Science and Technology Daily reporter Sun Yue
The red molten iron, hit by a flower stick, hit the high flower shed, igniting firecrackers and fireworks at the top of the shed. Several floors of iron flower rain bloomed in the night sky, molten iron fell to the ground, and golden flowers splashed everywhere. The silver flowers of the fire tree are dazzling, adding a touch of bright color to people’s evening life.
Tiehua in Queshan, Henan Province is known as "the best folk fireworks". This year’s Spring Festival, Tie Hua, a representative project of national intangible cultural heritage, boarded the Spring Festival Evening at the reception desk, bringing New Year’s greetings to the people of the whole country. "I hope that this will be an opportunity to let more people know about Queshan Tiehua and let people feel the’ Millennium charm’ that has never been left behind for a thousand years." Yang Jianjun, the representative inheritor of Queshan Tiehua, a national intangible cultural heritage, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter on February 23rd.
Romantic password at 1600℃
It is a folk cultural performance skill gradually developed by Chinese ancient craftsmen in the process of casting utensils. It began in the Northern Song Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and has a history of more than a thousand years. During the performance, the craftsmen took turns to beat the hot molten iron in the flower sticks to the flower shed built in advance. For a time, the iron flowers with a height of more than ten meters burst into bloom, expressing people’s good wishes for peace and good weather.
Hot molten iron, how to turn into iron flowers all over the sky? Ma Dandan, a member of Queshan Women’s Tiehua Team, said that the hot metal for tiehua should be "thin but not scattered, thick but not sticky". Therefore, in addition to broken iron, lime, calcium carbonate, magnesium powder and other ingredients should be added appropriately in the iron melting furnace to maintain the proper consistency of molten iron.
While the iron is hot, it is the art of steel and strength, and the most important thing is to "hit"-hit the hot metal high and open it. If you fight high, the hot metal will not hurt the shirtless florist; When it is opened, the iron flower will bloom happily.
After the molten iron is melted, the florist pours the molten iron into the hole at one end of the performer’s "flower stick". During the performance, the flower-beater holds the "upper stick" in his left hand and the "lower stick" in his right hand, with a gourd ladle painted with Tai Chi on his head. He is topless and looks like a warrior incarnating strength and beauty in the splash of Mars.
"If you want the iron flower to be beautiful, the technique is the most important." Ma Dandan said that in the process of beating iron flowers, the three movements of scooping, throwing and hitting must be coherent and clean. In addition, the weight of molten iron scooped out must be less than 2 Liang, the throwing angle must be 90 degrees, and the throwing height cannot exceed the height of a person. Only when you hit it high enough and scattered enough, the iron flower will look good.
The temperature of hot metal is as high as 1600℃, so the performance of playing iron flower is usually carried out in cold winter. Even so, scattered iron flowers are still easy to cause burns. There is a jargon in the flower while the iron is hot-"white is not red", to the effect that the flower can only be produced when the molten iron is incandescent. The orange-red molten iron with low temperature is a lump when it is produced. If it accidentally falls on people, it can give the skin a "very hot".
In the face of danger, shirtless flower-beaters are not daring, just to better protect themselves. Striking iron flowers is a strenuous activity. Large-scale sports will make performers sweat a lot, which can be turned into a "amulet" for the flower-beater to take the iron beads that landed on their bodies away to prevent their bodies from being burned. If you wear clothes, scattered iron beads will soon cause burns once they fall on clothes.
Magnificent momentum makes people clap their hands.
"Spring is the preface, and everything is in harmony; Iron flowers bloom and prosperity is peaceful. This is a blessing and a kind of inheritance. " Yang Jianjun said, "When I was a child, I saw the iron flower, which was so shocking." After the founding of New China, Queshan County held only one iron flower-beating activity in 1956 and 1962, but it was interrupted afterwards. After 10 years’ visit, Yang Jianjun finally sorted out and revived "Queshan Tiehua".
In 2002, Queshan County had a bumper harvest in agriculture, and the county decided to organize a flower fight. This is the first time after the reform and opening up, the government has come forward to organize the blacksmith flower. Yang Jianjun designed and built a flower shed. The event attracted more than 100,000 people and achieved unprecedented success. Since then, Yang Jianjun has taken his own performance team to perform in Beijing, Tianjin and other places. This long-lost folk traditional fireworks, with its thrilling grandeur, made the audience clap their hands and exclaim.
Yang Jianjun said that in recent years, Tiehua was deeply loved by the masses, and gradually evolved from the initial sacrificial ceremony to a pure Tiehua fireworks display.
During the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, Queshan county, city and countryside will hold activities to beat iron flowers, which will make the rich flavor of the year more mellow in the splash of iron flowers.
In recent years, more and more young people have joined the ranks of non-genetic inheritance, and they have rejuvenated the ancient non-legacy skills with unique perspectives and innovative expressions. "It is indeed dangerous to play with iron flowers, but I am sincerely gratified to see those young people who really love the art of playing with iron flowers." Yang Jianjun said.
Today, Yang Jianjun has organized three teams with more than 30 disciples, including the first women’s Tiehua team in China, and Jiang Xunqian, a cultural heritage blogger with tens of millions of fans, is one of them. They often come up with some new ideas, and try to integrate modern pop elements into them on the basis of retaining the original skills of striking iron flowers.
"There must be someone to pass on and carry forward such a beautiful thing while the iron is hot. Why can’t that person be me?" Jiang Xunqian said.
With the participation of young people, Yang Jianjun also began to try to shoot short videos to share the blooming moment of Tiehua on the Internet, which attracted many young fans. Nowadays, every major festival, Queshan’s iron flower team will fly to all parts of the country to perform, so that this iron flower that has been passed down for thousands of years will bloom more brilliantly.
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