Shiqian said spring, and the Fengshi of Pobei Village in Huaqiao Town is the main force. Along the axis of history, Feng's story of "saying spring" deduces different stories in different time and space, but the theme is always clear, that is, to inherit the customs of the old ancestors for future generations to remember.

By the 1950s, there were still twenty or thirty "spring officials" in Shiqian, and hundreds of "spring officials" who "said Yechun". Their activities covered Shiqian County, Sansui County, Zhenyuan County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Hunan and other places. Influenced by various reasons, the custom of "saying spring" was once impacted. Most transcripts of Spring Ci, Chunniu and Chuntie templates were burned, and the scope of activities of "Chunguan" was reduced to a low point. In the 1980s, as the elderly "spring officials" who were getting older reduced the number of times they went out to "talk about spring", young people went out to work far away from "talk about spring", and the inheritance of "talk about spring" encountered bottlenecks.

Rao Li, curator of Shiqian Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, said that, in view of the situation at that time, Shiqian County has taken relevant rescue protection measures since the 1980s. The county cultural bureau has compiled and published many local cultural histories such as Shiqian Cultural Ambition, Shiqian Literature and History Materials, and organized people to gather information about "Shuochun" in the beginning of spring every year Artists went out to "say spring", making the once bustling mountain village reappear.

Rao Li, curator of Shiqian County Cultural Museum, introduced "Say Spring". Shot by Lu Qingjian

With the promotion of the government, folk artists have regained their enthusiasm for "saying spring". As "Shuochun" has been included in the provincial and national intangible cultural heritage lists, more and more "Chunguan" have put on "Spring Clothes" and moved from Huaqiao to Shiqian in all directions. At the same time, we started the work of "saying spring" on campus, planting the seeds of "saying spring" in the hearts of children, so that the intangible cultural heritage of "saying spring" can be followed up. In the new century, Shiqian County conducted another census of intangible cultural heritage in China. Rao Li was transferred to the census team at this time. The more she understood the history and reality of "saying spring", the more responsible she was.

Huaqiao Town Middle School offers the course of "Say Spring". Courtesy of Shiqian County Cultural Museum

Since May 2013, Shiqian County has hired veteran artists to set up a "Shuochun" transmission class in Huaqiao Town Middle School, compile "Shuochun" textbooks, and set up "Shuochun" courses. In November 2016, China's "Twenty four Solar Terms" was identified by UNESCO as a representative work of intangible cultural heritage of mankind, and Shiqian's "Say Spring" was included as an expansion project. At this time, the government invested funds to collect and sort out the Spring Poetry, and added clothing, spring cattle, spring sticker templates and other supporting facilities for "Shuochun" artists; During major festivals held in the whole county, special funds were allocated to organize the inheritors of the "Spring Saying" skill to display, and the "Spring Saying" school classes were opened to implement rescue protection of the "Spring Saying" custom. Today, countless "Spring Officials" who have learned from teachers and arts have taken the baton and walked between green mountains and green waters, bringing information about spring plowing and spring events to countless villages, and the ancient customs glow Shining.

Shiqian County also organized a professional team to shoot the ethnographic documentary "Spring Saying", recording the national intangible cultural heritage of Shiqian County with cameras, expanding the spread of intangible cultural heritage, decoding the mystery of the custom of "Spring Saying", so that more people can feel the cultural heritage of Shiqian. This film won the Outstanding Award of Intangible Cultural Heritage Image Unit of the "Fifth Academic Exhibition of Chinese Ethnographic Documentary".

Rao Li, who was involved in the compilation of the masterpiece of the intangible cultural heritage of mankind - The Twenty four Solar Terms · Spring Stories in Shiqian, recorded and sorted out many spring lyrics. When she sang the Twenty four Solar Terms song in front of the reporters, it was also flowing: "On the Spring Rainwater Festival in the first month, people should plow fields instead of plowing mountains and soil; when people were awakened in February and at the spring equinox, they cut firewood, cut grass and burn; when it rained in the valley during the Tomb Sweeping Festival on the third day of March, people should shovel ridges to dig corners of fields; The beginning of summer is April 8, when wheat is green and barley is yellow; In May, it is Duanyang, digging ditches and water into ponds; Every year, there is a drought in June, and the lack of water in the fields should be strictly prevented; In July, when the summer comes, the flowers in the valley will be fragrant, and the flat strips and baskets will be picked up; In August, the white dew is busy, and the fields and valleys are full of fights; Cold dew and frost fall on September 10th, and spring should be half a year's grain; On a small snowy day in October, build a house and spin cotton quickly; Little cold and big cold in December, busy New Year. "

Rao Li's Spring Ci of "Say Spring". Courtesy of Shiqian County Cultural Museum

Rao Li said that some details of "saying spring" are very relevant, while the dialect of "spring officials" makes the picture of farming life with local charm more vivid and interesting. For example, when the "Spring Officer" was about to leave the master's hall after saying his words of persuasion and blessing, he took away all the "five plagues" in the master's house with the help of the "Spring Bull", and Rao Li then sang softly

"Shuochun" Intangible Cultural Heritage Class of the Second Primary School of Shiqian County. Courtesy of Shiqian County Cultural Museum

At the No. 2 Primary School of Shiqian County and Huaqiao Town Middle School, children are very interested in the "Say Spring" course on campus. In the Children's Palace activity class every Wednesday afternoon, the children of Shiqian No. 2 Primary School will automatically start the "Say Spring" mode in the 90 minute course. As the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, Bao Zhengming's "Say Spring" course is full of fun, and children are deeply attracted. Huang Sihan, a child from Class 1, Grade 3, started learning "Shuochun" last autumn, and now has basically mastered the basic rules of rap. She proudly told reporters that Shiqian "Shuochun" is an intangible cultural heritage, which has been passed down a long time ago. It's amazing! He picked up the lyrics and began to speak and sing fluently

Article/Lu Qingjian, reporter of Guizhou Daily Tianyan News

Editor/Liu Lichao

Second instance/Yao Man

Third instance/Huang Wei