Sometimes the wind blew my clothes and pants, fluttering like small flags. The man stood on the bow of the boat and shouted a folk song with his arms akimbo, frightening the waterfowl on the river to fly in all directions.
The scorching sun has been directly scorching their bodies for a long time, and each boatman's skin has been tanned as if painted with a layer of tung oil, and his complexion has become brown and bright.
They only put on their clothes when they pass by villages and ferries on their boats.
After living in such a living environment for a long time, the boatmen's words and deeds became wild and rude. This time, when the fleet reached a weir, some people saw a delicate and graceful woman near the water wheel, squatting on a large stone slab by the river and washing clothes. Someone got excited and encouraged Liang Hebiao, saying: "Ah Biao, Sing folk songs with her!"
Both sides of the Xijiang River are mostly places where Hakka people live together. Most of the Hakka young men and women like to sing folk songs.
They sing in singing competitions, in the mountains and rivers, at the end of the road, or when they are tired from working in the fields, even if they don't meet any opponents, they still have to entertain themselves by humming a few words and using the Come to relieve boredom and vent your feelings.
They may be moved by the scene and talk to each other sincerely; they may quote scriptures; or they may laugh at each other and praise each other, just having fun.
Among the Hakka people in this area, there is a story about a singing fairy.
According to legend, this singer named Tang Huixian was good at singing folk songs. He is proficient in beautiful folk songs and music melodies, and is known as the "Song Immortal" and "Singing Saint". Anyone who hears the name of the song from a thousand miles away will leave in one day, or in two or three days.
Huixian understood the rhythm of music and mastered the game. He often traveled between Xidong and Hujing.
When you meet a certain person, you compose a song based on a certain voice and sing in harmony with him, and a certain person regards it as a style. A young man from Baihe Village was singing while he was climbing a mountain. People from the lake, Yao and Zhuang people gathered around to watch. There were hundreds of men and women, all of whom thought they were immortals.
For seven days and nights the singing continued, and they all turned into stone. The native people worshiped it in Yangchun Jinshi Rock. It is shaped like nine curves and can accommodate one person. It is black and shiny, and it is the relic of an immortal.
Day and night, I often hear the sound of sheng and cranes. When he is mature, he seems to be singing on the top of a rock. The Suffering Immortal is now called the Singing Immortal. Whenever he sings, no matter whether it is a lake folk or a Yao Zhuang Mountain, etc., a copy must be given to him before the song is completed. It is not allowed to be taken out, and it gradually accumulates in several boxes. "
Tang Huixian is survived by her grandfather, father, mother and eldest brother Tang Aniu. Her family calls her "Huixian".
Hakka folk songs are famous for their antiphonal singing, which often requires the singers to have the qualities and abilities to react to the scene, improvise, and have extraordinary dexterity.
There was a young man named Luo Yin in the guest place. He had lofty ambitions to become emperor, but in fact he didn't even pass the imperial examination. In anger, he lived in seclusion in the mountains and entertained himself by composing folk songs every day.
He wrote so many folk songs that three rooms were filled. Once, he heard that Tang Huixian was good at singing folk songs and was beautiful, so he even spread the word: "If anyone can sing folk songs better than me, I will marry him."
After Luo Yin heard this, he hired three boats overnight to carry some of his folk song scripts to Tang Huixian for duet. In fact, Luo Yin's folk song book could fill nine boats, but he thought that if three boats of folk songs could not defeat a woman, would he still be a scholar?
When the boat arrived at the village where Tang Huixian lived, he saw a pretty Hakka woman carrying water on the shore. Luo Yin asked her about Tang Huixian's residence, and specifically explained that he came to Duige to marry her.
The water-carrying woman put down her burden, looked at him with a smile, and said, "Sir, how many folk songs do you have?"
Luo Yin said boldly: "There are nine boats of folk songs, three boats are in the provincial capital, three boats are in Huzhou, and three boats have been pushed to the shore."
After hearing this, the woman smiled implicitly and persuaded: "Sir, please come back. It seems that you are no match for Tang Huixian."
Luo Yin asked in surprise: "Why?"
The woman did not answer directly, but relaxed her voice and sang impromptu: "Tang Huixian on the stone, Luo Xiucai on the road, everyone has folk songs in their stomachs, how can there be a folk song boat to support them?"
It turned out that this woman carrying water was the singing fairy Tang Huixian. Her singing voice was indeed extraordinary. Luo Yin was shocked as soon as she started singing.
He looked through all the songbooks on the ship that he had painstakingly written, but he couldn't match a single sentence. He was so angry that he threw Mifune's folk song book into the river and retreated shyly.
The folk songs spread in this area are mostly famous for their lyrical, lingering, melodious and euphemistic qualities. The image of Tang Huixian represents the outstanding talents of Hakka women in arts.
It makes sense why its image is so popular.
The Hakka people like to sing folk songs, which is mainly related to their living environment and hard work, as well as their enthusiastic and optimistic personality.
As they sang in the song, "Singing is not about being romantic, singing is to relieve sorrow."
…
Liang Hebiao is a sweet-tempered person. He doesn't smoke or gamble when he's out on the docks, but he loves to eat, drink, covet women, and sing folk songs.
At that time, there were many fireworks displayers on the wharves along the Xijiang and Yangtze Rivers, and at night the flower boats were often full of feasting, beauty and fragrance.
If the boat was moored at some pier, Liang Hebiao would go to the pretty girls at night and go to the flower boats by the river to look for the romantic women he had been with. At that time, Liang Hebiao was already a man in his early 18s. When he was just ten years old, his mother-in-law wanted to ask a matchmaker to arrange a baby match for him. She would find a girl from a good family and good talents, and they would become a couple. The family members consummated the marriage for him so that he could start a family and start a business as soon as possible and continue the Liang family lineage.
And his mother mentioned that he was not happy with it a few times, so she refused to agree. She usually just liked to mess around with women outside.
He often spends money on wild women outside, and he doesn't even hesitate to use the money to waste money.
At that time, the crew members on the ship often made fun of Liang Hebiao, saying that he "had a bowl full of sesame oil and spread it all over the place, but he sowed it with intention but failed to reap it."
If the boat passes by a village or a ferry and he meets a woman he is interested in, he usually likes to talk to them and use folk songs to provoke them.
Sometimes if she meets a petty person, a woman will scold him;
If a woman encounters a thin-skinned person, she will bow her head and ignore him;
If she meets a generous man, the woman will be willing to sing with him.
Once, Liang Hebiao and his boat passed a village ferry in Xijiang River and saw a handsome woman washing clothes on a big stone under the willow tree at the ferry.
Liang Hebiao used gossip to talk to the woman, hoping to provoke her, "Pretty girl, I'll go sailing with my brother to Suzhou and Hangzhou to buy rouge and gouache for you."
The woman raised her head and looked at him carefully. Liang Hebiao saw that her big eyes were like water in a river, clear and very charming.
She smiled brightly and said, "Why don't you come back if you go?"
Liang Hebiao was so troubled by the woman's provocative eyes and smile that he almost forgot his last name.
"Okay?" The woman gave Liang Hebiao another flirtatious look to further tease him.
"Okay! If you don't come back, don't come back!" Liang Hebiao couldn't hold back the passion that surged through his body and shouted, "Quiet girl, wait for me!"
Then he threw away his pennies and jumped into the water, trying to catch up with the woman.
The woman turned around, and Liang Hebiao looked up and saw that she had an exquisite bun on the back of her head, and the rest of her hair hung down her neck to her shoulders and chest, looking very charming.
Hakka girls wear long braids and young women wear their hair in a bun. When the woman saw him swimming ashore, she laughed happily and rolled over. Then he stroked a strand of soft hair beside his face and sang:
There is a river under the majestic mountain. The elder brother is a duck and the younger sister is a chicken.
Chickens are no companions for ducks. I advise you not to chase girls.
Liang He sings:
There is a river under the towering mountain. My brother is a duck and my sister is a river.
How can a duck not love water, how can a loving brother not love his sister.
The woman sings:
Brother, don't be too fussy, your wife is so fierce.
Go back and twist the back of your ears and make you kneel on the washboard.
Liang He sings:
I really love my little sister, and she is still unmarried at the age of twenty.
I sincerely marry my sister. I wonder if I will be so blessed?
The woman sings:
It's my sister who has no luck to enjoy it, so she stays at home in an empty room.
A girl is born with few blessings and dare not expect her brother to be her lover.
Liang He sings:
The stars in the sky match the moon, and the pretty girl on the ground matches her lover.
There are thousands of people who don't like her brother, but only want to be paired with her sister.
The woman sings:
My brother is smart, my brother is handsome, and he sings so beautifully that my sister's heart blossoms.
Luring the girl to the middle of the water, there is no dilemma in going back and forth.
Liang He sings:
I really love my little sister, and every word I say comes from the bottom of my heart.
If I still don’t believe it, I would like to swear to heaven.
The woman sings:
My sister’s family lives in Changhewan, and my brother’s family is located in Tianlu Mountain.
After all, the brother is sincere to his sister, but it is difficult for them to become a couple because they are so far apart.
Liang He sings:
The moon is bright on August 15th, so I invite my sister to see the golden lotus bloom.
My younger sister is a golden lotus and my elder brother is a bee accompanying my younger sister.
The woman sings:
Brother, don’t sing, brother, don’t think, my sister is not on your side either.
The thrush only likes to live in the mountains, while the swallows travel to other places with mud in their mouths.
Liang He sings:
The 18th sister is really worried when she comes, don’t always make excuses.
As long as you are willing, sister, let you wear gold and silver.
The woman sings:
A loving man is not afraid of poverty, as long as his brother has great ambitions.
The girl doesn't love the gold and silver treasures, but only loves the brother as a lover.
Liang He sings:
The younger sister is so obedient, the younger sister is so clever, and it’s hard to tell them apart even after they are in love.
Everything is about affection, and no one is allowed to lose.
The woman sings:
My brother is smart and my brother is handsome. Don't let anyone be disgraced.
If you have a heart that stays together until you grow old, you are not allowed to have different intentions midway.
Liang He sings:
I would like to be a winged bird in heaven, and I would like to join branches on earth.
If you have a different intention in the middle of the journey, unless the water of the Yangtze River flows back.
…
In this way, Liang Hebiao touched the heart of this beautiful girl with his beautiful folk songs, and finally won the beauty back.
The woman who won Liang Hebiao's beauty was named Ding.
After Mrs. Ding married Liang Hebiao, the flowers blossomed and gave birth to one boy and three girls to the Liang family. However, it has not bloomed or bear fruit for many years.
However, I didn’t expect that at the age of over 40 years old, she would be like a plant in autumn. Only a few days before the leaves turned yellow and the branches withered, she sprouted and bloomed again, and actually ended up with her married eldest daughter Chunhua. At the same time, I have a big belly, ushering in the second spring of life.
Chunhua's child was born first, a girl. Because her family was poor, it was not easy to support her mother-in-law for a month.
