59 years after its opening, people are still in Nanluoguxiang.

When the two teams of children started to play simple teamwork, Zhou Jing, who was in the village committee, came back and brought his aunt with him.

Yesterday Zhou Jing brought back a backpack of wild boar meat, rabbit meat, etc. At lunch, Zhou Jing took more than a pound of wild boar meat to the village committee.

After all, it was the village that signed the deal, so they needed to be informed.

"Xiao Feng, let's go to Caoyun Wharf. There will be a river god competition there tomorrow." Zhou Jing saw Chen Feng was very excited and said, "Someone is rehearsing there today."

Chen Feng was stunned.

River God Competition?

"Guo Deyou?"

"How do you know the old river god's name?"

Zhou Jing smiled and said, "The old river god has grown old, and now it is his son who takes first place every year. However, there are no floats in the river now, and the corpse recovery team has been disbanded."

The so-called river god refers to the chaos in Tianjin in the past, where gangs killed people every day and threw the bodies directly into the river.

Therefore, the police station set up a body recovery team, which is specifically responsible for recovering bodies. The funds for the team are mainly raised through donations from "philanthropists" from all parties. The police station will not spend extra money to hire people.

Although most of the donations were taken away by a group of black people in Tianjin during the Republic of China, and the body recovery team had very low income, at least the bodies of the innocent people could be buried.

The member of the corpse-recovery team who is most proficient in water and can be the first to catch the target turtle that dives into the water in the annual competition can gain the honor of River God.

"The corpse recovery team is disbanded, is this competition still going on?" Chen Feng got on the motorcycle, Zhou Jing let his wife sit in the bed, and he took the back seat of the motorcycle.

With a few "booms", the engine started.

The motorcycle went along the fields at the end of the village and headed towards the stone bridge at the other end.

"Yes, of course." Zhou Jing explained: "Director Wang said that this is a historical and cultural event in Tianjin, showing the tyranny and evil deeds of the past during the Republic of China period. It should not be discontinued, so it will still be held before September 1st."

"In the past, it was to appease the souls of the innocent people who died in the river. Now it is to enrich the spiritual culture of the people and build their physical health."

“This is also necessary for building a new society!”

"New society, new culture, new body, new game!"

Chen Feng nodded. Not all officials are unenlightened and one-size-fits-all. Many local officials know how to respect the local people's cultural customs.

Just like dragon boat racing during the Dragon Boat Festival, do you dare to say that this is a feudal and superstitious activity?

In fact, most ancestor worship activities are more about strengthening relationships with the living than paying tribute to the dead.

Ancestor worship is one of the ways to bring family members together, as is New Year’s greetings during the Spring Festival.

"Shouldn't rehearsals be held in the troupe's auditorium? Why are they being held at the pier? Isn't this being done in advance?"

Zhou Jing didn't quite understand, and replied: "Maybe Director Wang didn't look closely. This is an activity of the Cultural Bureau, and he is a member of the Finance Bureau and is only responsible for allocating funds."

Good guy!

Chen Feng almost laughed out loud: "Uncle, you probably didn't hear clearly. This is probably an activity that will last for a few days, or it will start today."

"No, it was there yesterday and today, and the competition will start tomorrow." Zhou Jing said.

"I understand." Chen Feng said with a smile: "These two days are singing and dancing performances, and tomorrow we will really go into the water to catch turtles."

"It's not turtle, it's Xuanwu!" Zhou Jing corrected: "You can't say turtle, we fishermen are very taboo about this, we can't be disrespectful to the Emperor Xuanwu."

The river god competition is still held at the Caoyun Wharf in the old city of Tianjin.

This is the largest wharf of the Grand Canal in Tianjin. Before the rise of sea transportation and railways, the canal transport was responsible for the food and material lifeline of millions of dignitaries in the old city.

Most of the hundreds of thousands of boatmen along the Grand Canal belonged to the Cao Gang, which was the Cao Transport Chamber of Commerce during the Republic of China period.

Tianjin City is the headquarters of the Canal Merchants Association.

However, during the Republic of China period, the canal transportation was basically paralyzed and abandoned, and the canal gangs were quickly disbanded. Everyone formed their own gangs, and many people became pirates.

In the new era, the Grand Canal has been basically abandoned, and railways are now the main mode of transportation.

The former large wharf has become a place for fishermen to catch and sell fish.

"Boom boom boom!"

Before the motorcycle got close, Chen Feng heard the sound of gongs and drums, as well as the strange singing of the witch, which was quite similar to the chanting of funeral rites in later generations.

Well, the principles of both are similar.

Funeral offerings are given to the deceased, and river god offerings are given to the Xuanwu god.

During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di highly respected the Northern Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord and the Black Tortoise Emperor, and their influence was far-reaching.

It happened that the world in Tianjin was in chaos during the Republic of China, and together with Shanghai in the middle and Hong Kong in the south, it formed the three major ports in the Far East. Gangs grew wildly in these three areas.

Yuan Shikai's second son, Yuan Kewen, was one of the top leaders of the Tianjin Green Gang.

These people worship the river god most likely in the hope that the Great Emperor Zhenwu will show up and kill with one sword the gangsters who bully the good and fear the evil.

"it is good!"

Chen Feng stopped the car. A large number of people had gathered at the dock to watch the singing and dancing performances. Even the stone steps were full of people.

It is now the end of August, close to the dry season, and the water level is lower than the ground, so most of the steps are exposed.

This river bank, starting from the river stairs, was built with stone bricks piled up layer by layer to form steps several meters high, and was crowded with people.

On the water below the steps, several sampans formed a singing stage, on which a person dressed as a witch was performing a performance to exorcise evil spirits.

The evil actor wearing a ghost mask jumped and moved among the group of actors.

There was also a witch chanting the "Sacrifice to the River God".

What Chen Feng found most interesting was that the authorities also provided a microphone and a loudspeaker so that everyone could hear the sacrificial text clearly.

Many children followed suit and danced, treating it as a fun dance party.

"There are so many people!" my aunt came down and saw.

"Over there, there's an empty seat over there." Zhou Jing pulled his wife in. "Xiao Feng, follow me."

"Uncle, I won't go. I'll watch for a while and then go back." Chen Feng's height advantage came into play at this time. Even if he didn't get off the motorcycle, he could still see the performance on the river surface over the crowd in front of him while sitting on the motorcycle.

"Hello, comrade. I am Zhang Xiaocui, a reporter from Tianjin Daily. Judging from the license plate, you are from Beijing. Are you here to watch our performance?"

A female reporter was looking for material and saw Chen Feng sitting on a motorcycle. She thought he was very photogenic and immediately went forward with a photographer.

Such official activities always have reporters on site to film and promote them.

"Oh, no, I was just passing by."

Chen Feng shook his head and said, "You don't have to take pictures of me. I just came to see the legendary old river god Guo Deyou."

Zhang Xiaocui was very surprised and asked, "You also know the story of the old river god?"

Chen Feng nodded and said, "I've heard a little bit about it. During the Republic of China period, Tianjin was in chaos and people died every day. The old river god helped bury many bodies to avoid being eaten by fish and shrimp."

"Then what do you think of offering sacrifices to the river gods? Do you think it is feudal superstition?"

Chen Feng considered the wording and said, "Sacrificing to the river god reflects the people's simple wish to ask the Zhenwu Emperor to slay the demons and eliminate the evil when they were faced with the three great mountains of corrupt officials, gangsters, and foreigners during the Republic of China period."

“It represents the revolutionary spirit of the masses in their fight against tyranny, gangs and colonialism!”