February 8 in Eshan County, February 8.

Before liberation, "February 8th" was the most lively festival in Eshan County. On holidays, domestic and foreign merchants gather in Eshan County to attend the welcoming ceremony. Several inns inside and outside the city are often filled with business travelers from all directions; In several small restaurants, customers are full all day; The streets are crowded with various loan booths; There are also monkey tricks, magic tricks, puppets and peep shows, selling all kinds of toys. People from villages far and near, wearing new national costumes, gathered in the county seat to participate in this annual grand festival. Let this small town, which has always been desolate, suddenly be very lively.

February 8, the 28th day of the lunar calendar, is a continuation of the Spring Festival celebrated by the people of Eshan, which is called the "Spring Festival". From the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month to the first and second days of March, the first day lasts for forty-five days, but the busiest days are from February 27th to the first and second days of March.

The content of this 45-day grand event is that all the neighborhoods and nearby villages in the county take turns to worship the woodcarving statues of the "Town God" and the "Eight Halls Hall" in the county, where they gather and have fun, and then the next village. The so-called "Ba Shen" is actually the "land god" worshipped by the village. Some of them are leaders who made contributions to the people in the tribal times; In history, some officials have done good things for the people, including Zhang Chu, a magistrate of a county who "built dikes to irrigate fields and literati felt sorry for it". In the following year; There is also Zhuge Liang, the successor of Shu in the Three Kingdoms massacre, and Meng Huo, the indigenous leader; Others such as Jiang Bin Tuzhu, Guifeng Tuzhu and Bainiu Tuzhu. , are tribal leaders who made meritorious deeds before their death and worshipped as gods after their death. The only person who doesn't belong to the tribal leader is the "big black god", the landlord of cedar. He was originally the protector of Tantric Buddhism, but later he was worshipped as a landlord. These landlords are Ba Shen, so they are called "Eight Gods".

The grand event started from the Lantern Festival on the first month of the lunar calendar 15, and was divided into three stages: on the first month 15, "Dongguan villagers" went to "Songgong Temple" to meet the county gods, and each village also sent its own land gods to Dongguan to meet the county gods. Sacrifice in Dongguan for three days, and you will be greeted by Deng Yuncun. Then there are Xiashitou Village (now Shiquanxia Village), Nanmenwai (now Luo Kun Road), Wang Jiacun, Xiguan Lane (now Xiguan Street), Fangshang, Zhong Fang and Xiafang. During this period, there were no woodcarving statues of cedar landlords in these villages and streets, only Tuguan Village, Zhongying Village, Xiasanying Village and Shangshitou Village were dedicated.

The second phase will start in the afternoon of February 18. In the afternoon, the people in the next neighborhood sent the God of the Town God to the big float on the river sand dam under Guifeng Bridge. Three firecrackers, gongs and drums, and trombones. Hundreds of people pushed the float down the river to practice the intersection of the two rivers, and then the people from Kowloon Camp welcomed it into the village. At the same time, the people in Shili also sent the gods of the big black god to Kowloon Camp, and other local gods were also welcomed into Kowloon Camp by tunnel. From then on, Anyi Village, Baijin Village and Guifeng Village took turns to worship sacrifices until February 27th of the lunar calendar. The third stage starts on February 27th of the lunar calendar and ends at the beginning of March 1, which is the climax and the end of the conference. Legend has it that February 28th is the birthday of our county. So on the evening of the 27th, we must welcome the city god and the gods into the city to celebrate his birthday. On this day, Guifeng people first sent the land god to the north bank of the lotus river, then sent the city god to the float and pushed it against the water to the river and sand dam next to Guifeng Bridge. Before the meeting, a stage was set up in the depths of Liu Yin on the south bank of Lianjiang, and a song "Wang Wen's Visit to the Immortals" was sung for the gods to meet them. After the play was over, I took the sedan chair of the city god and the gods and bypassed the west gate to enter the city. Han folk artists perform all kinds of cultural programs, with gongs and drums, firecrackers and streets. Countless people crowded on both sides to watch until the city god and the gods were sent to the city god temple.

The most attractive thing about "February 8th" is singing Yunnan Opera. Every year, the General Assembly Department spends a lot of money to invite a group of famous Yunnan opera singers to sing traditional Yunnan opera on the stage in front of the Chenghuang Temple. From the evening of February 26th, the performance of "Treading on Taiwan" was counted as the main performance on the 27th. * * * sang for five days, twice every afternoon and evening. The performances in the afternoon are mostly book performances, and the performances in the evening are mostly passbook performances. On the morning of 28th, the early performance of "Eight Immortals' Birthday Celebration" was regarded as the birthday of Chenghuang.

At that time, Eshan County was poor and backward. Except February 8 and March 15, ordinary people can watch several lanterns and Yunnan dramas every year, but it is difficult to watch dramas in peacetime. So from the evening of February 26th to the beginning of March, during the five days of 1, the whole theater was packed with people. The right side of the theater is full of high stools (for women to sit on). Each stool is about 1.5 meters high and 2 meters long, which can seat eight or nine people. The left side is reserved for men to stand and watch. On both sides of the theater are tea rooms, pubs and stalls filled with cigarettes and sweets. Suddenly, this Little Square, which is only five acres in Fiona Fang, is crowded with people from all directions. This is a huge crowd, packed with people from noon to late at night.

In the process of welcoming the gods, every village and street should also organize a variety team as the team leader, with gongs and drums and firecrackers ringing. Each of the eight gods was led by a beautifully carved shoulder strap, which was carried by four people, and the woodcarving statue of Lord Huang Cheng was crowned. Sitting in the big sedan chair photographed by the four elders, like an ancient court patrol, the deacons were fully paid, and the flags and drums were covered, and a group of elders greeted them, followed by incense. Every time I meet God, this team will go in from the west gate, come out from the east gate and cross the city. Acrobatics teams perform along the street, playing with dragons, dancing with lions, beating the whip of the king of big-head monk dance dance ... Everything. They perform while walking, stopping and stopping, which makes people dizzying, until they meet God and go to Kimura to "patrol the palace". When visiting the "palace", the city god entered first, and the gods entered in turn. The land gods in the village need to stand outside the door and wait until they enter the temple from beginning to end, just like people welcome guests.

During the event, two other activities attracted the attention of the public, namely, floats and hanging incense hooks.

As mentioned before, * * * twice. That is, on February 18 of the lunar calendar, the statue of the city god was carried from Guifeng Bridge to Heshaba and eastward to Shuangjiang intersection; On February 20th, Anyi Village will meet the immortal and turn the float to the west. On the 22nd, people in Baijin Village pushed for a while. On the 27th, people in Guifeng Village loaded the God of the Town God into the car and pushed it back to Guifeng Bridge. Float is as high as 10 meter, with square seats and chestnut body, which is usually detachable and kept, and will be installed in the float yard by the tenant; The front single wheel, the rear two wheels, a rectangular wood on the left and right sides of the back of the car are used for pushing, and a log with a height of more than10m in the middle is pasted and woven with green paper in the office of the General Association to form a pagoda-shaped color decorative pavilion with 12 floors (leap year 13 floors), which passes through the log, and a paper grin column is erected at the top. On the evening of February 18, residents of Qingcheng Mountain acted together and practiced on both sides of the river under the Guifeng Bridge. When the God of the Town God got into the car, three shots rang, two trombones rang in front of the car, hundreds of people struggled behind the car, and the float slowly descended eastward along the Lian River. Until the 27th, he left with the city god to the west.

"Hanging incense hooks is a special form of reward, and more than 10 people participate every year. He who hangs incense hooks shall put six small silver hooks in leather two cubits long, three for each cubit. Then six small flower baskets are hung on silver hooks with six silver chains. Two of them have two small porcelain plates with sandalwood burning inside, and four flower baskets are filled with fruits such as cherries. The incense hooks on Mount Emei attracted many foreign tourists, who were amazed when they saw them. People who hang incense hooks must bathe and fast half a month ago, and meet at the Tuzhu Temple in Guifeng on the evening of March 26th. Rosty Yi was wrapped in green gauze and dressed in a robe. Double sleeves rolled to elbows, hands stretched across the altar, hooked by special personnel. After that, I filed out of the main temple with bamboo sticks with taps in my hand, arranged by age, walked slowly along the avenue to the west gate and entered the city, and walked down the title. At this time, everyone's relatives and friends will set up a seat along the street and file a meal on the roadside, so that all people who hang incense hooks can enjoy it. So after entering the city, they can only stop and go, so that they can sit down at every place where their seats are set, and let the people who follow them feed them a snack or two to express their gratitude. After arriving at the Chenghuang Temple, sit in front of the temple and wait for the gods to build a stake before unloading the incense hook.

This annual event is run by a manager named "February 8th Congress" and "Float Festival". Both sessions have land property, and the source of funds depends on renting grain. Due to the lapse of many years, it is difficult to verify the amount of land owned by Congress in those years. It is said that there were many floats in those days, and now there are tenants with floats in Baijin Village, Anyi Village, Xiaoba New Village, Wenxing Village, Tugong Village and Huilong Village. Only the land rental income of the "28 th Congress" can reach 20 to 30 stones. In addition to renting food, businessmen and wealthy families are also sharing part of it: if the teahouses and pubs set up around the theater need to pay, those who support high stools must also pay. It is said that there are savings every year.

I don't know when the "February 8" grand event began and how many years it lasted. 1950 passed once, which was not very lively. Stop at 195 1.