雄雞報曉新春到    糍粑臘肉香深山
 
年味正濃苗嶺山寨
 
——革命老區秀山苗嶺山寨過年的記憶
 
（本刊訊 特約通訊員劉發生、劉宇峰報導）我的家鄉在革命老區西部武陵山區深處的秀山苗嶺山寨，渝東南邊陲，是和湖南、貴州接壤的雞鳴三省地。這裏山川秀麗，物產豐富；民風淳樸，鳥語花香，素有小成都平原美稱。清光緒三十三年(西元1907年)，進士出身的秀山知縣張廣楠，為縣署大門題對聯一付：此邦亦號成都，四方雲山開沃野；勝地舊名高秀，一江春水繞邊城。
離開家鄉數載，最難以忘懷的是“雄雞報曉新春到，糍粑臘肉香深山”那種世外桃源般的田園牧歌生活。
在2017雞年來臨之際，拾遺久違的鄉音鄉情、親情友情，秀山苗嶺山寨過年散記，尤在眼前……
殺年豬迎新年


辛勤一年的山民杀年猪，过新年。

我母親的家鄉，在秀山土家族苗族自治縣孝溪鄉的苗嶺山寨，從年頭開始，村寨裏的每戶人家都要養幾頭豬，以備年末殺豬祭奠神靈。
小時在家裏，常聽外公外婆和村裏的老人們擺古：相傳神農氏把野豬馴化成了家豬，為感恩大自然，回報神靈，特地夜觀天象，選定黃道吉日，殺豬祭神。有了希望，有了期待，便世世相傳。
“臘月二十六，好日子!”寨子裏年過八旬的王大爺，翻出那早已經泛黃的老黃曆，選定了吉日，再請來十裏八村有好手藝的殺豬匠。
起個大早，燒了滿滿一鍋開水。
一聲吆喝，早已準備好的左鄰右舍，三親六戚齊上陣。
七八個青壯勞動力就和豬拉開了架勢，好不容易把豬放倒在地，王三叔卻被撂了一豬蹄，跑到街坎邊捂著小腿青叫喚：“嗨喲,看我等哈不吃你肉!”樂得大夥一陣爽朗的笑。
殺了年豬的寨子裏, 團鄰老少圍在一起, 吃著鍋子裏燉上的熱騰騰的大快豬肉，喝著自家釀的糯米酒, 還有噴香的鼎罐飯，青翠的時鮮疏菜，痛快!
眼看已近晌午,滿公李順河走到院壩吼了一嗓子：“殺豬匠，酒喝好了撒，我家豬可等不及了!”
“來啦來啦!”殺豬匠提起家什樂呵呵地去了。

蒸糯米打糍粑


浓郁的乡风亲情，让回家过年的大学生刘宇峰，也忍不住去过把“打糍粑”瘾！

“嗨喲，嗨喲.....”，隨著輕快的節奏，兩個身強力壯的大漢，手裏的打棒落在石槽裏通通作響，石槽裏裝的是煮熟的糯米，香氣被打得甘醇濃烈，溢滿了院落。
打糍粑也是寨裏的一景。
做法也很講究，打糍粑最好是用珍珠圓玉潤“大糯米”，要裝在專用的木桶裏，柴火慢慢燒上兩小時, 糯米膨脹後，粒粒飽滿，而深山中的柴又吸收了大自然的靈氣，與木桶的純味漫漫融合，使得煮出的糯米帶著一股奇異的香味。
而我們小孩子們早就等不及了，圍在木桶邊直流口水，待熟後，抓一把在小手裏，香嘭嘭的，燙得直吹氣。
把糯米裝在石槽裏，打出粘性，寨民們在手上抹了桐油，把偌大一個糯米團，捏成一個個柑橘般大小，用兩塊木板用力一夾，就成了圓潤噴香的糍粑。
圓圓潤潤好似這日子紅紅火火，圓圓滿滿。

煨臘肉煮湯鍋

當炊煙被山風吹得四面散開時，寨子裏殺了年豬的老老少少們，就聚在了一起,圍在一口大鍋邊，鍋裏燉著臘排骨，臘香腸，豬頭肉，嘴裏談論著剛剛的過去的這一年裏，兄弟之情，婆媳之愛，就像這一鍋子燉肉，有滋有味。
坎上的順河滿叔，給我們擺起進山打野豬的事情，又激動得猛喝了一口。
“那才是懸，我才進野豬嶺，就看到離我10幾米遠的灌木叢裏，壯得像頭小牛的野豬，嘻嘻，正趴在那曬太陽哩，我瞄準就是一槍，哪想卻打在野豬屁股上，它發瘋的朝我沖過來!”
“怎麼樣，後來怎麼樣!”大家爭著問。
“怎麼樣？一定是尿褲子了吧？”三公笑得手直顫。
“你幾個老人家是不曉得哦，我看旁邊有棵不小的樹，趕忙爬上去，樹都差點被野豬拱翻了，後來，進山的人趕上來一起才把野豬趕跑了。”滿叔至今還心有餘悸。

擺香案燃紅燭


秀山苗岭山寨红色喜烛，给人们带来吉祥。

在秀山苗嶺山寨，許多人家信奉萬物有靈，對祖先至虔至誠，擺香案、燃紅燭是多少不得的。
逢年過節，尤其是過年三十夜，要擺香案、燃紅燭，真誠祭祀，在老一輩人的心中，燃年燭是一件很慎重的事。
大年三十吃年夜飯前，家裏男主人會點上年燭，虔誠地插在自家堂屋神龕兩側，敬奉祖先，表示對祖先的尊崇。
燃點年燭，除了有寄託對已逝祖先的追思外，還有祈求神靈保佑的意思。
秀山年燭為傳統工藝，多為手工製作。

世外桃源般苗岭山寨老屋，炊烟袅袅，梦如仙境。

一般用桐油作原料，紫草作染料(現改用朱紅顏料)，將燈草纏在竹棍上作燭芯，然後澆塑成型。
年燭為紅色，其大小、重量不等，有的重達20至30斤,能燃幾天幾夜不滅。帶花型的年燭叫“花燭”，以前是專為殷實人家做的，製作工藝十分考究，要經過熔化、成型、冷卻、翻倒、染色、塗金粉、妝點成型等工序，再帖上諸如“財源滾滾”、“龍鳳呈祥”等吉祥話，或飾以各種紋案，很是奇特好看。
因花型不同，年燭也有不同“分工”：祭祀時用“九品燭”；修房造屋用“喜燭”；祝壽用“壽燭”。
結婚用的“龍鳳花燭”最具特色：呈圓錐形，上大下小,朱紅底色蠟柱上纏繞栩栩如生的龍鳳圖案，並飾以各色花朵雲團，隱喻龍鳳呈祥、夫妻恩愛。

 
世外桃源般苗岭山寨老屋，炊烟袅袅，梦如仙境。




隔壁的梦仙阿姐，是山寨勤奋的养猪专业户。

親愛的朋友們，在神奇溫情的秀山苗嶺山寨裏，有香氣撲鼻的燉臘肉，靜靜的引誘著你；有熱情似火的少數民族，他們銀裝素裹，跳起美麗的土家擺手舞、苗族花燈戲迎接你；有歷史悠遠的傳統民風，它們漫漫沉澱，融成一股甘泉，沐浴著你，讓心此刻沉下去，慢慢品味，不醉不歸！


英文版：

 The cock Spring Festival cake fragrant bacon mountains
Taste is strong a copycat
- revolutionary new memory by copycat Xiushan
(this print dispatch special correspondent Liu Fasheng, Liu Yufeng reports) in my hometown in the old revolutionary base areas west of Wuling area in the southeast of Chongqing Xiushan a copycat, border, border and Hunan, Guizhou is the cock in the three provinces to. In this beautiful scenery, rich products; simple folk, known as the small Chengdu plain name birds'twitter and fragrance of flowers. Thirty-three years of the Qing Dynasty (1907 AD), the origin of the Xiushan County Magistrate Zhang Guangnan, County Department of the door problem: this state also a pair of antithetical couplet, Chengdu, four open Woye old Yunshan resort; high river flows around the town show.
Leave home for several years, the most unforgettable is the cock Spring Festival, glutinous rice fragrant bacon mountains "kind of pastoral life like a land of idyllic beauty.
In the dawn of 2017 year, returning to the hometown accent, a family friendship, a new year in Xiushan copycat, especially in the eyes......
Kill the swine to welcome the new year
My mother's home in Xi Xiang, Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County of filial piety from the beginning of the year, a copycat, every household in the village to raise a few pigs, to prepare for the end of a sacred deities.
Hours at home, often listen to Grandpa grandmother and village elders: the ancient legend Shennong put into wild boar domesticated pigs, to appreciate the nature, return to the gods, especially the concept of night sky, selected a lucky day, pig blood. With hope, look forward to, then the world's legend.
"The twelfth lunar month twenty-six, good day!" the stockade in eight year old Uncle Wang, pulls out that already the Yellow almanac, select auspicious days, then invited ten in eight villages have good craft butcher carpenter.
Get up early, burned a pot full of boiling water.
A yell, already prepared three pro six next door neighbours, Qi Qi battle.
Seven or eight of the young labor force and pig opened posture, finally put the pig down to the ground, but Wang Sanshu was down a pit to run pig's trotters, clutching the green leg call: "Yo, I do not eat meat you ha!" was a large group of hearty laughter.
Kill the pig in the stockade, group and neighbor Wai together, eating hot pot stew in the fast pork, drinking home brewed rice wine, and delicious pot meal, fresh green vegetables, happy!
At nearly noon, Li Shunhe went to the courtyard full of shout a voice: "pig carpenter, drink good Samuel, my pig can't wait!"
"Coming!" butcher carpenter filed cheerfully to the furniture.
Steamed glutinous rice cake
"Yo Ho, yo.....", with a brisk pace, two robust and strong man, the hands of the stick fell on the stone trough. All were in the stone groove is filled with cooked glutinous rice, aroma was mellow thick, overflowing the courtyard.
A scene is in the village of lily.
It is also very important, lily is the best "zhenzhuyuan Yurun glutinous rice, should be installed in special barrels in firewood slowly burned for two hours, glutinous rice after expansion, plump, and the mountains in the wood and absorb the nimbus of the nature, and the long barrel pure fusion, make make glutinous rice with a strange smell.
Our children had to wait in a barrel, around the DC side to be cooked, slobber, grab a hand in there, incense pounding straight, hot air blowing.
The rice is installed in the groove in the stone, hit sticky, villagers with tung oil in the hand, put a huge glutinous rice, squeezed into a citrus size, with two boards a clip, a mellow delicious cake.
Round Runrun is like this day is booming, festive.
Simmer bacon cooking pot
When the smoke is blown by wind spread, the stockade in kill swine old and young alike, they together around a pot in pot stew with wax, wax ribs, sausage, PigHead meat, mouth talking past this year just, brothers, old love, like a pot of stew, flavor.
On the ridge along the river with uncle, give us a swing up into the mountains wild boar thing, and drank a cup of excitement.
"That is hanging, I just enter the boar ridge, saw 10 meters away from me in the bushes, hee hee is like a calf, wild boar, lying in the sun. I aim, is a gun, which was to play in wild ass, it crazy rushed toward me!"
"What, then what do you ask for!".
"How? Must be in his pants?" Three laugh succeeded straight.
"You don't know a few old man: Oh, I see there is a big tree beside, quickly climb the tree was almost wild boar arch over, then, into the mountain people to catch up with the boar away." Full - still a lingering fear.
Put incense burning candle
A copycat many people in Xiushan, animist, ancestral to Qian Zhicheng, Xiangan, burning the candle put what is not.
On holidays, especially for thirty nights, put incense, burning the candle, sincere worship, in the old heart, burning candle years is a very serious thing.
On the thirty to eat big meals, home host will point Year candle, reverently inserted in their own room on both sides of the shrine, ancestor worship, ancestor worship said.
Light years apart from the candle, placed on the deceased ancestor Memorial, and pray to the gods to bless you.
Xiushan Year candle for the traditional craft, making for manual.
General with tung oil as raw material, dye Lithospermum (now to Zhu Hong, will rush for pigment) wrapped in bamboo sticks wick, then pouring molding.
Red candle for years, its size, weight, some weighing 20 to 30 pounds, can burn for several days and nights