Zhuhai Special Zone Daily
Southern network news
The History and Present Situation of Doumen Water Town
Doumen District is located in the Pearl River Estuary, and five of the eight gates in the Pearl River Estuary (Yamen, Modaomen, Jiti Gate, Niwan Gate and Hutiao Gate) pass through Doumen. Rivers in the area crisscross, with the larger rivers including Huangyang River, Luozhou River, Youyi River, Tiansheng River, etc., and countless small rivers, which divide Doumen into small islands, making Doumen District one of the few famous water towns in the Pearl River Delta. People from water towns have thrived here for generations, and gradually formed a unique water town culture.
Water people refer to houseboats, formerly known as "home", and used to make a living by fishing. In the past 100 years, it has turned to agriculture and fishing.
For a long time, people in poor and backward water towns have been living in huts made of straw and bamboo by the river. Long and narrow rows of straw houses are formed on both sides of a river, with large villages stretching for miles along the river and small villages hundreds of meters. The villagers drank river water, ate coarse grains in the levee, and lived a hard life, half hungry, half full and even naked. In rainy weather, the embankment is muddy and difficult to walk, there is no bridge between villages, and the means of transportation for people in water towns are mainly boats. Production and life, personnel exchanges, weddings and funerals are all inseparable from sailing. The poor living environment basically deprives the people of water towns of the opportunity to receive education, and there are many illiterate people. The closed living environment makes people on the water basically not associate with people on the shore, let alone get married.
After liberation, with the vast number of people being masters of their own affairs, the lives of people in water towns have been continuously improved, and countless schools have freed a new generation of people in water towns from illiteracy. Especially since the reform and opening up, the party's policy of enriching the people has spread to water towns. Brick houses and villas on both sides of a river have replaced the old straw shed, cement roads have replaced the old muddy roads, and many bridges have enabled cars and motorcycles to enter the water town. With the change of life concept, people in water towns have close ties with people on the shore, and intermarriage has become very common. Due to the continuous integration of modern civilization into life, many customs of people on the shore have been accepted by people in water towns, and some unique customs and habits of water towns have disappeared. Before the 1980s, it was hard to find women who wore headscarves, aprons and big shirts. Before the 1970s, it was common for people in water towns to sing salty songs to amuse themselves, but now it is extremely rare. The occupation of modern culture (including foreign culture) has gradually made the younger generation lose interest in this unique water town folk song. Due to the overhaul of water conservancy, some rivers have been filled in; With the improvement of bridge construction, cars, motorcycles and bicycles have replaced the role of ships; In recent decades, contact with people on shore has become more and more frequent. Although people on the water still use their own dialects, it is very common to use Guangzhou dialect in foreign exchanges ... Although some unique customs and habits have not changed, in addition to the characteristics of living by the river, the unique cultural landscape of water people will gradually disappear.
Distribution and characteristics of Doumen water town
The basic characteristics of Doumen water town are: taking the river as the main line, showing the contiguous scenery of grass houses, boats, bridges, trees, bamboo, bananas and fish ponds and the unique living customs of houses and boats, thus forming a unique water town culture with Doumen characteristics.
Living in a unique water town environment, in order to adapt to the environment, the production and life of water town people show some customs and habits different from those on the shore, forming a strong water town feature. The cultivated land is soft and fertile, and the terrain is low, because it is alluvial from the Pearl River. The main farmers are shovels (hardwood shovels), shovels, swinging boards, waterwheels, grain hoppers, plows and rakes. In order to prevent moisture and flood, silt is accumulated around river banks and large areas of cultivated land to form dikes. The fields in the dike are called fences, and each village has several fences. Countless rivers woven into nets are the source of life for people in water towns. Rivers are rich in all kinds of fish, shrimp, clams, snails, clams and crabs. Shrimp fishing tools include boats, nets, fishing rafts, fish cages, shrimp cages, row fishing, bamboo baskets and so on. Life uses headscarves with embroidered edges and auspicious patterns in the middle, aprons with silver chains as suspenders, and fisherman's hats woven with bamboo and bamboo leaves. Both men and women smoke with water pipes and bamboo. People in water towns have their own dialect "Shuishang dialect". Singing is a saltwater song created by folk oral improvisation. The tune is easy to learn and remember, and the lyrics are generally based on interesting things and love events in production and life. People in water towns especially like to plant trees and bamboos, and rows of trees resist wind and rain. For some centuries-old trees, they are regarded as feng shui trees, and it is forbidden to cut them down, so they are protected. In the water town, slender banyan, kapok, Casuarina equisetifolia, water cypress and other tall and stout trees can be seen everywhere.
The wedding of the villagers is the most lively event in the village. According to the old rule, the man's family will entertain relatives and friends for three days. On the wedding day, the groom put on a new Tang-style gauze shirt with HongLing on his shoulder and took a group of young men to meet the wedding. The man should pick up the bride by boat and dress up the boat carefully. Double happiness, lanterns and firecrackers are posted on several boats, and two small red flags are inserted in the bow, with the groom's surname on them. The ancestral tablet of the groom was respectfully placed in the barrel in the middle of the boat, indicating that the groom and his ancestors would go to the wedding together. When the bride is dressed up at home, Daikin helps to comb the bun and put the silver hairpin in it. The more silver hairpin, the richer the family. Along the way, the bride's team started beating gongs and drums, playing suona and setting off firecrackers. There are many audiences on both sides of the strait, and the scene is very lively, forming a unique wedding scene in the water town.
The Practical Value of Protecting and Developing Doumen Water Village Culture
The first is the need of Zhuhai's overall strategic goal. Zhuhai is a young city with little cultural infrastructure and shallow cultural accumulation. However, Doumen has a relatively long history and a solid cultural foundation, especially Shatian water town, which accounts for about 50% of the whole region, and has nurtured strong local cultural characteristics of the water town. Doumen water town culture is an important part of Lingnan culture and Zhuhai marine culture. It is a rare culture in our province with obvious local characteristics and a precious cultural heritage left over from history.
Secondly, it is the need to preserve the cultural heritage with local characteristics. Through continuous production, labor, life changes and spiritual creation, Doumen Water Town has formed unique cultural resources such as water dialect, folk customs, living environment and spiritual products. Professor Huang pointed out that with the rapid development of economic websites in the Pearl River Delta, many original water towns have gradually shrunk or disappeared with the advancement of urbanization and industrialization, and Doumen Water Town is the only well-preserved water town he has ever seen. Doumen Water Town is of great historical value for studying Zhuhai marine culture and exploring the development of Pearl River culture.
Third, the need for the development of cultural undertakings. Recently, the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government put forward the strategic plan of building a cultural province. Doumen Water Town has always been the source of life for literary and art workers to create artistic works, and the real inspiration for many artists to create fine works of art comes from this. Famous painters Lin Yong, Su Hua, Tang Xiaoming and Chen Yanning regard Doumen Water Town as the cradle of artistic creation. The unique "Salty Water Song" in water towns has aroused great interest of musicians in many provinces and cities, and music songs adapted from "Salty Water Song" often win prizes in provincial and municipal music competitions. The unique folk customs of the water town attract a large number of photographers from Hong Kong, Macao and inside and outside the city to shoot a large number of films every year. At the international film festival, there are also works that reflect the style of Doumen water town.
Fourthly, developing Doumen water town culture can promote local economic development. Doumen water town culture is mainly reflected in the natural environment and the unique folk customs of the people in the water town in their production and life. The tourism project of Doumen Lantern Sand Water Town, which has been developed and utilized, attracts many domestic and foreign tourist groups to visit every year. The research and development of Doumen water town culture is helpful for us to understand the struggle history of water town people. Can retain and carry forward the essence of water town culture; Can show people the charm of water town culture; It can promote the development of Doumen's tertiary industry, especially tourism.
Basic Strategies for Protecting, Developing and Utilizing Doumen Water Village Culture
(a) the local government should set up a special agency to be responsible for formulating the general rules for the protection, development and utilization of Doumen water town culture and organizing its implementation. (two) the government or the National People's Congress shall formulate regulations on the protection, development and utilization of water culture. (3) The relevant departments should strengthen the publicity of Doumen water town culture, publicize the significance of protecting, developing and utilizing water town culture and protecting environmental resources to the internal masses, and vigorously publicize the characteristics of Doumen water town culture to attract more tourists to visit. (4) The government should increase investment, introduce social funds, and try to combine the protection of water town culture with the development of water town tourism resources. After years of construction, the successful operation of Bai Jiao Denglongsha water town scenic spot proves that it is feasible to develop water town tourism. It is suggested that Baiteng Lake should be taken as the activity center of water town, and special water town attractions such as Bai Jiao Denglongsha Water Wedding, Hengshan Fenzhou Bridge Flowing Water, Liuxiang Shuisonglin, Doumen Chongkouguan, Jing 'an Huangjinchong Fishing Port, Bai Jiao Shangheng Rocky Shrimp, Jiazhou Perch Breeding Base should be planned. Develop the personality of each project, make the content more rich, vivid, interesting, interesting and addictive, and form a colorful chain of water town customs. (Editor: Zhao Yong)