Chapter 1: Dreams of Spring and Fallen Petals 韶華勝極 Sec 2

Mulberry trees have an important place in history. In the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), when learned recluse and scholar Sima Hui (司馬徽), visited admired friend Pang Degong (龐德公), Pang was out the back of his house picking mulberries.^[1] Another more famous example, is the story of famed warrior hero and eventual emperor of the Kingdom of Shu Han (蜀漢), Liu Bei (劉備). When Liu Bei was a child, there was a particularly fascinating mulberry tree which grew in his front garden. The tree was strikingly tall, with beautifully fronded leaves which hugged the branches tenderly; from a distance it looked just like a carriage. The young Liu Bei famously proclaimed, ‘if I become emperor one day, I’ll make that mulberry tree my royal carriage!’ Perhaps uncoincidentally, mulberry trees share an association to the great heroes of the past; it is true that greatness is born from humble beginnings.

Like the mulberry trees in the story, the ones in my hometown are grew tall and differed from the curving and twisting ones which were planted using the new cultivation methods. After our mulberry trees were planted and began to sprout, they grew the most golden and tender leaves. The newly emerged leaves would glisten in the field making the sunshine seem as radiant as the leaves themselves. During the lifecycle of mulberry leaves, the men and women would take different responsibilities. The women would pick the newborn leaves and place them in bamboo cages. These leaves were known as xiaokouye (小口葉), or little baby leaves, and were perfect for feeding the small mouths of the hungry black silkworms. A field of well cultivated mulberry leaves would make a sea of lush green, making for pleasant shade under the spring sun. The silkworms awakening from their second and third hibernations signaled time for mass feeding.^[2] They were ravenous. The men, taking the heavier load, would climb the mulberry trees, pick the leaves, and place them in baskets attached to a carrying pole. Once they had picked one dan (擔),^[3] they would place the pole on their shoulders and haul the leaves back home.

[1] Here it is likely Hu Lancheng’s account of Sima Hui (司馬徽) and Pang Degong (龐德公) is not entirely accurate. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義), it is Pang Tong (龐統) who visits Sima Hui and they share a conversation under the mulberry tree in what is famously known as ‘桑下之論’. To be faithful to the source text it has been translated as written by Hu Lancheng. Luo Guanzhong, Three Kingdoms: Translated by Moss Roberts (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2015), 637. — Trans.

[2] Silkworms go through three or four cycles of feeding and hibernating each spring and summer before spinning their cocoon. David Hinton, The Selected Poems of Li Po (New York: New Directions Publishing Co, 1996), 127. — Trans.

[3] Dan is a traditional Chinese quantifier and equal to fifty kilograms. Cha Qisen 查啟森, “Dan yu dan” “石”與“擔” [Dan and Dan], Beijing Archives 北京檔案 8, (1997): 17. — Trans.

三國時龐德公在樹上採桑，司馬徽來訪，又劉備小時門前有桑樹團團如車蓋，英雄豪傑的本色原是出在如此份量的人世的。我鄉下的桑樹也這樣高大條暢，不像新式栽桑法的切短，拳曲糾結。桑樹初發芽舒葉，金黃嬌嫩，照在太陽光里，連太陽光都成了是新的。女子提籠采新桑，叫做「小口葉」，飼烏毛蠶的。及桑葉成蔭時，屋前屋後園裡田裡一片烏油油，蠶已二眠三眠了，則要男人上樹采葉，論擔的挑回家。

While it was rewarding at times, there were moments when raising mulberry trees was painful. On rainy days, the air was damp, making it was especially difficult to keep the mulberry leaves dry. We did everything we could. Ropes were held and tied everywhere: on the eaves, under the porch, in front of the hall and even upstairs. I was young and tired but knew I could not complain in front of Mother. While fanning the leaves, I would help Mother dry them leaf by leaf with a towel. There were times when the silkworms would get hungry in the middle of the night and needed to be fed. Mother would wake me up, ask me to hold the lantern and we would leave out the backdoor to go pick more mulberry leaves. Even though I was only around six years old and it was dark and windy outside, I knew I had to stay strong for Mother and not be afraid. One time, after the silkworms had finished their third hibernation,^[1] we had no more mulberry leaves to feed them. To make matters worse my father and my elder brother were not at home to help with the heavy lifting. My mother was so worried she burst into tears. Luckily, my mother’s brother, who lived in Mijia mountain (宓家山), was passing by, and saw the terrible situation we were in. At first, he was angry and confronted my mother, blaming everything on my father and my elder brother. Thankfully, like putting a blaze out with water, my uncle was a lifesaver that night. He went straight to Xiayan mountain (下沿山) and picked a whole dan of mulberry leaves for us. It was just like Libai’s (李白) famous balled of spring:

The lovely Lo Fo of the Western land

                        Plucks mulberry leaves by the waterside.

                        Across the green boughs stretches out her white hand;

                        In golden sunshine her rosy robe is dyed.

                        “My silkworms are hungry, I cannot stay.

                        Tarry not with your five-horse cab, I pray”^[2]

This poem strongly resonated with my childhood and beautifully captures the devotion one must have when cultivating mulberry trees and caring for silkworms, and of course, the beauty of vernal women.

[1] Silkworms, which feed on Mulberry leaves, go through three to four cycles of feeding and sleeping each spring and summer before spinning their cocoons. David Hinton, The Selected Poems of Li Po (New York: New Directions Publishing Co, 1996), 127. — Trans.

[2] This poem is called ‘Ballad of Four Seasons: Spring’ (子夜吳歌: 春) and is beautifully translated in: Xu Yuanchong 許淵沖, Libai shi xuan 李白詩選 [Selected Poems of Libai] (Hunan People’s Publishing House, 2007), 77. — Trans.

In preparation for spring celebrations, because many people in Hu village relied on silkworms and tea leaves, we would often pray for their prosperity by putting paper flowers into cakes and rice. In the first month of the lunar year, people would decorate their houses with a Spring Cattle Map (春牛圖)^[1] as a way of bringing good weather and bountiful harvests. People would also have Silkworm Cat Paintings (蠶貓圖)^[2] pressed on wooded boards and hang them up on the wall of the living room. There was also a man who would dress up like the stove god (灶王)^[3] and visit every household in Hu Village. He would stand in front of the kitchen stove and pray for family unity and food abundance. After the prayer, each household would be given ceremonial silkworm flowers (蠶花) and in return, the man would be given a bowl of rice. These silkworm flowers were not real flowers, but were flowers made of paper and twined in a thick incense-like stick. They looked just like a rice flower and were magnificently decorated in the purest shades of yellow, green, red and white. They were so adorable I regarded them as treasures and would always try my luck and ask mother for more. Silkworm flowers were popular in our village, so much so that women would often pray for them by going to the temple and burning incense.

[1] Spring Cattle Map is a traditional Chinese wood engraving picture, embodying the expectations of the working people for a good harvest and a better life. Liu Ying 劉瑩, “Muban nianhua zhong de chunniutu” 木版年畫中的春牛圖 [Spring Cattle Map of wood engraving New Year picture], Zhongguo yishu shikong 中國藝術時空4, (2017): 24. — Trans.

[2]Silkworm Cat is not a real cat but a symbolic decoration, usually used to protect silkworms from mice. Xu Yizhen 徐藝乙, “Can mao” 蠶貓[Silkworm Cat], Ethnic Arts 民族藝術 4, (2016): 87. — Trans.

[3] The stove God, also known as the Kitchen God, is one of the most important Chinese domestic Gods and helps to protect the family health. Phillips Carolyn, “The Kitchen God of Chinese Lore,” Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 13, no.4 (2013): 22. — Trans.

In February, the Muduo Daoist (木鐸道人) would walk through the village, rattling his bronze Muduo.^[1] He was adorned in ceremonial Qing Dynasty clothing, wearing a red tasseled hat accompanied with an intricate robe which had closed sleeves that would finish into the iconic horse-hoof shaped cuffs.[2] Going from door-to-door, he practiced dagua (打卦)[3] for the villagers using divination to predict their fortunes for the coming year. The ritual began with him muttering the words “Muduo on government business”, remnants of times gone by — the homage was so seamless it was as if the courtiers, found in the two thousand year old Rites of Zhou (周禮), were leading the sermon themselves.[4] The ritual focused on instilling good values, teaching the people to be virtuous, hardworking and thrifty. I was only young at the time, but I remember hearing:

When brothers are of the same mind,

they turn dust into gold,

When brothers are of diverse mind,

they turn gold into dust.

The passage of time

The many stages of life

From daughter to mother

From mother to old wife

Mother told me that the Muduo Daoist would take naughty children away, so I dared not get too close to him and tried to stay on my best behaviour. Upon finishing the chant, he took out his divination tools – pulling three shoots of bamboo blocks from his robes. These blocks were cut in half, with one side flat and the other rounded. He proceeded to cast lots, tossing the blocks into the air, and sending them clattering onto the floor. After he finished, he would begin reading the deities response. Mother asked several questions, such as: will our family be free from woe, will we have a good harvest, will our silkworms have a good yield, and will the mulberry leaves be of good quality. The Taoist answered all the questions patiently and carefully according to whether the bamboo blocks were flat-up and rounded-down or flat-down and rounded-up. As thanks for the dagua, we gave the Daoist a bowl of rice and he left for the house next door.

[1]Muduo(木鐸) was a kind of bell-shaped musical instruments in ancient China, which was used to assist in communicating information. The Muduo had several symbolic meanings, usually spreading information from the emperor to the people, or informing the emperor of public opinion. Yong Shen, “China Media Report Overseas,” Muduo: The Traditional Image of Modern Chinese Journalism Enclose the Incident That Shun Pao Registered Muduo as Its Logo 7, no.4 (2011): 101. — Trans.

[2] Jennifer Grayer Moore, Patternmaking History and Theory (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019), 184: “The “horse’s-hoof” cuff was designed to reflect upon the Manchu riding heritage and represented protection of the finger when on horseback”. — Trans.

[3] Dagua (打卦) is a traditional Chinese divination technique used to tell somebody’s fortune by tossing bamboo blocks onto the floor. Richard. J. Smith, Mapping China and Managing the World: Culture, Cartography and Cosmology in Late Imperial Times (New York and London: Routledge, 2013), 145. — Trans.

[4] The Rites of Zhou is one of the three rites of canon and ‘enumerates the official posts required in an ideal bureaucracy, without explaining the relation between ritual and sociopolitical systems’. Michael Nylan, The Five “Confucian” Classics (Yale University Press, 2001), 174. — Trans.

The day of silkworm hatching was especially significant in Hu village. The silkworm breeders would hold a solemn ceremony to worship the Silkworm Flower Goddess, praying for a bountiful yield of silk.[1] The ceremony would involve placing the traditional Eight Immortals square table (八仙桌) in front of the living room and only setting one seat.[2] The joss sticks and red candles (香燭) were put in place, followed by serving a zhan (盞)[3] of clear water accompanied by a freshly picked small branch of tea leaves which was placed inside.^[4] After worship, Mother would pack up the table and blow out the candles, keeping them as silkworm flower candles. It was still cold, so the freshly hatched silkworms were placed in a cotton-padded jacket to keep warm. According to tradition, the hatching ceremony was led by the women in order of household seniority; starting with the host’s mother or wife, followed by their unwed daughters and then the newlywed wives who had recently joined the family. During the ceremony, they would all hold freshly hatched silkworms in the warm embrace of their cotton-padded bosoms. The congregation of both the younger and older women helped to bring about yearly prosperity as it harnessed the fortune of the old and the happiness of the youth.

[1] Li Song, Chinese Festival Culture Series-The Tomb-Sweeping Day (Paths International Ltd, 2015), 39. — Trans.

[2] Richard F. S. Yang, “A Study of the Origin of the Legend of the Eight Immortals.” Oriens Extremus 5, no.1 (1958): 8. — Trans.

[3] Zhan (盞) is a shallow wine cup and a Chinese traditional unit of measurement. Song Jiang, The Semantics of Chinese Classifiers and Linguistic Relativity (London and New York, Taylor & Francis, 2017), 70.  — Trans.

[4] Xiang Chunxiang 向春香 and Tao Hong  陶紅, “xian canli zai Zhonghua nonggeng shehui zhong de zhuzhi chaunbo fenxi” 先蠶禮在中華農耕社會中的組織傳播分析  [An Analysis of the Transmission of “Silkworm First Ceremony” in the Organization of Ancient Chinese Farming Culture] Canxue tongxun蠶學通訊  Newsletter of Sericultural Science 3, (2011): 56. — Trans.

In preparation of egg laying, the silkworm moths were placed on a special kind of paper known as silkworm paper. After the black silkworms hatched, the women would lightly brush the silkworm paper using a piece of soft goose feather, coaxing the newborn silkworms into a small round bamboo basket. After hatching, the real work began. The baby silkworms’ mouths were so small that the mulberry leaves needed to be cut into tiny pieces for feeding. Only a few days after birth, due to their terrific rate of growth, the silkworms were divided into several bigger bamboo baskets. The silkworm droppings also had to be cleaned every day. Mother would closely observe the hatching, making sure that each piece of silkworm paper was accounted for — every piece when covered in silkworm eggs weighed one liang (兩).^[1] As the silkworms continued to grow, so did their appetites. To give them adequate room to grow and feed, the ravenous silkworms were divided into ten big bamboo baskets. We would have to make regular trips to our mulberry leave stocks and haul out as many leaves as we could carry, scattering the leaves into the baskets. The hubbub of voracious silkworms crunching into fresh mulberry leaves was like blustering wind and rain, a cacophony of insatiable rustling. No matter how many mulberry leaves we picked, and how many dan were carried back home, there never seemed to be enough. Their appetite was so unrelenting that Mother and I would often have to wake up two or three times a night to feed the hungry whippersnappers. During those times, it was pitch black, so I had to carry a candle to give Mother light while she tossed the leaves into the baskets, satisfying the hungry mouths below.

[1] Liang (兩) usually refers to the Chinese tael. Since 1959 the unit of measurement was standardised to equal 50 grams and is now part of the Chinese system of weights and currency. The exact quantity is different from period to period and region to region. The traditional one jin (斤) is equal to 16 liang. Wen Shaoxin, Chinese Numerals and Classifiers (simplified Chinese edition) (Hong Kong: Everflow Publications, 2014), 22. — Trans.

Several days later, it was time for the breeders to unpack the silkworm grids and take out the beautiful snow-white silk and cocoons. The freshly spun cocoons would shine clear and bright. After the women had finished unpacking the cocoons, the men would put them into two bamboo baskets, attached them with rope to bamboo shoulder poles, and carried the cocoons to the market for sale. The marketplaces or ‘cocoon sites’ (繭行) could be found in every village stretching as far as Sanjie Town (三界鎮). The streets were full of cocoon farmers and customers, haggling over the price and comparing them with others. The newly issued Yinyuan (銀元) that the villagers made from selling their cocoons, sparkled, and shined through the eyes of the villagers and flowed into their hearts, bringing a warm smile.^[1] When the price was unsatisfactory or fluctuating, the villagers would travel to the neighbouring towns and cities to sell their cocoons. Before the men went on their way, the women would make sure to pull out some of the valuable silk from inside the cocoons. The extra silk and cocoons would be stashed away in case the family was in need, or the price suddenly increased. It was always good to have a little extra in case the family fell on hard times. Naturally, that was the way things were.

[1] Yinyuan (銀元) was a currency which originated in Europe in 15th century and spread to China in late Qing dynasty. In the Qianlong period (1736-1795), the government began coining local Yinyuan. Ma Changlin 馬長林, “Qingmo minchu de yinyuan he tongyuan” 清末民初的銀元和銅元[Yinyuan and Tongyuan in late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China], China finance 中國金融8, (2014): 87-88— Trans.

Qingming (清明)^[1]

[1]Qingming (清明) has rich connotations and profound meaning in China. It is not only one of the 24 solar terms and the optimum time for farming, but also a festival for the worship of ancestors, sorrow, and gratitude. Gao Zhiming高志明, “Qingming xisu yu nongshi” 清明習俗與農事 [Custom and farming of Qingming]. Nongcun shiyong jishu 農村實用技術 4, (2004): 54 — Trans.

At different traditional festivals, people enjoy different customs and activities. During the Lantern Festival (元宵節) people celebrate by hanging lanterns in the streets and gathering at night to set them alite and watch as they fly off into the dark sky. Kite-flying is another meaningful spring custom. People believe that cutting off the string and letting the kite fly away with the wind would get rid of the year’s bad fortune. Then there is Qingming Festival. During Qingming, tomb-sweeping and the worship of ancestors is sacred, and attendance was mandatory. All the family, including the unmarried women (who would usually stay at home) all had a filial duty to attend. Therefore, there was an old saying:

In the first lunar month,

Light the lanterns up.

In the second lunar month,

Fly the paper-gledes up.

In the third lunar month,

Tomb-sweep and see pretty women dressing up.

Growing up, the closest lantern festival show was in the far away town of Shangyu (上虞) in Sheng County (嵊縣), and the people of Hu Village did not fly kites, so the first real festival of the year was Qingming. On the way to sweep the tombs of our ancestors, the only women we met were our sisters or brothers’ wives. Though they were all close family and friends, seeing all the beautiful women in their festive clothing created an attractive scene of elegant femininity and was truly enchanting. There youthful fertility and quiet tranquility was not dissimilar to the peach blossoms; maybe they had reincarnated from actual peach blossoms. It reminds me of a poem by Su Shi (蘇軾 (1037-1101).^[1] After leaving Sichuan (四川) for Dijing (帝京), Su Shi passed by Hanyang (漢陽) where he wrote a poem about King Wen of Zhou (周文王). The poem told of the King’s reputation amongst his people, and his passion for teaching people to be respectful and well-mannered. His teachings greatly influenced the people. When travellers passed through the many villages, the refined and elegant women were by the stream washing their silk handkerchiefs. When they saw the travellers, they immediately brushed themselves down and stood to attention like the high-ranking officials, flirtatiously arranging their handkerchiefs like an official would do with his ceremonial headdress. The famous Qing Dynasty writer and politician Ji Xiaolan (紀曉嵐), criticised the poem for being plain and childish, but I disagree. The poem not only beautifully captures women’s unique feminine attraction and playfulness, but also reflects Su Shi as an honest and sincere young man; unconstrained by convention and bold enough to express his true feelings.

[1]Su Shi (蘇軾), also known as Zizhan (子瞻) or Dongpo (東坡), was a Chinese calligrapher, painter, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and writer of the Song dynasty. Tan Xinhong 譚鑫紅, Zhongguo gudian shici jiaozhuping congshu – Sushici quanji 中國古典詩詞校注評叢書—蘇軾詞全集 [A series of commentaries on classical Chinese poetry- The Complete Works of Su Shi’s Poetry] (Wuhan: Chongwenchuju, 2015), 8. — Trans.

「正月燈，二月鷂，三月上墳看姣姣」，但是燈市台閣要到嵊縣上虞城裡去看，我鄉下也不放風箏，且上墳沒有姣姣可看，因為陌上路上相見都是相識的姊妹，嫂嫂。但是女子有她的正經，恰像桃花的貞靜，乃真是桃花了。蘇軾初出四川到帝京，過漢陽時作詩，有雲「文王教化處，游女儼公卿，過之不敢慢，佇立整冠纓」，紀曉嵐批說稚拙，但我很歡喜，這首詩也寫出了蘇軾自己是個志誠年青人。

Wormwood dumplings (菁餃) were specially made for Qingming festival. They would be placed on the tombs as offerings to the ancestors because people believed they could drive out evil spirits and ward off disease. When I was young, regardless of whether it was stormy or sunny, Mother would ask me to run down and collect the wild wormwood leaves which grew by the stream. That might be the reason the wormwood dumplings and other food offerings seemed to be filled with dew and sunlight, the were infused with the goodness of the earth. In case some of the family members were too poor to afford the ceremonial offerings, our grandfather would arrange a fixed amount of money for tomb-sweeping and every fang (房) of our clan would take charge of the arrangements in turn; they were known as the on-duty fang.^[1] Traditionally, families would prepare special Qingming pork and tofu. As for the children, only the sons of each fang who were over sixteen would be entitled to receive one jin of tofu and half a jin of pork. The daughters, on the hand, were regarded as guests and would receive Qingming pork and tofu from the moment they were born. Once grown up and married, they would sometimes return to their hometown Niangjia (娘家)[2] to see their ancestors and family during Qingming. Though they had married and become part of another household, they would still receive Qingming food. If someone in our clan worked as an official, he received half a jin more than anyone else, as he was regarded as having provided the ancestors with happiness and relief by bringing honour to the family. As well as the offerings, Mother would also prepare large incense sticks, red candles, paper spirit money (紙錢),[3] and firecrackers, however the sesame seed cakes were handed out by the on-duty fang. Before heading to the ancestral tomb, every item had to be accounted for. Once everything was prepared, each item was put into the appropriate position in a set of layered boxes which were packed one on top of the other. Once in place, Brother Four (四哥) would get out his shoulder pole and haul it to the tomb. As Mother’s ancestors rested in another place, she was only expected to pay her respects to her mother and father-in law, after which she quickly returned home to take care of the family.

[1] Fang(房) originally means house in Chinese, however, here fang refers to a branch of the family or clan. He Guoqiang 何國強. “Luelun ‘fang’ gainian de yuyi qufen” 略論“房”概念的語義區分 [A Brief Study of Semantic Distinction of “Fang”], Zhongnan minzu xueyuan xuebao 中南民族學院學報4, (1997): 49-53. — Trans.

[2] Niangjia (娘家) means home of a married woman’s parents. Ellen R. Judd, “Niangjia: Chinese Women and Their Natal Families,” The Journal of Asian Studies 48, no.3 (1989): 525-544. — Trans.

[3] Spirit Money, Ghost Bills, Joss Money are just some of the English names used to describe the ceremonial paper money burnt as an offering to ancestors. It is believed that by burning paper money, it is being sent to ancestors in the netherworld. The origins of burning paper money are estimated to have arisen in around 86 A.D. alongside Cai Lun’s invention of craft paper. Fred C. Blake, “Origins” in Burning Money: The Material Spirit of the Chinese Lifeworld, (University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2012), 76. — Trans.

上墳做菁餃，我小時就管溪邊地里去覓艾菁。菁餃與上墳用的酒饌，只覺是帶有風露與日晒氣的。還有是去領清明豬肉與豆腐，上代太公作下來的，怕子孫有窮的上不起墳，專設一筆塋田各房輪值，到我一輩還每口領得一斤豆腐，半斤豬肉，不過男孩要上十六歲，女兒則生出就有得領，因為女兒是客，而且雖然出嫁了，若清明恰值歸寧在娘家，也仍可以領。若有做官的，他可以多領半斤，也是太公見子孫上達歡喜之意。我母親把這些都備弁好了，連同香燭紙錢爆竹，及上墳分的燒餅，都把來裝在盒擔里，由四哥挑了，一家人都去上墳，母親是只上爺爺娘娘的墳她也去，因為她是新婦，此外她是留在家裡看家。

The tomb sweeping and worship ceremony was often accompanied by the sounds of beating drums and woodwind which was also organised by the on-duty fang. Every fang would send family members to attend to the tomb and pay respects to the ancestors. After the ceremony, the family members of each fang would gather for the Qingming banquet. The banquet was set up in the ancestral courtyard of Nijiashan, where forty to fifty tables were set for all in attendance. It was custom to sit next to closer relatives. In preparation for the festivities, the women would be formally dressed, in festival skirts and make-up. It was the on-duty fang’s responsibility to prepare the main dish and the side dishes would be brought by each of the other fangs. The banquet would start at dusk. As summer was drawing close the days were much longer so it was still light when our family members started making their way home. On our way back to Hu Village, I followed Mother as we crossed the river bridge with the droves of full-bellied villagers. The day was so long, it felt as if it was a misty morning before daybreak and we were all migrating to some far-off land to start a new life.

清明太公的墳是由輪值塋田的一家去上，要用鼓吹，各房都要有人去拜。上過太公墳，吃清明飯，各房全家到齊，婦女都穿裙，打扮了去。在倪家山眾家大堂前，有四五十桌，小菜自己帶去，飯由輪值塋田的一家備弁，坐攏來都是同一個太公的子孫。吃清明飯在傍晚，其時日子已放長，吃了回來，許多人紛紛渡過溪橋，我跟着母親，只覺暮色像早晨白茫茫天快要亮時，胡村人還要出去到外面打江山。

上墳要上許多天，各家有遲早，一家祖先的墳都上遍有的也得兩三天。墳有的在路邊，有的在山腳下，有的在半山裡。上墳去的路上，只見茶葉已不久可采，地里誰家的蠶豆今年種得這樣好法，麥已晾花，桑葉已成蔭，還看得出去年桑樹的枝條剪得非常齊整。此地是整個田畈都齊齊整整，日色映溪連山，又照在村子裡，只見人家的烏瓦白牆益發顯明。做生活有這樣勤謹，所以墳前拜掃人也個個都是孝子順孫了。

When I was about five or six years old, my big brother’s wife –who I called Saosao (嫂嫂)^[1] – was still at home. She was very fond of me. During Qingming, the adults would give sesame seed cakes to children because it was said that if children ate sesame seed cakes, they would have a life free from hardship. Every time I heard a family making their way to the tombs, I would run with the other children to receive sesame seed cakes. Sometimes I managed to get one cake and other times as many as two, but I would never eat them immediately because they were precious to me. To stop myself from eating them, I gave them to Saosao and asked her to keep them in a safe place. She would put them in a pottery jar placing it on the kitchen beams where nobody would find them. Whenever I ate one, I would be sure to share it with her. Though those cakes were not valuable to adults and were only worth a couple of wen, Saosao knew how important they were to me, and kept those cakes under close watch. Sometimes Saosao and I would attend other nearby tomb sweeping ceremonies and she would help me collect cakes, sometimes getting as many as fifteen to twenty. No matter what she did or where she went, I liked following her around. I followed her to collect water at the well and sat beside her on a wooden stool while she was cooking in front of the stove.

Saosao and my brother had a troubled marriage. Mother told me they were both at fault for the way their marriage had unravelled. When my brother was shouting and arguing with Saosao I was worried and distressed because there was nothing I could do to help her. I burst into tears, crying out of anger and fear — hitting my brother as hard as I could. My punches and scratches were in vain as I was too short; my blows only reaching his thighs and waist. Seeing the affect the arguing had on me, my brother stopped arguing and apologised. Like Saosao, my brother loved me deeply and felt guilty for having upset me. At that time, Saosao was so angry that she started packing her belongings and threatened to go back to her Niangjia. I held her dress tightly and begged her not to leave, shouting “Saosao, don’t go! Saosao don’t go!” Hearing my plea, Saosao turned around, sat back down, and shouted at my brother “Its only for the sake of Litte Six!” Thankfully, Saosao decided not to go back to Niangjia, but I was still sobbing and chocked up with tears that it was hard to say a word. Realising my distress, Saosao fetched water and washed my face gently.        

[1] Sao (嫂) means one’s elder brother’s wife. Deng Ya鄧雅, “Saozi yuanhe buneng shuo cheng ‘xiongjie’” 嫂子緣何不能說成‘兄姐’ [Why Saozi cannot be called ‘xiongjie’], Qingnian wenxuejia 青年文學家 8, (2015): 109-111. — Trans.

The next day, when Saosao was doing needlework with my cousins in the back living room, she asked me to sit beside her on a small bamboo stool. While sitting there she compared a piece of instep from a pair of shoes she was making and measured it against my foot. After measuring, she began making new shoes for me and sang:

Canola blossoms strew the ground like gold.

Radish blooms open as bright as silver.

Broad bean flowers open to reveal their black hearts.^[1]

Finally, she added:

“This broad bean flower’s black heart is just like that of your big brother”.

[1] Jonathan P. J. Stock, Huju: Traditional Opera in Modern Shanghai (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 74. — Trans.

嫂嫂在後屋與堂姊妹們做針線，叫我坐在小竹椅上，拿手中的鞋面布比比我的腳寸。比對過了，她一面做，一面唱、「油菜開花黃如金，蘿蔔籽開花白如銀，羅漢豆開花黑良心。」說道、「黑良心就是你大哥。」

Picking Tea Leaves

【採茶】

The mountains around Hu Village were high and cold. To avoid the cold weather, villagers would pick the tea leaves on the flatter foothills where it was warmer. Once people had finished picking their tea for the day, they would help other families get the work done. As some buyers would want their tea earlier, a small amount of leaves would be picked before the grain rain (穀雨) fell.[1] This tea had a slightly different texture and aromatic taste and would be called the ‘before the rains tea’ (雨前茶).[2] The people of Hu Village believed that one had to wait until the produce was fully developed and mature before harvesting. For instance, villagers would wait until the broad bean pods were full of seven plump beans and knew not to rush over to taste the newly sprouted cucumber, pumpkin, or eggplant. Unlike the town and city dwellers, we knew when everything was ready to be harvested. They had no regard for proper farming and would go so far as to eat chicks and suckling pigs before they had grown to maturity.

[1] Grain Rain (穀雨) comes from an old Chinese saying: Rain aids the growth of countless grain. This illustrates the importance of rain for crops at this time of year. The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms. Each solar term was named based on the seasonal changes of climate. Grain rain (穀雨) is the 6th solar term. Chen Chao 陳超, “Shui yu ershisi jie zhi Qingming guyu” 水與二十四節氣之清明穀雨 [Rain and Qingming, Grain Rain of Twenty-Four Solar Terms], Zhongguo sanxia 中國三峽 4, (2018): 108-109; see also Wu 無, “Guyu” 穀雨 [Grain Rain], China Today: English Version今日中國: 英文版, 4, no.1. (April 2017): 77. — Trans.

[2] ‘Before the rains tea’ is a kind of tea picked at the beginning of tea picking season. The tea picked before the rains is usually picked in late March and has a distinct taste and texture. Commentators note how tea picked at the beginning of Spring ‘are especially flavoursome and aromatic – the flavour of some spring tea suggests that the crisp chill of the last snow was still in the air’. Mazy Lou Heiss, “China’s Legendary Spring Green Teas”, The Leaf Magazine, Issue no 1, December 2007, 1. — Trans.

Brother Five came up with the ingenious idea of covering the bamboo shoots with two clay wine jars. As the bamboo was in a dark environment and starved of sunshine it was unable to grow freely but nonetheless grew large, curved, flavoursome and tender yellow bamboo shoots. Mother looked on in disapproval and believed it was a sin to grow bamboo in such a way. To her, it should be left to grow naturally as the most flavoursome bamboo would come from the shoots which grew by absorbing in the sun, soaking in the rain, and blowing in the wind. Mother’s words ring true as it is always a shame to see a reckless waste of nature and resources. Wasting sunlight, rain and wind is perhaps no different to the thoughtless student protests happening around that time.[1] In any event, the busy tea picking season was a fortuitous time. The whole village was bustling with activity and the mountains were filled with the sound of folk songs. While picking the before the rains tea the sound of joyful singing was so beautiful that the cold weather and rain could not ruin the joyful scene. 

[1] It is likely Hu Lancheng is referencing the 1915-1919 May Fourth Movement where young intellectuals began protesting traditional Confucian values and exulting Western ideas of democracy and science. They were heavily critical of Chinese religion, philosophy, and politics. For more information see: Chow Tse-tsung, The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China, (Harvard University Press, 1960), 5. — Trans.

我鄉下山地高寒，採茶先從平陽地方采起，自己的采了便幫人家采。亦有穀雨之前採的，叫雨前茶，但只是少量為供客之用。胡村人是甚麼都要長成了纔拿來派用場，蠶豆必要莢里的豆粒七分飽滿纔摘來吃，黃瓜南瓜茄子纔結下來也不作興就摘來嘗時新，像城裡人的吃雛雞乳豬當然更沒有。我五哥不知如何想得出來，他用二隻酒瓮覆住竹筍，那筍在瓮里不見天日，彎彎曲曲，長得很大亦仍是極嫩的黃芽筍，我母親見了亦不許，說是罪過的，要讓它自然長大，作了肴饌亦饒有日月風露。依這來說，今時把未成年人來派政治的用場，當然亦與暴殄天物是一樣。何況採茶是有個旺時，前山後山處處山歌，而采雨前茶則單是那冰冷淅索就不成風景。

As the tea leaves were flourishing, the tea picking maidens from Yanjiang (沿江) would come in their droves. Seven to eight maidens were called a group, but anything over ten was a team. They would travel from village to village, eventually arriving at Hu Village. I would watch as the pretty maidens walked down the main road passing my house. They styled their hair in a fringe, combed to sit just above their eyebrows and wore newly woven bamboo hats which were decorated with green beads placed around the brim. They wore light cotton blouses accompanied with a cerise coloured handkerchief and carried bamboo baskets on their backs. The maidens were in Hu Village for no longer than three to four days at a time and would help the overburdened families go up the mountain and pick tea leaves. The young men in Hu Village normally did seasonal labour and would make a bit of extra money by hauling loads on their shoulder poles. They would use the money they saved to buy rouges and make-up powder for the tea picking maidens. Sometimes young men would treat the maidens to Dagao (大糕), which was a square shaped cake, two cun (寸) long, five fen (分) thick, boiled in glutinous rice flour and had the red characters ‘luck wealth health happiness’ 福祿壽禧printed on top.[1] The cake crust was so thin that the brown filling made from lard and sweet bean paste could be seen from the outside. One bite and the paste would ooze out of the four snow-white edges. The cakes square shape and regal decadence resembled the emperor’s imperial jade seal (玉璽).[2] While Dagao was common in Shaoxing and could be found all over the city, it was rare in Hu Village. They were only sold during tea season when people would freshly steam them and sell them in the luting next to the bridge. The young men were eager to impress the maidens who were busy picking in the mountains and would saunter over to the bridge and buy a whole longs (籠) worth, giddily carrying them up to the young women.^[3] Knowing the maidens would be hungry, the young lads would also offer them lunch and help them weigh the haul. The tea picking maidens were paid depending on the weight of the tea leaves so for the especially good-looking maidens, the men would go behind their parents back and slightly botch the scales; turning five and a half jin of tea leaves into six. During these few days, the young men and maidens would constantly flirt with one another, laughing and joking atop the mountain. They would play games often singing to each other and even though the women outnumbered the men, both sides would give back just as much as they got to impress the other.

[1] Cun (寸) and fen (分) are traditional Chinese length units, 1 cun equal to 10 fen and equal to 3.33 centimetres. Qiu Guangming, The History of Ancient Chinese Measures and Weights (Anhui Science and Technology Publishing House, 2016), 76. — Trans.

[2] The Emperor’s Imperial Jade Seal or Yuxi (玉璽) was also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. They were used throughout the Chinese Dynasties and has considerable importance. Li Yujun. “The ‘Sino-Barbarian Dichotomy’ amid the Political Chess of China’s Dynasties: In the Examples of the Song, Liao, and Jin Dynasties.” Chinese Studies in History 51, no.1 (2018): 37. — Trans.

[3] A round container woven by bamboo splits or wood sticks, usually used to contain cakes or food, and can be put into pot to steam. — Trans.

茶葉旺時，沿江村裡來的採茶女，七八人一夥，十幾人一隊，一村一村的采進去，多是經過我家門前大路上。她們梳的覆額乾絲發，戴的綠珠妝沿新笠帽，身上水紅手帕竹布衫，各人肩背一隻茶籃。她們在胡村一停三，四天，幫茶山多的人家採茶葉，村中的年青人平日挑擔打短工積的私蓄，便是用來買胭脂花粉送她們。還有買大糕請她們，大糕是二寸見方，五分厚，糯米粉蒸的，薄薄的面上用胭脂水印 “福祿壽禧”，映起豬油豆沙餡的褐色，流流動，留出雪白的四邊，方方的像玉璽印。這大糕在紹興城裡長年有，胡村則只茶時有人蒸來橋頭路亭里賣，年青小夥子一籠一籠買去茶山上送給採茶女。他們又給採茶女送午飯，順便秤茶葉，背着爹娘，把秤棒放給美貌的，五斤半秤成六斤。茶山上男女調笑，女的依仗人多，卻也不肯服輸。

The green tea leaves picked during the daytime would be piled on the floor in the hall. After dinner, the villagers began roasting the tea leaves in the back room by putting them into a specially made shallow iron wok. The tea picking maidens and young men from the household would all congregate, and before long, the whole room would be filled with conversation and laughter. The roasting required a fierce flame — the fire had to be stoked with pinewood which was prepared during the last half of the year before. After the pinewood was cut down, it was cut into smaller logs, piled up like a dry-stone dyke and placed under the sun until they were sufficiently dry and splintered. The young men all knew that cutting and drying the firewood signaled it was close to the tea maidens’ arrival, so they tended to the wood carefully, eagerly anticipating the days ahead.

When I was young, I also helped tend to the fire and would move the green tea leaves into position. Once the bottom of the wok was red hot, I would pour the whole benji (畚箕)^[1] of tea leaves in and watch as they filled the wok, crackling and popping. As soon as the leaves hit the wok, the maidens were quick to react, immediately using their hands to turn the leaves. Even though the woks were hot and there were many utensils which could have helped turn the green leaves, the villagers knew that nothing compared to hand roasted leaves and were skillful enough to turn the leaves without getting burnt. As the steam and smoke from the fire continued to fill the room, the tea leaves were popping like firecrackers as they were continually turned so as not to burn or stick. It was so hot that the maidens would only wear their tight-fitting light pink blouses accompanied with willow patterned bow trousers. They would break out into such a sweat that clothes would stick to their bodies, the perspiration pasting their fringes to their foreheads. They were unphased by the heat and continued chatting, joking, and singing folk songs as they roasted the leaves. Once the leaves began absorbing too much water and the crackling had subsided it was time to take them out. They would put the benji face down in the wok so that all the leaves were completely covered and then in one motion turned the wok upside down so that the leaves fell neatly back into the benji. Finally, the wok was swept with a brown brush to make sure that all the leaves were accounted for. The timing was paramount. If the leaves were left to roast for too long, they would be charred, overcooked, and lost their flavour. Once the leaves finished roasting, they would be emptied and placed on a table where the men would knead them into solid rolls. As the men were kneading the leaves, small amounts of jade coloured tea water would seep out, after which the leaves would be spread into round bamboo baskets and given another light roasting over a gentle flame.         

[1] Benji (畚箕) is a woven bamboo container normally found in the Chinese countryside, usually used as a farm tool. Huang Jinmin 黃金明, “Qiwu ji” 器物記 [Collection of Utensils], Wenxue gang文學港 3, (2015): 127. — Trans.

白天采來的茶葉都堆在堂前地上，叫青葉子。吃過夜飯在後屋茶灶鑊里炒青葉子，採茶女與主家的年青小夥子男女混雜，笑語喧嘩，炒青葉子要猛火，燒的松柴都是頭一年下半年就從山上砍來，劈開迭成像牆頭的一堆堆，曬得悉嚓粉燥，胡村的年青人惟有做這樁事頂上心。我小時就幫燒火及搬青葉子，茶灶鑊底已燒得透紅，一畚箕青葉子倒下去，滿滿的一鑊，必烈拍啦亂爆，採茶女立在灶前就伸手下去炒，要非常快，本來有茶叉的，但是她們不用。她們左右手輪換着炒，茶鑊里就像放鞭炮，水蒸汽直冒，熱得她們只穿貼身一件水紅衫，系一條長腳管柳條褲，粉汗淫淫的，額上的乾絲發都被汗貼住。她們一面炒，一面鬨笑說話唱小調。等到青葉子淺下去，爆聲也小下去了，就可盛起，是用畚箕覆向鑊里一闔，隨手翻轉就盛起，再用棕帚撣兩撣，鑊里不留一粒，這都要手腳快，不然青葉子會焦掉老掉。然後夾手又是第二鑊。炒過的青葉子倒在板桌上，男人雙手把它來搓揉，揉成緊緊的一團，碧綠的漿水微微出來了，纔又抖散攤在竹匾里，明天用幽幽的火炒。

As nightfall descended on Hu Village, the young men and women were still roasting the tea leaves. The old folks had already gone to bed giving the youth an opportunity to do whatever they wanted without the gaze of prying eyes. The tea roasting would usually go on until around midnight, then the young men and maidens would like to get up to some mischief. They would sneak out the back door, go into the neighbour’s farmland and run off with handfuls of stolen beans. The night was still and tranquil. The young men and women could hear the trickling sound of the river and would look around at the peaceful moonlit village. Amidst the stillness of night, you could hear the ebullient sounds of nature as the leaves rustled and watched as the dew filled farmlands turned silver as it twinkled underneath the clear moonlit sky. Once the young men and women had finished grabbing the beans, they returned to the house and dragged the beans to the back room. The fire was still burning. The beans looked like precious jade under the light, so they wasted no time in peeling the precious little gems, putting them in a pot and cooking them over the fire. It was not long before the beans were cooked and with a touch of salt, they were ready to eat. They would all sit around the table together and went off to sleep as soon as they had filled their bellies. Tomorrow was another busy day and they would all have to be up early.

夜裡炒青葉子，主家的老年人都已先睡，由得一班年青人去造反為王。他們炒青葉子炒到三更天氣，男女結伴去畈里鄰家的地上偷豆，開出後門，就聽得溪里水響，但見好大的月色，一田畝里都是露水湯湯的。他們拔了大捆蠶豆回來，連葉連莖，拖進茶灶間里，燈下只見異樣的碧綠青翠，大家摘下豆莢，在茶灶鑊里放點水用猛火一煠，撒上一撮鹽花，就撈起倒在板桌上，大家吃了就去睡，因為明天還要起早。

Even though the tea picking maidens and the young men would often stay in close proximity, we seldom heard of any love stories or romances between them. In a way, youthful freedom was still bound by one’s own moral character. The youth were still pure and spotless, just like how the new branches of willow trees would grow anew with fresh sprouts. This was not only true for the youth. Hu Village was hardly a place of sexual promiscuity. Out of the one hundred and fifty households I had only heard of around six or seven instances of secret love affairs or extramarital relations. Two of which were regarding widowers in their fifties, and another two more were involving salesmen who were not averse to the occasional dalliance with middle aged women. Perhaps the most scandalous were the last four, which involved four women who had gone to Shanghai to work as concubines. Upon returning to Hu Village, the village men would be attracted to them like bees to honey which unsurprisingly brought about many rumours of those four women entertaining their male pursuers. However, there were never any stories of unmarried girls engaging in sexual relations. 

但是也很少聽見戀愛的故事，因為青春自身可以是一種德性，像楊柳發新枝時自然不染埃塵。以胡村來說，上下三保大約一百五十份人家，我小時十年之中，聽人說有男女曖昧事情的也不過六七件，其中兩件是五十以上的鰥夫，二件是店員，對象皆是中年婦人，尚有四個年青婦人是在上海做娘姨的，到時到節回來家鄉，有些引蜂沾蝶，但末出嫁的女兒則沒有過一件。

During last year’s salt smuggling, the Hu villagers would stop by Yanjiang (沿江) and meet with the tea picking maidens to arrange the plans for next year. When next year came around, after the people from Hu village had finished harvesting their rice fields, the strong bodied would travel by foot to Yuyao (餘姚) to start the salt smuggling operation.[1] They would hide during the day and travelled with the cover of nightfall, moving through the unpatrolled mountains and ridges. The journey was long and arduous so everyone packed light, taking a satchel of food supplies and a heavy shoulder pole to carry the salt. The round trip was two hundred li and would take around six to seven days all up. It was an incredibly heavy load. The shoulder poles were iron rimmed and the strongest amongst the group could carry one hundred and sixty jin in one trip. They would usually manage two round trips a month and were able to turn two yinyang (銀洋) into six.[2] It was incredibly lucrative work, although the smuggling was not without risk. Salt inspectorates were under strict orders to police the trade and blocked many of the well-known smuggling routes. The inspectorates were often hostile and would sometimes come to blows with the villagers.[3] The region had a long history of salt smuggling. It was no different to King Qian Liu (錢鏐) who lived during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-979).  Qian Liu was born in Lin’An (臨安) not far from Hangzhou to a family of farmers and fisherman. From a young age he turned to salt smuggling as a source of income, becoming a commander of the infamous salt smuggling militia which would pillage the eastern regions of the Zhe (浙東). It was through his salt smuggling that he was able to rise to prominence.[4] Then there was the famous 14^th century salt-smuggler Fang Guozhen (方國珍) who attacked Yuan Dynasty (元朝) Mongol officials and established the coastal satrapy of Zhejiang.[5] The Hu villagers certainly took up regions historical trade, making sure not to miss out on the profitable opportunity. After the villagers had bought the salt, they would stop by Yanjiang to see the tea picking maidens. They were treated cordially, and would all discuss the plans for the following year.

[1] During the early-mid twentieth century there were several government policies which monopolised the salt industry in China. Salt was heavily regulated with high tariffs and oppressive tax rates, as such illicit smuggling of salt was rife. Ralph Thaxton, Salt of the Earth: The Political Origins of Peasant Protest and Communist Revolution in China (University of California Press, 1997), 66.  — Trans.

[2] Yinyang (銀洋) also known as the silver dollar, has an identical meaning to Yinyuan (銀元) found earlier in the text. During the Qing Dynasty mountainous villages relied heavily on the Yinyang as a currency. The price of Yinyang always changed due to market fluctuations. Wu Bingkun 吳秉坤, “Qingdai Huizhou Yinyang jiage wenti” 清代徽州銀洋價格問題 [The Price of Silver Dollar in Huizhou in the Qing Dynasty] Journal of Huangshan University 黃山學院學報 12, no.1 (2010): 38-41. — Trans.

[3] Esson M. Gale. “Public Administration of Salt in China: A Historical Survey.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 152, (1930): 249. ‘A Chief Inspectorate of Salt Revenue, represented in the provinces by District Inspectorates, and in the Yangtze transportation offices by the Chief Auditors of the Salt Revenue, was accordingly created as an integral part of the Central Salt Administration’. — Trans.

[4] Hugh R. Clark, “Scoundrels, Rogues, and Refugees: The Founders of the Ten Kingdoms in the Late Ninth Century” in Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, ed. Lorge, Peter Allan (Chinese University Press, 2011) 49-77, 51. — Trans.

[5] John Makeham, China: The World’s Oldest Living Civilization (Thames & Hudson, 2008), 275. — Trans.

沿江來的採茶女是頭年下半年挑私鹽去就約定的。胡村人下半年田稻收割後，身剛力壯的就結隊去餘姚挑私鹽，他們晝伏宵行，循山過嶺，帶着飯包，來回兩百里地面，要走六七天，用頂硬的扁擔，鐵鑲頭朵柱，力大的可挑一百六十斤至一百九十斤，一個月挑兩次，一次的本錢兩塊銀洋錢變六塊。但也有路上被緝私兵攔去，又亦有與緝私兵打起來的，五代時的錢武肅王及元末浙東起兵的方國珍，就是這樣挑私鹽出身。胡村人挑私鹽經過下沿江，村村保保有相識的採茶女把他們當人客款待，而亦即在此時約定了明年茶時與女伴們再來。

The first harvest of tea was ready to be picked around the same time as the second cycle of silkworms. The second batch of tea was picked after the rice beds had been planted. As the sun was beating down on water covered the rice fields, we could always hear the field frogs, known as the ‘chickens of the field’ (田雞), croaking in the water. The water was clear the field snails could be easily spotted due to the spiraling coiled whorls on their shell. The top dimple of the shell would be cracked open for cooking. The farm was a hunting ground for children and swallows alike who would spend all day gathering field snails, picking mulberries and collecting wild bamboo shoots (烏筱筍).[1] Upon hearing the chickens cawing in the afternoon, it was time to return home. We all barefooted and wore hand-woven grass coloured thin jackets and would follow the river, taking the paths between the fields to get back. On colder days we would sometimes wear a small cotton-padded mian’ao (棉襖) over the top.[2] Faces bright red, as the rays of sun continued to beat down on the village.   

[1] The term ‘wuxiaosun’ (烏筱筍) is local dialect for all wild bamboo. This is explained in: Xiao Yan 曉燕, “ruguo meiyou sun, rensheng jiu shao le lequ” 如果沒有筍，人生就少了樂趣 [If there was no bamboo, life would be without joy”. Shangyu Daily Newspaper 上虞日報, May 13, 2019. — Trans.

[2] A mian’ao is a special kind of cotton-padded jacket. Depending on the context it has been translated as ‘jacket’, ‘veste’, ‘robe’ ‘tunic’, ‘coat’ etc. A mian’ao was a common piece of clothing for farmers and would be used to keep warm. Zhe Yuan, “Study on the Translation of Clothing Names in A Dream of Red Mansions based on its English and French Versions” Francis Academic Press, (2018) 798. — Trans.

采頭茶時養二蠶，采二茶時是秧田已經插齊了，畈里被日頭氣所逼，田雞叫，田螺開靨，小孩與燕子一樣成天在外，摘桑椹拾田螺，拔烏筱筍，聽得村中午雞啼了，纔沿溪邊循田塍路回家，赤腳穿土布青夾襖，有時身上還穿小棉襖，滿面通紅，一股熱曬氣。

The passing of spring signaled the beginning of summer. The men would be outside tending to the fields, while the women were inside raising the silkworms—nurturing them through their second seasonal cycle. The village become quiet at this time, the roads were peaceful, and the families were still. The only noises would come from the red bellied pigeons who would perch themselves on the newly built bamboo roofs, coo-cooing aloud. Though they were close by, the sound they made sounded was as if they were atop the mountains calling out far and wide. It was a beautiful time to be in the kitchen. The rays from the sun would reflect off the mulberry trees outside, splitting into separate beams which would shine through the kitchen window. The kitchen cupboards, pots and chopping boards had all been washed and put away leaving room for the children who would sit on the kitchen stools; tending to a shallow bucket full of field snails they had caught earlier that morning.

After laying her eggs, the mother hen would call out “ge ge dai, ge ge ge ge ge dai” as if she was telling the farmers her eggs were ready. As if in unison, the rooster would suddenly let out one large “cock-a-doodle-doo” as he flapped his wings and shook the comb atop his head. Stretching his neck he called out again “cock-a-doodle-doo”. When I was young, Mother told me that back in ancient times roosters antlers like stags and dragons were only in their infancy and were not yet fully formed. The Jade Emperor (玉帝) invited the animals to meet him in his celestial palace to celebrate New Year.  The night before the celebration the dragon was swimming in the river and the rooster came strutting by looking magnificent. The dragon asked if the rooster would be so kind as to lend him his antlers, and the rooster agreed, on the condition the dragon returned his antlers after the Jade Emperor’s celebration. The dragon was the talk of the festivities and never returned the antlers. Mother told me that every time the rooster calls out “cock-a-doodle-doo” he is calling out “Dragon, return my antlers!”.[1] On that early summer’s day, the sun was bright and the sky was clear, even though the village was quiet and tranquil, the rooster’s cries always fell on deaf ears. At that time, the villagers were in the back room, preparing tea leaves by hand-roasting them in a wok over an oven fire. Once they were roasted, the green leaves had to be grounded down, roasted two more times, and then dried over the fire. To ensure quality tea, the oven was kept at a low flame and stoked with a small amount of pine wood. Amidst the tranquillity, the only sound you could hear was the tea maker’s gentle blowing of the fire while his two hands turned the tea leaves. The days spent tea picking were long indeed.     

[1] Eric, Kimmel, The Rooster’s Antlers: A Story of the Chinese Zodiac (Reed Business Information, 1999) — Trans.

夏始春余，男人在畈上，女人在樓上養二蠶，大路上及人家門庭都靜靜的，惟有新竹上了屋檐，鵓鴣叫。鵓鴣的聲音有時就在近處，聽起來只當它是在前山裡叫，非常深遠。灶頭間被窗外的桑樹所輝映，漏進來細碎的陽光，鑊灶砧板碗櫥飯後都洗過收整好了在那裡，板桌上有小孩養在面盆里的田螺。母雞生了蛋亦無人拾，「各各帶，各各各各各帶！」的叫。而忽然是長長一聲雄雞啼，啼過它拍拍翅膀搖搖雞冠，伸直脖子又啼一聲。我小時聽母親說，龍的角本是雄雞的，借了去不還，雄雞啼「哥哥哥！」就是叫龍，可是此刻青天白日，人家裡這樣靜，天上的龍亦沒有消息。惟後屋茶灶間里有人在做茶葉，即是把炒過搓揉過的青葉子再來二度三度焙乾，灶肚裡松柴微火，只聽他悠悠的噓一聲，雙手把鏤里的茶葉掀一掀，日子好長。

When I was young, it was my job to pull some sweet flags on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. After arriving in Japan, I went to see flowers of sweet flags at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (新宿御苑) the year before last year and also a year before that. Today I am living at Ryu-ùn Temple (龍雲院)[1]. The niece of the abbot is learning how to arrange flowers. Her teacher came the day before yesterday to teach and finally there was a pot of sweet flags in my room. I thought that was a pot of narcissus because the sweet flag in my hometown, near the stream, had a pungent smell, which was so strong, and I was afraid of it. Roots of the sweet flag were firm and tenacious, growing between rocks in the water. If they pull the wrong way, children could fall with their faces towards the sky and broken sweet flag in their hands. I brought sweet flags home and my mother would cut the leaves in the shape of swords and stick them on the door together with red papers. My fourth elder brother would chop some Huangjing grass (黃經草)[2] and burn it in the yard, using the acrid smoke to drive snakes and insects away. Adults would put realgar in the yellow wine, which was stored for years, and every one of them would take a sip of it. They would also write a wang (王) on the forehead of children with the wine. People living in cities would hang a painting of Zhong Kui (鍾馗) in their house and eat loquats, but we would not do so in the countryside. We ate yellow croaker instead.

[1] A Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan.

[2] Huangjing grass 黃經草, a kind of traditional Chinese medicine. There, it might be polygonatum sibiricum, also know as 黃精 in Chinese.

The Dragon Boat Festival is also a good day for married daughters to visit their parents. Sister A’huang (阿黃) is the daughter of uncle Yuxiu (秀煜). In the first year of her marriage, she was invited to spend the Dragon Boat Festival with her family. I did not understand why people treated her as a guest. Rouge and powder were on her face. A silver necklace was around her neck. After meeting with her parents, she had to see the neighbors. My mother invited her to drink some tea, she talked, sitting there, composedly. I went closer to see. She stood up and called me brother six[1]. She was quite arrogant and imperious when she wasn’t married, and she wasn’t very close to me then.

[1] Hu Lancheng’s mother gave birth to seven sons, and Hu Lancheng is the sixth son.

Sister A’huang (阿黃) also brought festival presents from her husband’s family, including a set of Hedan (盒擔)[1] and 50 kilograms shoots of moso bamboo. There were several cases in Hedan, filling with steamed buns, yellow croaker, and living chicken, all put on plates. And there were also desserts made of pine pollen and glutinous rice flour, with imprints in the shapes of plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, chrysanthemums, and the pattern “zhuangyuan jidi” (狀元及第)[2] in Chinese characters. A pair of steamed buns stuffed with dried longan and white sugar was specially made for her parents. Steamed buns, desserts, and fans were given to neighbors. Fans included circular fans and fans with a peach painted on. For me, it was a peach fan. On the covering of the fan, there was a big peach with branches and leaves. The leaves were green, while the blush pink of the peach was like the rouge well blended. The bones of the fan were made from bamboo, without any processing, retaining its natural color. This kind of fan could be sold for 10 wen[3]. I really liked it, and even felt the weather was like the early summer.

[1] A traditional present in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China. It consists of several boxes and can be lifted by the carrying pole.

[2] “狀元及第” literally means that one person becomes the Number One Scholar in the imperial civil examination. In Chinese, it also contains people’s good wish, hoping that children and young adults could have a great future. And it is also a traditional pattern in China, which can be printed on desserts.

[3] A kind of monetary unit used before 1914 in mainland China.

The greatest folk stories in the Yangtze River Valley are the story of Liang Shanbo梁山伯 and Zhu Yingtai (祝英台) and the Legend of Madam White Snake. Hundreds of millions of people from generation to generation have heard and talked about these stories. In the Jin dynasty, there was a story about Xu Jingyang (許旌陽)[1], who killed the flood dragon to eliminate flood; This story is from Chu culture. However, the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai and the Legend of Madam White Snake are set in the ordinary lives of people living in the Han civilization. The prosperous Xiang City[2] of the West Lake, belonged to the ordinary people. Xu Xian was a shop assistant, the Madam White Snake and her maidservant, the Green Snake, were also the common female. People would feel grateful to live in such a world, so, when the White Snake saw Xu Xian for the first time, she felt fall in love. She practiced magic to bring rain, then she borrowed an umbrella from Xu Xian, and she asked Xu Xian to go to her house with the excuse of returning his umbrella. When Xu Xian came, she treated him politely and proposed marriage to him by herself. Chinese folk marriage concerns marriage is the important affair of a final settlement in life. It has a more significant meaning than the love affair. Xu Xian is an honest man，so the Madam White Snake had to advise him carefully. In this situation, the White Snake will not envy the fairy in Yaochi[3].

[1] Xu Jingyang, also known as Xu Xun, the founder of the Jing Ming School of Taoism.

[2] A great gathering of Buddhist pilgrims.

[3] Abode of the fairy mother goddess. A pool in the Kunlun Mountains.

It is said in the Sutra[1] that ‘honest is the good virtue of man, people feel happy for the beauty of women[2]’. Both Liang Shanbo and Xu Xian are so honest that they even make people angry. However, women are daring. Besides Zhu Yingtai, even Qiu Xiang (秋香) in Laugh in the Sleeve (三笑姻緣) is more naughty than Tang Bohu (唐伯虎). The Madam White Snake is also the active one among her and Xu Xian. Everything has a plan. After the Madam White Snake got married to Xu Xian, they called each other ‘Guanren (官人)[3]’ and ‘Niangzi (娘子)[4]’. The White Snake would give a bride salute when she met the sisters of Xu Xian or the neighbors. Xu Xian was a shop assistant in his sister’s husband’s herbal medicine store. The White Snake talked with Xu Xian about setting their own store. That is the aspiration and plan a newly-married couple should have. To establish their store, the White Snake practiced magic to steal the government money. According to the spirit in the Chinese folk customs, if you want to fight, fight for sovereignty over rivers and mountains, if you’re going to steal, steal the official treasury. In Madam White Snake (白蛇傳), there is a similar scene to Ruan Xiaoqi (阮小七) punting his fishing boat and singing before the soldiers in The Water Margin (水滸傳). While, several months later, the theft came to light. Although Xu Xian knew nothing about it, he was deported and sent into exile. The White Snake and the maidservant, the Green Snake, had gone away when the yamen runner came to the house. The Queen Mother asked the White Snake to the human world is just like the peacock feather coat that Mrs. Jia[5] gave Jia Baoyu (賈寶玉)[6]. He wore it on an auspicious day, but the coat was unluckily burned a hole on that day.

[1] One of the discourses of the Buddha that constitute the basic text of Buddhist scripture.

[2] The original text of Vimalakirt Sutra is ‘people feel happy for the beauty of wife, and Bodhisattva feel happy for seeing the truth through Buddha Dharma’.

[3] Refers to husband.

[4] Refers to wife.

[5] One of the main characters in Dream of Red Mansions, Jia Baoyu’s grandmother.

[6] The main character of Dream of Red Mansions.

The White Snake went back home with sadness and brought Xu Xian back to life. She begged Xu Xian do not go to Jishan Temple (金山寺) again. The only thing she wanted was to just live together with Xu Xian. But shortly after, Xu Xian went to meet Fa Hai again. Fa Hai hid him in Jinshan Temple and not allowed him to go back home. Fa Hai defended the principle. Since he defended his principle, Madam White Snake became a demon. As for me, I would rather be a demon. Madam White Snake went to Jinshan Temple to ask Fa Hai to give her husband back. She made the flooding of Jinshan Temple. Divine troops descending from Heaven to take Fa Hai’s side, while shrimp soldiers and crab generals took Madam White Snake’s side. The flood damaged fields and harmed so many lives. Thus, the White Snake broke the principle of Heaven. Now, Fa Hai had reason. He was like the Communist Party, for which mistaken ideas always belonged to the people. However, people were like the sentence in Tao Yuanming’s陶淵明[1] poem, always regretting.[2] They often had wrong thoughts, but there was no way.

[1] One of the greatest poets in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420).

[2] This quotation is from “Yin Jiu Twentieth 飲酒 二十”by Tao Yuanming 陶淵明. —Trans.

Madam White Snake said that she would get revenge. Unlike in the western world, kindness and hatred were distinguished. This was the spirit of the Chinese heroes. As for Fa Hai, the Heaven hated his arrogance, so he had to run away and hide in a crab shell. Till now, there is a small crab in Shaoxing. The shape of the crab roe is like a monk, so people called it monk crab[1]. Compared to Madam White Snake, he was so despicable. I never ate the monk crab. But one Saturday afternoon when I studied in Hangzhou, I heard a big noise on Bai Causeway. There was dust all over the sky near Jingci Temple (靜慈寺). I saw the collapse of the Leifeng Pogoda with my own eyes.

[1] Mictyris brevidactylus.

The door leaves of the rooms in the backyard were taken down, and the earth was swept. The stewards were blending the tea. They poured tens of baskets of raw tea onto the ground and mixed them by the harrows, just like raking grains. After that, they sifted the tea by big sifters. The tea produced in the countryside was Yuancha (圓茶)[1]. The sifted tea was called Canmu (蠶目), Xiamu (蝦目), or Fengmu (鳳目). The thick one was still divided into many different sorts, and each sort had its name. The thickest one was cut into thinner one by straw chopper; the mid-level one needed to be baked. There were two large tea stove rooms. Tea was stir-fried slowly by tens of stoves. People selected tea in the courtyard outside the accountant. There were many tables. People were hired to pick tea fruit and tea stem, and they were paid depending on the weight of the tea. These people were women from the other side of the river. They dressed differently from those women who picked tea in the mountain. The younger woman wore white cloth with a wide margin and black yarn trousers, or sky blue cloth and trousers with crisscross at the cuff and the bottom of the trouser legs. At that time, people liked the thin cuff and trouser legs. Women of the Republic of China (1912-1949) were like the apsara in the frescoes in India and Burma. They wore a necklace and bracelet. The only difference was that they didn’t wear a foot ring.

[1] One of the famous traditional Chinese tea.

Many people gathered together at Hucun (胡村 bridge in summer night to enjoy the cool. The wooden handrails were missing, and the bridge was one zhang (丈) two chi (尺)[1] in width, and five zhang in length. Some people sat on the pillars of the handrails, chatting and waving palm-leaf fans. Some people slept on the bridge, taking the large black cloth as a sheet, and didn’t worry about falling into the river. Moonlight spilled everywhere over the land. With people’s voice fading and dew forming gradually, the only sound could be heard was the stream gurgling.

[1] Zhang 丈 and chi 尺 are traditional Chinese units of length. One zhang equals to ten chi and equals to about 3.33 meters.

There was a man playing the bamboo flute. Rivers, mountains, moonlight and roofs were deeply immersed in the melody, and the melody was also becoming rivers, mountains, moonlight and roofs. The sound was so loud and clear, rising and falling, that had the ability of opening everything. Not only people’s feelings but also all the things, in the sky or on the ground, a star or a man, were showing their nature and becoming serious. As the poem said, “The River of Stars mute, a jade plate turns on high”.[1] In the whole world, either in the past or in the present, there was no life or death; there was no achievement or ruin and there was no hero or sage; if there is an affectionate couple, what they can do is to be always courteous to each other like guests.

[1] Xu Yuanchong 許淵沖， Library of Chinese Classic (Chinese-English): Selected Poems of Su Shi《大中華文庫：蘇軾詩詞選》（漢英對照），Hunan People’s Publishing House湖南人民出版社,108.

Su Shi 蘇軾 is a famous Chinese poet of the Song Dynasty. This is an excerpt of the poem, Song of the Sunny Pass: the Mid-autumn Moon《陽關曲·中秋作》, written by Su Shi in 1077. The original text is “銀漢無聲轉玉盤”.

At the moment, inside our taimen (台門)[1], my mother, my youngest anut and my sister-in-law A’yu (阿鈺) were cutting the stems of wheat, sitting under the roof where illuminated by moonlight. On the table there was a big bowl, filled with Liujinu (劉季奴)[2] tea. Whoever walked near would drink some of it. Brother A’yu just came back from checking the edge of fields and sat on the stair. Frogs croaked on the other side of our home, where people drew water from the well. Winds blew and the jiegao (桔槔)[3] squeaked. Brother Bing (炳) living at Nijia (倪家) mountain came to chat with others. What they talked was nothing but difficult life of farming and the draught animals this year. Glowworms stopped in the yard, flew over the clothesline pole and over the rooftop. I caught a glowworm, put it into the stem of wheat and took it to a dark place to watch the glow. Sister A’wu (阿五) was afraid of darkness, so I took the glowworm under the roof. And we sang.

[1] Taimen 台門 is a form of traditional housing in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China. All family members can live together. In the ancient time, only people with relatively high status, their house could be called a taimen, but now closed and isolated houses in large size can also be called a taimen.

[2] Liujinu 劉季奴, Artemisia anomala, is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, usually written as 劉寄奴 in Chinese.

[3] Jiegao 桔槔 is a tool using the lever principle to draw water from the well.

“A beautiful girl has two long nipples, enjoying the cool in front of clothesline poles. Suddenly winds blow, and she is in the middle of the sea. A boatman passes by, and marries her as wife.” I pointed sister A’wu and said, “you are the one in the middle of the sea.” She cried right away. Brother A’yu shouted at us, “Too loud! Ruisheng (蕊生)[1] and A’wu!”.

[1] Hu Lancheng used to use the name, Hu Jirui胡積蕊. Ruisheng is a nick name.

At the moment, Grandpa Jianzhang (建章) living near Lotus Pond also came to chat with people, carrying a bunch of wormwood. Brother Meixiang (梅香) was back from selling melon at the neighbor village. His wife brought meals to the yard, including pumpkin, eggplant and li’ao (力鰲)[1]. While eating, he told us the stories of people who lived at Tongshi mountain (桐石山) and Dingjia Ling (丁家嶺). After brother Meixiang finishing his meal, people started to talk about Wulonghui (五龍會) in the opera, which was about the gathering of Han Tong (韓通), Liu Zhiyuan (劉智遠), Guo Wei (郭威), Chai Rong (柴榮), and Zhao Kuangyin (趙匡胤) to assault Dengzhou (登州) in later Tang Dynasty.[2] They used to be people like us who needed to cut stems of wheat under the moonlight. So, peasants might know better about the emotions than historians when telling those stories.

[1] It may be a kind of food or an ingredient.

[2] Wulonghui 五龍會 means the meeting of five dragons, which refers to the gathering of the five people. Han Tong, Liu Zhiyuan, Guo Wei, Chai Rong and Zhao Kuangyin were leaders of the peasant uprising in later Tang Dynasty. And Zhao Kuangyin is the first emperor of Song Dynasty.

[1] Xuanbaojuan宣寶卷, also known as xuanjuan宣卷 or baojuan寶卷, is a kind of traditional performance in the form of narrative singing in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China. The main contents are usually about Buddhist texts or folk stories. The instrument used in the performance normally include erhu二胡, yueqin月琴 and a woodblock. It is an intangible heritage of China.

Sing:

Please listen to my words, my young lady.

Haitang海棠, me, have things to say.

Parents always love their child,

Though yours shouldn’t break off your engagement.

It’s your fault to make light of your own life.

唱、

稟告小姐在上聽              海棠有話說分明

爹娘亦為兒女好              只是悔婚不該應

但你因此來輕生              理比爹娘錯三分

Then think of that man

He cherishes his dignity and

he will take the imperial exam for whom,

My young lady, you, my young lady.

You have the gut to die,

Why not use it to chase your happiness?

Marriage comes by destiny,

And it won’t change anyway.

你也念那讀書子 他是呀、男兒膝下有黃金

此番發怒去趕考 不為小姐為何人

女有烈性去就死 何如烈性來求成

況且姻緣前生定 那有失手墮埃塵

Dialogue:

In my opinion,

白、

依海棠尋思呵

Sing:

You are like silk, my young lady.

Easy to weave but tough to cut.

唱、

小姐好比一匹綾              裁剪比布費精神

Dialogue:

My lady, how about running away from home together?

白、

小姐小姐，不如主僕雙雙出走也

Sing:

You are good at making embroidery and

I am familiar with tiny things in social life.

唱、

侯門繡戶小姐慣              街坊之事海棠能

It is because the society then has the tendencies of being firm-minded and righteous that there were heroes appeared in turmoil like those in Wulonghui. When the Xuanjuan(宣卷) was finished and people were about to go home, I remembered the moon was bright upon the sky, and the horizon looked white in night. Grandpa Jianzhang said it was the same weather when “the long-hair”[1] rose in rebellion. There might be wars during the Republic of China period.

[1] “The long-hair” is a literal translation of the rebel people who joined in Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 太平天國 to against the Qing Dynasty. Under the governance of the Qing Dynasty, people needed to shave hair and to have a braid, which the rebel people didn’t do, so they were called the long-hair.

Songs in the autumn night

【子夜秋歌】

In our countryside, the festivals in autumn were usually not lively because people were busy farming. Before and after the Mid-Autumn festival, people in Hu Village went to the Xiayan River (下沿江) to cut the rice. Xiayan River was in the zones of Yuyaoci Stream (餘姚慈溪), the lower stretch of Caoe River (曹娥江). It belonged to Pingyang (平陽). The rice field there matured early than in Sheng County (嵊縣). Thus, in the Mid-Autumn festival, the only thing that different from ordinary was that people would go to the street and eat a moon cake. While, on the second day of the seventh lunar month, there were celebrations in Sanjie Town. There would be opera shows, and people from neighboring villages would come. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month[1], families in Hu Village put food on their eave or window to pray for happiness. The process was quite simple: they asked the younger daughter to thread a needle in the dark. If she succeeded, everything would go well. Daughters also needed to wear earrings on that day. They put colored threads went through the ear piercing and tied it. Moreover, on the birthday of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, all families would bum joss sticks piously and set a bowl of water on the ground in front of the door. Besides, in the middle of the seventh lunar month, people in Hu Village would cook meals to worship their ancestors. On autumn equinox[2], there would be Obon Festival in the pavilion at the crossing, and women would worship Longhua (龍華) in the big temple under the bridge.

[1] Chinese Valentine’s Day

[2] September 23th

我鄉下秋天的節過得清淡，因為這一晌田裡很忙。中秋前後胡村人還到下沿江客作割稻，下沿江是曹娥江下游餘姚慈溪一帶，那裡是平陽地方，田稻比嵊縣的早熟。所以胡村人雖中秋節也除了去街上買一個月餅來吃吃，別無張致。倒是七月初二的三界鎮上有花迎，扮台閣做戲文，四鄉的人都趕來。七月初七乞巧夜，胡村人家在檐頭或樓窗口陳設瓜果拜雙星，都極其簡單，惟教小女兒在暗處拿線穿進針里，穿得進就是乞得了巧了。又女兒戴耳環，先是用綵線一針穿過耳孔，就用綵線系住，亦在乞巧這一天。還有是地藏王菩薩生日，家家戶戶都點香插在門前地上，擺一碗清水。此外是七月半做羹飯拜祖宗，秋分在大橋頭路亭里做盂蘭盆會，又婦女們到橋下大廟裡拜龍華會。

I was not interested in the big temple in Hu Village. I only went there when my mother and aunt worshiped. However, I liked the Earth God temple at the roadside. It was a tile-roofed house with mud walls and mud ground. There was only one stone statue, but it was grand and magnificent. Old candle wax and left joss sticks and candles were on the burner table. Kids always played there. In early autumn, the sun was blazing outside and cicada chirping everywhere, however, it was cool in the temple. People said that when Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋)[1] was young, he had pastured cattle. He took a snap on the ground in an Earth God temple, stretching his arms and legs, putting a cattle stick above his head. It looked like the character, Tian (天). A person who can take auspices was frightened by the shepherd boy and kicked him. Zhu Yuanzhang turned over and fell asleep again. He tucked his arms and legs and put the cattle stick on his shoulder, which formed the character Zi (子). The geomancer knew that the boy must be the emperor in the future.

[1] The first emperor of the Ming Dynasty

我對胡村的大廟沒有興趣，小時只跟母親與姑母燒香去過。但我喜歡路邊的土地祠，瓦屋一間，泥牆泥地，只供一尊石像，倒是大氣磅薄，香案上惟有陳年的蠟淚及點剩的香棒，牧童多來玩耍，早秋尚遍野驕陽蟬聲，此地卻陰涼。他們說明太祖朱元璋小時看牛，便也是在這樣的土地祠地上午睡，手腳張開，一根趕牛的烏筱橫在頭上。成了個天字，一個會望氣的人經過見了大驚，想這牧童如何可以，就用腳踢踢他，他側過身去仍睡，這回是斂攏手腳，把烏筱橫在肩項上，成了個子字，那望氣的人就知道這小小孩童是真命天子了。

People would drink Baijiu (白酒)[1] on Double Ninth Festival. They drank in the Hu’s ancestral temple under the bridge. People of Hu Village from Hehuatang (荷花塘), Nijiashan (倪家山), and Lujia’ao (陸家奧) all came. We called the most respectful elder in our village Baijiutaigong (白酒太公). He was old and had many descendants that all people of Hu Village can be called his children. He had another name in the family tree. Because the first generation left the cemetery, the family on duty in the turn to visit the grave on Tomb-Sweeping Day should have music and bang drums. As for the Baijiu on Double Ninth Festival, there was no feast.

[1] A kind of Chinese traditional liquor.

重陽節吃白酒。這一天吃白酒是在橋下胡氏宗祠里，荷花塘倪家山陸家奧三胡村的人都來，白酒太公最尊，胡村人都是他的子孫，家譜里他另有名諱，因是頭代祖宗，且留下塋田，輪值之家清明上墳用鼓樂，及於重陽節備辦白酒，白酒是不設殽饌。

Besides this, the feast prepared in the temple I remembered was that Jianchang elder (建昌太公) made four tables of the feast to apologize to others. Because Jianchang elder in Hehuatang hit Jiezhai elder (潔齋公公) in Nijiashan by his tobacco pipe, people thought he was wrong and punished him. Jianchang elder was patriarch, the head of a family. When I studied at the Fifth Middle in Shaoxing and asked to write the name of my patriarch, I did not know that I should write my father’s name. Therefore, my transcript in the first term was sent to the Jianchang elder.

在祠堂里辦酒，此外我記得一次是荷花塘建昌太公用潮煙管打了倪家山潔齋公公，大家都評建昌太公理錯，罰他在祖宗面前擺了四桌酒向各房謝罪。建昌太公是家長，眾家之長，後來我進紹興第五中學，要寫學生的家長姓名，我不知是該寫我父親的，第一學期的成績單便寄到建昌太公那裡。

I loved the sunny day and hated spring rains, plum rains, and autumn rains. When it rained, people cut the seeding of sweet potatoes and ramies, both of which were damp. When people hulled grain and pounded rice, it was heard like rainfall. The sound of hitting grain and making straw shoes also made me think of a rainy day. It was only if it rained on a sunny day, and raindrops accompanied the big sun, there was a rainbow after thundering. It was such a beautiful day. Sunny days were more than rainy days. After autumn rains, it became cool. Sun became lovely. People in the countryside were busy harvesting. They threshed rice in rice containers again and again. Master Hong Yi said that the most beautiful sound is the sound of beating the wooden fish. The music of threshing rice was also as peaceful as that.

我喜歡晴天，春雨梅雨秋霖我都厭惡，雨天鄉下人在家裡做的事，如剪蕃薯苗，刮苧麻，濕漉漉的不用說，即襲谷舂米，我亦何時聽見都覺其是和在雨聲里，還有是睡打稻草編織草鞋，那聲音總使我想起雨天。惟有晴天落白雨，大太陽大雨點，雷聲過後半邊天上垂下虹霓，最是好看。但秋天到底晴天多，秋霖過了，殘暑已退，太陽就另是一番意思。鄉下人忙於收成，畈上稻桶里打稻，一記一記非常穩實，弘一法師說最好聽的聲音是木魚，稻桶的聲音便也有這樣的安定。

Because life was so peaceful, the sunshine, the water flow, and the song of cicadas on the dam made me think of profound meaning. The song of cicadas was like the long way; people only cared about leaving and neglected the sadness. However, people who were left were worried about his leaving. He faded away. But the bed was still warm. The bowl he used and the mirror used to makeup before she saw him off were still there. She had to make everything well included herself at home, and she would wait for him. In the meaningful autumn, even the water plants in the stream and pond also had such faithful.

人世因是這樣的安定的，故特別覺得秋天的斜陽流水與畈上蟬聲有一種遠意，那蟬聲就像道路漫漫，行人只管駸駸去不已，但不是出門人的傷情，而是閨中人的愁念，想着他此刻在路上，長亭短亭，漸去漸遠漸無信，可是被裡餘溫，他動身時吃過的茶碗，及自己早晨起來給他送行，忙忙梳頭打開的鏡奩，都這樣在着。她要把家裡弄得好好的，連她自己的人，等他回來。秋天的漫漫遠意里，溪澗池塘的白蘋紅蓼便也於人有這樣一種貞親。

After the Double Ninth Festival, it became cold. The young women in the village began to use perfume and cosmetics in the morning. When their brothers or uncles saw them, they would feign surprise and say: “Wow! How thick the frost is before morning!” Young women laughed as well. My third elder brother was a platoon leader in Shaoxing camp. His newly married bride lived in Shaoxing and grew up in the city. They went back to Hu Village to visit the ancestral temple and prepared a wedding feast. In the first year, she stayed at home and looked after the elder female members in the family. She opened the box and took out satin. As it was late autumn, both satin and scissors were cool. In this circumstance, the body temperature was particularly warm. It was also warm and sweet of the newly married bride.

重陽過後，天氣漸漸冷了，村裡的新婦與女兒們清早梳洗開始搨起水粉，堂兄弟與叔伯見了故件驚詫說：「哎？天快亮時霜落得這樣厚！」她們也笑起來。我三哥哥在紹興營里當排長，新討了三嫂嫂，是紹興城裡人，回胡村參見宗祠，辦喜酒，頭一年就留她在家裡奉侍娘娘，她開箱子取出緞子裁剪，因為已入深秋，剪刀與緞子涼涼的，就覺得人體的溫馨，且亦是新婦的溫馨。

The Village Theatrical Performance

【戲文時】

The October was also called Xiaoyangchun (小陽春)[1]. In this period, rice had already been reaped and the leaves of those Chinese tallows on the roadsides had turned red, which were even more beautiful than maple leaves. There was frost in the morning and sunset before night. Suddenly one day, leaves fell and shells of the seeds dropped. The seeds, jiuzi (桕子), were left on the branches, more white than snow while different from willow catkins and plum blossoms as well, shining upon families living in Xishan (溪山) erea. Also at that time, the King Tupu (嶀浦大王) would have a royal progress. Villages where the King Tupu arrived would prepare vegetarian food to serve the god and people who came to worship. The Bodhisattva would only stay for a while in small villages. They would prepare a lunch as the only meal or just distribute glutinous rice cake. While in larger villages, there would be theatrical performance to invite the Bodhisattva to settle down and continue his progress another day. Hu village held performances every year at this time.

[1] Xiaoyangchun is a phrase describing a certain climate phenomenon, which usually happens in October. When it happens, the weather will be quite warm though the winter is coming soon.

十月小陽春，田稻都割盡了，村口陌上路側烏(木+臼)樹，比楓葉還紅得好看，朝霜夕陽，不知何時起忽然落葉殼脫，只見枝上的(木+臼)子比雪還白，比柳絮比梅花又另是一種體態，把溪山人家都映照了。此時嶀浦大王出巡，經過的村子都辦素齋酎神，招待迎神諸眾。較小的村子菩薩只停一停，打了午齋或只分(米+么)(米+茲)，較大的村子則做戲文，請菩薩落座，翌日再啟行，胡村也年年此時必做戲文。

There were three Bodhisattvas. One had a white face; the second had a red face and another had a black face. They might be those three sworn brothers, Liu Bei (劉備), Guan Yu (關羽), and Zhang Fei (張飛), but they were all called the King Tupu. Three palanquins carrying the three gods moved slowly when progressed. In front of the palanquins, there were drummer, bulgers and people who were responsible for holding flags, signs, blunderbusses and umbrellas. Before them, there were people performing the dragon and lion dance and juggling. The progress crowd was led by more than ten gongs, five or six pairs of horns, and a group of people who belonged to shifan team (十番班). More than a thousand people would carry torches or lanterns round the god palanquins. Gongs and blunderbusses sounded along the way. It seemed that roads and bridges could be built the moment they met a mountain or a river.

菩薩有三尊，一尊白臉，一尊紅臉，一尊黑臉，也許就是桃園結義起兵的劉關張三兄弟，但是叫嶀浦天王。出巡時三乘神轎，緩緩而行。轎前鼓吹手，旗牌銃傘，又前面是盤龍舞獅子，耍流星拋菜瓶，最前面是十幾封大銅鑼，五、六對號筒，還有是串十番的人，此外神轎前後手執油柴火把及燈籠的有千人以上，一路鳴鑼放銃，真是逢山開路，遇水搭橋。

Shifan team could perform full-scale dramas of Shaoxing. Instruments that were often used include gongs, drums, cymbals, bamboo flutes, and stringed instruments. People only sang but did not wear any make-up or performing clothes. All the large villages along the progress routine had such a performing team, and they would follow the Bodhisattvas to every village where they settled down. When there was no village theatrical performance, only one team would sing in front of the Bodhisattva and other teams would perform at local rich families, who would offer them food in turn. One year, my father together with the shifan team of Hu village to meet the god. On their way they heard that the shifan team of Xiawang village (下王村) would perform Xuanyuan Mirror (軒轅鏡) that night at Lutian village (蘆田村). People in Xiawang village and Lutian village were rich and the Xuanyuan Mirror was a difficult drama, so they had to remember their parts when resting at pavilions or field ridges along the way. At dusk, the god settled down at Lutian village. Both shifan teams of Xiawang village and Hu village were invited to perform and the two families were neighbors by chance. The competition started in the sounds of gongs and drums. Xiawang team sang the Xuanyuan Mirror first, and Hu team sang the Zijin Whip (紫金鞭). However, the Xiawang team could only perform the first half of Xuanyuan Mirror. Seeing them stop singing, my father beat the drum and conducted the Hu team to sing the later half. It was surprisingly brilliant, drawing women stepped out the room to listen. The house was surrounded by next-door people and many others who were from other village to worship the god. All of them said that Hu team was better than Xiawang team. The host family felt having the honor, lighting up more candles and making new tea. They even prepared alcohol for people to drink, with various desserts.

十番班是唱紹興大戲，有鑼鼓鉦笛弦索來配，惟唱而不扮，菩薩出巡時較大的村子都出一班娛神，跟菩薩到落座的村裡，若無戲文的，便留一班在神座前唱，其餘則在較有名望的人家打齋，就在那家的堂前唱。一年我父親與胡村一班十番去迎神，路上得知下王的十番今晚到蘆田要唱軒轅鏡，下王與蘆田都是財主村子，軒轅鏡又是一本難戲，胡村人就在路亭里在田塍邊歇下來時看戲本，一路走一路記。傍晚到蘆田，菩薩落座。諸眾被請到各家打齋，胡村與下王兩班十番恰好落在同一台門的兩份人家堂前。鑼鼓開場，先是下王班唱軒轅鏡，胡村班唱紫金鞭，隨後那邊軒轅鏡只會唱半本，這邊見那邊停了就來接下去，是我父親擊鼓執拍板指點，竟是唱得非常出色，引得女眷都出來聽，堂前庭下大門口擠滿了左鄰右舍，及從各村各保迎神同來的諸眾，都說胡村十番班壓倒了下王十番班，主家也得了體面，添燭泡茶，搬出半夜酒，茶食點心八盤頭。

I liked the dragon dance the most during the process of worshipping the bodhisattva. The dragon was two to three zhang (丈) long, needing eight people to hold it up. One man held the head, and one man held the tail. The other six men would hold the body part, while one man in the front of the dragon would hold a jewel-like ball. The dragon head had bamboos as its bones, and clothing and colorful papers were its skins. The body part was actually a piece of cloth, drawn with scales of the dragon, which was just like the skin of the dragon. There would be lantern-like bamboo bones at a distance of two chi (尺) from the head to tail, tied with strings and on a five chi long stick, which was as thick as a tea cup. Every performer would hold one of the sticks. As the whole dragon was held up, it seemed to fly in the sky, graceful and wriggling. Before the bodhisattva arrived at Hu village, the dragon arrived first, while the seat for god was still at the foot of Taideng Mountain (台登山). The rice in the field had already been harvested, making enough room for the dragon dance. At that moment, together with the loud sounds of blunderbuss and gongs, two dragons played with two balls, flying up and down in the sky. There were also two dragons playing in the other field, while there were still another two dragon following the bodhisattva to the ancestor hall.

迎菩薩我頂愛看盤龍，龍有二、三丈長，八個人擎，一人擎龍頭，一人擎龍尾，六人擎龍身，前面一人擎珠，龍頭是布與竹骨再加彩紙箔做成，龍身只是一幅布繪上龍鱗，就像被剝下的龍皮，每隔二尺套一個像燈籠殼子的竹骨，用帶子系著，這竹骨扎在一根五尺長杯口粗細的棍子上，由一個人高高擎起，如此八個人擎着走時，便有飄飄然蜿蜒之勢。菩薩出巡到胡村時，神座還在台登山腳下，前頭的龍就已到了村口，路邊田裡割過稻，正好盤龍，當下數聲銃響，鑼聲大震，兩條龍飛舞盤旋，各戲一顆珠，另外田裡也是兩條龍在盤。但還有兩條龍則一直跟菩薩到祠堂里。

Behind the dragons, there were people holding signs, on which there were fengtiao yushun (風調雨順)[1], wugu fengdeng (五穀豐登)[2], guotai minan (國泰民安)[3] and zhaungyuan jidi (狀元及第) written in Chinese characters. The god palanquin followed behind. It was held by four people on its way. After entering the village, there were four more people to hold it. Guided by delicate music, they passed by our home and moved on. People in the village, men and women, the young and the old, all came out to worship the god with burnt incense. The front door of the ancestor hall was widely opened. When the god arrived, music muted. Blunderbuss and gongs sang at the time. The captain shouted and waved his whip first. Having seen his sign, people outside started to shoot off cannons. The roof and tiles were shaking slightly under its power. In the loud sound of fireworks, the god palanquin was held into the ancestor hall backwards, and then was held out. The ceremony repeated for three times and the god was finally settled down in the hall. In the yard, people restarted the dragon dance fierily. After the dance, grandpa Jianchang (建昌太公) worship the god with burnt incense and alcohol in front of the altar table, which was filled with a who pig, a whole goat, and various dishes made by villagers. People all followed grandpa jianchang to worship the god. When finishing the ceremony, it was time for performance. The stage was in the opposite of the god, and on the stage, the first play was about eight immortals celebrating the birthday of their god.

[1] It means seasonable weather with gentle breeze and timely rain.

[2] It means an abundant harvest of all crops.

[3] It means that The country is prosperous and the people are at peace.

龍之後來了幾面牌，一面牌、風調雨順，一張牌、五穀豐登，一面牌、國泰民安，一面牌、狀元及第，再後面就是神轎。神轎本是四人抬的，一進村就換了八人大轎，一派細細的音樂前導，經過我家門口大路上，村裡男女老小都出來焚香拜接，祠堂里正門大開，神轎將到時止了鼓樂，一齊放銃鳴鑼，先由校尉鳴鞭喝道，庭下連放頓地鐵炮，震得祠堂里的屋瓦皆動，又鞭炮如雨，就在這樣驚心動魄里倒抬神轎進來，三出三進，纔奉安在大殿上，於是庭下盤旋起兩條龍，非常激烈，一時舞罷，鑼銃俱止。供桌上擺起全褚全羊，及諸家齋饌，建昌太公上香獻爵，大家都拜，禮成。正對神座的戲台便開鑼，先唱做一出八仙慶壽。

[1] It’s a jacquard silk fabric, which is in a fine and thin texture.

[2] It means longevity with wealth and honor.

[3] It means that gold and jade fill the hall literally, and the deeper meaning of it is to have abundant wealth or many children in the family.

戲文時四親八眷都從遠村近保趕來，長輩及女眷是用轎子去接，家家都有幾桌人客，單是戲台下見了鄰村相識的就都款留，家家戲文時都特為裹粽子，上三界章家埠趕市備饌，客人都謙遜，主人都慷慨。堂前請酒飯點心，橋下祠堂里已戲文開頭場，一到大橋頭就聽得見鑼鼓聲，大路上人來人往，都是誰家的人客，男人穿竹布長衫加玄色馬褂，瓜皮緞帽，上綴紅頂子。女人都戴包帽，身上穿的，年青的多是竹布衫襪，亦有穿華絲葛，臉上臙脂花粉，年長的多是藍綢衫黑裙，包帽像兩片海棠葉子聯成，中間狹處齊額一勒，分向兩邊，鬆鬆的遮過耳朵，到後面梳髻處把兩片葉尖結住，頂上的頭髮依然露出，依着年齡，包帽或是寶藍緞子綉紅桃，或是玄色緞子綉海棠雙蝴蝶，或玄色緞子甚麼也不綉，但沿邊都綴珍珠。腳下穿的，年青女子天足，緞鞋兩側繡的彩鳳雙飛，小孩也是新袍褲，穿的老虎頭鞋，戴的藍緞子瓦棱帽，當前綴長命富貴或金玉滿堂四個金字，亦有只是一寸八分寬的一個帽圈，紅錦細綉，上綴一排金身小羅漢。

The stage was inside the ancestral hall. Stalls and their keepers crowed both inside and outside the hall, extending to the roadside and the field ridges. There were people selling sugarcanes, water chestnuts, oranges, calamondin orange, ginger-stained sugar (姜漬糖), dousu sugar (豆酥糖), masu sugar (麻酥糖) and sesame-seed cakes. There were also hot food, such as deep-fried dough stick, steamed buns, wonton and spicy tofu with soy sauce. Toys for children were various, too, such as muddy frogs and colorful chicken bells. The frogs were beeping and the bells were rumbling. Under the stage, the field was filled with male audience. Things that you could only see were others’ heads. The crowd was like the tide, pushing forward and pulling backwards. Women were sitting on the hatchback looking upstairs. In the noisy sounds, there was a person calling another person and also the sounds of inviting others to have some desserts at home. Uncles or cousins would buy sugarcane or oranges for their female relatives upstairs. They sat at the threshold to watch the play, while the men beneath also watched them.

戲台在祠堂里，祠堂內外擺滿攤販，直擺到大路上田塍邊，賣的甘蔗荸薺橘子金橘，姜漬糖，豆酥糖，麻酥糖，芝麻洋錢餅，還有熱氣蒸騰的是油條饅頭雲吞辣醬油豆腐，及小孩吹得嘟嘟叫的泥蛙彩雞響鈴搖咕咚，一片沸沸揚揚。戲台下站滿男看客，只見人頭攢動，推來推去像潮水，女眷們則坐在兩廂看樓上，眾音嘈雜，人叢中覓人喚人，請人客去家裡吃點心。看樓上女客便不時有娘舅表兄弟從台下買了甘蔗橘子送上來，她們臨闌檻坐着看戲，而台下的男人則也看戲，也看她們。

When doing the village theatrical performance, it was really a great scenery. There were people performing on the stage and audience under the stage were also immersed in the show. From the stream under the bridge to the grass and trees on the riversides, it made everything have happy atmosphere. Though that was in the time of Republic of China, we could still watch a show and enjoy the prosperity. However, to watch a performance in theater nowadays in cities, you are only watching, without any engagement. The beautiful scenery only exists on the stage, and nothing here under the stage and in the society outside.

戲文時真是一個大的風景，戲子在台上做，還要台下的觀眾也在戲中，使得家家戶戶，連橋下流水，溪邊草木，皆有喜氣，歌舞昇平原來是雖在民國世界亦照樣可以有。但如今都市裡上戲館看戲，則單是看，自己一點亦不參加，風景惟是戲台上的，台下與外面的社會沒有風景。

Plays that had been performed in Hu village were great plays in Shaoxing. Occasionally, they also did what a huiban (徽班) would do, which was also called diaoqiangban (掉腔班). The main singer would only sing the most half of the sentence, while others at the backstage would sing the final words together. Plays of Shaoxing were quite familiar with Beijing Opera, and there were only few differences in singing skills. Huqin (胡琴) were often used in Beijing Opera, while in Shaoxing plays, we used bamboo flutes as the mian instrument. Both of the two instruments had loud and clear sounds, but bamboo flute could be played rising and falling as well. Shaoxing plays learnt from yuanqu (元曲) and kunqu (崑曲) to use the bamboo flute, and used the banhu (板胡). There are three types of huqin. One is erhu (二胡) used in the Beijing opera. One usually plays together with a vertical bamboo flute and it plays the softest melody. And the third is banhu, which is much similar to erhu. Beijing opera and Shaoxing plays were both official and serious, from the singing skills, music, to their division of different characters. The content of them varied from folk to the royal court, and also included uprisings from dynasty to dynasty. They could be compared to the daya (大雅) and xiaoya (小雅) parts in the Chinese Book of Songs. Well, others like Sheng county plays (嵊縣小戲), zhuizi (墜子) of Henan Province, dagu (大鼓) of Shandong province, they could compare to the guofeng (國風) part in that book. Guangdong opera was like the nanyin (南音) part. The diaoqiangban (掉腔班) was very unique. It might evolve from ancient songs.

卻說胡村戲文時是做的紹興大戲。偶或做徽班，即掉腔班，一句戲前台只唱大半句，尾巴由後台眾口接唱。紹興戲像京戲，惟唱工不同。且京戲唱時配胡琴，而紹興戲唱時則配樂以橫笛為主，胡琴亮烈，橫笛嘹亮，但橫笛多了個悠揚。紹興戲的橫笛是元曲崑曲的流變，且更配以板胡而已。胡琴有三種，一即京戲裡的，亦稱二胡，最剛，又一是配洞簫的，最柔，而板胡則近似二胡。京戲與紹興戲的唱工與配樂的直諒，及生旦凈丑的明劃，取材自閭巷之事以至於天子之朝廷及歷朝民間起兵，皆極其正大，可比詩經的大雅小雅，而此外如嵊縣小戲及河南墜子山東大鼓等則是國風，廣東戲亦只能取它的南音。但掉腔班的來歷較奇，或是古昔楊柳枝和歌的流變。

The first play was Baxian qingshou (八仙慶壽), and the second play was Tikui chuo caishen (踢魁綽財神). After those two plays, other performance would follow the performing list. Chinese dance were evolved into opera, while the tikui chou caishen was still in the form of dancing. The actor needed to wear a mask. Kuixing (魁星)[1] was not like an intellectual but a general. He would carry a brush pen in his right hand and a dou斗[2] in his left hand. The brush pen would appoint the zhuangyuan (狀元), and the dou would weigh all essays from the world. The dance was powerful. In Chinese folk stories, there were immortals called wenquxing (文曲星) and wuquxing (武曲星), but they are the same Kuixing. There was to lyrics of the show. Only when the kuixing held up the brush pen, people at backstage would sang “Jieyuan (解元)! Huiyuan (會元)! Zhuangyuan (狀元)! Lianzhong sanyuan (連中三元)! ”[3] for him in a loud sound of the gongs. The mask was hideous, or could also say it was extraordinary. The mask of the caishen (財神)[4] was quiet and white, symbolizing the money, silver. His eyes were narrow and long, and his beard was black. He danced with a hu (笏)[5] in his hands. When faced with wealth one could be happy but calm, it must be a prosperous era.

[1] Kuixing 魁星 was the four stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper, or the one at the tip of the bowl. In Chinese folk stories, they are immortals, and are responsible for destinies of intellectuals.

[2] It is a measure for weighing grain.

[3] In ancient China, there was Imperial Examination, which include three parts, xiangshi 鄉試, huishi 會試 and dianshi 殿試. Jieyuan 解元, Huiyuan 會元 and Zhuangyuan 狀元 are the first prizes of the examinations respectively. Lianzhong sanyuan 連中三元 here means that a person wins all those three first prizes in Imperial Examination, which refers to great destiny of an intellectual.

[4] It is a god who is responsible for manage one’s wealth.

[5] It is a small tablet, usually made from jade. When Chinese ministers went to meet the emperor, they would carve important things that they want to discuss with the emperor on it.

紹興戲開鑼敲過頭場二場，先以八仙慶壽，次則踢魁綽財神，然後照戲牌上點的戲出演。中國的舞皆已化成戲，惟踢魁綽財神仍是舞，戴的假面。魁星不像書生，卻是武相，右手執筆，左手執斗，筆點狀元，斗量天下文章，舞旋踢弄極其有力，民間說文曲星武曲星，只是一個魁星。踢魁綽財神皆不唱，惟魁星把筆題空時，一題一棒鑼響，後場有人代唱，「解元！會元！狀元！連中三元！」魁星的假面極猙獰，但與其說猙獰不如說崢嶸。財神則白面，細眼黑須，執笏而舞，倒是非常文靜，白面象徵銀子，卻只覺是清冷冷的喜氣，財富可以這樣的文靜有喜氣，這就真是盛世了。

【過年】

Since I was born, Hu (胡) village contained only two or three families whose farmland and cemetery were between twenty to thirty mu[1] (畝). The only two or three families that could be considered as well-off were all doing a bit of business. They managed to earn a decent amount of money through renting out the farmland. Every year, earnings from renting out seven or eight mu of the farmland, plus the harvest from their own farmland of five or six mu, they were able to get enough rice for the family for the entire year. Besides, there were other incomes from growing tea, bamboo and sericulture. In every family, the male and female adults would always get up early and work until night. They also hired some long-term workers to watch over the cows and hired craftsmen from workshops to take up farming. From the fact that guests kept coming and going, dishes could be served immediately, you could tell that this was a lively and prosperous family. Beyond this place were all broken hills and wasteland. Many workers couldn’t get enough earnings for food through farming, so they chose to earn some extra money through carrying loads and working for short-term jobs. They sometimes harvested the crops in Yanjiang (沿江),sometimes carried private salt in Yuyao (餘姚), so that they could earn money to buy food and clothes. The Spring Festival period was always the most difficult time. People would dodge debts or collect debts from small amount four hao[2] (毫)or eight hao, to big amount five yuan or ten yuan. To return money to creditors, debtors always had to pawn a lot of their clothes and sacrificial utensils.

[1] Translator’s note: mu (畝), is the unit of area that is often used in China. For more information see: Wu Chengluo 吳承洛, Zhongguo duliang hengshi 中國度量衡史 [The History of Weights and Measures in China] (Business Press, 1993), 47.

[2] Translator’s note: hao(毫), it means jiao (角) in Chinese. One yuan equals to ten jiao in China. For more information see：Dai Zhiqiang 戴志強，Zhongguo qianbi shoucang jianshang quanji中國錢幣收藏鑒賞全集 [An Encyclopedia of Chinese Coins] (Jilin Publishing Group Co., Ltd., 2008), 56.

從我出生，胡村有己田塋田共二、三十畝的不過兩三家，尚有兩三家稱為殷實的都是靠做點生意活動活動，總算梢田本錢接得着，年年梢得七、八畝田種，加上己田五、六畝，一年的飯米歸得齊，外有茶山竹山養蠶來補湊，一家的壯丁男婦都早起夜做，還雇長工看牛佬，又常請百作工匠來做生活，人來客去現成肴饌搬得出，就見得是熱鬧堂堂有風光的人家了。此外多是耙山墾地不夠吃，靠挑腳打短，去沿江客作割稻，到餘姚挑私鹽，來糴米添衣。最是年關難過，五元十元乃至四毫八毫都討債躲債，衣飾與祭器亦在當典里不知沒了多少。

Nevertheless, the rituals and music tradition for celebrating festivals since the Han and Tang dynasties had always been carried out. Every year during the Spring Festival, all families went to buy goods for greeting the New Year. Some families would even kill pigs and sheep, make rice cakes and rice dumplings. On the 23rd day of the twelfth month, people would worship the heaven and the earth at the edge of eaves by setting off firecrackers, worship the kitchen bodhisattva in the front of the hall by burning the old portrait and replacing with a new one, which was also a woodblock godlike portrait. There was two line of words aside:

雖然如此，漢唐以來盛時的禮樂，人世的慷慨繁華，民間亦還是奉行。每年過年必趕市辦年貨，家家殺雞，有的還宰豬殺羊，又必舂年糕裹粽子。十二月廿三送灶君菩薩上天，除夕在檐頭祭天地，祭天地要放爆竹。又堂前拜家堂菩薩，又供養灶君菩薩從天上回任，舊的菩薩畫像送上天時焚化了，現在貼上新的，也是木版印的王者之像，旁邊兩行字：

[1] Translator’s note: The two lines of words were written by Lin Daqian (林大欽) in Ming Dynasty. For more information see: Lin,Dachun 林大春，Dongpu taishi zhuan 東莆太史傳 [Biography of Court Historian Dongpu] (Ming dynasty).

天增歲月人增壽，春滿乾坤福滿門。

After finishing worshiping, families would have a reunion dinner. They would even invite the neighbours to join them. Children always carried bags, which were full of melon seeds, peanuts, fried beans, dried sweet potato, and also the “lucky money”[1] (壓歲錢)for the new year. The entire family would stay up for the first dawn of the New Year while red candles were burning in the front of the hall and offerings were displayed under the portrait of ancestors. Doors were wide open in the front of the courtyard, in the kitchen, in the rooms upstairs and downstairs, under the bright light of burning candles. People would scatter a pinch of fried rice cake and sweet potato chips at the foot of the bed and in the barrel of the windmill, and they lay the dustpans and broomsticks on the ground to let them rest as they just had a hardworking year. The debts of copper and silver were settled on New Year’s Eve, when the creditors were expected to be polite for the sake of good luck for the new year. As far as I know, people of Hu village never fight over the debt, never engage the police or be sued. Very few people had a big amount of pawned goods, usually just small amount. When I was little, on the New Year’s Eve, there were also people who collected debts at night, carrying lanterns. Although I cannot say how serious these collections were, they only happed on the New Year’s Eve. As soon as the hour passed, these great adversities also passed. People were quietly worried, but still happy.

[1] Translator’s note: “lucky money” (壓歲錢) refers to the red envelopes given by the elders to the minors during the Spring Festival. After having the New Year’s Eve dinner and receiving the “lucky money”, the minors should stay up until dawn for the luck of the elders. In China, people believe that younger generations stay up to dawn （守歲）on the Chinese New Year’s Eve can extend the life of their elders, which is considered as the embodiment of filial piety. And the elders stay up to dawn （守歲）is to say farewell and show respect to the year has just passed, which is considered as the embodiment of cherishing time. For more information see: He, Zhiping 何志平,  Chuxi除夕 [Chinese New Year’s Eve],  in Juzhang jianggu 局長講古 [The Director Speaks on Tradition] (中國香港民政事務局, 2007).

祭畢分歲，全家團圓吃年夜飯，把鄰人也你拉我請。小孩袋裡都裝滿瓜子花生炒豆蕃薯干，還有壓歲錢。堂前高燒紅燭，掛起祖宗的畫像，陳列祭品，一家人守歲。堂前及灶間及樓上樓下房間皆四門大開，燈燭點得明晃晃，床腳下及風車稻桶里都撒上一撮炒米花年糕絲蕃薯片，把鋤頭犁耙掃帚畚箕都平放休息，因為它們這一年裡也都辛苦了。銅錢銀子的債是討到除夕亥時為止，但這一天便債主亦要客客氣氣，因凡百要吉利，不可說不好的話。據我所知，胡村人常年亦沒有過為債務打架，訴警察或吃官司，有抵押中保的大數並不多，其餘都不過是小數目出入。我小時家裡，除夕就也有人手提燈籠來收帳討債，怎樣嚴重我雖不知，但總是除夕，時辰一過，天大的困難也就過去了。做人憂心悄悄，但是仍舊喜氣。

After the New Year’s Eve passed, the old year was gone, while the new year was greeted. People would shut the door, turn off the lights, and finally go to bed. And they always set off three big firecrackers before shutting the door. On the first day of first month on the lunar calendar, they would also set off three firecrackers after opening the door. Although it was in the countryside of China, households also had the same kind of firecrackers, just like households of Tokyo. But the joy sometimes could be cheerless.

除夕守歲到子字初，送了舊歲，迎了新歲，纔關門熄燈燭，上樓就寢，關門時放三響大爆竹。正月初一起來開門亦放三響，中國是雖鄉村裡，亦有如帝京里的爆竹散入千門萬戶，而如此繁華亦仍能是清冷冷的喜悅。

On the New Year’s Day, every family hung the portraits of their ancestors in the front of the hall. In the portraits, male ancestors wore a blue ceremonial robe with white cranes embroidered on the chest and a red top hat, while female ancestors all wore hats decorated with phoenixes, red ceremonial robes also embroidered with phoenixes, and belts decorated with jewels. The quality of their clothes was beyond our ability to assess, and each showed some of the people’s distinctiveness. The Japanese equivalent would be if all the people were elevated to samurais and beauties.

正月初一家家堂前掛的祖宗的畫像，爺爺都是藍色朝衣紅櫻帽，胸前繡的白鶴，娘娘都是鳳冠霞帔，紅袍寶帶錦裙，也繡的白鶴，冠服亦不知是甚麼品級，面貌亦少有個性，卻好比日本的人形是一切武士及美人的升華為一。

A portrait was hung on the pillar in the front hall: My grandfather sat in the middle, while two grandmothers who were originally married and remarried to him were sitting aside. These two grandmothers both died in their young age. Western carvings or paintings always emphasized the facial expressions of the characters. Only the Indian Buddha could completely hide the emotion. But Chinese folk painters were more skilled. They could paint people in the world and nature. When I was a child, I used to climb up on a chair to see the tribute on the eight-immortals table, but my mother told me that my grandparents would scold me when they knew about it, so I climbed down again. I often stared at the portrait of my grandparents for a long time, and I like them from the bottom of my heart. At the same time, I would also see my mother sitting in the front of the hall in her new clothes. It was like a vivid portrait. Everything made me feel as if nothing had ever happened in the whole world. I looked forward to getting up early in the morning on the New Year’s Day. But by the time I woke up, dawn had broken for a long time and the lobby downstairs was already full of the atmosphere of the new year.

我家掛在堂前的一軸，當中坐的爺爺，娘娘有元配及續弦兩位，皆去世時年青，坐在兩旁。西洋雕刻或繪畫人像，總強調錶情，惟印度佛像能渾然不露，但中國民間的畫工更有本領單是畫出天地人的人。我小時爬上椅子看八仙桌上的供品，聽母親說爺爺娘娘要罵了，我就又爬下來。我常時把爺爺娘娘看得很久，心裡很喜愛，又見我母親穿了新衣裳坐在堂前，也如同畫像，只覺得天下世界甚麼事情也沒有 發生。我小時惦記着正月初一早起，及至醒來，天已大亮，新年新歲早已在樓下堂前了。

Before I ran down the stairs, I saw my parents and brothers eating glutinous rice balls and rice cakes. After I washed my face, the first thing I ate was sugar tea. On New Year’s Day, people would only cook by the fire in the morning. As for lunch and dinner, they usually ate overnight food which was prepared on New Year’s Eve. These foods were served to people like the tribute to the ancestors, and people who enjoyed it also seemed like immortals and buddhas.

我來不及奔下樓梯，只見父親母親與哥哥們都在吃湯圓與年糕，我洗過臉，開口先吃糖茶。正月初一惟早餐舉火，中飯夜飯皆吃隔年飯，肴饌亦都是除夕已做好的。彷佛祭供之品，人亦成了仙佛。

I brought New Year greetings to the elders and then went to play in the front of the hall. I changed the “luck money” into coins from my mother, and then used a red string to go through the hole in the middle of the coins, making it looked like a sword, or I circled the string of coins as a belt. In the front hall, my cousins were playing Pai gow[1] (牌九), and my sisters-in-law and sisters all placed bets on them. The children were playing games with copper coins on the ground. The temple under the bridge was also extremely bustling, with seven or eight gambling tables, and suddenly it seemed that everyone here had silver and copper coins to gamble. I walked around and went back to my mother. She just sat quietly in front of the hall with my little aunt and chatted with each other. I didn’t know how to spend the New Year’s Day every year, just had the feeling that no matter how much I cherished this day, it was not enough. In the evening, every family needed to go to bed early in accordance with the Chinese tradition, because people stayed up all night on New Year’s Eve. After lighting a firecracker before closing the door, I went back to my bed. When the moon light shone through the gap between the eaves and the window, sorrow suddenly came into my heart. I unexpectedly found that the beginning and the end of this day were so vague as I spent it carelessly, which reminded me of a line from a Song poem “Grabbing drinks carelessly with shoes hanging on the tree.”[2] (掛蹻楓前草草杯).

[1] Translator’s note: Pai gow (牌九), is a traditional Chinese gambling game. For more information see: Jiang Yuerong 蔣岳蓉, Boyi neimu da jiemi 博弈內幕大解密 [The Inside of the Game is Revealed] (Human Think Tank, 2015), 78.

[2] Translator’s note: Guaqiao fengqian caoaobei (掛蹻楓前草草杯) , was adopted from poem Partridge sky, Jiang Kui (姜夔; 1154-1121).

我向長輩拜了年，就在堂前玩，把壓歲錢問母親換成大清錢，用紅頭繩編成一串，佩在腰間像一把劍，又圍攏來作寶帶。堂前堂哥哥推牌九，嫂嫂姊姊都來押，小孩則在地上簸銅錢。橋下祠堂里頂熱鬧，有七、八張賭桌，不知那裡來的人人都身上忽然有了銀毫銅元，擲骰子押牌九。我轉轉又轉到母親身邊，母親卻和小嬸嬸只在堂前清坐說話兒，每年正月初一我皆不知要怎樣纔好，只覺愛惜之不盡。而傍晚又家家例須早睡，因昨夜是除夕守了歲之故。放了關門爆竹上床，我見瓦椽與窗隙還有亮光，心裡好不悵然。這一天竟是沒有起訖的，過得草草，像宋人詞里的「掛蹻楓前草草杯」。