Quanzhou porcelain carving architecture with Minnan characteristics
Went to Quanzhou with Chen Danyan to interview the marionettes. The car just entered the city, her first feeling, how is this like Taiwan? Plantains can be seen swaying between the low mountains, thorn trees blooming on the side of the road, and red brick cuo walls. The snacks on the street are also octopus balls, rice dumplings, large intestines and small intestines. I came to Quanzhou for the second time, and the last time I only went to Kaiyuan Temple, I didn't leave any impression on the streets and alleys of Quanzhou. Now along the way, the streets and alleys can see the temple ancestral hall with porcelain carvings from time to time, and the Hokkien dialect floating in the ears is really similar to Tainan and Taichung.
The city center of Quanzhou
The puppeteer who went to visit was called Zhuang Li'e, 50 years old, and his face looked a little haggard. Her home furnishings are simple, with more conspicuous glass cabinets filled with doll heads, carved intricately carved from ancient times to modern times. Hanging by the window are two puppets she used for rehearsals, one is a Hui'an woman, and the other is her newly created Chang'e. Teacher Zhuang seems to be not good at talking, preferring to directly use puppets to demonstrate the movements, while introducing us to the knowledge of traditional hanging wire puppets. I asked Mr. Zhuang, how is the puppet show doing at the box office now? She hesitated for a moment and said that it was mainly due to holiday activities and some public welfare performances. I felt like I was asking the wrong question and was a little embarrassed. At this time, Teacher Zhuang turned to get Chang'e's hook board, and when she wrapped dozens of threads around her fingers, her spirit was lifted. She danced lightly with both hands, and the paralyzed puppets instantly came to life: light steps, flowing long skirts, frequent smiles. In particular, the chang'e four seasons of changing clothes, lifting the pot to pour tea, and writing with a wave of the chang'e created by Teacher Zhuang are all completed in a moment between the puppet's fingers, which is very surprising. Sometimes you will be a little confused, between the dolls, their consciousness, spirit is really transmitted by these lines? Every time Teacher Zhuang went to the school to give students a non-heritage lesson, as long as he performed this set of actions, the children would shout and be excited. Only at this time will Teacher Zhuang raise his head from the fully engrossed puppet and smile.
Quanzhou puppets have a history of thousands of years since the Song and Yuan dynasties. In the past few decades, the older generation of artists has gone almost. Although the troupe has now built a new building and built a modern theater, Teacher Zhuang seems to miss the old theater when she studied art. There she rehearsed the classic play "Ruolan Saves Mother". She still remembered her teacher's words and deeds, not just the skill of adding a few more threads, but the dedication they had to make the puppets come alive with each thread. We followed Teacher Zhuang through the streets to see the old site. The sky was misty and drizzling, and the usually open gate was closed this day. Teacher Zhuang called out a person's name in the local dialect, and a woman's response was heard, but there was no shadow, and the door opened. This is a courtyard of about 100 square meters, there are two stages on the east and west sides, one large and one small, the big one is being dismantled, the stage is piled with discarded debris, full of dust, only a few green ceiling fans overhead, as if still waiting for the opening. Strangely, there was no one in the courtyard, but in the right corner of the stage was a pot of incense, and the smoke was swirling. On the other side of the small stage may be a rehearsal field, with only a dozen seats. Now the stage has become a place of worship. In Taichung, there is a bodhisattva dressed in red face, dignified and solemn. There is also a pot of incense in front of the stage, and the incense head can be seen burning in the slightly darker room. We asked Teacher Zhuang, what kind of bodhisattva is this offering? She said that her name was Xianggong, and she was a god of drama. In the past, before acting, we had to worship the gods of drama. "Then now that there is no acting here, who is still burning incense?" Teacher Zhuang said: "This place is to be renovated, and the regiment invited an aunt to guard the house, and she brought two children to live here." "What is she doing to god?" "Maybe keep the house safe, maybe you like puppet shows, maybe you treat the gods as ordinary gods?" I don't know. Teacher Zhuang said.
After coming out of the old site, we went to the "Huang Qinghui Puppet Studio". Mr. Huang Lao is a famous teacher of carving puppet heads in Quanzhou. In the puppet world, making puppet heads is almost the same as performing, and it is the most artistic work. The puppet heads in his studio, except for those he carved himself, were some older than Mr. Zhuang's family. From Zhao Zilong, Cheng Bao, Zhong Kui to Sun Wukong, everyone is vivid. Some eyebrows are clear-eyed, some are sad and bitter,and some are angry, and the joys, sorrows, love, hatred, and hatred of this nation for thousands of years seem to be engraved on these dolls. It is said that in the early days of reform and opening up in the last century, some collectors came to Taiwan and swept away the puppet heads of Quanzhou. Old Mr. Huang was clumsy, and he introduced his son to us and said, "Ask him." Xiao Huang is in his twenties, dressed in casual clothes, with shiny studs on his ears, and looks smart and lively. He told us that he followed his father as a puppet and played puppets himself. "You also play puppets?" We were amazed. "Yes!" As he spoke, he picked up a small sami from the puppet rack and performed it. He swung his hands and feet like a dancer, and Xiao Shami jumped in front of him, smiling happily. Because the temple is lonely, Xiao Shami sneaks out to find fun, encounters rain, wrestling, and gets lost, and finally turns back to the temple. This classic play called "Xiao Shami Goes Down the Mountain" is very well performed in his hands. Xiao Shami was led by the thread and flew down the mountain with his own freedom, which left people with infinite reverie. We asked him where he usually went to perform, and he said that there were them everywhere, and he used to go to Taiwan in previous years. He said that taiwan is more popular with cloth bag puppets. He once took an apprentice in Yilan and taught him to pick up marionettes, and he had gone every year before, but this year he did not go due to the epidemic. When he said this, the father kept smiling and laughing, as if the protagonist had become a son. At this time, Xiao Huang was holding a Xianggong puppet to perform for us, and the red-faced puppet head and the big red robe were exactly the same as the drama gods seen at the old site of the theater. Let's take a picture together, he picked up the drama god, hesitated for a while and said: "Do you shoot with the drama god?" We didn't say anything, and he grunted again: "It should be no problem, right?" He raised his hand and solemnly held the god in front of him. But just a moment before the shutter was pressed, he suddenly said, "Wait a minute", quickly turned around and replaced the play god with Xiao Shami, which revealed a relaxed smile.
Drama god and little Misa
We stayed in Quanzhou for five days, and there is a question that has always been doubtful: modern technology and entertainment are so developed, can traditional arts such as marionettes be passed on? The day before leaving, we went to visit some old gentlemen from the Quanzhou Historical and Cultural Center. It was a building located in the Temple of Literature Cai Qing Ancestral Hall, antique, and the house was full of books and periodicals. The three old men were all in their seventies, two had the back of their ears, and one of them, Mr. Zheng, did not have very good eyes. After they retired, they have been excavating and sorting out the history and culture of Quanzhou. They have been working together on field trips since several years ago. Early in the morning, they gathered in front of the office warehouse, and then surveyed along the laneways on both sides of Zhongshan Road in Quanzhou and wrote a diary of tens of thousands of words. Flipping through their records, the past of quanzhou's deceased people jumped on the paper. For example, No. 7 Ma Ban Lane is the residence of fu Ruoqian, a famous Chinese medicine doctor. At that time, the door hung with the brand name of "Fu's Medical Residence III". Fu was self-taught and careful to collect folk secret recipes and their remedies. When practicing medicine for the first time, most of them are diagnosed and treated by poor people, and they do not receive medical fees. 567-3 Zhongshan South Road, the door plaque "Daode Shijia", is the former residence of philanthropist Li Hongcheng and Buddhist scholar Li Kaishan. Li Hongcheng started his career in bamboo and wood, and was a giant in Minchuquan County in the late Qing Dynasty. He firmly believed in the Buddha, led his whole family to eat and pray to the Buddha, and spared no effort to relieve disasters and disasters in various places. His great-grandson Li Kaishan proposed the restoration of the Chengtian Temple. Many of the streets and alleys they recorded we walked through, but unfortunately we only knew the outside, not the inside. For example, the Watergate Alley, several times through, but do not know that the alley is not far away, there is a "Spring County Water Gate Guanyin Palace" is restored in recent years. Its synonym was written by Li Shami: "The eight seas of suffering are all true seas, and the hearts of all beings are great compassion." "Further to the right there is the Sanyi Temple, which is one of the seven Guandi Temples at the Seven City Gates, and has always been full of incense. There are also many small temples, such as the Save Temple, the Fude Temple, the King Kong Palace, etc. are built for the worship of heroes. It is said that there was also the Yang Lao Ling Gong Ancestral Hall before. The soldiers sacrificed to save the villagers, and the local people will build a small temple for him.
"Do you think a culture like marionettes can be perpetuated?" We finally got the problem up. Mr. Yang, who was sitting opposite, hesitated for a moment and said, "It's very difficult." Mr. Li next to him smiled slightly and said: "As long as the government attaches importance to it, it should be possible." I asked again: "Quanzhou food and snacks can always be passed down, right?" Mr. Yang smiled and said, "Food is available all over China." The Mr. Zheng half-closed his eyes and listened from beginning to end, without saying a word. Friends on the side said he might not hear clearly. So, I raised my voice and asked, "Mr. Zheng, what tradition do you think can be continued?" He lifted his head, puffed his cheeks for a moment, and suddenly two words popped out: "Gods." "Gods?" We were a little surprised, and a little suddenly enlightened. The two old gentlemen next to them nodded frequently. Mr. Li added: "In Quanzhou, not many people are interested in coming to a star, but it means which god will come tomorrow, and every household will get up at three or four o'clock in the morning to place offerings to the gods." "Are you all swinging?" I asked. Mr. Yang smiled and said: "We don't swing, the family swings, one person swings is equal to the whole family respect." ”
Puppet "The Orphan of Zhao"
On the last day, Mr. Zhuang accompanied us to the newly built puppet theater to watch their rehearsal, and the play was "The Orphan of Zhao". Unexpectedly, this thousand-year-old city still uses puppets to perform this thousand-year-old play. In that scene, the sound of killing outside was everywhere, the princess knelt down to beg for help, and Cheng Bao risked death to hide the baby in the medicine box. A beam of red light was cast on Cheng Baby's terrified, awe-inspiring face. We sat downstage and we were still a little excited. Cheng Baby's red face suddenly made me think of the god of drama. In an instant, man, doll, and god seemed to merge into one, and it was difficult to distinguish between true and false.
The illustrations in this article are provided by the author
Author: Chen Baoping
Editor: Qian Yutong
Editor-in-Charge: Shu Ming
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.