After talking about this topic, Wang Yunlin was also aroused.

She asked Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan to come out of the house, pointed to the eaves and asked them.

"I'll test you again, do you know what this thing is for?"

The two little brothers looked in the direction of Wang Yunlin's finger.

Only then did I find that under the eaves, there was actually a rusty iron hook. And not only is there one every half a meter, but at a glance, it seems that there are under every room, and they are arranged there endlessly.

No one really knows, and they don't even notice. The two couldn't help but look at each other.

"Boss, you always remember, right?"

Wang Yunlin asked her eldest son with a smile, what she meant was very clear, Hong Yanzheng had been living with them until he was a teenager.

Sure enough, Hong Yanzheng thought about it and really said the answer. "I remember it was like a lantern ......"

"Hanging lanterns?"

"So much!"

Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan were shocked when they heard this, and they couldn't help but scream.

Actually, I really don't blame them for this reaction, because if all the eaves in this courtyard are to be hung under the eaves, then there must be at least hundred. Who lights a lantern like that?

"You still don't believe it? It's so rare and weird! Then you can explain to me what this hook is for?"

The boss can get the opportunity to face Hong Yanwu, of course he will not let it go. One sentence choked Hong Yanwu.

"It's not...... This one...... There's no need for that......"

Hong Yanwu was anxious to figure it out, but he didn't bother to scold his eldest brother, so he turned his head and asked his mother.

"Mom, the eldest brother is deliberately selling off, and he won't say anything well. I'll ask you anyway. What the hell is going on here? In the past, we can't really light so many lanterns every day, right? It's beautiful, but what's the use of lighting up the yard so brightly? Besides, there are a lot of courtyards in the back. I can't help but build it like this. It's also prone to misfire......"

"You really understand!" Wang Yunlin "poofed", amused by her son, and then revealed the mystery.

Dare to love that the Hong family did not hang lanterns like this every day, nor did they hang them in every courtyard.

In fact, in addition to the "Shangyuan Festival", "Zhongyuan Festival", and "Xiayuan Festival", the Hong family only hangs so many lanterns when they hold a banquet in this second courtyard every time they are festive, birthday, or when relatives and friends come to the family.

And it should be noted that it is not an ordinary lantern that is hung. In fact, it is an anagram lantern.

You know, although today, there are not many ways to guess the entertainment of riddles. But in the past, especially in the Qing Dynasty, riddles were an activity for the upper class to meet friends, and it was quite active.

For example, "Dream of Red Mansions" has two paragraphs about riddles. One is Xue Baoqin's ten nostalgic poems, and the other is to guess the lantern riddles on the Shangyuan Festival of Rongning and Ning.

It is also recorded in the "Treasure Book of Tasting Flowers", "The falling flowers are independent, and the swifts are flying." Guess the word "two".

All of the above can be seen in the prevalence of riddles in the Qing Dynasty, indicating the social situation that riddles were the daily entertainment of the aristocracy in those days.

In the early years of the Republic of China, this kind of entertainment spread from top to bottom to the people, and the lantern riddle guessing activities of ordinary people in the capital also flourished, so seasonal guessing activities began to appear.

The so-called seasonal activities are in the summer season from long summer to cool autumn. The intellectuals in the residents will choose a suitable place in the nearby streets and alleys to hang "wall lamps" when the evening lights are lit every day or on a regular day.

Wall lamps are generally pasted with translucent paper on the surface of the horizontal rectangular wooden frame, and candles are lit in the middle, and small kerosene lamps are also used. In advance, you should attach the prepared puzzle strip to it.

In this way, it can be used by people in the neighborhood and in the past to watch and guess, so as to forget the summer. It disperses in the middle of the night, and is called "Lighting Tiger".

At that time, many people, if they encountered a wall lamp with the right thoughts, would often go to the distance to make an appointment. There are many riddles to shoot, and the embarrassed hangers are struggling to cope with it, so as to laugh and have fun. Therefore, it is also known as the "Tiger Fighting Team".

And from the root, both "Playing the Tigers" and "Fighting the Tigers" are probably based on the story of Li Guang shooting tigers in Beiping in the "Historical Records".

The predecessors also sang about the bamboo branch of this activity, which is quite realistic.

Word cloud, "Everywhere the business lights are open, talking about dragons and tigers is also a genius." Sven fans do not stop, and the years must come with wind and rain. ”

And during this period of great popularity and rejoicing for everyone, there were even two high-level mystery organizations and related periodicals

The two "Mystery Society", one called the "Chrysanthemum Society", was sponsored by Li Juyu, a painter from Xinsi Hutong in Beicheng. The other is called "Cherish Red", which was hosted by Han Shaoxing in the southern half of Xuanwai Hutong.

They advertise that they "meet friends with literature", and they will regularly invite celebrities from all walks of life to gather in their residences to feast and guess riddles.

And "Spring Sound", "Autumn Shadow", "Guohua", "Cloud Dragon Fog Leopard", and "Shenzhou Jinghualu" were the most popular books and newspapers introducing ancient and modern mysteries at that time.

So when it comes to this, we know that the Hong family hung lights in the courtyard of their house to guess riddles for fun, which was actually a very normal and ordinary thing back then.

To be honest, this is more interesting than playing mahjong and calling a church. Family involvement is both high and non-vulgar, and the whole family can have fun.

It's just that with their family's financial resources, the standard of the event is indeed higher.

Under normal circumstances, every time such a "light tiger" is played. There are about 300 lanterns to be hung in this courtyard, not only the eaves, but also the verandah.

And there are many types of lanterns full of suspenseful bars. There are not only ingenious Korean paper lanterns, but also glass lamps and glass lanterns, and even palace lanterns that flow from the palace that are bought at a high price, all of which are rare high-end goods that ordinary people can see.

As for the prizes, there are no pen, ink, paper, and inkstone on weekdays. There are also special awards, that is, on the birthday of the head of the Hong family and the "Shangyuan Festival", "Zhongyuan Festival", and "Xiayuan Festival", he has to change the foreign money or silk satin.

In addition, after the feast, there is usually a repertoire - put "box flowers".

The "box flowers" that are now extinct are the large-scale fireworks that were exquisitely made back then, and the process of setting them off is much more complicated.

First of all, you have to set up a shelf, and the hexagonal box has to be stacked layer by layer, the first layer is the ceremonial flowers, the second layer is the flower cannons, and the third layer is the characters.

Then hang the shelves again. Finally, once lit, layers of fireworks will fly into the sky, making the garden full of flying fire and meteors......

As Wang Yunlin vividly described those old things, it seemed that everyone looked down on the grand occasion of the Hong family's guests in the past, pointing to the lamp and laughing.

Not only Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan listened to God. Hong Lucheng and Hong Yanzheng, father and son, fell into a dreamlike memory.

This centuries-old courtyard has really contained too much joy and bitterness, too much impetuousness and heaviness. Too many memories, too many years, too many emotions that can't be let go.

Maybe this courtyard has been decadent, maybe this courtyard has lost its glory, maybe the former glory of this courtyard has been submerged behind the small houses, sundries and shacks built by different years and connected porches......

But it's like everyone has been young, and some people have used peerless elegance. Although the years are gone, how can feelings flow away easily?

Although even they themselves seem to have forgotten and become indifferent. But as soon as they come back here and look at it again, the wisps of memory that have sunk in the bricks and tiles will inevitably bubble up and re-tighten their hearts.

This is called home!

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(End of chapter)