Folk customs in Guiyu town

In Guiyu, the more important festivals in a year are Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Winter Festival (that is, winter solstice). Folk activities include: dragon boat race, burning towers in Mid-Autumn Festival, singing on stage, solve riddles on the lanterns and so on. On holidays, local residents will hold various activities to worship the gods. The first, fifteenth and seventh days of every month are important days, and people often pray to God.

What is most worth mentioning is that every year around February of the lunar calendar, Guiyu will hold the annual "Color Street Art Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition" for three days, commonly known as "Street Shed". Guiyu street shed is a distinctive folk cultural activity. It is said that it began in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, and it has been more than 400 years since then, and it is known as "a must in China". There is such a vivid portrayal of "street shed" in Chaoyang County Records in Qing Dynasty:

"Art garden blurred blind, ten thousand goods. The first day was sunny and cloudy, and the road was narrow. " At the peak, thousands of paintings and calligraphy works were exhibited, stretching for two or three miles. It is really dazzling and has a unique charm. In addition to the paintings by Tang Bohu, Wen Zhiming, Zhu Zhishan, Yan Suiliang and Zheng Banqiao, Li Zichang's life paintings have been exhibited throughout the ages. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, all walks of life even paid a lot of money to buy the handwriting of lost sages from all over the world to show off in the exhibition.

With the progress of the times, the development of science and technology, and the improvement of people's living standards, the form and content of "color street shed" have changed and improved greatly. Under normal circumstances, this rural literary form, with the "color street shed" as the main body, supplemented by memorial service, wandering souls and flower street parade, was held at the same time in Huamei, Nan 'an and Beilin (Gate) of Guiyu every year until it stopped for various reasons in the early days of liberation, especially during the Cultural Revolution, a large number of paintings and calligraphy works preserved in local people's homes were destroyed and lost, and only 50 or 60 paintings and calligraphy works were preserved.

In order to inherit this long-standing folk culture, Wu Nansheng, then chairman of CPPCC Committee, personally wrote an inscription for "Color Street", "Developing Chaoshan economy and building a civilized hometown of overseas Chinese", and supported the restoration of color street activities. Knowing this good news, the local store raised funds to restore the colorful street scene and collected 650 paintings and calligraphy works.

1999, in view of the narrow and dilapidated pavement of the old street, the local government expanded the east side of the old street by several hundred meters, forming a scale of 1.8 km.

The traditional "street shed" was originally exhibited only in Guiyu Old Street, about three miles long and spanning three natural villages. Because the streets are relatively narrow, and the shops will continue to open during the exhibition, people will be more crowded after the exhibition. However, the exhibition goes on every year and never stops. 1July, 998, on the basis of the original, the Huamei East was added. Since then, with the support and help of provinces, cities, towns, districts and other relevant departments, local people and foreign villagers have donated money. At that time, there were more than 640 paintings and handicrafts exhibited in the new area alone, and new exhibits were added every year. Among the numerous exhibits, there are not only ancient paintings from the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, but also masterpieces from 30 provinces and cities across the country, inscriptions by leaders of the central government, provinces and cities, and Mo Bao from other parties and celebrities. Most of the authors of art works are professors, among whom there are many national treasure master Dan Qing and members of provincial and municipal painting and calligraphy associations; There are representative works of Northern School, Lingnan School, Western School and Shanghai School with different styles and techniques. There are not only works with local flavor by local painters and folk artists, but also exquisite paintings and calligraphy from Taiwan Province Province, Hongkong and Singapore. Chun Xue and The People in Lower Liba have their own characteristics. In addition, there are photography, paper-cutting, sculpture, newspaper headlines, stamps, shopping cards, ancient and modern coins, coins from all over the world, various magnetic cards, medals, embroidery, live scenes, lighting paintings and so on. From this colorful and sparkling world, we can glimpse the imprint left by history and feel the changes of the times; Sometimes I can't help laughing, and sometimes I meditate.

Every year in February of the lunar calendar, the Flower Street Parade held at the same time as the "Color Street Shed" adds a lively and festive scene, marching towards the Flower Street and watching the "Color Street Shed" at dusk!

Men and women who take part in the flower street parade have to go through careful makeup. When the preparations were completed, the gongs and drums cleared the way and the parade began. Followed by the big gongs and drums is an English singing team composed of 36 men, wearing colorful cloth towels and masks. The English singing team is led by a young man dressed in a yellow gossip costume and holding a yellow gossip flag decorated with the words "Shi Gong". Behind him is a young man, dancing with a golden snake decorated with "Moving Time". Other people's clothes are different in color and pattern. The young man danced the golden snake in his hand and walked among his companions. The golden snake in his hand is high and low, or left or right. According to the symbol of the golden snake, the team makes neat and rough calls from time to time. The young man banged the stick in his hand, up or down, back or forth, and the team gathered or dispersed. Suddenly, the snake moved forward and the dragon went out to sea. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as strong, unrestrained and vigorous. What's more, two dwarfs dressed as "uncles" and "grandmothers" waved dust brushes and sunflower fans, which made onlookers laugh.

If singing and dancing, a man, with his heroic momentum, shocked the audience with strength and beauty. So, what do women bring to people by singing and dancing? You see, it's not the "time-shifted" position in men's singing and dancing, but a handsome girl dancing the yellow flag. With the direction of the flag, the girls dressed in gorgeous costumes also hit the sticks in their hands uniformly, prancing and gathering, like butterflies picking flowers for a while and proud as a peacock for a while, which really dazzled the viewers. Gorgeous costumes, combining rigidity with softness, and the dance of combining rigidity with softness give the audience a beautiful enjoyment!

After the English Song Team, there are male and female gongs and drums teams, bands, and makeup teams composed of girls and children with flags and baskets on their shoulders. Although different costumes, different shapes and different ages, everyone can see the same expression on his face: joy and confidence!

At the beginning of 2009, recommended by Shantou Intangible Cultural Heritage Appraisal Expert Group and appraised by Shantou Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Joint Conference, eight projects including Australian Island Dance, Chaozhou Song Book and Ceramic Micro Book have been selected into the second batch of municipal intangible cultural heritage list. The local government, experts, scholars and folk artists of Chaoshan folk culture are trying to collect and protect the relevant materials and folk culture of Cai Jie, and strive to apply for inclusion in the provincial and national intangible cultural heritage lists. Guiyu people, like most areas in Chaoshan, are a patriarchal society that attaches great importance to fellow villagers with the same surname. If every family has something red (happy), ask relatives of the same family (descendants of ancestors with the same surname) for help. Charity and festival affairs in every township are arranged by the village committee and the "boss" of the township (the respected male elderly in the township), and the younger generation generally respects their arrangements. This kinship makes the villagers very. I have deep feelings for my hometown. Many old overseas Chinese still care about everything in their hometown when they are abroad. Some elderly people who went to Taiwan Province Province with the army during the Republic of China gave up their hukou in Taiwan Province Province and moved back to their hometown in Guiyu after the cross-strait relations eased.

Young people in Guiyu will not be separated from their parents after marriage. Unless there are special circumstances or parents' requirements, they will be accused and rejected by the villagers and play a role in supervision and education. Most sons take turns to take care of their parents.