culture x 15CONTACT US AT: 8351-9186, DEBRA_LIDAN@163.COM

Tuesday March 6, 2018

Cao Zhencaozhen0806@126.com

IF you spent your Lantern Festival doing traditional activities like eating tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), solving riddles or watching lion dance performances over the past weekend, next year try some-thing different.

“In the past, native Shenzhen people living in villages would consecrate big tuber-like fried glutinous rice balls, steal vegetables from neighbors, light lanterns in ancestral halls or eat basin dishes together,” said Liao Honglei, a former government offi cial who has been researching Shenzhen folk customs for decades and has published several books on the subject.

A native of Shiyan Subdistrict in Bao’an District, Liao, 72, said he was lucky to witness the old customs during his childhood, some of which are still celebrated in small niches across Shenzhen. “The Lantern Festival is of great signifi cance in China since it was celebrated as early as in the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 25 A.D.). It is the fi nal day of the Spring Festival cel-ebrations, after which people will resume farming. So the Lantern Festival marks the last opportunity for people seeking pleasure,” said Liao at a cultural salon at Shenzhen Museum on Saturday.

He said that when he was a child, farmers would unlock their fences to allow neighbors to “steal” vegetables, an exchange that symbolized good luck. In Guangdong, some vegetables are auspicious symbols due to homophony, with “lettuce” meaning “make a fortune,” “pumpkins” symbolizing gold and “green onions” meaning “intelligence.”

“Stealing vegetables was also a great chance for singles to get acquainted with their sweethearts in the fi elds,” said Liao.

On the Spring Festival and the Lan-tern Festival, traditional Guangdong people would worship their ancestors by consecrating snacks. Since the shape of the arrowhead fl ower’s (sagittaria sagittifolia, 茨菇) tuber is round with a stick, resembling a male genital, families would consecrate it (or tuber-shaped fried glutinous rice balls, which are sweet, crispy and chewy) to ancestors in the hopes of having more sons.

“In the Xixiang, Gongming and Nantou areas, the balls are hollow due to the expansion of the dough, while in Shajing, Xinqiao and Fuyong areas, the balls are fi lled with a fi lling usually con-sisting of lotus paste and peanut butter,” said Liao.

Families who had a baby boy born in the past year would light a lantern writ-ten with the baby boy’s name, hang it in ancestral halls and treat tangyuan to neighbors. Those who have a baby girl or no child in the past year were allowed to “steal” the lanterns and hang them in their home.

“On this occasion, to ‘steal’ actually signifi es to ‘ask for luck,’ so families with baby boys were proud to have their lan-terns ‘stolen.’ In Cantonese and Hakka dialects, ‘light lanterns’ is a homophone for ‘having a baby boy,’ but nowadays families with either a boy or a girl born will light lanterns,” said Liao.

In Futian’s Xiasha Village, basin dish (盆菜) feasts, usually held around the Lantern Festival, are shared among residents of a common ancestor, and therefore having the same surname, as a reunion. It is an outdoor dinner party with hundreds of people eating traditional Cantonese dishes served in only one basin for each 10-person table. Since ancient times, the people in

Lantern Festival more than tangyuan and riddles

Guangdong’s coastal areas have followed the custom of eating the big basin dish on the Lantern Festival. The dish nor-mally contains tofu, abalone, scallops, dried oysters, mushrooms, duck meat, chicken meat and sausages.

Liao recommended people to visit Yu’er community, near Dongjiaotou Metro Station, next year on the 13th day of the fi rst lunar month to experience the Kaiding Festival.

According to custom, families in which boys (“ding” in Chinese) were born in the previous year would invite people to have refreshments.

The families normally treat 100 bowls of Kaiding Tea made from a variety of ingredients, including ver-micelli, vegetables and small shrimps, to neighbors or visiting strangers. “It is popularly believed that families

entertaining a large number of guests on that day will become prosperous in the New Year. On the other hand, those who eat more bowls will be blessed as well,” said Liao.

Liao’s ancestors moved to Bao’an in 1762 from Meizhou, a city in eastern Guangdong. “Urban villages in Shenzhen are very vibrant, and villagers have retained their cus-toms. Since the country has made some traditional Chinese festivals offi cial holidays, young people or

migrants are gradually learning and inheriting the customs, which are vig-orously growing,” he said.

THOUSANDS of spectators cheered as villagers rode bareback along a narrow rocky road through the ancient village of Xiadongzhai in North China’s Shanxi Province on Saturday, reviving a scene dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The race is held annually in the village on the day that follows the Lantern Festi-val, which falls on the 15th day of the fi rst month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

This year, a record number of spec-tators lined up the 200-meter-long, 4-meter-wide track, as skilled riders raced without saddles or stirrups during the two-hour-long event.

“It was as exhilarating as the run-ning of the bulls in Spain,” said Wang Xiaohu, a tourist from North China’s Hebei Province.

The village is located at the foot of the Niangziguan Pass, a section of the Great

Wall, which was an important military fortress during the Tang Dynasty.

Military couriers rode horses through the village at the time, and it has now evolved into a 1,000-year-old folk custom. Nearly all villagers, including children and seniors, are adept riders, said Yuan Yuxiang, head of the village.

“The event does not just pay homage to our ancestors by reviving a tradition; it also brings in tourists and helps the local economy,” Yuan said.

The ancient dirt road track has become so worn that villagers spread new soil on it to prevent horses from slipping during the event.

Over 10,000 spectators came to experience the thrills of the horse racing this year.

“Villagers should hold on to the adventurous spirit of horse racing,” said Tong Huping, 44, who has been returning to his hometown to take part in the race every year since it was revived in 2013.

The horse racing custom was listed as a province-level intangible cultural heritage item that year.

(Xinhua)

Horse racing brings new life to ancient village

A traditional horse racing event in Xiadongzhai Village in Shanxi Province after the Lantern Festival. File photo

Shenzhen Zhenpeng Beijing Opera Troupe performers present a Beijing opera show at Shenzhen Museum on Saturday afternoon to mark the Lantern Fes-tival. The opera centers on Lai Enjue, a late Qing military general from Dapeng Fortress (in modern-day Dapeng New District) who fought British invaders during the First Opium War in 1839. Shenzhen Museum also hosted other folk events Sat-urday, such as ancient ceremonial dances, Cantonese opera, mar-tial arts and handicraft demonstrations.Photos by Sun Yuchen

People try to solve riddles at Shenzhen Museum on Saturday.

Liao Honglei