Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Early in the morning on the eighteenth day of the winter lunar month, people in the village took fishing tools to the Moon Pool. Zixuan and the others naturally got up early. After eating some breakfast, they put on thick clothes and went with them. Jinghan wore a leather jacket and skirt, a fox fur scarf, a fur hat given by a fellow villager, and deerskin boots. Fully armed, he looks like a round fur ball. Because she was watching from the side and could not work like the villagers, she had to pay attention to keeping warm.

When the winter fishing begins, the first thing to do is to perform the ritual of offering sacrifices to the lake to awaken the net. People living nearby believe that there is a lake god in the lake. Offering sacrifices to the lake has two meanings. The first one is to offer sacrifices to the heavenly father, the earth mother and the lake god by offering sacrifices to the lake, praying for the blessings of the gods, the continued reproduction of all living things, and the good fortune and health of the people. The second point is to wake up the sleeping winter net by offering net sacrifices to ensure that it is smooth and safe when the net is set up and launched into the lake. The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the lake and waking up the net shows people's lofty admiration for nature and people's love for the beauty of life.

The lake sacrifice ceremony is presided over by Yubaotou. Generally, Yubaotou is a very experienced and strong person, usually no more than forty years old. The fish put its head on the ice, facing the direction of the sun, and placed an altar. Nine fire supports are placed in front of the altar, covered with firewood, and then all lit. In front of each fire prop, a hole was cut into the ice to place offerings into the lake.

In front of the altar, there was a man standing, wearing colorful clothes, holding some strange things in his hand, and he was chanting. This person should be similar to a wizard, responsible for communicating with the gods. The locals also call him a priest. Around the altar, there were villagers beating drums and playing music. Young men and young girls in the village, wearing brightly colored clothes, danced unknown dances on the ice.

The fish raised its head and loudly chanted the words of sacrifice to the lake. There was a strong wind on the ice, coupled with the sound of drums. Jinghan stood by the lake and could only vaguely hear intermittent sounds floating in the wind. "Ah, the eternal sky, the spirit of the ancestors; ah, protect all living beings, seek prosperity, seek prosperity... ah, thousands of miles of ice-covered lake, thousands of acres of lake surface competing with each other. Open the ice and pull the net to bring out the fish, and celebrate the harvest at the feast of the first fish ”

When the fish turned its head and finished reciting the words of sacrifice to the lake, it took a bowl of wine from the hand of the priest, holding the wine bowl in its hand, "The big net caught in the winter has woken up, and began to sacrifice to the lake. The first sacrifice is to the eternal sky, and the second sacrifice is to the gift of the lake." The land of our lives, the three gods of the lake, wish us a safe and smooth winter fishing, with more fish, big fish, and good fish.”

Amidst the sound of chanting and drumming, the fish headed up to the altar and shouted loudly, "Bless the Lake God." All the fishermen at the scene also shouted in unison, "Bless the Lake God." Then everyone began to pray to Jiu. Offerings were placed in an ice cave.

Next, the fish handler and the fishermen have to return to the front of the horse sledge, which is their winter fishing tool. The fish leader stood in front of the team of fishermen and shouted loudly, "Put on the dried milk and fry the rice, so that we can fill our bellies when we go into the lake and open the nets."

A group of girls from the village came to the fishermen one after another, holding trays with dried milk and fried rice in their hands. The fish heads were given to the fishermen, each of them served a bowl, and the fishermen began to eat. Not long after, the fish raised its head and shouted again, "Bring the wine, let's drink Zhuangxing wine."

The girls brought empty bowls on trays, and several other girls came to the fishermen and fish handlers holding wine jars and poured wine for them. The fish raised its head and shouted again, "Good wine will help us catch good fish, let's do it." Everyone drank the wine in the bowl and put the bowl back into the tray held by the girls.

The fish head shouted again, "Enter the lake, collect the red net, fire the fireworks, and set off." So, the fish head and sixty fishermen, amidst the chanting of the priests, the cheerful drumming, and the fierce Amidst the sound of firecrackers, the carriage and horse sledge were driven towards the lake.

Jinghan was shocked by this spectacular scene. The whole village was watching, but no one made a sound. Everyone was watching the whole ceremony with concentration. It wasn't until these people started to go up to the lake that everyone started talking.

Standing next to Zixuan and Jinghan were the village chief and several elders in the village. They introduced Zixuan to the process of winter fishing. "Look at those horses, they are all fed with the best fine materials more than half a month in advance, just to make them adapt to this kind of work. You know, there will be a total of fifty or sixty large nets, and one They were linked together one by one and sent under the ice. They had to be dragged by horses, and the horses were very tired from doing this day's work. "

On the ice at this moment, the fish head has begun to determine its position. "This is called painting a nest, where the fish uses its head to determine the position of the net. You see, the fish uses its head to determine the position based on the bottom surface of the lake and the water depth, and then cuts out the first ice hole. This is the hole of the net. Then walk two hundred steps forward from both sides of the lower mesh to determine the position of the wing flag. If you see the big flag they are carrying, that is the wing flag, and then walk two or three steps straight ahead from the wing flag. One hundred steps is determined to be the round beach flag. Starting from the two flag holes of the round beach flag, they converge together, which is about two to three hundred steps away. When they come together, this is the net hole, and the net flag should be inserted. The area marked by several large flags is the net nest. There is a lot of knowledge in this. The size and shape of the net nest, the angle of sending the flags, etc. are all based on the experience accumulated by generations and the years of experience of the fish leader. Done." The village chief's brother was once a fisherman and was very familiar with these things.

The fishermen began to cut holes in the ice every twenty steps from the lower mesh to the wing flag. Then lower the rod. The length of the rod is longer than the distance between the ice holes. Some people hold walking hooks in their hands, and use the walking hook to push the penetration rod from one ice hole to the next, and so on until the mesh comes out. There is a waterline rope tied behind the pole. The rope is not too thick. There is a big tape behind the waterline rope and a big net behind the big tape. In this way, the waterline rope drove the big rope forward, and the net behind the big rope also moved forward. But those nets were very heavy, so they used horses to pull the winches and drove the big rope forward.

Use a large hook with the handle of the net to push the net into the water little by little, and pay attention to the weight of the net at all times. After the nets on both sides move forward and out of the mesh, the entire large net has been lowered into the water.

This process takes a long time, probably three or four hours just to get off the Internet. The village chief was afraid that Zixuan and the others would not be able to bear the cold weather here, so he said that he would wait for someone to call them before leaving the net, and asked Zixuan and the others to go back to the village to rest and warm up. Zixuan was afraid that Jinghan couldn't bear the cold, so he agreed and took everyone back to the village first.

She got up early in the morning and had just stood in the cold wind for a long time. Jinghan was also a little tired. After drinking some hot water, I went back to the house where I lived and leaned on the kang, not wanting to move.

Zixuan was worried about his wife, and after talking to Sun Jianye and others for a while, he also returned to the house. "Madam, what's wrong with you? Why do I feel that you seem to be reluctant to move recently?" Zixuan took off his shoes and got on the kang, hugging Jinghan and said.

"I don't know, I'm just lazy and unwilling to move. Maybe it's because the weather is too cold and the wind is strong. I suffer when I go out, but I always suffocate at home when I don't go out, right?" Jinghan didn't take it seriously. She wasn't familiar with this place. I always feel like I don’t want to go out. If she were in the mountains, even if it was cold, she would be willing to go hunting with her father in the mountains.

"Go back and find a doctor to check it out for you. I'm really worried about you looking like this." Zixuan reached out and touched Jinghan's forehead, but there was nothing unusual.

"Just the doctors here? What can they see? I have no idea whether they can catch up with him." Jinghan doesn't look down on the doctors here. In fact, in the entire county, there are only one or two doctors who are still half-qualified. Jinghan was really worried about letting them see her.

"It's hard for you. Come with me here. If that doesn't work, just invite two doctors from other places. It won't work like this all the time." Zixuan always felt that Jinghan's state was a little abnormal, and he was a little worried. "It's indeed a bit harder here. Otherwise, I'll send you back. Having your parents take care of you will be much better than here."

Jinghan glared at him, "What are you doing? Send me back. What do you want to do? Could it be that you fancy a girl from a certain family, so you want to get me away?"

"Crooked. You heartless little thing, I feel sorry for you, but you arranged it for me to see how I deal with you." As he said that, Zixuan reached out to Jinghan's armpit.

Jinghan was the most ticklish, and her body suddenly curled up into a ball, and she couldn't help laughing. "Ms. sir, I don't dare anymore. Isn't it okay if I don't dare anymore?" He suddenly rolled to the side.

Zixuan reached out and hugged Jinghan, resting his chin on the top of her head and in the center of her head, "Madam, I won't bother you anymore. After this winter hunting is over, I will ask someone to hire a doctor for you, and we will take good care of you." Body. You should spend less time in the future, I will take care of everything, as long as you are well."

Jinghan's smiling face turned red, and she nestled in Zixuan's arms, feeling very satisfied. "Zixuan, I'm a little sleepy. Let's squint for a while." After saying that, she closed her eyes, and after a while she Fell asleep.

Zixuan looked at Jinghan who was sleeping soundly, and he really couldn't let go. Jinghan rarely slept like this in the past, but in recent days, it seemed that Jinghan got sleepy very easily and would fall asleep whenever he had the chance. "Jinghan, what's wrong with you? Don't let anything happen to you." Zixuan said in a low voice.

There were no fish out at this time, so Zixuan slept with Jinghan for a while. Some people in the village also came back, and they were preparing the meal for the evening. Tonight is a celebration banquet, so we naturally need to be better prepared. Some old women in the village were preparing meals and chatting there.

"Look at the wife of the county magistrate, she is really pretty. It is really rare for such a person to come to a poor place like ours to endure hardships." A woman said this.

"Our Lord Magistrate is quite handsome. These two people stand together. They are a perfect match. You haven't seen how much our Lord Magistrate loves his wife. These two are such a perfect match." Another one. The woman also said.

"By the way, can't you see it, it seems like Madam has a baby, right? Her face looks similar to me." A somewhat old voice said.

Zixuan had not slept at all, but when he heard these words, he suddenly became energetic.