C25 The Song and Dance on the Closing Festival

"Don't go now. " Dao Xiaotong pointed at the small monastery at the foot of the mountain. "It doesn't matter if you are late. There are men who are going to the small monastery to burn incense and recite scriptures to learn the Dai language. It will be a good time to have a banquet later. "

"Shouldn't we go outside earlier to help the girls in the stockade cook?"

"We don't need to. They are good at cooking. " Dao Xiaotong revealed a rare sly charm. She lay on the wooden railing on the second floor and looked down. On the day of the closing ceremony, even she, who was used to being busy during normal days, became relaxed.

"I can eat a lot of delicious food today. But according to custom, today is the day of abstinence, right? I can't touch meat. "

"Everyone has made a lot of colorful glutinous rice and pastries. Teacher Tao doesn't believe in Buddhism. Instead, he can be tainted with meat. "

"Forget it. " Tao Huizhen muttered under her breath. She was used to accepting all local traditions. She did not want to be special at any level. Besides, there was no meat for her to eat in Dai Village.

She wasn't used to walking. The tuxedo seemed to have tied her legs. She went to the roof of the bamboo house and stood side by side with Dao Xiaotong. She immediately saw that the entire Dai Village was in a festive mood. The traditional atmosphere was especially strong. In front of the bamboo houses of every household, rice was being cooked. Smoke curled up from the kitchen, filling the air with the fragrance of food. Someone was walking on the road of the village. Some people were visiting familiar people's homes, some were dancing, and some were singing. The sound of drums and gong sounded on the street, and there was also the sound of calabash threads and cymbals. A small village. In an instant, it became lively. The colorful dresses of the girls decorated Dai Village in colorful colors.

Today, Dai Village seemed to be in a dream and fairy tale.

The closing festival was originally a major festival for Dai Villagers. The scale of the celebration was. . . It was no less than Dai Village's New Year Shower Festival. Starting from the closing festival, from three months to the opening festival, It was a cycle. During this period, the Dai villagers would go to the monastery to pray and burn incense to recite the scriptures of the Southern Buddhism. They were devout to their faith. They would listen to the good words of an eminent monk to become a Buddha. Apart from that, The hard work of the fine pieces of work, the small matters, everything was simplified. For example, the Dai villagers who had been slacking off for more than half a year. It was as if they were really going to start exerting their strength.

However, in the present Dai village, the closing ceremony could not be grander. Officer Wang had once said that. . . The Buddhist temples in the entire Dai Village were desolate, and the incense offerings were not as good as before. Occasionally, in the biggest monastery in the county town, One or two monks could be seen cleaning the courtyard for the Buddhist temple. Typically, the people rarely went to the Buddhist temple, Danwan. The traditional Buddhist culture of the Dai people could no longer be salvaged. It slowly faded away from the eyes of the Dai people. It was not impossible to say that the general trend had already passed.

With such a background, what was more the Buddhist culture of the Dai people that had returned to Da Tea Village? It had already reached the point where it was on the verge of extinction. The small monastery at the foot of the mountain had not had any monks to cultivate in for many years. Usually, there were only the family of the village elder. Every once in a while, he would cleanse the Buddha statue and offer it a Buddhist incense. He fiddled with the bell. It was only at times like this that the tiny monastery seemed to regain some of its' Buddhist dignity '. It also had a hint of the traditional Buddhist incense offerings of the Dai race.

Now, in the three months after the closing of the festival, No one would go to the small monastery every day to listen to the story of an eminent monk becoming a Buddha. The people of Great Tea Village only celebrated for an entire day on the closing of the festival. They burned incense to pray to Buddha, held a banquet, sang and danced. The small monastery was filled with an endless stream of people. The smell of burning incense became stronger. And on the second day, the scene returned to calm.

The monastery was empty once again, standing alone in the corner of the village. The Great Tea Village would once again become quiet.

In Tao Huizhen's opinion, the Dai clan's Buddhist culture had disappeared. It was definitely not something that could happen overnight. Although she was not a Buddhist, every time she passed a quiet Buddhist temple, she could not help but sigh. At this moment, the four walls were desolate, and their incense offerings had flourished for a period of time.

In the Dai Village, there were about half of the Han people. Very few of them went deep into the Dai culture. With the development of society, more Han culture was popularized and flowed in. The matter of traditional minorities and tribal culture being turned into Han was definitely not an alarmist, but it had already happened.

Between protection and change, there should be a good measure of traditional culture. Tao Huizhen believed that the traditional Buddhist culture of the Dai race did not have any conflict with the compulsory education she was currently doing. From her own perspective, she hoped that the Buddhist temple would once again look like it had once been shining with golden light.

"Brother. . . "

Someone on the street outside the bamboo building spoke with a hoarse voice. The voice seemed to come from the depths of the valley. It echoed endlessly in the small village, like the sound of nature.

That "Yo" sound had easily jumped two octaves higher. When it came into contact with the C3 sound, Tao Huizhen felt that she could never catch up to it.

She had come into contact with all kinds of accompaniment instruments and human accompaniment, but she had also come into direct contact with them. She knew some music knowledge. Other than her small achievements in dancing, her music domain was extremely low. The C3 music lowered her by another 8 degrees. She didn't dare say that she could control it as she pleased, unless she used a fake song to sing. But in Dai Village. . . With Tao Huizhen's more than a year of contact and understanding, no matter if it was a man or woman here. . . Or children, even old men. It was as if they were born with a good voice. The area of sound was very wide, and when the voice was heard, it would be sung in the high pitch area. Dao Xiaotong was no exception. Her voice was as clean as a bamboo flute. Tao Huizhen had heard her voice before, so she was able to sing the high pitch to C3. And her face wasn't even red.

People from Dai were born with the talent to sing and dance well, so they were very enthusiastic about singing and dancing. After Dao Xiaotong heard the voice of the Dai village woman downstairs, She could not hold it in anymore. Tao Huizhen saw that she was reciting the beat silently in her heart, and she started to nod her head bit by bit. Suddenly. . . On a certain beat, a bright voice that could penetrate eardrums burst out from her mouth. The voice was so loud that it sounded like the sound of wind piercing through the banana leaves. And the voice of the woman downstairs. . . It resonated. The two of them started singing through the air.

One of them was in the bamboo building while the other was in the bamboo building. Their gazes alternated, and their expressions were lively and focused as they sang loudly. Tao Huizhen's ears were shocked by the high pitch. She couldn't help but reveal a look of admiration. From what she felt, the two of them definitely didn't rely solely on their interests. In the unprofessional song, there were also many details that required repeated practice to achieve the effect. It could be seen that Dai Ge also had a set score.

The singing stopped after a few minutes. Their faces were filled with joy. Tao Huizhen expressed to Dao Xiaotong: After the bonfire was lit at night, almost everyone in Da Tea Village would sing and dance around the bonfire. The children of the tea village primary school would also come to play. She had an idea to let Dao Xiaotong play a song for her and dance for the children to liven things up.

Dao Xiaotong knew that Tao Huizhen was a professional dancer and she was not a professional singer. She only sang in Dai Village without any order and accepted it with great honor.

Tao Huizhen's national dance background was average. She wanted to perform classical dance for her students so that they could understand the soul and meaning of Chinese dance (classical dance). The form and spirit of classical dance was not only about the 'dance' itself. It was also conveying the supreme spiritual realm. Perseverance, perseverance, and surpassing oneself. This was a necessary quality for a dancer. And on the subject of "dancing," It also had the function of preaching.

The accompaniment of classical dance was the zither and bamboo flute. Pipa, drum. . . And so on. This time, Tao Huizhen found Dao Xiaotong and asked her to sing the tune of Dai Village. She could open her mouth with a human voice, and she could improvise to dance with her. She thought. . . Although it was a classical dance, the accompaniment was a traditional national music. As children of Dai, it was easier to accept them. The reality was that classical dance and national dance were similar in many ways.

There were many tables and banquets in the tea village, and the villagers took the delicacies they made to the banquets and shared them with everyone. It was already evening when the banquet was over. When the sun set, a bonfire was lit. The entire village continued to celebrate the Gate Festival.

Tao Huizhen sat beside the blazing bonfire. Her shadow also jumped around the bonfire. She wore the traditional clothing of a Dai village woman, which was burned hot by the fire. The pointer of the watch had already pointed to 9: 00 PM. The people's enthusiasm for the Guan Gate Festival still did not diminish. This was an extremely rare grand scene for the Dai villagers who had been working day in and day out.

The beating of the drums, like the beating of an elephant's foot, had never stopped. As they resonated with each other from afar, the other villages a few miles away seemed to be bustling with noise and excitement. The closing festival was indeed worthy of being a grand event for the entire Dai race, and even for some of the Brown, De Ang, and Wa race minorities.

Under the rhythm of the drum, Tao Huizhen's shoulders and neck also began to slowly sway. She was completely unable to control herself.

Around Tao Huizhen, a few Dai men began to dance the traditional Dai male peacock dance. They made the male peacock play in the forest, peck and dance. With the improvised dance of some Dai women. A battle performance. What surprised Tao Huizhen was that they were able to perform a few different styles of dance. Merging them together and conveying their feelings to each other. Interactive communication in the form of dance.

In their dance, a lot of professional elements were missing. There was no strict rhythm, nor was there any unique style. What they paid more attention to was the communication and empowerment of their feelings. It was that kind of unpolished unruliness and heroism. However, judging from Hui-Zhen's professional point of view, dancing had two concepts. One was for others to see, and the other was for self-awareness. She wanted to see the growth of traditional folk dancing. From self-indulgence to being appreciated by others. While maintaining a strong tradition and emotional communication, it was also the same as when Dao Xiaotong opened her voice in the afternoon. It was something that was slightly professional. Even if it was just a dance used by Dai villagers to celebrate, After being refined, it could also be used as a stage for the masses.

Being watched by more people might not necessarily be a bad thing. It would lose a portion of its original taste, but through this method, more people would know about traditional nationality dance forms, which was more conducive to spreading throughout the ages.

"Teacher Tao, the children are all waiting for you to dance. " Dao Xiaotong's face was illuminated by the fiery light. She looked at Tao Huizhen's rosy cheeks and said.

"Wait a little longer. There are still a few who haven't come yet. Which song is Saber Master planning to sing?" Tao Huizhen shifted her gaze from a quiet village path to Dao Xiaotong's lips. It was not difficult for her to imagine Dao Xiaotong's signature song. She only had three or two songs, mainly because she was not good at memorizing lyrics.

"Phoenix-Tail Bamboo under the moonlight. "

Sure enough, it was this song. . .

"This song is too targeted. It's not easy to dance with it. Why don't you sing that song, Flower Blossom, that's good. "

"If Teacher Tao asks me to sing, I'll sing it!"

Tao Huizhen was shocked by the sudden crackling sound of the fire. She moved her body backward and said to Dao Xiaotong jokingly, "Only when Teacher Dao sings at the top of his voice can he make up for my clumsy dance moves. "

At this moment, Tao Huizhen heard the drumbeats of the Elephant-Foot. An even more crisp sound came from among the many musical instruments. Its voice stood out. It was Ah Liang beating the little elephant foot drum that he had made. He finally managed to produce the small elephant foot drum, but it was due to this year's closing festival. It was almost a year later than he had expected. Tao Huizhen looked thoughtfully at Ah Liang, who was wrapped in a headscarf under the shadows of the adults. He was dragging the flickering shadow behind him as he drummed the drum with all his might. He seemed to be in the mood of an adult.

It had been a while since she last saw him. Recently, he had not come to the school to listen in on the lessons. Tao Huizhen got up from the ground. She was prepared to walk over and say a few words to Ah Liang, even if it was just to ask how he was doing right now. Of course, She hoped even more that he would come back to class. After getting up, Tao Huizhen's gaze could pass through some of the smaller groups. She noticed that. . . Under Ah Liang's little elephant's foot drum, a petite girl's back was dancing!

He was accompanying her. Tao Huizhen immediately understood this fact. Tao Huizhen was not familiar with her back. The girl was combing her short black hair, which was similar to the long hair a girl from Dai Village usually had. The way she tied her braids was completely different. "Uh. . . " Tao Huizhen subconsciously pushed aside the heavy crowd. There was actually a hint of panic under her feet. She wanted to squeeze over and say a few words to Ah Liang, but her intuition told her: Ah Liang's skipping class should be related to the short-haired girl. . .

"Teacher Tao, all the children are here!" Dao Xiaotong grabbed the blind Tao Huizhen. She did not understand why Tao Huizhen was squeezing in the crowd.

"Alright. " Watching more and more people shuttling in front of her, the flames jumped silently. Tao Huizhen was unable to push them away. She seemed to be drowned in the celebration. A'Liang was gradually completely blocked behind the crowd. At this time, the crowd was still crowded. A'Liang's figure completely escaped from Tao Huizhen's gaze.

Tao Huizhen had no choice but to walk back. The children who could indeed come had already arrived. They sat in a circle on the ground, waiting for their teacher to perform a dance for them.

Dao Xiaotong's voice was still like a gust of wind passing through the banana leaves, surging in the night sky and flames. Tao Huizhen quickly entered a state of mind. It was as if she was performing on the stage. She did not change her respect for the spirit of dance because of the different identities of the audience and how simple the stage was.

Compared to Tao Huizhen who usually performed intensely on the stage, Dao Xiaotong's voice was crisp and clear. The rhythm was clear and fast. It was the meaning of The Flower Blossoms, which was about to bloom. This time, she improvised the theme of "The Flower Blossoms quietly. " The rhythm of the dance fluctuated. From one movement to another, it adopted a gradual change of form. Like a stream of water, it flowed silently. The dancing movements. . . It was all done in a leisurely and gentle manner, as if they were taking a stroll in the park.

Her lower body was lowered, and her body had formed three curves. Her hands formed a flower shape, and her body stretched upwards. The flower slowly opened.

Tao Huizhen's speed of development was amazing. She was like a machine that followed the rhythm of a song. Even if it was an impromptu performance, she could grasp every rhythm perfectly. The changes in the joints were fast and slow. Eyes, movements, Emotions, all of them were perfecting. At the same time that it brought out the greatest appreciation, it also stirred up the emotions of the audience. It could affect the emotions of the audience. This was also what a dancer was proud of.

After the song was done, the audience applauded enthusiastically. Tao Huizhen bowed and thanked Dao Xiaotong for her beautiful and emotional song.

"The stage really conforms to what I said. If you have a stage in your heart, there will be a stage everywhere. " Tao Huizhen sighed emotionally and said.

The students began to be brought home by their parents. The watch had already pointed to eleven o'clock at night. The bonfire gradually faded, and the congested crowd dispersed in all directions. It was time for the yearly celebration to come to an end.

This bonfire singing and dancing gala was held in front of the entrance of Da Tea Village Primary School. This was also the widest area of the Great Tea Village. In the blink of an eye, not a single person was left behind. They left behind a pile of ashes that was still burning in the dark. If not for the fact that he was looking at the ashes. . . And the remnants of the celebration left here, Takeu-jen really can't be sure. . . Was there such a lively gathering just now?

Elder Li and Dao Xiaotong followed Tao Huizhen to clean up the remaining mess. Tao Huizhen stayed until the end to watch the bonfire burn up. The class monitor of Tea Village Primary School, Bai Junmao, had already attended the sixth grade's class. He took the initiative to stay and watch the bonfire with Tao Huizhen. Tao Huizhen took the last piece of pig fat candy on her body. He gave it to Bai Junmao as a special encouragement to the class leader who had always performed exceptionally well.

She saw Bai Junmao stuff the hard-won candy into his pocket and began to chat with him about his future plans.

Because Bai Junmao was already in the sixth grade, after September, He should be attending the seventh grade (first grade) class. In this way, he and Tao Huizhen would have to face a choice. If Bai Junmao chose to study in the middle school of the county center primary school. . . Tao Huizhen would lose this student who was ranked among the top in the class. But without a doubt, studying in the county town was the right path. Another situation was just like the reality in front of her. Bai Junmao's family might not be able to bear the cost of Bai Junmao going to the county town to study. He still had to stay. Tao Huizhen's teaching textbook would also be increased to the first day of classes, which was for her. It was also not a small difficulty, but from the bottom of her heart. . . She did not feel any displeasure because of this possibility. On the contrary, She knew that what she wanted was to stay as long as possible with the children.

September was approaching. When Tao Huizhen asked Bai Junmao this question. He indicated that from the family's point of view, he should stay at Da Tea Village Primary School. However, in this way, Tao Huizhen had to teach all the courses from the first grade to the seventh grade by herself, and she wouldn't be able to take it. If it was a difficult time, he would consider the third option.

Tao Huizhen knew what the so-called third option was. She wouldn't let a student she taught want to learn but not be able to. She sized up Bai Junmao and smiled: "Then stay, as if there's only this one choice"