In Huineng's feeling, after the death of his father, as he grew older, the years took away the ignorant past, and the time passed by the youthful years, and the taste of this "New Year" was diluted by the passing time, and part of it was occupied by longing; Some of them were diluted by the long seclusion in the mountains; As I get older, I look down on the "New Year", so that I am not interested, but I miss the "taste" of the New Year in my childhood even more.

The "lion dance" during the Chinese New Year is an indispensable folk celebration in New China. Every Chinese New Year, gongs and drums must be beaten, and lion dances will be used to cheer up. People believe that the lion dance can drive away evil spirits and avoid ghosts, welcome auspicious Najib, and the "lion" is to "drive away evil, glorify the court, and be auspicious", so the lion dance has always been a popular folk activity among the local people.

Huineng lost his father at the age of three, and during the Spring Festival when he was four years old, Shi Gou, Wen Zai, Zihui and Li Lan, who were about the same age as him in the village, and Li Lan, the little sister next door, came to invite him to play.

Huineng's mother went to the village on this day (local custom, after the second day of the Lunar New Year, the married daughter wants to go back to her parents' house to visit relatives and pay New Year's greetings), he is alone at home, is a little stuffy, it is rare to have such a few good friends to play with him, so he readily agreed.

Huineng closed the door and asked, "Where can I go to play?" ”

Wen Tsai said: "The village hall is now dancing lions, how about we go to see the lion dance first?" ”

"Okay."

A few of them jumped up and down, giggling and walking towards the village hall.

Near the ground hall, a noisy sound of gongs and drums came, as if urging them to hurry up.

They quickened their pace and walked to the front of the village hall, only to see the black crowd surrounding the large hall.

They squeambled into the crowd like hedgehogs and came to the front of the hall. I saw that in the center of the vast underground hall, there were three people performing a lion dance performance: one person danced the lion's head, one danced the lion's tail, the head and tail cooperated, and the other person wore a mask (commonly known as the big head or the big head Buddha), wearing a big cardigan, holding a sunflower fan, dancing with his hands and feet, leading the lion forward.

On the side of the hall, there are three people playing drums, gongs, and cymbals, accompanied by the sound of a lion's roar and wind and thunder. The lion dances with the strength, speed, rapidity, and softness of the sound of gongs, drums, and cymbals. Sometimes dancing to the beat of the drums, sometimes looking left and right, sometimes leading the neck to stand alone, sometimes pitching and jumping. "The lion comes out of the hole", "peeps in the direction", "drinks water from the high platform", ...... Huineng They thought it was very interesting and fun, and they couldn't help but applaud and cheer with the adults at the scene!

……

After watching the "Lion Dance", they were not finished with the fun, and walked around the village to play. Unconsciously wandered to Cangxia Village near the county seat of Xinzhou.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance of the village, I only heard the noisy sound of gongs and drums. When I entered the village, I saw that the people in the village were surging, the voices of people were boiling, and the fire dragon dance was being held in the village. It's really a coincidence, later, Hui Neng was a little older to go up the mountain to collect firewood, that is, to pick up the nearby market to sell, poor young age, has already provoked the burden of firewood and adoptive mother's life, this is a later story.

The weather of the New Year is changing, just now the sun is still shining, the sky is clear, suddenly, there is a dark cloud floating in the sky, and after a while, it is sprinkled with a drizzle. But it did not reduce the enthusiasm of the people at the scene to watch the fire dragon dance.

I saw two "golden dragons", which were danced by 18 men and 18 women, and one was responsible for dancing the dragon balls. As the gongs and drums sounded, the "Dragon Ball" led the way, and the two "Golden Dragons" immediately chased after the "Dragon Ball". Against the backdrop of fish, shrimp, crab and other animal dances, the two "golden dragons" march around the village.

Huineng and the others were very happy to see it, and the stone dog was so uplifted that he suddenly touched his head and asked Huineng: "Why do those two "golden dragons" march around the village? ”

Huineng turned to Shi Gou: "When we arrive at someone else's village, it's best to just watch and don't make trouble." ”

"This kid is so sensible." An elder who was watching the fire dragon dance on the side saw that Hui Neng said the words of an adult at a young age, and while praising Hui Neng, he said to the stone dog: "The golden dragon marching around the village means good luck, keeping peace, and wishing a good harvest." ”

Huineng bowed forward and thanked him repeatedly.

"You're welcome. The old man's surname is He, his name is Zong, you can call me Zongbo. As he spoke, the elder took out a stack of red envelopes from his bag, gave one to each person, and then asked, "Look at your face, which one is the one who fights the village?" ”

Huineng respectfully: "We are from Xialu Village. My surname is Lu, and my name is Huineng. His names are Shi Gou, Wen Zi, Zi Hui, and Li Lan. After Huineng's introduction, they said in unison: Thank you Zongbo for the red envelope! I wish you a happy new year, good health, a happy family, and all the best!

Uncle Zong turned to Huineng: "You are really natural and sensible. ”

Hedang Huineng and Zongbo had a fate, only to hear Zongbo say again: "Your Xialu Village is close to the mountains, we are here in the county seat, and we need a lot of firewood for daily life. By the way, Uncle Zong's unintentional remark turned out to be a job for Huineng to go up the mountain to collect firewood and sell it here in the future.

After Zongbo finished speaking, he touched the head of the stone dog, and then his words said, "According to legend, in ancient times, the river of Xinjiang swelled in May and June every year, rushing through the moat, causing disasters in the county every year, and the people suffered even more. Therefore, at the corner of the Xinjiang River, build a flood control embankment, build the "Dragon Temple" in the embankment, and then call it "Hongsheng Temple", people come to worship on the first and fifteenth days of the new year, pray for the Dragon God to protect the wind and rain, live and work in peace and contentment, and have a good harvest. ”

Then, when Zong Bo described the golden dragon dance, the people who danced the golden dragon should not only have solid martial arts, but also meticulously express the bravery, strength, dexterity and emotions of the golden dragon through the golden dragon's soaring clouds and mist, golden dragon disc beads, dragon soaring four seas, two dragons competing for pearls, double dragons going to sea, golden dragons playing with pearls, flying over peaks, and golden dragons playing in the water.

To show the vividness of the golden dragon, when dancing, with the dragon head hand as the conductor, the dragon dancer determines the number of dragon dancers according to the length of the dragon body, 1 person beats the gong, 1 person beats the drum, 1 person holds the flag, and 1 person carries the lantern. Other fish, shrimp, etc. Each dragon dancer wears a uniform yellow shirt and trousers, a belt, a yellow scarf on his head, and cloth shoes on his feet. The teams are arranged in the order of the front flag team, the head card, the water cluster lamp (fish, shrimp, crab, crab), dragon fan, gong and drum team, and dragon dance team; The full set of dragon dance movements is divided into small dragons, big dragons, dragons raising their heads, dragons turning over, drilling dragon tails, coiling dragon nests, and rolling salons. When rolling a dragon, people must be close to each other in order for the dragon to roll round and high. Begin to appear gongs and drums for the command, the dragon ball leads the way, the golden dragon chases like chasing the dragon ball, all the actions are carried out in the dragon swimming, in the sound of firecrackers and fish, shrimp and other animals dance against the backdrop, around the village or street and dance, one is to ward off evil spirits, two is to carry out great luck, and three is to celebrate. As soon as the golden dragon moves, wherever it goes, it is a blessing, so the local people and people have the money to contribute money, and they look forward to the arrival of the golden dragon to ensure the safety of the family and the village.

Zong Bo's vivid description of the golden dragon dance on the spot, and they applauded even after hearing Hui Neng.

"Huineng, look, these two golden dragons seem to be real, how are they made?" Shi Dog looked at the two lifelike golden dragons that were dancing, and was so happy that he forgot what Huineng had just said to him.

Huineng glanced at the stone dog, but was unexpectedly seen by Zongbo.

Zong Bo introduced it understandingly:

The production of the golden dragon is very exquisite, the length of the dragon is fifty or sixty meters, and thirty-six people need to dance at a time. In addition, a dragon ball, the dragon head, the dragon body (segment), and the dragon ball are all made of bamboo silk, pasted with other decorations, pasted with golden silk cloth; Cloth dyeing and coloring scales, the production process of the golden dragon is light and sturdy, especially the dragon head part, a dragon head weighing more than ten catties can withstand the pressure of 120 catties. The golden dragon is lifelike in terms of paperwork, very vivid, and the workmanship is exquisite, and the lines are smooth. The shape of the golden dragon is delicate and atmospheric, the outer outline is dexterous and generalized, and the main color is golden yellow with green as decoration, especially the dragon whisker of the golden dragon is fine and smooth.

In the past, the holy dragon had to be tied once a year, and it had to be tied before the 29th of each year, and at the same time, a "consecration" ceremony was held. Kill chickens on the beach to "dot the eye" (hang colors), dance, from the first day of the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, to the villages and villages in the county to pay New Year's greetings, and perform the golden dragon. After the Lantern Festival, the golden dragon is cremated at the Hongsheng Temple, the ashes of the golden dragon are sprinkled into the river, those dragon skirt cloths, everyone is vying to make clothes and hats for children, it is said that children wear clothes and hats made of dragon cloth can grow up quickly, no disaster and no difficulty. Usually, every major festival or celebration, the Golden Dragon Team will be dispatched to dance the dragon to celebrate.