By Xiaoyu XIONG (Sherry). 2021
In early April 2021, I arrived in Chongwu, Fujian Province, a coastal fishing village. The fish rolls and meat Zongzi (rice dumplings) are delicious here. The continuous ancient city wall separates the city from the outside. Most of the houses in this city were built in the late Qing Dynasty, the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s. They have noticeable changes in appearance. However, due to the rapid development of the city’s external economy, there are only dilapidated houses and old people in the old city.” “city” becomes “county”, and “county” becomes “city”. In these days of travel, I met different local people, including storyteller Uncle Zhang, stone carving artist, Feng Shui master, and Hui’an women. Their stories brought life to the city. Feng Shui Master Wang’s “mirror theory” has a particular interest: through a tree, feel a person, through this time, feel that time. It’s like I am in Huian. I feel the whole city’s temperament through the local people’s character.
Day one 4/1 Chongwu Ancient City in the Fog
Chongwu ancient city is located on the southeast coast of China’s mainland half island, and Taiwan island across the sea is an ancient fishing village. In heavy fog on April 1, 2021, the hotel’s owner, Qiongjie, picked me up from Quanzhou Airport to my residence. The sea (Taiwan Strait) was all around the way. In the misty fog, the ancient city of Chongwu appeared faintly in front of us, like an ancient castle full of mysterious stories. Enter the old city from the south gate through space like a porch, known locally as Weng Cheng, and turn to enter the old city. The primary color composition of Chongwu Ancient City is cement ash, and the brick red temple house is in the southern Fujian style. The old and new buildings are scattered randomly, and the unique “땀” shaped narrow intersections separate the ancient city. There are four villages in the ancient city (Chaole, Lianxi, Xihua, and Haimen), each of which is managed by village-level administrative units. The relationship between them is subtle. Among them, the Chaole government prefers to develop tourism and pays more attention to the local cultural heritage.
Most of the buildings in the ancient city are dilapidated, except for the long gray stone buildings from 1949 that still function as everyday buildings. In addition, due to the prosperity of ancestral hall culture in southern Fujian, the ancestral hall in the city is well preserved. The daily sacrifice culture still prevails there, which coincides with Tomb Sweeping Day, and I was fortunate enough to see the local culture of sacrifice and funerals. The market in the center of the ancient city sells sacrificial items such as seafood, vegetables and fruits, fake flowers, ghost money, etc. to prepare for the Qingming Festival. And the sporadic young people with bags to take back to their hometown to worship their ancestors. The younger generation, dressed in mourning, cried out to mourn the dead. In the temple every afternoon at the right time, the muffled sound of the older people chanting sutra – the night in the old city is very long. Walking on the ancient wall, only sporadic lights can be seen. Life in the old town is cut off from the outside world, it is like human’s heart, a place accessible only in the dead of night, where memories and secrets are hidden.
Day two 4/2 The People’s Theatre
Early in the morning, I went out to the breakfast shop at the ancient city entrance. The old lady cooked noodles for me and lifted the curtain to continue chanting sutras. Walking through the streets, the older people in the old city also began their daily routine. Due to the ancient city still having a primary school (built-in 1946 on the site of a Confucian temple), mornings and evenings are a rare rush hour, with mums on electric scooters picking up their children, most of whom do not live in the ancient city. At least eighty percent of the young people have moved out of the old city to live in the new cities because of problems with water supply, electricity, and aging housing. The elderly people, along with the old objects and customs of the ancient city, were classified as “heritage” and protected by the government.
Apart from the primary school, one of the most crowded areas in the ancient city is the People’s Film Theatre, built and used around 1960. The external wall is more than 9 meters high, and the total area is more than 800 square meters. When the film was put on, it could accommodate 1600 people. It has been out of use for nearly 20 years. A big fire broke out in 2010. Later, it became the elderly activity centre of Lianxi village committee.
“At that time, to build this theatre, each person produced 100 Jin of fish, and each sampan produced 400 Jin of fish. People carried stones that made their shoulders blistered.”
He Jianghai, a local older man, recalled being a teenager when he built the theatre. At first, it was called the ‘Fishermen’s Auditorium’, but later it was changed into the ‘People’s Theatre’. In the early years, there were no entertainment activities in the countryside, and the theatre became the most lively place in the village. The movie and acting were all carried out
here, which was very lively. Nowadays, the theatre is still a “live” place: In front of the gate of the People’s Theatre were four or five tables of old people playing mahjong, which was their only entertainment. Entering the theatre door, the Great Wall and Chairman Mao hung on the wall, and the decoration was broken. There are still more than ten mahjong tables in the empty theatre hall, so spectacular as if the older man of the whole city is here. On the first floor, an older man at the end of the bench looked at the old TV set on the wall. On both sides of the bench was a couplet “The old have fun, the old have learned”. Above the TV set hung the old people’s “feelings” — Portrait of MAO Zedong. No matter whether ‘The Fishermen’s Auditorium’ or ‘The People’s Theatre’, it’s true identity is undoubtedly ‘old man activity centre’.
Returning to the accommodation place in the evening, the landlord Qiong prepared wine to entertain us. Qiong is a local and has received countless outsiders like me. Like every local, she hopes there will always be someone who can change Hui’an county and improve. Qiong said:
“I used to be a Hui’an Female…..Like everyone else, my mother got me engaged when I was 14 or 15, but I was rebellious from an early age. I don’t know where it came from. I just knew I didn’t want to marry someone I didn’t know. After a heated argument with my mother, I went to the man’s house and broke off my engagement! The boy’s mother is an old overseas Chinese who can read and write, so she agreed.” Hahaha, you know Qiong was born in the 1970s. She was undoubtedly an unusual person to do such a thing then. With Qiong drinking red wine, in the candlelight is a pile of books, and a lying pipa… … The term “Hui’an Woman” seems to carry many unspeakable things.
Day three 4/3 The Lady from Chaole village and her Yard
When I entered the ancient city on the third day, I felt familiar. Life in the ancient city is repeated daily, as if time has not gone, and it will return to yesterday 24 hours later. The difference is that the old lady who sits at the door every day watching the pedestrians smiles at me today. Due to the region’s unique culture, the local old ladies have distinctive clothes and make-up hair, and the style differs from other villages in Hui’an County. The most significant difference is the headdress. The women in the ancient city wore their hair in delicate buns, long or short, sheep horn braid or Mahua braid, with red and gold hair ornaments, without headbands and hats. They usually wear black or dark maroon Satin clothes with layers of neat folds and wear silver chains. They wear slippers and often work with
carrying poles, ‘Hui’an women’ refers to the women in the jurisdiction of Hui’an County. Society praises them for their clothing, living customs, and dynamic character, which differ from Han nationality. But in recent years, another voice has become more and more intense: “Hui’an women are the old feudal custom, the kidnapping of women by the male society… To over-praise ‘Hui’an women’ is disrespect for women.” Perhaps for the sake of protecting the image of his hometown, when I interviewed a local man about the history of Chongwu, he denied that there were ‘Hui’an women’ in Chongwu ancient city and that women had been forced to commit suicide before. It’s easy to chat with local older people like this. They are like the spokespeople of the ancient city and are very enthusiastic and willing to introduce the local culture. Compared with the old ladies, it isn’t easy to communicate. More importantly, because of the language barrier, they seldom have social behaviors to share with outsiders. Even the female boss of the clothing store and the seafood vendor are still silent. Nevertheless, there are exceptions.
In the afternoon, I came across a well-preserved old yard where an old lady lived. She warmly invited us to visit, took out her hand-made cakes to share with us (which are delicious!), and began happily talking about her children. After inquiring, I learned that the old lady was nearly 80 years old and used to be a teacher, while her son was the director of Chaole Village. There are fishing gear and fishing boat models of Chongwu people from the Ming Dynasty to the present in the courtyard, just like a small museum. The Ming government built Chongwu ancient city to fight against the bonobos. The local fishermen were the descendants of the garrison, so the Chongwu people still preferred to access the government systems and defend the country rather than doing business, which is also one of the reasons for the lagging economic development of Chongwu. Before leaving, I promised the lady to revisit her home, but I failed. It is a pity. Later, my colleagues told me they had met the lady before and complained that their children didn’t visit her, which was quite different from today’s attitude. No matter whether Chaole Village old lady or Qiong Jie, they are all expressions of ‘Hui’an female culture’. Various times and mainstream consciousness cast different opinions on them.
Day four 4/4 Hui’an Women in Dazuo Village
To further understand the mysterious local culture of ‘Hui’an women’, I visited Dazuo village about one kilometre from Chongwu ancient city. If we say that Chongwu people are ‘city people’, and as one of the main settlement areas of ‘Hui’an women’, people who live in Dazuo village are typical ‘country people’ and the representative of ‘Hui’an women culture’. In terms of dress, black is essential for women, only in large-scale celebrations and weddings. The printed scarf with white dots on a blue background is the most classic, and it is fixed with a round red decoration. The headband has a hairpin and its shape changes with age. Dark hair is held in place by a semicircular comb. “Hui’an women love beauty, and each woman has at least 100 headscarves of different colours in her life.” Qiong said so. In terms of life, Hui’an women’s surnames are responsible for housework, raising children, and doing heavy work such as carrying stones and building houses. The world knows Hui’an women’s hard work and blames Hui’an men, but it is not. Hui’an men have gone to sea for many years and may never return. Walking in Dazuo village, we can see Hui’an women over 40 in traditional costumes everywhere, while Hui’an women under 30 in conventional costumes are scarce. With the impact of aesthetics and mainstream culture, women after the 1980s were not willing to be bound by traditional customs and turned to the cultural tide of ‘independent women in the new era’. The first to be abandoned is the most recognisable ‘clothing’. However, in recent years, with the influence of the trend of self-confidence in Chinese culture, the potential commercial value of ‘Hui’an women’s culture has been valued by businessmen. The open reef space adjacent to Dazuo Village (which used to be the gathering place of Hui’an women’s collective suicide) has been built into a ‘Hui’an women’s style garden’. The local people wear their clothes and smile for tourists to take photos. Due to the local economic development, the government funded the project.
Scholars and artists in China and abroad have conducted in-depth research on Hui’an women’s culture, from clothing, marriage customs, suicide rate, etc. For example, as early as 1994, Professor Sara L. Friedman conducted a one to two-year practical research of Hui’an women with Dazuo village as the centre. She learned about this group through the everyday life of local people and discussed the influence of state power on the individual destiny of females from this perspective. The film ‘The Twin Bracelets’ also criticises the local marriage custom of ‘living in mother’s home for a long year. The situation has changed, but the changes in this group are still worthy of attention.
Day five 4/5 Sculptors and Feng Shui Masters
Huian County is a famous stone carving gathering place in China, which mainly undertakes large-scale government and commercial projects. When I was walking on the streets of Chongwu, the towering statues of Buddha and great men on both sides of the road ‘welcome guests’. I was lucky to meet the local sculpture artist Kong Zhanwu. His works differ from the commodities large local sculpture groups produced but are closer to ‘contemporary art’. Kong’s works not only show the art of sculpture but also try to convey his thinking to the public and involve sculpture in human, nature, and social problems. After visiting Mr. Kong’s studio, I was deeply impressed by one of his works. The work is a blue-bust sculpture. The author combines the image of the Mona Lisa with Chinese comedian Xu Jinjiang to create a sense of humour and absurdity, which makes the audience hesitate between familiarity and strangeness and makes them laugh. “Actor Xu Jinjiang has suffered from depression for many years, and he laughs when he sees the work… I do this work hoping people with depression can relax when they see the work.” Kong said. Isn’t that the value of contemporary art? In addition to Mr. Kong’s studio, I also had the honour to visit the gallery of Mr. Wang Xiangming, a famous local sculpture group leader. The traditional architecture in Southern Fujian is combined with the modern simple decoration style, and the tiles, rafters, and rocks on the bottom of the sea of the old house are rejuvenated here. Mr. Wang is another representative of martial arts worshippers different from Mr. Kong. What they pursue is “the ultimate carving technology”. With the Chinese government’s reduced investment in infrastructure construction in recent years, Mr. Wang Xiangming’s company is changing from a mass production company system to a more delicate studio system. Mr. Wang Xiangming, a craftsman, is also actively participating in the election of outstanding entrepreneurs in Fujian Province. With the transformation of China’s economic centre, what’s the future of Hui’an?
I had the opportunity to visit Mr. Kong’s studio because I met Mr. Wang Xikui, a geomancy master in the ancient city. Feng Shui is a unique profession in China. It generally serves for the direction and location of large buildings, individual houses, and cemeteries. It can also predict what will happen in the future. According to the natural rules of the environment and the universe, people are regarded as the universe’s natural state, and the answers are inferred by observing the elements such as topography, plants, and animals. Mr. Wang is a well-known local geomancy master and has his theory, ‘ mirror theory’: through a tree to see a thing, through a person to see an object, through this time, to see that time. Mr. Wang also explained that the ancient city was “the emperor’s place”. In geomantic omen, if there are five colours in a place’s geology, there will be more and more talents in this place. Before leaving, Mr. Wang said I would meet a lucky guy this year in August. Hahaha… Thank you for your blessing and dinner.
Day six to ten 4/6—10 The Silent Sound
They were starting a new day again with the musical sound of Dongxiao. Qiong, the owner of the hotel, is a lover of Nanyin. She enjoys Dongxiao and Pipa in her spare time. Nanyin is a unique classical music genre in Southern Fujian. Its distinctive performance forms are as follows: on the right are Pipa and Sanxian, respectively; On the left are the Dongxiao and the one who plays two strings. The singer holds the clapboard in the middle and sings. The melody is graceful and lyrical, with endless aftertones. As one of the birthplaces of Nanyin, Chongwu’s older generation will naturally sing a few lines, but few young people enjoy it. In Chongwu ancient city, the “Chongwu Nanyin club” comprises old people who love Nanyin. In addition to daily practice activities, it also teaches young people working in government departments. In addition to the government-supported associations, there is a folk Nanyin Association organized by Cai Yayi, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, in Huian County, which teaches arts by apprenticeship and has the opportunity to show it to the world in Vienna in 2017. Nanyin contains rich culture and moving stories, which few can match. Of course, only by integrating Nanyin into people’s daily life can Nanyin regain its vitality. To observe the local environment and people’s tolerance of contemporary art forms in the ancient city, we decided to conduct an interesting interactive test of sound and visuals in the ancient city to test the possibility of the ancient city as an architectural space and social space. With the combination of silent and mysterious sound and vision, we can extract the neglected and disappearing sounds from everyday life and make people participate in their production. Among the several gates and temples, the final site is located at the entrance of the east gate of the ancient city (also known as Wengcheng). On the one hand, the entrance space of the city gate is the hub connecting the inside and outside of the city, the connection between “new” and “old” voices, and on the other hand, it can echo the flow of people on the city wall. After the approval of the Chongwu government, we invited the Chongwu Nanyin group to give an interactive performance to attract local people’s attention. The room to prepare for the activity is an abandoned old house with a roof made of colored steel. Even so, the memorial tablet of the house’s owner is still in place. It is not allowed to lament that the ancestral temple culture is deeply rooted in the bone marrow of the Chongwu people. After several days of preparation, I met with more than ten old gentlemen of the Chongwu Nanyin team at 6:00 p.m. on the 10th. They didn’t speak much, but they prepared acoustics and musical instruments. They were cautious in preparing for the activity, which was very touching. The activity lasts one hour and takes place from 7 to 8 p.m. Peer partners broadcast the live activity through the network. The night of the ancient city is quiet, with only a few passers-by coming home, which still attracts the residents around to watch and listen. After the Nanyin performance, the crowd faded. The sound of footsteps and chickens and dogs reflected the moonlight, the sea breeze, and the sound device quietly interacted. This testing activity was full of harvest, giving us a more straightforward plan for further ideas and seeing the hearts ready to move under the silence.