During the Spring Festival, Neijiang, Sichuan, Linyi, Shandong, Korla, Xinjiang and other places have staged a unique stunt "Tie Tie Hua" to celebrate the Spring Festival. The craftsmen went shirtless and fought hard at the molten iron. A string of dazzling iron flowers bloomed in the air, and the trees were covered with silver flowers, just like the stars falling. Amid endless cheers and exclamations, the onlookers met a fireworks show that passed through the Millennium.
Non-legacy performance "Playing Iron Flower (Photo by Lan Zitao from China Network)
01 "Strike while the iron is hot" with a long history
Tie Tie Hua is a folk traditional firework and one of the national intangible cultural heritages, which spreads in Henan and Jin regions. As a large-scale traditional folk fireworks, it is a folk cultural performance skill discovered by China ancient craftsmen in the process of casting utensils. It originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has a history of more than a thousand years and has rich cultural connotations.
In the Song Dynasty, Taoism was advocated, and "Tie Hua" was originally derived from the sacrificial activities of craftsmen. At the beginning of each year, artisans, led by them, set up a flower shed, and set up a god shed in the north of the flower shed, facing south. Starting from the god shed, they rushed to the local laojunmiao and the Fire Temple to offer sacrifices and hold sacrificial ceremonies. The craftsmen who take part in the flower-playing will bow down and change clothes in the shed, and pray for the blessing of the gods to avoid burns.
The sacrificial activities of craftsmen are also supported by Taoist priests. Every year, Taoist priests spontaneously provide venues for craftsmen to play iron flowers, and organize various musical instruments to play during the sacrifice of craftsmen to cheer them up. Every major Taoist celebration, Taoist priests will also invite craftsmen to play iron flowers to congratulate the celebration. In the process of spreading, "Tie Tie Hua" has grown and absorbed various artistic elements, forming a magnificent, festive and auspicious unique performance style.
02 a flower-beater with special skills
The molten iron at 1600℃ creates a visual feast, which is a breathtaking and wonderful spectacle.
Every craftsman is a florist with unique skills. In the process of beating iron flowers, the three movements of scooping, throwing and beating must be coherent and clean. In addition, the weight of molten iron scooped out must be less than 2, the throwing angle must be controlled at 90 degrees, and the throwing force should not exceed a person’s height. Only when it is hit high enough and scattered enough, the iron flower will look good.
The temperature of molten iron is extremely high, so it is usually performed in cold winter. Even so, scattered iron flowers are still easy to cause burns. There is a saying in the flower while the iron is hot that "white is not red", which probably means that the hot metal must be high in temperature and incandescent in order to produce flowers. The orange-red hot metal with low temperature is a lump when it is produced. If it accidentally falls on people, it can give the skin a "very hot".
(Photo by Wang Bin, Zhongxin. com)
In the face of danger, the flower-beater who goes shirtless is not daring, just to better protect himself. Striking iron flowers is a strenuous activity. Large-scale sports will make performers sweat a lot, which will become the "protector" of the flower-beater and flow away with the iron beads falling on their bodies to prevent their bodies from being burned. This is the advantage of being naked. If they wear clothes, the scattered iron beads will soon cause burns. Therefore, this is a game that belongs to the brave and the wise.
Millennium inheritance of 03 kilo-degree molten iron
In 2008, Henan "Queshan Tiehua" was selected as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage protection projects, which is also the only winner of the domestic performance of Tiehua. There is a resounding name behind "Queshan Tiehua". His name is Yang Jianjun. In 2017, he was selected into the recommended list of the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative project inheritors.
Today, he is 75 years old, over the age of ancient times. As the inheritor of Queshan Tiehua, he and the story of "Beating Tiehua" became attached to a glimpse when he was young.
When he was six or seven years old, he followed his family to watch a performance of playing while the iron was hot. Colorful "fireworks" bloomed wantonly, and the flying iron flowers lit up the dark night sky, and Yang Jianjun’s heart also floated. While the iron is hot, the seeds take root in my heart. "The fire tree and the silver flowers are unpredictable, and the beads are thrown in vain." This is Yang Jianjun’s deep memory of this performance.
As early as around 1980, Yang Jianjun began to pursue the stunt of "Queshan Tiehua". At that time, he was the deputy director of Queshan County Cultural Center, and he was dedicated to inheriting this folk culture. He traveled all over Queshan, looking for the old Tiehua artist of that year. After several twists and turns, he found Li Wanfa, an old blacksmith in his 70 s, and resolutely learned from his teacher. After the death of the master, he went to great lengths to find an iron smelting workshop for trial and audition, and even mobilized all his relatives and friends to set up a brand-new team to strike while the iron is hot.
"Master broke the rules of passing from one generation to another, and passed the skills of Queshan Tiehua to me. I thought, I can’t lose it in my hands. Twenty years ago, I took out all my savings and built this team. The only criterion for recruiting apprentices is to really love this craft. " Yang Jianjun recalled the initial intention of forming a team.
In the Spring Festival of 1988, Yang Jianjun led the Tiehua team to perform a shocking performance, and the "Queshan Tiehua" disappeared for 26 years reappeared in people’s field of vision. That night’s performance, Yang Jianjun named it "Queshan Tiehua Fireworks Party".
Over the years, Yang Jianjun stuck to his original intention and took "Queshan Tiehua" to further places. He is infatuated with art without reservation, cultivating a batch of inheritors of folk culture, and he also chooses to give back the audience’s love with public welfare performances, so that more people can see the spectacle of "molten iron turning into fireworks".
(Source WeChat WeChat official account Red Queshan)
In the Spring Festival of 2008, at the invitation of the Organizing Committee of China Folk Cultural Heritage Exhibition, "Queshan Tiehua" performed more than 10 consecutive performances in Beijing CCTV North Putuo Film and Television Base, which caused a sensation and was known as "the first Tiehua in China".
"The artists who play iron flowers come from all walks of life. With the high temperature of more than 1,000 degrees, it takes not only physical strength but also courage to play iron flowers. More importantly, the team’s love for this folk culture." Behind every performance with great vitality, old craftsmen like Yang Jianjun are full of loneliness and courage.
04 keep the shadow of time that is not left behind.
As a matter of fact, many people first get to know the intangible stunt of "Tie Tie Hua", and they don’t watch it in person, but mostly appreciate its charm from daily TV dramas and documentaries through the screen. In 2018, the popularity of Story of Yanxi Palace, a drama of the Qing Dynasty, made the folk fireworks "Tie Tie Hua" enter more people’s field of vision. In the play, Gao Guifei prepared a birthday present named "Colorful" for the Queen Mother, which is the legendary "Tie Tie Hua".
Nowadays, as a national intangible cultural heritage, this folk stunt is known by more people, but its inheritance scope is still limited. Most of the time, people can only witness its charm on a few intangible performances. Performers wearing gourd ladle and holding flower sticks exchange their wonderful performances for people’s love. Every time they watch, they place their ardent expectations on the working people of China for a prosperous and prosperous year.
There are many non-legacy folk cultures such as "Tie Tie Hua", such as sugar sculpture, dough sculpture, lacquer carving and Yao embroidery … These non-legacy skills have been amazing for thousands of years, and they have continued their lives in the hands of successive inheritors. They are fragile and strong, silently waiting for more persistence and protection.
Leave precious "intangible" memories, for them and for us. (End)
Part of the article comes from Southern Metropolis Daily, China.com, Zhongxin.com, Guangming Daily, and read the news.
