National Tide 1980.

Chapter 777 Spring Festival Gala and New Year's Customs

Due to the brilliant success of the Spring Festival Gala for two consecutive years, it has completely changed the habit of keeping the year old on New Year's Eve in the Republic.

On New Year's Eve in 1985, sitting in front of the TV and watching the Spring Festival Gala almost became the most anticipated thing on this day.

It's a pity that the courage to innovate does not always mean great success, and a competent director cannot make every decision correct.

I think I lifted the ban on "Hometown Love" on my own, and let the "Eating Noodles" skit meet the audience. I single-handedly invited compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao to the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, and single-handedly contributed to the classic theme of "Unforgettable Tonight". Director Huang, who was born, really played this time......

To be honest, from the beginning of the Spring Festival Gala, the effect on the TV screen was not satisfactory.

Among other things, Zhao Zhongxiang, who introduced the scene with a thick voice, made people uncomfortable when he appeared.

Originally, based on Director Huang's vision, the stadium had a lot of audience, and the atmosphere on the scene should be particularly lively and joyful.

But in fact, the audience is far away from the stage, coupled with the high contrast of light, the entire environment of the gymnasium is dark, which makes the scene look dull and joyless.

In addition, no one expected that there would be a major mistake in the first official program.

According to the program list, the Peking opera "Hundred Monkeys Welcome Spring" performed by the National Peking Opera Company ranked first.

Speaking of which, the opening of the Year of the Ox with a group of monkeys is baffling enough.

But who knows that in the lens of the camera, the protagonist of this play - Sun Dasheng, who is flying on a slide rail, has collided with the railing!

Seeing the horrific accident scene where the Great Sage was knocked over by the railing really made everyone laugh and feel a little embarrassed.

I don’t know how many people are sighing in front of the TV!
Fortunately, it's not a real person, it's just a prop.Otherwise, if people die, how can the show continue.

And that's fine.

If this scene can be understood by everyone, it is somewhat amusing.

Then when the instrumental music played "Chime Bells", it suddenly turned into creepy disgust.

Because of the performances in large venues, the requirements for lighting are relatively high.

But at that time, China Television had never engaged in such large-scale cultural activities at all. It was accustomed to the requirements of the indoor environment but could not adapt to the outdoor environment, and underestimated the lighting effect.

As a result, the actors in ancient costumes started to play music, just like a bunch of ghosts and monsters from the underworld, full of ghosts.

Or in other words, no matter how you look at it, it feels like the scene of doing white things in the past.

So at this moment, the elderly group can't stand it first.

I don't know how many old men and women who are old are frowning or shaking their heads in front of the TV screen.

What's more, he was discouraged by cursing, turned around and left, and was not stimulated by this.

As a result, many families who watched the Spring Festival Gala experienced audience attrition of varying severity.

But the party's failure still didn't stop there.

You know, the following song "The Great Wall Will Never Fall", although it is the theme song of the hit TV series "Fearless", it is highly anticipated by everyone.

But in such an important performance, it is puzzling that the Spring Festival Gala did not use the original singer Ye Zhentang, but Lu Nianzu's cover.

The direct feeling of the audience is that they are quite disappointed.

And Luo Wen sang the songs "Share the Happy Year" and "In My Life", and the response was also mediocre.

This is mainly because "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" has not been broadcast on a large scale in mainland China through TV stations.

Except for young people and children who like to watch videos in the mainland, few people have heard of Luo Wen's "Iron Blood and Heart".

Luo Wen is not well-known in the mainland, so the audience will naturally not catch a cold.

Moreover, the aesthetics of the contemporary mainland region has not yet reached the point of "complete integration" with the world, and I really can't see the feminine "bewitching men".

When many audiences watched Luo Wen's performance, it was inevitable to have a question in their minds.

Why did the TV station find such a "rabbit master"?

Further down, Huang Ayuan engaged in on-site fundraising, folk songs, and opera singing... One after another, there was no excitement in the program, which completely brought the rhythm of the party into a loose and slow state, completely reaching a dizzy state. Sleepy hypnotic effect.

Since the children are already having fun during the day, most of them are dreaming when these programs are on air.

In addition, there was another major mistake in the program arrangement of this year's Spring Festival Gala, that is, the number of folk art programs was pitifully small.

However, Wang Jingyu's acrobatic cameo was nothing new, and the placement advertisement for "Jinmen Sportswear Factory" was extremely far-fetched and mediocre.

So in the cross talk, apart from Ma Lao's "Da Le Te Le", Jiang Kun's "Watching TV".

As a result, Ma Lao's style is already flat, and it is impossible to see his performance clearly in such a large venue for stand-up comedy.

And Li Wenhua was ill again, Jiang Kun could only partner with others, so the response was obviously not good.

The only commendable bright spot, refreshing, and laughing from ear to ear, is the sketch "Making a Movie".

However, the performance environment at minus ten degrees made Chen Peisi, who performed only in a vest and jacket, almost "give up his life for righteousness", and was sent to an ambulance as soon as the performance was over
There is no doubt that this is also something that no one wants to see and absolutely should not happen.

As for song programs, although the number is relatively large, they are still lackluster.

Apart from Fang Xinhua's "Little Grass", Dong Wenhua's "Fifteenth Moon", Huang Jinbo's "Descendants of the Dragon", and Wang Mingquan's "The Great Wall is Long", there are no high-level songs.

Even the performances of Xi Xiulan and Zhang Mingmin, who were so popular last year, were unremarkable......

All in all, this evening, every family watching the Spring Festival Gala was full of smoke and fire.

It is precisely because the first two Spring Festival Gala heightened people's "appetite" that most people did not think highly of this show.

Even out of disappointment with the program, many families have given up sticking to the TV.

In turn, the old traditions were restored, setting off firecrackers in the street, chatting and joking, and killing time by playing cards and chess.

It is worth mentioning that the mahjong tiles, which had long since disappeared in the capital, also officially revived this night.

Almost all of them were brought back by self-employed people who went to Guangdong to buy goods.

They are basically green and white low-quality plastic shells, glued together with low-quality glue, hollow, and filled with sand to increase the weight.

After a few rounds of beating, the sheets used as hemp blankets, not to mention sleeping people, even sleeping hedgehogs are too uncomfortable.

But no matter how you say it, it's much more interesting than watching the Spring Festival Gala like this.

From this perspective, I am afraid that the 1985 Spring Festival Gala played a certain role in promoting the popularity and promotion of mahjong tiles.

At least let this year become the first year when the capital began to fully restore the mahjong tradition after liberation.

I don't know how many households started preaching mahjong purely because of the boredom of the Spring Festival Gala.

As for Ning Weimin, because he had foreseen this in advance, since he hadn't expected it, he didn't have to be disappointed.

On this New Year's Eve, all his energy was spent chatting with the old man, talking about the old days and how people in the past celebrated the New Year.

Probably in the last few months, when Ning Weimin got busy, the master and apprentice hadn't been so relaxed together for a long time, and had such a close chat.

Watching apprentices, they don’t even watch TV during the Spring Festival Gala, and concentrate on chatting with themselves.Kang Shude was also in a good mood, and he really remembered some past events that he had almost forgotten.

To Ning Weimin, many of them are quite interesting.

For example, the evening of the last day is still a precious time for many hawkers to make money.

According to the old man, in the capital city in the past, when New Year's Eve was approaching dusk, it was the quietest time on the streets.

The shops closed early, and there were hardly any people in the alley.

Except for the cold wind blowing the wires on the telephone poles and the dry branches on the trees, there was no sound.

Only when you walk into courtyards of different sizes or large courtyards, can you hear the sound of "pingpingpangpang" chopping dumpling stuffing on the chopping board.

It was spread from various families, as if you agreed with me, it was like a prelude to the New Year.

But often at this time, there will be shouts of "buy water chestnuts! Buy water chestnuts!" in the alley.

Due to the quiet surroundings, the sound was particularly clear, with melodious echoes rippling in the wind, which could be heard by every family.

At this time, people from every household usually come out of the house and come to the alley to greet the water chestnut sellers.

"Hey, buy some water chestnuts!"

Those who sell water chestnuts don't ask the quantity first, but they will deliberately ask again. "Are you buying water chestnuts?"

The buyer will say, "Yes, water chestnuts!"

The water chestnut seller will definitely ask again, "Have you prepared all the necessities for the New Year?"

The adults will happily answer, "It's ready! It's ready!"

Then they smiled at each other, nodded and said yes, it was a New Year's greeting in advance.

Water chestnut, is to take the meaning of "preparation".

At that time, the sellers of water chestnuts were dedicated to making this kind of money.

Those who buy water chestnuts are nothing more than seeking the homonym of this water chestnut to seek this auspiciousness.

At that time, the water chestnuts sold by hawkers were generally divided into raw water chestnuts and cooked water chestnuts, which were very cheap.

There are also adults who are busy with work and can't get out, so they let their children run out to buy them.

In short, each family must have a few water chestnuts.

For children, of course, they don't understand what water chestnuts mean when they are ready, they only know how to eat them.

In those years, there were no fruits in winter, so water chestnuts were regarded as fruits.

In particular, raw water chestnuts are crispy and juicy, and they are delicious to eat in the next year.

In the memory of the old man, except for the years when Peking was occupied, when New Year's Eve was approaching dusk, there must have been the sound of selling water chestnuts in the alleys.

The entire Ma family garden, no matter the master or the servant, whether the master or the tenant, will abide by the tradition of the capital, and always feel that there is auspiciousness.

The Lord Lan who took care of Mr. Song's hospital would usually boil the water chestnuts he bought with water, add a little sugar, and let Mr. Song's children eat the water chestnuts with water, saying that it was to relieve the fire.

The old man also said that as he became more and more valued by Mr. Song, Sui and Master Lan got along for a long time, and the relationship became better and better, and he would get a share later.

But this is already another function of water chestnuts on New Year's Eve.

It belongs to practicality, not folklore, just like taking off the offering fruit and eating it.

It is also the evening of New Year's Eve, if the time is a little bit later.

The day seemed dark but not dark, and everything was a bit blurry if it was not dark.

Often in the alleys, another kind of yelling can be heard, "Old lady, old lady, the God of Wealth is here for you!"

When you hear all the things you should do and buy during the Chinese New Year, when you hear some half-grown children holding a dozen paper statues of the God of Wealth and giving them the God of Wealth from door to door, this is the last thing to prepare for the New Year. up.

If you have invited the God of Wealth, you can reply "Yes", but it is taboo to say, "No".If you don't have one yet, you can take one with a large one.

Children from poor families, who are not afraid of meeting strangers, have a sweet mouth and can talk.

At least I can take advantage of this good opportunity to earn food for my family for a day or two.

Especially for big families like the Ma family, they never refuse anyone who comes.

As long as a child comes to the door, the concierge will leave the statue of the God of Wealth they sent and give a big one.

The best thing is to send it outside or in the garden.

Concierge children like Li Li, Xiao Zhong and the others have been taking care of the errands of "delivering the God of Wealth" in the garden.

But it’s not the amount they send once.

Since all the owners and tenants in the Ma’s garden are rich and powerful, and they can earn at least 25 dime, their income is [-] times that of the children outside.

Of course, it is even more impossible for these wealthy people to refuse such auspiciousness.That is Han Xin's order of troops, the more the better.

So since it doesn't affect their income, they don't mind bringing Kang Shude along with them.

Especially when they become friends, this is a moment of blessing to share.

In fact, if you work harder, you can run all the families down and get a dollar or two for each person.

It's useless even if the grown-ups look jealous, because this errand can't be done by adults, and it's an exclusive bonus for half-children.

Hearing what the old man said, Ning Weimin's heart suddenly moved, as if he had realized something.

I think the annual custom of "giving the God of Wealth" is very special, and it seems to be a bit similar to the Halloween of Westerners.

The only difference is that the little boys in foreign countries are all dressed up as monsters and goblins, intimidating others with mischievous tricks, in exchange for some candies.

And our children say good things, give auspicious gifts, and exchange some pocket money.

Is it possible to see the differences in culture and the advantages and disadvantages of races from this aspect?

An ancient oriental country like ours with a civilization of 5000 years seems to be much more gentle than a barbaric nation with no hair.

(End of this chapter)