九華立春祭

洪俆

2016年11月30日，世界認識中國的又一個重要標志——二十四節(jié)氣，被聯(lián)合國教科文組織列入人類非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)代表作名錄。

二十四節(jié)氣本是中國人通過觀察太陽周年運動而形成的時間知識體系及其實踐，申報時有五省十個地點作為節(jié)氣民俗的展示代表，浙江省占其四，衢州市柯城區(qū)九華鄉(xiāng)妙源村為第一個——九華立春祭。

美麗的山村

句芒駐地，神韻九華。

妙源村在九華山梧桐峰下，環(huán)村山景清秀，山澗清流，人家錯落，畫意盎然，村外則有丘地、田疇、池塘，是一個農(nóng)耕生活的美麗去處。

妙源村建村悠久，文化底蘊深厚。村中有一座梧桐祖殿，供奉著全國罕見的春神句芒，并開展民間祭祀活動。這活動稱為“九華立春祭”，于2011年入選國家級非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)代表作名錄，隨之成立了中國第一個相關(guān)節(jié)氣的研究中心。2017年，農(nóng)歷丁酉立春日，這里又一次迎來了海內(nèi)外民俗學者和廣大游人。

“天時開首季，東風解凍；年際跨一分，大地回春?！?/p>

民俗學者、九華立春祭傳承人汪筱聯(lián)陪同筆者一行進入梧桐祖殿。

梧桐祖殿有前殿、正殿和兩配殿?？邕^正門門檻即前殿，設(shè)為大戲臺，戲臺特意低置一些，人們要躬身穿行，以示尊重春神、敬畏自然。戲臺以木刻十字花紋為主，間有人物禽獸、樹石、風景。正殿供春神句芒，額“芒神靈祐”，兩側(cè)祀春神所屬風、雨、雷、電四神像和衢州當?shù)孛耖g保護神尉、蔡、楊、茅四靈公像。主梁繪春神駕馭的兩條飛龍，斗拱、雀替、托腳等多雕花，細碎繁縟，臺口梁雕梅雀圖、云水紋，配戲曲刀馬人物故事。

“東風帶雨逐西風，大地陽和暖氣生。萬物蘇萌山水醒，農(nóng)家歲首又謀耕。”立春祭祀這天也就是祈福日，由村民自發(fā)組織。

柯城區(qū)文廣新局局長吳玉珍說，九華立春祭是民俗信仰，在表達順應(yīng)季節(jié)規(guī)律、掌握自然常識、完善農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)、實踐美好生活等內(nèi)涵，傳播人與自然相適應(yīng)的關(guān)系及其樸素的思想、哲學等方面，有其獨特的意義，不僅增強了人們對自然生態(tài)、對優(yōu)秀民俗的敬畏，更重要的是使中華民族的農(nóng)耕文明、鄉(xiāng)愁記憶、家國情懷得以弘揚。

九華鄉(xiāng)鄉(xiāng)長周小玲對此特別有感觸：九華鄉(xiāng)不算富裕，但因為有九華立春祭的聯(lián)系，這一帶十里八村的，民風淳樸、民生和諧。妙源村主要由龔氏、蘇氏、付氏構(gòu)成，三姓都保存著族譜，有許多優(yōu)秀的文化在傳承。

妙源村村支書、九華立春祭傳承人、梧桐祖殿執(zhí)事龔元龍?zhí)氐貜募依锬脕砹怂麄兊募易V，小心翼翼地翻頁給筆者看，里面有立春祭的記錄。

優(yōu)美的神話

梧桐祖殿前有條妙源溪，溪的彎環(huán)處有一汪水潭，當?shù)匕傩辗Q“不肯去潭”。傳說，春神本來住在梧桐峰，一次因同雨神發(fā)生矛盾，雨神發(fā)大水把春神沖到這水潭里，沖了三天也沖不走。村里的人們想，春神既然喜歡這個地方，就修建廟宇供奉起來。據(jù)碑記，梧桐祖殿建于清代，重新于1933年。

鄉(xiāng)長周小玲說，2001年暮春，汪筱聯(lián)在鄉(xiāng)里參加省旅游資源普查工作，有一天為躲避急雨，進了妙源村梧桐祖殿，從而揭開一段蒙塵已久的傳說。

汪筱聯(lián)回憶說，當時的祖殿被村里木材加工廠和碾米廠使用。躲雨時，他發(fā)現(xiàn)正門上有一塊石額，隱約顯露出“梧桐祖殿”幾個字樣。好奇之下，他同村民聊上。村民說，這里原來供奉梧桐老佛，后來神像焚毀，移為他用，當時村里的老人怕殿宇也被毀，就用泥土封住石額，沒了廟宇的痕跡。作為地方文史研究學者，汪筱聯(lián)十分驚喜于這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。之后，他通過一次次調(diào)查，考證出這座隱藏多年的梧桐祖殿的所有符號，都指向過去村民口耳相傳的傳說。

據(jù)《禮記》《呂氏春秋》《山海經(jīng)》等古籍記載，神話中的春神是輔佐伏羲的大臣，死后成為東方之神、草木之神和生命之神。當?shù)貍髡f，春神又是“賜壽”的生命之神。九華鄉(xiāng)一帶的山嶺舊多梧桐樹，山民便用梧桐樹根雕了個春神供起來，稱之為“梧桐老佛”。因山廟太小，后又建起“梧桐祖殿”。

汪筱聯(lián)介紹說：“句芒其實是遠古時期東夷部族的祖先神。衢州地區(qū)在上古時期屬于東夷族的姑蔑國，立春祭祀活動不但充滿了豐富的農(nóng)耕文化色彩，而且留下了遠古東夷文化的痕跡。這很可能是全國唯一保存著的春神廟，一定要珍惜善待這份寶貴的文化遺產(chǎn)?！蓖趔懵?lián)歷時三年，挖掘出這一寶貴民俗。

中國延續(xù)了數(shù)千年的農(nóng)耕社會，文化大都建立其上。節(jié)氣到了春天，各地官府一般都有“班春勸農(nóng)”的典制，比如《康熙衢州府志·典禮考》記載，每年立春前一日，各官穿朝服，迎接春牛芒神至府縣門外。立春正日清晨，官府陳設(shè)香燭、酒果，排班拜贊。而各地民間往往有鞭春牛的習俗，但九華立春祭的內(nèi)容要豐富得多，這顯然和春神神話在當?shù)氐牧鱾鳌⒊欣m(xù)有關(guān)。

美好的傳承

九華立春祭的內(nèi)容豐富多樣，其中祭春神是主要儀式，十分考究：放鞭炮，敲鑼鼓，奏樂曲；敬獻祭品、花籃；主祭宣讀《迎春接福文》；陪祭導唱《祭春喝彩謠》；敬香；祭拜，行鞠躬禮。其他包括鳴炮迎春、懸掛燈籠（二十四節(jié)氣燈）；敬土地、鞭春牛；接春、巡春（抬春神巡游）；嘗春、踏春、探春、享春；演戲酬神等。整個立春祭傳達著人們期盼風調(diào)雨順、五谷豐登的愿望。

汪筱聯(lián)說，每年立春祭活動，村民們都會邀朋請友參加。可喜的是，許多外地年輕人也趕來參加，感悟民俗傳統(tǒng)的魅力，接受民間文化的熏陶。

現(xiàn)在，各地的民俗學者常來梧桐祖殿考察、調(diào)研，他們說：“我們的祖先將二十四節(jié)氣這一太陽歷和陰歷相結(jié)合，形成完整的時間制度，將勞動和生活緊密結(jié)合，證明了中華民族是尊重科學的民族，是智慧的民族?！彼麄儗@座春神廟和原生態(tài)的民俗文化形態(tài)活動，給予了很高的評價。

為保存民間傳統(tǒng)文化，柯城區(qū)和九華鄉(xiāng)在復原立春祭的習俗中做了大量的工作。2005年，沉寂了40年的梧桐祖殿恢復祭春，“梧桐老佛”春神句芒重現(xiàn)世間。2017年2月3日，農(nóng)歷立春，中國民俗學會中國立春文化研究中心暨首屆立春文化傳承保護研討會在衢州市柯城區(qū)召開。

汪筱聯(lián)現(xiàn)在是九華立春祭的傳承人，他說：“九華立春祭具有鮮明的節(jié)氣性、突出的傳奇性、濃郁的地方性和悠久的歷史性，體現(xiàn)了人類既敬畏自然又敢于改造自然，既熱愛勞動又注意休閑，既勤勞致富又節(jié)儉積德，倡導人與自然的和諧相處。”

局長吳玉珍說：民俗就是人們回望歷史的路標；立春祭是一個文化符號，真實、鮮活而又頑強，承載著對美好未來的憧憬。

“我們有責任保護好、傳承好、弘揚好人類非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)代表作名錄中的這一遺產(chǎn)，把它變?yōu)橐环N文化自覺、文化自信?！迸R別時，汪筱聯(lián)指著妙源溪的不竭流水對筆者說。

November 30， 2016 saw the 24 Solar Terms of China were added to the World Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Though the tradition， which was formed thousands years ago in China， is no longer very important in various ways as China is taking strides toward modernization， the lifestyle shaped by the tradition still goes on. Some solar terms across China are still observed in important ways. Zhejiang accounted for four of the ten places chosen to represent the tradition in the application for the heritage list. Miaoyuan， a village in Jiuhua Township of Quzhou in southwestern Zhejiang is one of the four places in Zhejiang chosen to represent the local celebration of the Beginning of Spring. The tradition is well preserved in the village.

Nestled at the foot of Wutong Peak of Jiuhua Mountains， the scenic village is home to what is locally known as Wutong Ancestral Temple where Ju Mang， the God of Spring， is worshipped. Such a temple is very special， if not unique， in China. The spring sacrifice is officially known as the Sacrifice Ceremony at the Beginning of Spring in Jiuhua Mountain. In 2011， the ceremony was inscribed as a national intangible cultural heritage. A research center for studies of the solar terms came into being shortly after the listing.

I visited the temple on the Beginning of Spring day which fell on February 3 this year. The ceremony attracted a lot of visitors， including folklore scholars at home and abroad.

Wang Xiaolian， a folklore scholar and accredited master of the intangible cultural heritage， took me around. The temple is composed a front hall， a grand hall， and two side halls. The front hall is actually a theater stage ornately decorated with sculpted images of figures， animals， birds， stones， trees， and landscape. The grand hall is where the God of Spring is worshiped. The statue of the god sits in the center， flanked on two sides by the gods of wind， rain， thunder and lightning， and four patron saints of Quzhou. The wood structure of the hall is ornately decorated with sculpted images too. Unlike the images on the theater stage， the images in this hall tell stories and legends and the background patterns are more ornate.

Wang stumbled onto the temple one spring day in 2001 when he was doing a field study organized by the provincial survey of tourism resources in the neighborhood of the village. In order to get himself out of a sudden downpour， he ran into the temple. Back then， the temple housed a timber yard and a rice mill of the village. The half hidden words on a plaque attracted his attention. He talked with local residents. The village temple used to house a statue of a god known as Buddha Wutong to local villagers. After the statue was vandalized in the 1960s， villagers coated the plaque with soil as a measure to prevent the temple from further destruction.

The unexpected encounter with such a temple was exciting. Wang did researches on classical documents and visited the village again and again. Villagers accounts coincided with ancient accounts seen in classics. The god worshipped at the temple turned out to be the God of Spring in ancient Chinese legends. It was locally known as Buddha Wutong largely because the statue was made of the tree locally known as Wutong （phoenix tree）. At first， it was just a tiny temple. It was later expanded. Wang Xiaolian gave me a short lecture on the God of Spring. Ju Mang was the god worshiped by Dongyi tribes living in the east in remote ages. Back then， Gumie Kingdom flourished where the present-day Quzhou is. The sacrificial ceremony on the Beginning of Spring day not only indicates the long-lasting agricultural roots of the region but also maintains the culture of Dongyi tribes in very ancient times. He emphasized that the Spring God temple at the village is very probably the only one of its kind in China.

The temple was first constructed in the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911） and rebuilt in 1933 according to a stone stele in the temple compound. After Wang Xiaolians conclusion that it is a temple for the God of Spring， the local government kicked off a restoration project. The sacrifice ceremony was resumed in 2005.

The ceremony I witnessed was very well organized. During the long procedure， a eulogy was read， music was played， firecrackers were set off， sacrifices and flowers were presented， incenses were lit， and lanterns were uplifted into high places. After the ceremony at the temple， villagers also staged a parade through the village.