan, the magistrate of Changsha County. Dan Tao and Tao Huan are uncles. They abandoned their homes for monasticism. Linxiang Mountain in Langli practiced building houses and became an immortal. It has become an immortal bodhisattva who knows everything, cures all diseases, prays for rain, and can retreat from disasters. Taogong Temple is famous for it. Historically, every time Taogong Bodhisattva went on patrol, he was greeted by the government, and four of them were personally greeted by the governor. 1688 (the 26th year of Kangxi), Changsha was hit by a drought. Zhao Shenqiao, the governor of Hunan Province, went to Taogong Temple in Langli to visit Taogongzhen Bodhisattva and went to the city to beg for rain. I was really hit by Tao Gong and Bodhisattva. After the ceremony, it was really "suddenly raining, and the water was full of feet". Therefore, since its completion, Taogong Temple has been valued and protected by all previous dynasties. Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty also named Dan Tao and Tao Huan as "Fu Shi Ren" and "Fu Shi Ren", and ordered the sacrifice of Taogong Temple to be included in the spring and autumn sacrificial list of the Ministry of Rites.
On the birthdays of two Taogong Bodhisattvas-the 13th day of the first lunar month and the 17th day of August, good men and women will hold a grand temple fair to celebrate the birthday of Taogong Bodhisattva. Each temple fair lasts about 10 days. Thousands of pilgrims came to the temple fair and worship, including pilgrims from Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi. They are extremely devout to Taogong Bodhisattva and worship in the form of "incense to meat" (hanging a small incense burner under the elbow with a thread). Every temple fair, as usual, the ancient drama upstairs is full of scenes, and all the famous opera actors in Changsha City perform on stage, including xiang opera and Peking Opera, performing and singing day and night. When singing brilliantly, the rich rushed to throw money on the stage, while the poor cheered for it ... At the temple fair, dragon dance, lion dance, arhat dance, bamboo lanterns and so on competed to make voices, and the temple fair became a gathering place for all kinds of arts.
During the temple fair, merchants gathered, and the business of buying and selling exchange materials was very prosperous. For a time, incense and firecrackers were heard, and pilgrims and performers flocked to it, which was very lively. This naturally promoted the economic prosperity around Taogong Temple. Because of the needs of the temple fair, the building of the house became a city, and the "Sanxian Street" was first formed, and later the town of Langli was gradually formed today. Therefore, there is a folk saying: "Langli Street does not cultivate land, but eats it in two phases for one year."
Besides Taogong Temple Fair, there are many other temple fairs in Changsha. Compared with Taogong Temple Fair, these temple fairs are only different in content and scale. For example, the temples under the jurisdiction of Qian Jing, Tuoshi Township, Wangcheng County, in Qingdaoguang and Xianfeng (1821850) are already quite large. The stage design in the temple is ingenious, the sound effect is good, and the artist's daobai and singing are very loud. Every year in the seventh month of the lunar calendar 12, the Bodhisattva will tour the villages. After the temple fair begins, according to the temple fair regulations, every pilgrim must first kill a rooster in front of the temple to offer sacrifices to the gods. Each temple fair has 10 days of frontier singing, with 10 performances during the day, paid by the temple fair, and 9 performances at night, paid by the local guild. Famous xiang opera figures in the capital of Changsha, such as Shao Zhi, Lao Sheng Ou, Hualian Liao Songzhu, Clown Li Shaocheng, Gai Meixian and Hua Dan's "Six-year-old Red", are frequent visitors here, adding more excitement to the temple fair. During the temple fair, there were many vendors in the town, including farmers, squires and Miss Kuantai from the city.
Although the contents of temple fairs vary from place to place, their functions are the same. If we get rid of the dross of feudal superstition and let it enrich the cultural and recreational life of working people and promote local economic prosperity, it will still be a fine traditional custom of the Chinese nation.
Summer scenery in old Changsha
Bamboo mat ■ Pufan mosquito net ■ Well water splashed on the ground □ Songs and games during childhood rest ■ Melons, melons and watermelons ■ Fireflies and crickets chirping ■ Milky Way meteors and flowers with dewdrops in the morning, making tea ■ Throwing popsicles to listen to ghost stories ... It turns out that electric fans and air conditioners make us lose not only summer, but also a very strong summer coolness.
□ Bamboo shop and bamboo board
Without air conditioning, bamboo shops on summer nights are full of coolness. That summer, it would be a good thing if bamboo shops were a must for every family. Unfortunately, many people don't have a bamboo shop with four legs and one bed at home. Most people have one or several bamboo boards. Bamboo boards must be supported by benches. In the 1980s, more and more people used iron grasshopper legs to support bamboo boards. Compared with bamboo shop, the biggest disadvantage of bamboo board is that when I was a child, I often fell to the ground with bamboo board when I was fighting on it.
According to neighbor gossip, in 1950s and 1960s, many families didn't even have bamboo boards, so some people propped up their doors and slept outside. The strangest bamboo bed is that someone used two bamboo poles as a bed and slept peacefully in the sky. At that time, my fifth uncle worked in Changsha Chemical Reagent Factory. He said that there was a young worker in his unit who slept on a scooter in the factory at night. A colleague was bored at night and dragged this scooter to Xiangjiang Bridge. When I woke up the next day, I was shocked and thought I was sleepwalking, so I had to drag the scooter back to the factory early in the morning. This is also an interesting thing to cool off in summer.
People used to sleep in the open air after 1 1 at night and tell their children to go home to sleep. At that time, it was midnight and early morning in midsummer in Changsha, and it was chilly. I often get up early in the morning and see young men who are still sleeping in bamboo shops on the street, often wrapped in blankets and curled up into a ball.
□ Folding fan, palm leaf fan and manpower fan
There are no electric fans, but there are all kinds of fans, such as folding fans and banana fans. When someone shakes a feather fan, we can't help thinking of Kong Minglai when we were young.
I remember that year, summer came, and when I was in the fourth grade of Xiwenmiaoping Primary School, the summer vacation was coming soon. Many students brought fans, as well as the paper folding fan of "Three English Wars against Lu Bu". Students often write four limerick poems on the folding fan:
It's hot in June, so you can't borrow fans.
If you insist on borrowing it, wait until1February.
A large fan made of rice leaf fan often has words written on it to avoid loss and confusion. According to the old man, some words were smoked with kerosene lamps. Aunt Hui took pains to smoke the words "I am cool" with a kerosene lamp.
When we were sensible, it was the late 1970s. There were ceiling fans in Changsha at that time. According to adults, before there were ceiling fans, the fans in the barbershop just hung some cloth blankets and asked disciples or blind people to pull them to create a cool breeze.
Film actress Wang said in her memoir My Fame and Misfortune: When she was a child, her family lived in Changsha. She said: "One thing impressed me deeply ... My father taught them (Wang's little brother and sister) to make a soil fan and tie many pieces of cloth on a wooden stick to hang it." This stick is connected with a rope. When pulling the rope, the cloth swayed back and forth, and there was a cool breeze. ...
□ Well becomes a natural refrigerator.
In the era when there was no refrigerator, the diet of Changsha citizens in summer was "eat one meal, eat one meal". The meal was delivered in the evening. You usually have to sip until the last sip. Otherwise, it would be a pity to rot the next day.
According to Zhu's article "Shizi Industrial and Commercial Street in Changsha", Rao Meimei, the eldest daughter of Rao Daosheng (now Cai E South Road, Jiefang West Road) in Qingshiqiao, Changsha, was not only capable and brave, but also thoughtful. Summer is very hot, and sometimes pork can't be sold. She thought there was a hanging well behind the house, so she hung the meat left in the well in the shade and sold it the next day. The meat quality is still new. Later, this method was popularized by Changsha colleagues. "Of course, in hot weather, the role of this air conditioner in the well is actually very limited.
A pot of tea is very thirst-quenching.
Changsha people often make tea with "old mother leaves" in large pottery or porcelain pots in summer, commonly known as "pot-wrapped tea". Almost every family should have a pot, and when it is cold, you can drink it. The tea brewed by "Old Mother Leaves" is the most thirst-quenching in summer. This pot of tea often contains crushed ginger, which is said to drive away the cold. People who are more particular will also make some licorice tea.
Other families, in order to relieve the heat, will make some "human yellow" tea to relieve the heat.
In the past summer, there were herbal teas in front of Changsha Siyitang, China National Medicine Bureau and Changkang Pharmacy. With less money, you can drink bitter and sweet tea and buy a herbal tea bag.
According to Peng Ruiqiang's article Hunan Commercial Medicine Bureau and Guo, "Hunan Commercial Medicine Bureau, founded in the early years of the Republic of China, was in a hurry, constantly expanding the scope of free services, supplying herbal tea and summer medicine, giving away epidemic medicine in summer and autumn ... without taking a penny, there were quite a few rescuers, which was widely praised by the society."
According to the old man, during the Republic of China, large pharmacies in Changsha supplied herbal tea free of charge in summer, and it was often the working class who sweated in the sun in summer. Free access to herbal tea is also one of the social relief measures.
Smoke mosquitoes with wet grass
During the Republic of China, there were mosquito-repellent incense in Changsha, and the mosquito-repellent incense in Liuhe Hall was the most famous.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a shortage of materials. In 1960s, Changsha smoked mosquitoes. According to the memory of the old neighborhood, most people filled a jar with wet grass mixed with a small amount of hay, lit it, and the smoke rolled to smoke mosquitoes.
Of course, there are still mosquitoes harassing you when you rest next to the bamboo shop. At this time, the young child is composed of an amiable mother, patting the child to hum a lullaby and shaking her fan to drive away mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes usually stay in mosquito nets. At that time, because of the unstable electricity, every household still lit kerosene lamps. At this time, parents will light a small kerosene lamp, use a kerosene lamp glass cover to get close to mosquitoes, and use lights to kill mosquitoes.
□ Watermelon, melon, melon
According to Yang Mian, No.32 Zuoju Street, there were not many watermelons in Changsha market in the 1960s. On the day of ups and downs, every household has to queue up to buy watermelons. Although exposed to the sun, mothers often ignore them. As for whether you bought white melons, red melons or cucumbers that you can't see today, this watermelon on dog days is also delicious for the whole family, especially children. In the late 1970s, the number of watermelons increased. In the 1980s, watermelons became a heatstroke prevention benefit for some units. At that time, watermelons were all round, and there were few long, round and oval melons, and they rarely tasted fertilizer.
The melon is not big, but it tastes delicious. Cucumber also makes children happy to eat. And tomatoes and cucumbers. At that time, children thought it was best to eat raw food, but adults often cooked it.
It is said that children much older than us have tried bean jelly made of bean jelly seeds, and the bean jelly has the coolness of mint. But adults think this bean jelly is not clean and children are not allowed to eat it. Today, people know that most of them are just scraping bean jelly different from bean jelly.
"Changsha City Records" records: This is an ancient custom. "On the first day of July in the ancient calendar, before dawn, people were heard selling sesame candy in the street. This is a unique summer food in Changsha. " When we were sensible, there was no sesame candy in Changsha, only tinkling cocoa candy exchanged for toothpaste skin in autumn and winter.
Sour plum soup is not only found in Hongmei, but also in Hongxing cold drink shop on Jiefang West Road in the past. Dad has an educated youth friend, Wei Lichun. In that shop, she often refills the sour soup I just finished when people are not looking. Wow, it's cold.
□ prickly heat powder, toilet water and Liuyisan
In those days, due to the restriction of diet and heatstroke prevention conditions, the fire poison was very heavy, and sand boils and large boils often appeared.
After taking a bath every evening, I see that every child's forehead is covered with prickly heat powder, which looks like "pink wax gourd". Even later, many people watched Bing Qizhi's "Double Springs", and the look on the face of "Huff Oil" still made many people very kind.
Toilet water, hot and cold, has a fragrance, and girls feel that fragrance is as happy as fragrance. Later, Liushen toilet water sold well in the city in the late 1980s.
Liuyisan can not only refresh yourself, but also be taken with water. But in those days, boys used to fold the paper into a jet-like object and spray it into their mouths while squeezing it in bulk.
-"Knock too hard" is a good popsicle.
At that time, the most important quality inspection standard of popsicles was "knocking". An unmelted popsicle has a lasting appeal only after being sucked. People who sell popsicles with wooden boxes or foam boxes often shout "Popsicles, knocking mung bean popsicles" in the market. In the early 1980s, my impression was that there were three kinds of popsicles in those years: 30-cent sugar popsicles, 50-cent mung bean popsicles and 80-cent milk ice cream. Many large factories in Changsha have ice factories, and employees issue popsicle tickets, which is a kind of welfare for the children of business circles we envy.
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These are the most distinctive features of Changsha.
The landlord can choose one of them at his discretion, which I think is definitely worth lasting appeal.