The customs of Kaixian County include grass gongs and drums, bamboo branch poetry, lantern (lion) dance, wind music, trumpets, sculptures, Duan Gong dance, shadow puppets, hot spring scolding competitions, lotus picking boats, car lights, and connecting carriages. .
Detailed introduction to Kaixian customs:
1. Grass gongs and drums. Grass gongs and drums are a special form of singing that is combined with labor production and is popular in the Three Gorges area. Kaixian has inherited excellent lyrics such as "Grass Song" and "Grass Gong and Drum", which were recorded in the "Kaixian County Chronicle" in 1990.
2. Bamboo Branch Ci. Zhuzhi Ci is an ancient Bayu folk song, also called Zhuzhi Song. It is a unique ballad and is the general name for folk songs in the Three Gorges area. "King Wu defeated Zhou, singing before and dancing after" is the earliest historical description of this cultural phenomenon. Qianlong's "Kaixian Chronicle" of the Qing Dynasty records: "The customs are heavy on the gods of fields, fishermen, woodcutter, farming and animal husbandry, and they like to sing bamboo songs." Song has a long history in Kaixian County. Kaixian County was compiled into "Kaixian Folk Song Collection" and published in 1983, which included 176 folk songs.
3. Lantern (lion) dance. There is a popular saying in Kaixian County that "Fire on the 30th night, lights on the 15th night". The Spring Festival is a traditional festival that the people of Kaixian County attach great importance to. The celebration lasts for half a month, especially the Lantern Festival night, which is more lively, with drums playing and firecrackers. Roaring, fireworks soaring into the sky, colorful lanterns spread everywhere, colorful and dazzling. In particular, dragon lanterns, lion dances and colorful lotus boats are the most distinctive features. According to legend, the custom of "playing with lions" in Kaixian County began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished after the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. There are mainly several types of lions, such as ground wave lions, high-footed lions, and one-horned lions.
4. Wind music. Kaixian County was the territory of Ba in ancient times, and the Ba people were famous for their music and dance. More than ten gray pottery figurines were unearthed from the Eastern Han Dynasty rock tomb in Shiwan, Zhuxi Town, including storytellers, ventriloquists, piano players, drummers, etc. They were obviously a band. Kaixian music culture began in Ba. The earliest historical record proves that "King Wu defeated Zhou, singing before and dancing after". The main popular instruments include penna, flute, tuba, trumpet, laguan, clarinet, reed, etc.
Fifth, chant. The chants currently circulating in Kaixian County are produced in different physical labor processes and coordinate with the rhythm of labor. There are various singing forms, passed down orally from generation to generation, and the tunes are relatively stable. The lyrics can be either inherited or improvised, but the format and framework remain generally unchanged, such as a mason's chant that is sung by one person alone, a sedan bearer's chant that is sung by two people, and a bearer's chant that is sung by one person and leads the crowd. Kaixian County's work-carrying chant is very famous. It has participated in art performances in Beijing and Sichuan. It is a collective chant song, such as "Mahjong Hao Zi", "Eight Sentences in a Row and Looking at the Xiangtai", etc. There are more than ten kinds of chants in Kaixian County, including masonry chants, coffin-carrying chants, burden-carrying chants, wall-beating chants, ramming chants, and sedan-carrying chants.
6. Sculpture. Kaixian sculpture technology has a long history and is the most valuable part of Kaixian architectural culture. Religion was at its peak during the Tang and Song Dynasties. The statues of gods, Buddhas and bodhisattvas in ancient temples were all made of stone carvings, wood carvings and clay sculptures. Carvings are prevalent on folk practical wooden beds, tables, chairs and utensils. The "Arhat Chair", "Carved Bed", and "Grape Bed" handed down from the Ming and Qing Dynasties are particularly exquisitely decorated, with patterns such as curly grass tassels, red phoenixes facing the sun, and phoenixes piercing peonies. The statues of gods, Buddhas and bodhisattvas in Dajue Temple and Jinping Temple in Tienqiao Town are unique. The relatively well-preserved sculptures of the Qing Dynasty include the murals in the Hot Spring Fairy Cave and the murals in the Zhonghe Yu Family Courtyard.
7. Duan Gong Dance. In Kaixian County, a unique folk cultural form - Duangong Dance - is still popular. This dance is performed by a wizard regardless of the location. The method of inheritance is that wizards set up altars to accept disciples and pass them on from generation to generation. All the sacred songs were copied by hand. Among them, "Stepping on Flowers", "Dance of Divine Spears", "Dance of Worshiping Five Directions Gods", "Dance of Worshiping Five Rampant Gods", "Garuda", "Stepping on Bagua", "Running City and Wearing Flowers" etc. It contains the imprints of Ba culture, Chu culture and shaman culture. The dance procedure is similar to the procedure in "Nine Songs" of Chu Ci.
8. Shadow puppets. Kaixian is the earliest place where shadow puppetry was spread in the Three Gorges area. In the Qing Dynasty, Kaixian shadow puppetry had been widely spread and quite famous, and there are many shadow puppets left behind. The spread of shadow puppet art in Kaixian County originated from a Kaixian imperial court official named Chu Junwei who retired from old age and returned to his hometown. The imperial court gave him a set of shadow puppets brought back from the capital. The craftsmanship is exquisite, the carvings are fine, the colors are bright, and the transparency is good. During festivals or family celebrations, relatives and friends gather together to sing shadow puppet shows. Later, it gradually spread and developed in Kaixian County. During the Republic of China, shadow puppet performances were held in every township in the county. The library now has more than 2,000 "shadow puppets" from the Qing Dynasty that are finely carved, crafted and painted.
9. Hot spring scolding competition. From the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the residents of Hedong and Hexi in Wenquan Town had the custom of swearing at each other. Every year starting from the ninth day of the first lunar month, dragon lanterns are played every night until the Lantern Festival night on the 15th day. When playing with lanterns, people from both sides of Hedong and Hexi compete and compare with each other, and even attack, tease and "discuss" (that is, scold) each other. Over time, scolding became a custom. 10. Climbing Festival. The custom of climbing on the ninth day of the first lunar month in Kaixian County has a long history and has lasted for more than 2,300 years. It can be traced back to the activities of the Ba people and the wars between the Ba people. The Ba people either climb high to worship their ancestors or to pray for blessings. Climbing has become a custom over time. Every year on this day, it almost becomes a carnival for the people of Kaixian County. All the people come out in large numbers to climb the mountain to pray for good luck. The magnificent sight can be called a miracle in the history of Chinese folk customs.
11. Lotus-picking boat. The lotus-picking boat is a kind of "boat lantern" played in squares during the Spring Festival. The lotus-picking boat is made of bamboo clusters tied into a boat shape. It is shaped like a fisherman's fishing boat and has a roof. It is all decorated with floral paper and colored silk. The front and back are The lotus lanterns are tied with exquisite craftsmanship and are beautifully made.
The melody of the lotus-picking boat is relatively simple, and the singing content includes popular ditties and improvised greetings such as spring greetings and congratulations. A rower or boat runner leads the singing, and a gong and drum accompanist joins in the singing.
12. Car lights. The origin of Kaixian car lights has a long history and unique origins. Its props, dance movements, and costumes all originate from a folk story, and the lyrics and melody are derived from Bayu's "Bamboo Branch Song". In addition, Kaizhou people like to sing "Bamboo Branch Ci", so they organically combine the Zhuzhi Ci with the movements of car lights and incorporate it into the performance. After several years of inheritance and changes, a special style of writing lyrics, composing songs, and matching gongs has been formed. Kaixian folk customs - car lights, dance, and sung everywhere, have been passed down to this day.
Thirteen, fight together. The connecting compartment is made of a bamboo pole about one meter long, with six pairs of copper coins embedded on it, with colorful whiskers on both ends. It makes a string of sounds when it shakes and hits. The Lianxiang can be performed by two young men and women, or it can be performed by a large number of people as a group. No matter how many people there are, it must be an even number. During the performance, each person holds the middle of the Lianxiang with his right hand and dances to the rhythm of the singing. The linking action is based on the performer's own shoulders, limbs, waist, back and other parts of the body making up, down, left, right, sky, earth, forward and backward movements, making the linking box continuously make rhythmic sounds. They wear flowers in pairs, change formations, change postures, throw forward and catch back, singing and dancing, with enthusiastic emotions. The tunes are mostly local ditties with a bright rhythm. The singing form is mainly chorus singing, accompanied by solo singing and duet singing.
Kaizhou District is affiliated to Chongqing City and is located in the northeast of Chongqing City. It is at the end of the backwater of the Xiaojiang tributary in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. It borders Kaijiang County of Sichuan Province to the west, and borders Chengkou County and Xuan County of Sichuan Province to the north of Daba Mountain. Han County is adjacent to Yunyang County and Wuxi County to the east, and to the south is the Yangtze River and Wanzhou District.