Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

When the boat docked at night, the servants who got the red seal first thanked the generous Lord with all gratitude, then happily tied the boat and went to the market for a stroll.

Lu Ci stopped Di Qing from opening a new simulation paper, and said amusedly: "On New Year's Eve, what questions are you still doing? I'll take you to the market. If you're lucky, you might catch up with Nuo." Vulgar."

Di Qing was slightly taken aback.

Lu Ci captured his daze, and couldn't help raising his eyebrows and asked, "Haven't you never watched the Nuo ceremony?"

Di Qing was inexplicably ashamed, and shook her head embarrassedly: "I only heard that there are in the county."

As for Dijiazhuang, which is located deep in the mountains, it is good to be able to eat enough, and at most they buy a few catties of meat to celebrate the festivals. How can it catch up with the excitement in the city?

Lu Ci smiled: "Then we have to go faster, so as not to catch up."

Just before getting off the boat, Lu Ci not only deliberately brought a small purse containing two strings of money and some silver coins, but also rummaged through the small drawer, and used a slightly larger cloth bag to pack some caramel and preserved fruit.

"Prepare for a rainy day." Lu Ci did not explain to the puzzled Di Qing, but smiled and said: "You will know in a while."

Di Qing nodded honestly, but his heart was like a mirror.

Gongzu deliberately didn't say anything at this time, he must have wanted to observe his interesting reaction for a while.

That being the case, it's better for him not to ask, lest he spoil the grandpa's elegance.

Because Di Qing seldom showed curiosity on weekdays, but he was a boring gourd who only focused on himself and the people around him, and was indifferent to irrelevant things. Lu Ci did not notice his thoughtfulness and pampering in silence.

Seeing that it was cold on New Year's Eve, he not only wrapped himself tightly, but also wrapped Di Qing, who was very angry and not afraid of the cold at all, in three layers inside and outside three layers.

It was the first time for Xiao Lihua to see Di Qing's clumsy appearance, and she couldn't help but widen her shiny cat's eyes, jumping up and down, trying to climb on top of Di Qing as usual, but Di Qing ruthlessly brushed her away.

The clothes wrapped around her body at the moment are all made by Mother Lu, and they are all new clothes made of precious materials that she herself is reluctant to wear. The interlayer is duck down bought from a merchant in Fenzhou. Warm, how can it withstand the hook of its claws, which are neither light nor heavy?

Even though it meowed in a protracted tone full of grievances, it failed to impress Di Qing's hard-hearted heart.

——His whole mind has been put on a sudden bold idea.

"Gongzu," Di Qing listened to his own drum-like heartbeat, tried his best to show that everything was as usual, stretched out his hand very naturally, and took the small cloth bag containing preserved fruit and maltose. After that, mustering up all the courage in his body, he gently held Lu Ci's with the other free hand: "Are you leaving?"

Lu Ci didn't notice the difference, and subconsciously held the hand that was only loosely holding two fingers because of the anxiety, and said with a smile, "Let's go."

In Di Qing's eyes, the grandfather's steps have always been chic and beautiful, his back is straight as if measured by a scale, there is always a light and gentle smile on the corner of his lips, and his face is picturesque...

Anyone who looks at it will have to sigh that he is the rare Mr. Pianpianjia.

He was slightly half a step behind the grandfather, feeling the warmth of being held by the hand, lowered his head slightly, and pursed his lips vigorously, trying to cover up the corners of his lips that were involuntarily raised.

Although the candy was still quietly lying in the small cloth bag in the other hand, his heart was already as sweet as eating the sweetest honey.

But Di Qing soon discovered that the small bag of sugar was indeed not for him.

Because it was New Year's Eve, most of the shops lined up along the street had their curtains closed, while there were few boat passengers, and the streets and alleys near the dock were all empty.

There was an uproar of voices, and most of them gathered in Dongshi.

Lu Ci led Di Qing through several streets without haste, and not far away, he could see children yelling and yelling from time to time. He laughed and said, "It seems that we have caught up."

Di Qing looked around, and suddenly, a group of children in strange costumes and hideous masks appeared in front of him.

He was taken aback, but his face was still straight, and he blocked Lu Ci without thinking.

Seeing that they had been hiding for a long time, these young gentlemen wearing ugly ghost masks couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when they failed to scare the passers-by. Stretch out in their direction.

Just when Di Qing was full of doubts, hesitating whether he should punch this strange team that seemed to be robbing money, Lu Ci had already leaned slightly, leaned into his ear, and ordered in a voice of restrained laughter: "Split them Just a handful of sugar."

sugar?

sugar!

Di Qing woke up like a dream, hurriedly opened the small cloth bag that was clutched all the way, grabbed a handful inside, and distributed it to everyone.

Although each person only got two or three pieces of candy the size of a fingernail, they were all good candies. It was a good harvest for the team of little ghosts who had teased many passers-by but failed to get any good things. .

They took it happily, said something in a hurry, stuffed the candy into their mouths, and let it go with satisfaction.

Di Qing frowned, watched their happy backs, then looked at the smiling Lu Ci, and finally couldn't help asking: "...Grandpa, that's what it was just now?"

"Whether it's the big Nuo ceremony in Beijing or the Nuo ceremony in the countryside, the common people have to wear ghost masks to drive away evil spirits," Lu Ci explained generously after seeing enough of Di Qing's calm and panic-stricken reaction just now: " If the people who come are poor, give them a few coins; Before everything was squandered, I found a stall selling theater masks to get rid of this status as a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered."

The luck of the two of them was not bad, and after sending away two groups of 'blockers', they found a small stall selling opera masks that shook the snare drum.

There are many kinds of masks on the stall.There are yakshas with burning eyes, crying sheep-faced ghosts, grinning pig-faced ghosts, beautiful female ghosts, and wrinkled old men...

Di Qing was dazzled by looking around.

Lu Ci's choice is much more random.He casually picked up the crying sheep-faced ghost, threw money for two masks to the stall owner, and put them on calmly.

Seeing that Lu Ci picked a sheep-masked ghost, Di Qing changed his hesitation just now, picked up the crying cow-masked ghost and put it on his face without thinking.

"Don't worry, the ropes are messed up."

Seeing that he was in a hurry, Lu Ci tied up the loose string, so he smiled and helped him untie it.

After simply helping him put it on, he tied the knot before letting go.

It was clear that when Lu Ci's fingers touched his neck and behind his ears, it was cold, but Di Qing seemed to be scalded, so stiff that he dared not move.

"All right."

Lu Ci's hand finally left, but Di Qing hadn't recovered yet.

It wasn't until Lu Ci naturally took his hand again that he was shaken and woke up suddenly. He pressed the mask hard on his face so as to cover his red ears.

Lu Ci's thoughts were all focused on the Nuo opera that could be called a group of demons dancing wildly in front of him.

Nuo operas are roughly the same everywhere, but there are still differences in many small details.

Compared with the solemnity and formality of the Nuo ceremony in the previous dynasty, the Song Dynasty's ceremony is undoubtedly much more casual, mainly for entertaining the people, and the meaning of the religious level has been much faded.

Although Lu Ci is not a person who likes to join in the fun, there is noise in his ears, and the Nuo ceremony is full of laughter and laughter in front of him. It is lively and lively. Infected by the joyful atmosphere, he is sometimes brought to laugh.

Through the mask, Di Qing couldn't see Lu Ci's expression clearly, but he could easily sense Lu Ci's good mood, so he couldn't help but also laughed.

This is the mask that the grandfather gave him.

As Di Qing thought about it, rubbing his fingers on the edge of the mask gave him a little more careful tenderness.

And the rest of the sugar, he will take it away.

Lu Ci didn't know what Di Qing was thinking about happily. After leading the crowd around, he saw that Di Qing was just following him obediently, without even facing the direction of the bustling Nuo opera. He thought he was immersed in this lively atmosphere, and suddenly laughed: "You don't like these too noisy occasions with drums and gongs?"

Di Qing was taken aback, and shook his head vigorously: "It's just that I haven't seen this battle before, so I don't dare to watch it more."

Lu Ci raised his eyebrows: "Really?"

Di Qing nodded desperately.

What he said was not a lie—it was just that what he liked was not the Nuo opera itself, which children love so much, but the aspect of being able to go out with the grandfather holding hands, and the two of them wandered together.

Lu Cimo was silent for a while, and then through the crying sheep-faced ghost mask, he casually said something like a real ghost: "The Nuo ceremony is not for you to watch for nothing. I should tell you in advance, tomorrow I will focus on the theme of Nuo ritual changes with the past dynasties, and I will write a few poems and essays on the topic, you have to be prepared."

When I was studying, I went out for spring outings and autumn outings. Don’t I have to write a travel note?

The weeping sheep-faced ghost turned around gracefully, looking at the weeping bull-faced ghost leisurely.

The bull-faced ghost really wanted to cry now.

"........."

He didn't have the slightest thought anymore, and said in a steady voice: "I understand."

The sheep-faced ghost nodded in satisfaction, and continued to lead the listless cow-faced ghost forward.

Di Qing cheered up now, calmed down his little thoughts that had been running around before, and looked at what Nuo Su was doing seriously.

Otherwise, if you can't write an article and make Gongzu look disappointed, he might wish to slam his head against the wall to death.

It's just that when his casually looking eyes fell on a certain place, he stopped suddenly.

It was a pair of father and son who seemed to be intimate and ordinary - a young man with a beautiful child carved from ice and a beautiful embroidered hat on his shoulders, as if he was looking for something, he hurriedly pushed aside the crowd and wanted to go out.

If someone else saw this scene, they would think that a family of three got separated in the crowd, and they were anxious to find someone to join them.

Di Qing frowned, always feeling that something was wrong.

He kept staring at the father and son who were gradually pushing away from the crowd, which made Lu Ci unavoidably pay attention to the movement on the other side.

Lu Ci only glanced briefly, and he was keenly aware of where the violations made Di Qing unclear.

He held Di Qing's hand tightly, and chased after the father and son in the direction they left without hesitation.

After being staggered twice, Di Qing regained consciousness quickly, took big strides to follow easily, and while removing the mask of the bull-faced ghost, said anxiously: "Grandfather also thinks that father and son are suspicious?"

Lu Ci nodded: "This person probably has accomplices waiting outside. If he reports to the police right now, it will definitely be too late. The main reason is that you and I are not familiar with the road conditions here, so it's best to stop him before meeting him."

If he is familiar with the terrain and he has a large number of people, it is better to consider killing them all.

However, he had just given his servants a vacation and had never been here before. If he was too greedy, he would make a mistake, and if he was not sure, the gangsters would catch them all.

Both Di Qing and Lu Ciju noticed that the clothes of the man with the child on his shoulders were shabby, and the color was gray and inconspicuous, which was undoubtedly abnormal.

If the whole family really came out to have fun, why would they not even be willing to change into some decent clothes?

Even children from poor families will pack up their spiritual clothes as much as possible during the New Year and holidays, and then talk about going out.

If the child is also dressed in ordinary clothes, that's fine, but the clothes are worth a lot at first glance, and the appearance is also icy and cute, not at all like the mediocre appearance of the man below.

Putting aside the fact that the son is not like the father, according to common sense, no matter how much parents love their children, they will not dress up their children like rich children, pile up gold and jade, and even wear new clothes that are slightly decent. Not ready?

To take a step back, if they really misunderstood people with malicious speculations, it would be better than letting go of a villain who is very likely to be a kidnapper because of their scruples.

Although Lu Ci and Di Qing chased quickly, the man was not slow at all.

Seeing that the two sides were separated by seven or eight feet, and the other party was about to push through the crowd and go into the alley with few people, Lu Ci made a decisive decision, took off the mask, and shouted: "The kidnapper dares to run!"

As soon as he drank it, the people around Lu Ci were shocked and puzzled, and they all looked at him.

As for the man's next reaction, his and Di Qing's suspicions were instantly confirmed.

The kidnapper just took advantage of the chaos to steal the child of a wealthy family. At this time, when he was most guilty of being a thief, he was suddenly convicted of his crime. He was taken aback on the spot, and looked at Lu Ci without saying anything.

In a hurry, Di Qing quickly let go of Lu Ci's hand, which he had been reluctant to let go, and put the bull-masked ghost play toy that he had been protecting in front of him for fear of being damaged, and put it at Lu Ci's place, and said loudly: "Grandfather, I'll go after it! "

The other party was first startled by Lu Ci's pretty appearance, and then saw Lu Ci's younger companion who was only one year old, and immediately calmed down.

He also arrogantly put on a vicious look, glared at Lu Ci fiercely as a warning, and after all did not dare to stay in a crowded place to entangle him, pushed the crowd away even harder, wanting to leave the place as soon as possible.

However, the time spent by the opponent in this daze was enough for Di Qing, who had been hunting in the mountains and forests all year round, to catch up to him from behind.

Lu Ci obviously didn't want Di Qing to be flexible, so he slowed down a few steps, watching Di Qing who was as obedient as a cat in front of him, kicked on the ground quickly, and successfully borrowed his strength, like a vigorous tiger. Leaping three feet high, he rushed aggressively onto the back of the villain.

"..."

He raised a harmless little raccoon slave, who was clearly a majestic King of the Mountain.

Even Lu Ci, who had been with Di Qing for a long time, didn't know that Di Qing was so fierce. How could the kidnapper, who had never met him before, think that this skinny kid could have such a big impact?

He only felt an irresistible force coming from behind, like a collapsed wall hitting him abruptly, and he had no time to react, and was already crushed to the ground on the spot.

At that time, he was still holding the child's legs with both hands, so he couldn't protect his face, so his face hit the ground directly, and the bridge of his nose, which was not quite straight, hit the ground hard, causing his tears, nose, and snot to flow sideways. .

Di Qing rode on his back, not forgetting to snatch the half-conscious child away from him and put him beside him, before punching the vital parts with a sinking face.

The kidnapper didn't know that the skinny boy pressing on him started to be ruthless, but he was a powerful character who dared to fight a wild boar alone.He was still struggling and cursing to get up, but not only was he immobilized by Di Qing's seemingly light frame, but he was also severely hurt by the next few punches.

Under the excruciating pain, he was covered in cold sweat, his voice was released, he just wanted to roll on the spot.

After subduing this man in the blink of an eye, Di Qing collected materials on the spot, calmly pulled off his belt, and tied his hands behind his back.

After he was tied up halfway, Lu Ci slowly pushed aside the stunned crowd, and came to Di Qing who had turned back into a cute face, raised his eyes and waited for his orders.

"I also ask you to help me run to the government office. This person is probably a kidnapper. Although he was subdued by his brother, there must be accomplices waiting nearby. We need to track him down as soon as possible."

After briefly explaining the situation to the people around him, Lu Ci turned his head amusedly when he saw some enthusiasm. He was about to tease Di Qing, who had acted extremely fierce and brave just now, when the drowsy child woke up. .

The child who had just been rescued was ignorant and didn't know what happened just now. He didn't dare to look at the strange man next to him who was so painful that he bowed like a shrimp, and he didn't dare to look at the expressionless Di Qing.

With tears in his eyes pitifully, he looked around nervously for a week, and quickly locked on the target for help.

So in full view of everyone, he stood up awkwardly, staggered forward, hugged the leg of the most handsome and gentle person without hesitation, and burst into tears with confidence.

Di Qing: "..."

This kid has a thick skin!

The author has something to say: Notes:

"Tokyo Menghualu" contains the Nuo custom in Bianjing: "Since entering this month (twelfth day), there will be three or three poor people who will make a fire, pretend to be women, gods and ghosts, beat gongs and drums, and visit the door to beg for money. The common name is 'beating the night beard', and it is also the way to drive away evil spirits." "Mengliang Lu" also contains the Nuo custom in Hangzhou: "From then on into the moon (the twelfth lunar month), there are poor beggars in the market. Three or five people form a team. Gods and ghosts, judges, Zhong Kui, and little sisters, etc., beat gongs and drums, and beg for money along the door, commonly known as "beating the night Hu", which also means exorcising Nuo." Chen Yuanliang's "Sui Shi Guang Ji" also contains: " To remove the sun, to make masks, or ghosts and gods, or in the shape of children, or on the lintel, to cover the faces of exorcists, or for children to play."

The performance that can better reflect the evolution of the secularization of Nuo rituals in the Song Dynasty is the toyization of Nuo masks.

The characteristic of Nuo Yi is wearing a mask.Why do the Nuo ceremonies of different civilizations use hideous and terrifying masks as important props?This is probably because in the concept of the ancestors, the mask was considered to have some kind of mysterious power. When a person puts on the mask, he obtains this kind of mysterious power that can drive away evil spirits.Whether it is the official grand Nuo ceremony in the Song Dynasty or the folk Nuo ceremony, masks must be worn to drive away evil spirits.

The production of Nuo faces is the best in Guilin Mansion on Guangnan West Road. Zhou Qufei's "Ling Wai Dai Answer" records, "The Guilin Nuo team, since it is famous in the capital, is called Jingjiang Army Nuo. And the village where it is located , and has its own people's Nuo. Strict body is very decorated, advance and retreat words, salty and impressive, depending on the Zhongzhou costume, the team battle seems to be excellent. The reason is that Gaigui people are good at making plays, and the best ones are worth ten thousand yuan. Other states are expensive. So, it is advisable to hear about it.”Lu You's "Notes on Laoxue'an" also said: "Zhenghezhong, Nuo, Xiagui Mansion entered masks, compared to entering, called 'a pair'. At first, it was surprising that there were few, but eight hundred pieces were used as a pair. It's so ugly that there is no one similar to it, so it's a big surprise. So far, those who have done this in Guifu have become rich, and the world and foreign barbarians can't match it."

These two historical materials actually reveal another message: the Nuo mask of the Song people has got rid of the hideousness of the original witch Nuo mask, and has become an ordinary face similar to the "drama face", full of "old and young beauty and ugly".This also shows that Song people may no longer regard the Nuo mask as a mysterious thing.

"The Cheng family, a resident of Jiancun, Shangxiang, Dexing County, has been hunting squirrels for many generations, and his family business is quite rich. Because of the import and rent into the county, it happened that there was a small drum in the dust market who sold opera masks. He bought six pieces and returned them. And Zhu Xiaosun. Zhu Sun is happy, everyone is wearing it, and the group plays in the hall." The "Sui Shi Guang Ji" quoted above also said that on New Year's Eve, everyone will buy toys for "children to play".

There is a poem: "The yaksha has a disheveled head and iron bones, and the blue face and eyes burst into flames in ocher clothes. The scorpion is like a first-time actor, kneeling like a sheep and standing on a pig's side. The girl in red clothes covers the banana fan, and the bearded man with green ribbons holds the cattail sword It’s about the folk Nuo drama of the Song Dynasty: People wearing masks of demons and ghosts, come out one after another, there are yakshas with eyes that want to breathe fire, there are sheep-faced ghosts kneeling and crying, there are pig-faced ghosts standing, and there are ghosts with arms The female ghost of the plantain fan, and the old man holding a catfish sword.

("Feng Ya Song: Visible Great Song Civilization")