寨子文化

陌上塵

“地?zé)o三里平，天無三日晴”，貴州一眼望去高原山峰林立，盆地里卻藏著許多古老而神秘的千年古寨。這些村寨是當(dāng)?shù)厣贁?shù)民族生活的空間，也是他們文化形成、儲存和流傳的載體。在貴州這片純凈美麗的土地上，少數(shù)民族村寨星羅棋布，點綴于群山之中，構(gòu)成了獨具特色的寨子文化。千百年來，盡管世事變遷，寨子和寨子里的人們依舊保持祥和寧靜，這些寨子宛若“世外桃源”。

初次踏入古寨，人們總會感覺到一種神秘的氛圍。這里的建筑布局，都是那么清奇獨特；這里的一磚一瓦，都有歷史的氣息；這里的符號文字，都記載著古老的傳說。這是一個可以忘卻煩惱的地方，在靜謐而又色彩斑斕的古寨中，感受到的是大自然與人和諧相處的那份“真”意，頗有陶淵明在名篇《飲酒》中“此中有真意，欲辨已忘言”的那種自得。

寨子是貴州的典型文化符號之一，涵蓋當(dāng)?shù)刎S富多樣的民俗風(fēng)情。故有人說，貴州游玩的樂趣，一半藏在古寨中。這些形形色色的古寨，受到不同民族文化的影響，呈現(xiàn)出各具特色、多元豐富的建筑風(fēng)貌。

比如侗族村寨，侗寨分布在貴州東南一帶，大多依山傍水，通常由風(fēng)雨橋、鼓樓、涼亭、寨門、吊腳樓、井亭、晾天架、薩殿等建筑組成。作為全國最大的侗族聚集區(qū)，侗寨在貴州非常有名。大名鼎鼎的肇興侗寨就是其中杰出的代表，被稱為“侗鄉(xiāng)第一寨”，也是侗族的民俗文化中心。據(jù)考證，肇興侗寨始建于南宋時期，距今已有800多年的歷史了。從遠(yuǎn)處望去，寨子四面環(huán)山：綿延不斷的群山之間森林密布，掩映著幾百幢桿欄式青瓦木樓的民居，錯落有致，非常壯觀。寨子里面，花橋、鼓樓、溪流、吊腳樓首尾相望，尤以標(biāo)志性建筑鼓樓居多，這里是目前中國規(guī)模最大的侗寨鼓樓建筑群，被譽為“鼓樓之鄉(xiāng)”。全寨分為五大房族，坐落在五個片區(qū)，當(dāng)?shù)胤Q之為“團(tuán)”，分別以“仁、義、禮、智、信”命名。在寨子里生活一段時間，一定會被這里濃郁的文化氛圍感染。這里有侗歌隊、侗戲班，每逢佳節(jié)人們都會歡聚一起“鼓樓對唱”，中秋時節(jié)還有“蘆笙會”，平時路上或許還會遇見“攔路歌”，無不洋溢著古樸而又熱鬧的田園生活氣息。

在貴州，苗族村寨的原生態(tài)文化也保護(hù)得較好。著名的“千戶苗寨”就在貴州西江，是世界上最大的苗寨。西江千戶苗寨由十余個自然村寨相連成片，梯田依山勢擴(kuò)展，白水河穿寨而過，將西江苗寨一分為二。寨子里最具特色的建筑是吊腳樓，這些吊腳樓大都依山而建，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)看去層巒疊嶂、宏偉壯麗。吊腳樓通常有三層，底層用于存放生產(chǎn)工具、關(guān)養(yǎng)家禽等；第二層用作客廳、堂屋、臥室和廚房等，堂屋外側(cè)建有獨特的“美人靠”，苗語稱“階息”，主要用于乘涼、刺繡和休息，是苗族建筑的一大特色：第三層則主要用于存放谷物、飼料等。每逢賓客到來，寨子里的苗族人會擺上香甜的“攔門酒”，送上敬意和祝福?？畲e客的長桌宴是苗族宴席最隆重的禮儀。要是遇到重大節(jié)日，還可以領(lǐng)略一番幾千人一起就餐的長桌宴盛況。對于游客來說，傍晚的觀景臺是無論如何部不能錯過的地方。夜幕下，千余戶人家華燈初上，星光璀璨，就像一座富麗堂皇的宮殿，令人感到非常震撼。

西江千戶苗寨還建有一個苗族博物館，是典型的苗族吊腳樓風(fēng)格，由六棟雙層結(jié)構(gòu)的吊腳樓組成。博物館有11個展廳，每個廳都有不同的主題，比如節(jié)日廳、歌舞廳、服飾銀飾廳、體育苗醫(yī)藥廳、巫文化宗教信仰廳等。館內(nèi)藏有1200余件苗族文物，對苗族的歷史、生活、服飾、醫(yī)藥、建筑、巫文化宗教信仰等各個方面進(jìn)行了全方位的展示，是人們了解苗族生活和習(xí)俗的重要信息來源。

典型的貴州寨子，還有布依族的石頭寨。寨子依山傍水，最為奇特的是，寨子里幾乎所有建筑都由石頭建成，是名副其實的“石頭寨”。據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)厝酥v，石頭寨距今已有六七百年歷史，采用石頭做建筑材料，不僅能就地取材，造價便宜，還與當(dāng)?shù)貧夂驐l件相適宜，冬暖夏涼，非常舒適。走進(jìn)寨子，滿眼都是石頭建筑——以石為墻，以石為廊，以石為柱，以石為瓦，宛如一個石頭的世界。這些石頭建筑，歷經(jīng)風(fēng)雨沖刷，越發(fā)顯得潔白，在青綠色群山的映襯下，構(gòu)成了一幅天然的水墨畫，美輪美奐。在石頭寨，男人大多是石匠，擅長石工活，他們砌的石頭墻壁不僅整齊，而且不用粘石劑也很穩(wěn)固：女人則以蠟染制作為主，作為著名的蠟染之鄉(xiāng)，石頭寨的橋上、河邊都能看到忙于點蠟、漂蠟的女性。如果有興趣，游客也可參與設(shè)計一回蠟染，親身體驗傳統(tǒng)工藝的制作樂趣。

此外，人們可以在仡佬族的仡佬古寨品味古典的油茶油香，在白褲瑤的瑤山拉片村感受場面壯觀的“瑤王宴”，在水族文化代表的巴茅古寨體驗銅鼓斗角舞，在土家族的江口云舍村飽食“土家十大碗”，在革家人的麻塘革家寨縱情歌舞……還有很多遠(yuǎn)離鬧市喧囂的古寨，在歷史的發(fā)展長河中，為現(xiàn)代社會保留了豐富多彩的原生態(tài)民族文化，讓我們對歷史多了一份溫情與敬意。

貴州的寨子文化，以其悠久的歷史、多彩的民風(fēng)民俗和恬靜的田園生活，構(gòu)成了一幅天人合一的美麗畫卷，也為現(xiàn)代社會忙碌的人們打開了一扇精神窗戶，讓我們可以沿著文化傳承的足跡，尋求心靈的自由。

Stockade Villages—Guizhou’s Ethnic Cultural Landscape

“There never are three miles of flat land in sight，nor three sunny days in a row.” The Guizhou Plateauserves up a distinct rugged and craggy mountainousview upon first visit. However， beneath these erectedgiants and deep in the basin hide many ancient andmysterious stockade villages that have existed for overa thousand years. These villages are living spaces forthe indigenous minority groups there; they are alsovessels through which their culture takes shape， getspreserved and passed down. Such villages formed byminority groups are scattered all over Guizhou’s simple?and beautiful soil， often veiled by mountains， givingrise to a unique village culture. For thousands of years，despite all the happenings in the world， these villagesand the people living within kept up a peaceful and serenepace of life. These villages seem like a true “wonderland”.

A first time visit to one of the ancient villages willalways entail people being mesmerized by its mysteriousatmosphere. The layout of architecture there isso particular; every single brick and tile is loaded withhistory; every word and symbol encapsulate age-longlegends. This is a place where people truly forget about?worldly troubles. In this quiet and colorful location，people could contemplate the true meaning of man’sharmonious connection to nature， much like what theancient poet Tao Yuanming writes in his famous work“Drinking Wine”： “There is insight and wisdom in allof this， though I do not know the words to describe it.”

Stockade villages are one of the representativecultural symbols for Guizhou， containing a variety ofethnic traditions and aesthetics. As such， people havecommented that half of the fun of traveling in Guizhoulies in the villages. These villages， sprung from di erentethnic and cultural traditions， o en present themselvesin distinct and multifarious architectural shapes.

One good example would be Dong villages usuallyfound in southeastern Guizhou. These villages arebuilt around high mountains and waters， consisting ofFengyu bridges （a specialized covered bridge）， drumtowers， pavilions， village gates， diaojiaolou （a woodenhouse supported by 1—2 meters high pillars）， well pavilions，liangtianjia （a granary on stilts at the back ofa house）， Sasui （the name of a hero in their folk traditions）altars and so forth. As the biggest commune forDong ethnic people in China， Dong villages enjoy agreat reputation in Guizhou. The prestigious Zhaoxingvillage is a great representative of such， claiming to bethe No. 1 Dong minority village as well as the culturalcenter for Dong folks. Investigations have shown thatZhaoxing can be dated as far back as the SouthernSong Dynasty， some 800 years ago. Looking fromafar， the village is surrounded by mountains wheretall trees stand， concealing a few hundreds of woodencolumn-tie houses with tiled roofs that run jaggedthrough the mountain range， charting a spectacularview. In the village， flower bridges， drum towers，streams and diaojiaolou form a sophisticated networkof geographic spectacle， amongst which drum towerstake up a prominent presence， earning Zhaoxing thetitle of having the biggest drum tower group across all?Dong villages in China， hence the name “harbor fordrum towers”. The village is divided into five distincthousing sections， or tuan according to the local people，respectively named a er the ve virtues of Confucianism：“Ren （Benevolence）， Yi （Righteousness）， Li （Propriety），Zhi （Wisdom） and Xin （Fidelity）.” Having livedin the village for a while， one is bound to be a ected byits cultural atmosphere. There are chorus and theaterperformances， festival singing ceremonies in the drumtowers， Lusheng （a reed-pope wind instrument） ceremoniesduring the Mid-autumn Festival， and occasionalroad-blocking singing exchanges. It is a simple yetvibrant idyllic lifestyle.

Guizhou also keeps intact the indigenous culture ofMiao villages. The famous Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village，the thousand-household village， is the largest of its kindin the world. It comprises more than ten normal-sizedvillages sprawling over the mountains， with terracefields expanding along the slopes. The Baishui Rivercuts through them， dividing Xijiang into two parts. Themost representative feature of the village is diaojiaolouas they line up the mountain ridges， forming a magni -cently jagged architectural spectacle if looked from afar.A diaojiaolou usually has three stories： the ground ooris used as storage rooms for farming tools and sheltersfor poultry. The second floor is usually dedicated toliving functions， including living rooms， meetingrooms， bedrooms， kitchens and more. Outside a meetingroom one also finds a unique piece of bench furniturelining the terrace railings called meirenkao （thebeauty recliner）， or in Miao language jiexi （the terracerest）. It mainly provides a sitting place for people tocool down， do embroidery or chill， being a distinctiveMiao architectural symbol. On the third oor of a diaojiaolou，grains and feeds are stocked there. Every timea guest comes to the village， the locals will serve themlanmenjiu， or homemade rice wine as a gate welcominggesture， a symbolic ofiering of good wishes and blessings.A long table feast will likely follow as it suggeststhe highest degree of welcome. If one chances upon a?major festival， they will de nitely experience the longtable feast ritual with joined participants of up to a fewthousand. For tourists， it is also a must to reach a designatedviewing spot near the dusk to take in the wholeview of the village. Under the night sky， every householdis lit like a star. And the whole village feels like aregal palace， breathtakingly magnificent.

A Miao-themed museum can also be found in theXijiang Qianhu Miao Village. It is a typically diaojiaoloustyledstructure that comprises six two-storied houses.There are 11 exhibition halls in the museum， eachpresenting a di erent theme， such as festivals， singing anddancing rituals， clothing and silver accessories， sports andMiao medicines， and the Miao voodoo culture and religion.Altogether the museum contains more than 1，200cultural items， a full-on expression of Miao people’shistory， lifestyle， fashion， medicine， architecture and folkreligion is an important source for visitors to learn aboutMiao people’s life and traditions.

Another representative stockade village in Guizhouwould be the stone villages by Buyi nationalities. Surroundedby tall mountains and waters， the villages arecompletely made of stones， a realistic representationof its name. According to the locals， the stone villagesdate back to over six or seven hundred years ago. Usingstones as the construction material is not only coste-ective but also it for the climate there as the housesare warm in winter and cool in summer. Once enteringthe villages， one’s vision is fully occupied by stonyarchitecture， including walls， corridors， pillars andtiles， a real stony world. As the stones have weatheredharsh climates over the years， they grow whiter andwhiter and subsequently work well with the verdantelement of mountains to form a beautiful naturalizedinking painting. In the villages， men are usually stonemasonswho are so good at their job that the walls theybuild are not only smooth but sturdy even without the?help of any adhesives. The women in the villages areengaged in batik-dyeing cra s. As a famous center forbatikdyeing， one can nd women busying with waxingand bleaching either on a bridge or along a riverbank.If interested， tourists can also participate and experience rst-hand the joy of making a traditional craft.

Moreover， people can taste the fragrant oil teain Gelao villages by Gelao nationalities. People canexperience the “royal Yao feast” in Lapian Village ofYao Mountain Prefecture by the White-trousers Yao，a branch of the Yao ethnic group. People can witnessthe traditional bronze drum dance in the form of twobulls fighting in Bamao villages by Shui ethnic people.People also have the option of feasting on the “tendishes” according to Tujia ethnic traditionsin Yunshe Village of JiangkouPrefecture. Additionally，people can choose?to enjoy a good singing and dancing session in MatangGejia villages by the Ge people. There are so manymore stockade villages sitting quietly and far from thebustling secular world. Over the long course of humanhistory， these villages have well preserved their robustand diverse indigenous cultures and folk traditions，inspiring us to show more respect and gratitude towardshistory.

The stockade village cultures in Guizhou， withtheir elaborated histories， diverse folk traditions andidyllic lifestyle， constitute a beautiful painting wherehuman and nature reach a golden harmony. They openup a spiritual window for the hustling modern crowdswhere one can trace the footsteps of ancient culturesto pursue the heart’s freedom.