On this day, it was time for Old Man Tang to go out and "sit at night".

In eastern Sichuan, the night before the burial of the deceased, the son or daughter of the deceased (also known as filial son) holds a funeral banquet to entertain relatives, friends and neighbors who mourn the deceased, which is called "sitting night".

The deceased's close relatives, including parents and relatives (aunts, aunts, uncles and their children), their own brothers and sisters, and the sons and grandchildren of the next generation, are mostly present to keep vigil for the deceased on the night of "sitting at night". "Sitting all night" means to sit all night.

The relatives of the deceased and the next generation, those who are slightly more financially well-off, will invite a group of gongs and drums and suona to give the deceased a lively and lively night on the night of "sitting at night", and then send wreaths, sacrificial tents or cash, and send the deceased to pay their respects and see them off in a grand way.

Gongs and drums can be single, that is, only drums, big gongs, small gongs, gongs, cymbals and other percussion instruments; Suona can not be invited alone, the commonly known suona class includes a full set of two suona and gong and drum classes.

In rural areas, the suona class is more advanced and imposing than the gong and drum class, because it has a melodious sound, spreads far, and can also show the economic strength of the deceased's relatives.

The invited gong and drum class and suona class, at noon on the day of "sitting at night", should first go to the deceased's house to "see death", that is, first give incense, burn paper, and salute the deceased, and after a short rest, after the master serves tea and smokes, they will start to blow until the next morning when the deceased is sent up the mountain, and the blowing of gongs and drums and suona will be over.

At noon that day, Uncle Wu took the group to Old Man Tang's house.

Along the potholed machine farming road, the group walked and chatted, lamenting the impermanence of life. Uncle Wu said: "In this life, that's it. Old man Tang can be described as a famous old man in the area, full of children and grandchildren, all of whom are capable and promising. Rao is like this, and when he dies, he is just accompanied by a coffin. Alas, it is not interesting for people to live for a lifetime. ”

Third Uncle Wu took Uncle Wu's words and said, "Uncle, you can't say that. People live for a lifetime, and they have to be faced. There is no starting point in the whole life. You see, this old man Tang goes out, and there is a lot of scenery. ”

When he came to the side of Old Man Tang's house, Uncle Wu took the lead in beating the starting point of the drum, and the big gongs, small gongs, package gongs, and cymbals followed the "bangbang, choking" and beating, and then, Wu Sifu and Uncle Wu's suona also blew.

Old man Tang's nephew Jiang Xiaoxiang heard the sound of suona, and hurriedly took firecrackers to the outside of the house to greet the gongs, drums, and suona team.

After a burst of crackling firecrackers, the gong and drum suona team was invited by the master to the deceased's mourning hall, and after some blowing, the master arranged for the gong and drum suona team to have lunch, and the "watch death" procedure ended.

In the afternoon, Old Man Tang's relatives invited the old man who sang filial piety songs to sing filial piety in Old Man Tang's mourning hall. Wu Sifu was idle, so he went to the old man's mourning hall to listen to the old man sing filial piety songs.

There was a pile of pimpling firewood burning in the mourning hall, and from time to time there were sparks bursting from the firewood. A circle of people sat around the fire, listening to the old man's hoarse voice, and singing filial piety songs in a procrastinating tone.

After sitting for a while, the old man had finished smoking a leaf cigarette. He motioned for the accompanying gongs and drums to start singing again.

As soon as the opening gong and drum sounded, the old man began to sing:

The song hall is singing—

The song never stops,

Let's start a song,

Which one is next.

Seeing that there were no other singers, the old man sang it himself.

Filial piety is the mourning music in today's mourning hall. Because the people who can sing filial piety songs are getting older and fewer, this folk form of improvisational singing is almost lost.

Filial piety songs are not much different from the folk songs and mountain songs that are usually sung in terms of singing method, tune, rhyme, and structure, but they are only different in the content of the lyrics, and they are all lyrics that express the grace of parenting and the tiredness of production and labor.

The lyrics are sad and desolate, the listeners are all people living at the bottom of society, and the lyrics are all about the hardships they have experienced, which are extremely susceptible to infection and often tear-jerking.

There are many contents of filial piety songs, but they should be divided into men and women, if the deceased is a man, most of them are working in the fields, such as:

Painful children, painful daughters, thia-

Over the mountains and over the mountains,

I'm tired early-

I'm tired at night.

My father was exhausted—

Finally, the eldest son and daughter, please white clouds and blue sky-

Filial piety.

If the deceased is a woman, in addition to working in the fields, most of them are tired of doing housework at home, such as:

Diligent and thrifty——

Swallow bran and swallow vegetables,

It's hard to get dressed.

It's hard to eat.

My mother's vitality is exhausted -

After all, the family is prosperous,

Pray for fragrant flowers and herbs——

Accompanied by fairies.

There are also those who are social occupations, and the singing style is different.

The old man sitting by the fire and singing filial piety songs was in his 70s, with crane hair and a ruddy complexion. The accompaniment gongs and drums sat in a circle around the fire, and the old man sang hoarsely and half-squinted, very devoted.

The people sitting around the fire, listening to the old man's singing, recalled the hard work of the deceased old man Tang, and they were all moved.

After singing for a while, it is estimated that the old man is a little tired, so he wants to rest for a while. Singing filial piety songs is not as good as other forms of singing, and it is over when it is finished. When singing a song of filial piety, you have to "sweep the song hall".

I only heard the old man singing:

A silk handkerchief——

The five-foot long,

I'll lend you a silk handkerchief—

Sweep the song hall.

……

The song hall sat down—

For most of the day,

Received the song hall——

Delicious smoke.

Wu Sifu sat by the fire, attracted by the old man's filial piety. When he was a child, he followed his father to other people's houses to "sit at night", and heard the old people sing filial piety songs, babbling and singing as if they were the same, and the content of the lyrics was not memorized. Today, sitting by the fire, listening to the old man sing for a while, carefully understanding the lyrics, I was very moved.

He chatted with the old man again, and asked if the old man had a songbook and wanted to borrow it. The old man said that these filial piety songs are accumulated in life and passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, and they are very simple, as long as they have a good memory and a sense of music, they will learn it.

Wu Sifu couldn't help but sigh, this folk art is really magnificent and colorful. These folk artists seem to have no teacher, they come from life and return to life; Thinking and accumulating in labor, he has created such a rich and moving folk art, which is really impressive and admirable.

Wu Sifu asked the old man again, will you sing the "crying wedding song" on the happy event? The old man said that he could sing. Because it is the mourning hall of the old man, it is inconvenient for the old man to demonstrate. Wu Sifu thought to himself, this old man is really a rare folk artist. When you have time, you must ask him for advice.

After 5 o'clock, the sky began to darken, and night began to fall. The bamboo grove behind the house began to fog up, and the returning birds chirped in the mountain forest.

The funeral feast begins. The old people and children at home in the neighborhoods went to the dam of Old Man Tang's house one after another to sit in the dam. A large iron pot by the dam was steaming hot, and the roasted white, elbows, spore soup and meat had already been steamed in the big steamer.

Adults and children filled the table, and the sister-in-law who helped the kitchen carried a tray to each table. The traditional 10 bowls, cold salad pork ears, fried peanuts, rake beans and other appetizers are served one by one. The old man and the children each took their own dishes and chopsticks and ate slowly.

At this time, the gongs, drums, and suona invited by Old Man Tang's relatives came one after another to "sit for the night". After each class arrives at the Deling Hall and salutes "for duty", they retreat to the side of the dam, and take turns playing and beating, which is quite a posture of competing with each other.

Wu Sifu followed Uncle Wu for a period of time, and he also knew a little about the skills of gongs, drums, and suona, and he thought that the gongs and drums in one class were very good, and the ideas of the gongs and drums were well-beaten, accurate, impeccable, and sounded very comfortable.

"The master is in the folk." Wu Sifu couldn't help but sigh.

After the neighbors and villagers at the table finished the first round, the son of the old man Tang beckoned the gong, drum and suona class to enter the table. The gongs, drums, and suona hands are originally like-minded people, but even if they sit at the same table to eat and drink, they do not greet each other or say anything; Because they don't know each other's craftsmanship, they are afraid of losing face if they talk too much.

Wu Sifu thought, it seems that there are still many unspeakable rules in this.

After eating, Tang Xiaopeng, the son of Old Man Tang, beckoned everyone to rest one by one. The tarpaulin in the dam had already been erected, and several piles of pimples and firewood had been lit. The gongs, drums, suona and old man Tang's relatives surrounded the "vigil" one by one.

Jiang Xiaoxiang handed a Hongtashan brand cigarette to Uncle Wu's class, took out a box of Chinese cigarettes and handed one to each person, and sat down next to Wu Sifu.

Wu Sifu saw that Jiang Xiaoxiang was not very old, so he talked with him. After chatting, I learned that Jiang Xiaoxiang used to work in the county animal husbandry bureau, no wonder the cigarettes he smoked were all Chinese cigarettes.

Jiang Xiaoxiang felt that there were not many middle-aged people in their forties and fifties who played suona to chase away white things, so he asked Wu Fusi with a smile: "When did my brother learn this good craft?" ”

Wu Sifu replied curtly: "I just learned." ”

Jiang Xiaoxiang felt that after only a few days of study, he boasted a good look, and it seemed that he was really a talent. However, after only a few days of study, he dared to come out to catch up with the scene, and he had a lot of courage. casually praised: "Brother is really a talent." ”

"Alas, where are the talents. It's just a mix of food. Wu Sifu looked heavy.

"There are not many people who can play gongs and drums and play suona now, and there will be fewer and fewer in the future." Jiang Xiaoxiang said seriously.

"If it weren't for the fact that my father died not long ago, my third uncle wouldn't have asked me to make up the numbers." Wu Sifu said sincerely.

"I see. What disease did your father have? Jiang Xiaoxiang asked casually.

Wu Sifu briefly told Jiang Xiaoxiang about his father's illness and the current situation at home, and he had a helpless explanation for coming out to blow suona and drive away the white scene.

The people in the fifth class of gongs, drums and suona smoked for a while, took a break for a while, and then began to take turns beating and playing "sitting at night". For a time, the gongs, drums and suona sounds of "choking" and "mile-la-mile-la" were lively and noisy in the ravine.

Jiang Xiaoxiang followed his cousin to the mourning hall to do other things.

After a while, Jiang Xiaoxiang took advantage of the completion of the gong and drum class and came to Wu Sifu to chat with him. He felt that although Wu Sifu was disabled, he had a momentum that was neither humble nor arrogant when he talked about the world, and he couldn't help but have a good impression of this man. said: "Brother, how many phone numbers do you have, let's add a WeChat." ”

Wu Sifu immediately told Jiang Xiaoxiang his phone number. He wondered in his heart, what does this person want my phone to do?