Chapter 776: Spring Festival Gala and New Year Customs
Due to the brilliant success of the Spring Festival Gala for two consecutive years, the habit of staying up late on New Year's Eve of the Republic has been completely changed.
On New Year's Eve in 1985, sitting in front of the TV and watching the Spring Festival Gala became almost the most anticipated thing for people on this day.
Unfortunately, being brave in innovation does not always mean great success, and even a competent director cannot make every decision correct.
I remember that I single-handedly lifted the ban on "Nostalgic Love", fought against all opinions to make the sketch "Eating Noodles" meet the audience, single-handedly invited compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao to the Spring Festival Gala stage, and single-handedly promoted the classic theme of "Unforgettable Tonight"
Director Huang, who was born, really showed off his skills this time.
This Spring Festival Gala, he only thinks about showing a grand spectacle for the people of the whole country.
The venue had to be moved out of the TV station's studio hall and held instead at the Beijing Workers' Stadium, which could accommodate 15,000 spectators.
But I didn’t expect that the existing equipment and deployment methods of the TV station were not enough to support such a performance.
Because the communication signal of the wired headset is too poor, command failure and command interruption often occur.
So much so that the director's arrangements, the actors and the host could not hear it, and there were even situations where people were talking but there was no sound.
This resulted in the Spring Festival Gala being almost completely out of control, with no smooth transition like the previous two Spring Festival Galas.
Tomato free reading
Instead, it turned into a Spring Festival Gala that deeply disappointed the people across the country. It can be called a catastrophic failure!
To be honest, from the very beginning of the Spring Festival Gala, the effect on the TV screen was not satisfactory.
Apart from anything else, Zhao Zhongxiang, who used a rich voice to introduce the situation at the scene, made people uncomfortable when he appeared.
Originally, based on Director Huang's idea, there were so many spectators in the stadium that the atmosphere at the venue should be particularly lively and cheerful.
But in fact, the audience is far away from the stage, and the light contrast is large, making the entire stadium environment dark, which makes the scene look dull and devoid of joy.
In addition, no one expected that a major mistake would occur in the first official program.
According to the program list, the first one on the list is the Peking Opera "One Hundred Monkeys Welcome the Spring" performed by the National Peking Opera Company.
Speaking of which, it would be puzzling to start the Year of the Ox with a group of monkeys.
But who would have thought that right in the camera lens, the protagonist of this drama, Sun Dasheng, who was flying on a rail, actually collided with the railing!
Seeing the tragic accident where the Great Sage was knocked over by the railing was a scene that made everyone laugh and was a bit embarrassing.
I don’t know how many people sighed in front of the TV!
Fortunately, it's not a real person, it's just a prop. Otherwise, how could the show go on if it killed someone?
And that's pretty good.
If this scene can still make everyone understand, it will also be somewhat amusing.
Then when the instrumental music played "Chime Music", it suddenly turned into a creepy and disgusting one.
Because performances in large venues have relatively high lighting requirements.
However, China Television at that time had never conducted such large-scale cultural activities. It was accustomed to the requirements of indoor environment but could not adapt to outdoor environment and underestimated the lighting effects.
As a result, the actors in ancient costumes began to play music, just like a bunch of ghosts and snake gods from the underworld, and they were full of ghosts.
In other words, no matter how you look at it, it feels like a scene of doing nothing in the past.
So by now, the elderly are the first to be unable to bear it.
I don’t know how many elderly men and women were frowning or shaking their heads in front of the TV screen.
What's worse is that they curse, turn around and walk away in frustration, no longer being stimulated by this.
As a result, many families watching the Spring Festival Gala experienced audience attrition in varying degrees.
But the failure of the party did not stop there.
You know, the song "The Great Wall Will Never Fall", although it is the theme song of the hit TV series "Fearless Fearless", is highly anticipated by everyone.
But for such an important performance, it is puzzling that the Spring Festival Gala does not use the original singer Ye Zhentang, but uses Lu Nianzu to cover it.
The immediate feeling of the audience was that they were quite disappointed.
Also, Luo Wen sang the songs "Share Happy Years" and "In My Life", and the response was also mediocre.
This is mainly because "The Legend of the Withered Heroes" was not widely broadcast in mainland China through television stations.
Except for young people and children who love watching videos, few people in the Mainland have heard of Luo Wen's "Iron-Blooded Heart".
Luo Wen is not well-known in the mainland, so the audience will naturally not catch a cold.
Moreover, the contemporary aesthetics in mainland China have not yet reached the point of being “completely in line” with the world, and they really look down upon “monster men” who have become effeminate.
When watching Luo Wen's performance, many viewers inevitably have a question in their minds.
Why did the TV station find such a "rabbit man"?
Further down, Huang Ayuan performed on-site fund-raising, folk songs, and opera performances... one after another without any excitement, completely bringing the rhythm of the party into a loose and slow state, completely reaching a state of dizziness. Drowsy hypnotic effect.
Since children are already having fun during the day, most of them fall into dreams when these programs are broadcast.
In addition, there is a major mistake in the programming of this Spring Festival Gala, that is, the number of folk art programs is pitiful.
However, Wang Jingyu's acrobatic cameo was nothing new, and the product placement for "Jinmen Sportswear Factory" was extremely far-fetched and inferior.
So in the cross talk, apart from Ma Lao's "Da Le Te Le", there is also Jiang Kun's "Watching TV".
As a result, Ma Lao's style is inherently gentle, and it was impossible to see his performance clearly when performing stand-up comedy in such a large venue.
And Li Wenhua was sick again, so Jiang Kun could only partner with others, so the response was obviously not good.
The only praiseworthy highlight of the folk art program that made people feel refreshed and laugh from ear to ear was the sketch "Making a Movie".
However, in a performance environment of minus ten degrees Celsius, Chen Peisi, who performed wearing only a vest and a small coat, almost "sacrifice his life" and was sent to an ambulance as soon as the performance ended.
There is no doubt that this is something that no one wants to see and should never happen.
As for song programs, although there are many, they are still lackluster.
Except for Fang Xinhua's "Little Grass", Dong Wenhua's "Fifteenth Moon", Huang Jinbo's "Descendants of the Dragon", and Wang Mingquan's "The Great Wall Ten Thousand Miles Long", there are no other high-level songs.
Even Xi Xiulan and Zhang Mingmin, who were very popular last year, performed mediocrely.
In particular, Director Huang made an extremely serious mistake when he arranged for movie star Cen Chong, who had returned to China to visit relatives, to say a few New Year greetings to audiences across the country through the Spring Festival Gala at the request of the audience.
Perhaps Cen Chong was tired from traveling and received such a task as soon as he got off the plane, so he was not very clear-headed.
Perhaps she didn't take her speech to the national audience seriously during the Spring Festival Gala.
She actually said things like "I don't want to come back" and "You people from country X", which caused public outrage.
Combined with the fact that she was the first celebrity to go abroad, she was accused of advocating foreign things.
All in all, on this night, every household watching the Spring Festival Gala was filled with smoke and fire.
It is precisely because the first two Spring Festival Galas have whetted people's "appetites" that most people don't think highly of this performance.
Even out of disappointment with the program, many families have given up on TV sets.
Then we resumed our old traditions, setting off firecrackers in the streets, chatting and laughing, and passing the time by playing cards and chess.
It is worth mentioning that the mahjong tiles, which had long since disappeared in the capital, were officially revived on this night.
Almost all of them were obtained by self-employed people who went to Guangdong to stock goods.
Basically, they are made of low-quality green and white plastic shells, bonded together with low-quality glue, hollow, and filled with sand to increase their weight.
After a few rounds, the bed sheets used as linen blankets were uncomfortable for sleeping on, not just for humans, but even for hedgehogs.
But no matter what, it is much more interesting than watching this Spring Festival Gala.
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 that the capital began to fully restore the mahjong tradition after liberation.
I don’t know how many families started preaching about mahjong purely because of the boring Spring Festival Gala.
Later, before the Spring Festival holiday was even over, letters of criticism were like snowflakes, sent to the national television station from all over the country.
In the past, letters from the audience were to praise the Spring Festival Gala program, but this time, all letters were to criticize the "low quality" and "disorganized" performance of the program.
And because there were so many viewers who criticized it, the TV station had to give an explanation.
So eleven days later, the TV station solemnly apologized to viewers across the country for this matter through "Xinwen Lianbo".
This was not over yet. The relevant departments sent four investigation teams to the national television station to investigate the quality of the party and analyze the reasons for the mistakes. In the end, Director Huang was suspended for half a year because of this, which was a huge blow.
However, the failure of the Spring Festival Gala had little impact on Ning Weimin, because he had long known that the party would be a disaster.
And thirty years later, it will be dug up by netizens in the Internet era and dubbed the "worst in history" Spring Festival Gala.
So since I didn't expect it, there is no need to be disappointed.
On this New Year's Eve, he focused all his energy on chatting with the old man, talking about the old days and how people in the past celebrated the New Year.
Probably in the past few months, Ning Weimin has become busy, and the master and apprentice have not been so relaxed together for a long time, and have chatted so close.
He didn't even watch the Spring Festival Gala on TV while watching his apprentice, and concentrated on chatting with himself. Kang Shude was 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 dusk of the last day is still a precious time for many vendors to make money.
According to the old man, in Beijing in the past, the streets were the quietest when New Year's Eve approached dusk.
The shops have been closed early, and there are almost no people in the alley.
Except for the cold wind blowing the wires on the telephone poles and the dead branches on the trees, there was no sound.
Only when you walk into large courtyards or large courtyards can you hear the sound of "ping ping ping ping pong" chopping dumpling fillings on the eucalyptus board.
It was coming from every home, as if you were getting along with me, it was like a prelude to the New Year.
But often at this time, shouts of "Buy water chestnuts! Buy water chestnuts!" will come from the alley.
Because the surroundings were quiet, the sound was particularly clear, and the melodious echo rippled in the wind, and everyone could hear it.
At this time, people from every household usually come out of their homes and come to the alley to greet the water chestnut sellers.
"Hey, buy some water chestnuts!"
The water chestnut seller will not ask about the quantity first, but 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 New Year's goods?"
The adults will happily answer, "It's ready! It's ready!"
Then they smiled at each other, nodded in greeting, and said New Year's greetings in advance.
Water chestnuts take the meaning of "preparation".
At that time, the water chestnut sellers came here specifically to make money.
People who buy water chestnuts are just looking for the homophony of water chestnuts to seek good luck.
At that time, the water chestnuts sold by vendors were generally divided into two types: raw water chestnuts and cooked water chestnuts, which were very cheap.
There are also adults who are busy with work and cannot get out, so they ask their children to run out and buy some.
In short, every family must have a few water chestnuts.
For children, of course, they don't understand the meaning of water chestnuts when they are ready, they only know how to eat them.
In that year, there were no fruits in the winter, so water chestnuts were regarded as fruits.
Especially the raw water chestnuts, which are crispy and juicy, have a lot of flavor when eaten in the new year.
In the old man's memory, except for the years when Peiping fell, when New Year's Eve approaches dusk, there must be the sound of water chestnuts being sold in the alleys.
Everyone in Majia Garden, whether the owner or the servant, the owner or the tenant, will abide by the tradition of the capital and always feel that it is auspicious.
Mr. Lan, who was caring for Mr. Song in the hospital, would usually boil the water chestnuts he bought, add a little sugar, and then let Mr. Song's children eat the water chestnuts and water together, saying it was to get rid of the heat.
The old man also said that as he became more and more valued by Mr. Song and got along with Mr. Lan for a long time, the relationship became better and better, and he would also get a share later.
But this is already another function of water chestnuts on New Year's Eve.
It is a practical thing rather than a folk custom, just like taking down the offered fruit and eating it.
It's still the evening of New Year's Eve, if the time is a little further back.
It seemed dark that day, but even if it wasn't dark, everything looked like a lake.
Often you will hear another kind of shouting in the alley, "Old lady, old lady, the God of Wealth is here to bring you!"
After all the things that need to be done and bought during the New Year, when I hear some half-year-old children carrying a dozen paper statues of the God of Wealth and going door to door to give them to people, this is the last thing to prepare for the New Year.
.
If you have invited the God of Wealth, you can reply "I have". If you have not yet received one, you can accept one with a large coin.
Children from poor families, as long as they are not afraid of meeting strangers, are sweet-tongued and can talk.
At least I can take advantage of this good opportunity to earn some food for my family for a day or two.
Especially for a large family like the Ma family, they often welcome everyone who comes.
Whenever a child comes to the door, the concierge will leave a large piece of the God of Wealth statue they sent.
The best thing is that they are delivered outside and in the garden.
The concierge's children like Li Li, Xiao Zhong and others have always been responsible for "sending the God of Wealth" in the garden.
But if they give it away once, it won’t be this amount.
Because in Ma's Garden, both the owner and the tenants are all wealthy people, and with at least a dime of banknotes, their income is twenty-five times that of the children outside.
Of course, it is even more impossible for these wealthy people to refuse such auspiciousness.
So since it doesn't affect their own income, they don't mind taking Kang Shude along with them.
Especially when they become friends, this is an even more blessed moment.
In fact, if your legs are more diligent, you can run down all the houses and get one or two yuan each.
It's no use even if adults look jealous, because this is a job that adults can't do. It's an exclusive bonus for adults.
After hearing what the old man said, Ning Weimin suddenly felt something in his heart, as if he had some realization.
I think the annual custom of "giving the God of Wealth a gift" is quite special, and it seems a bit similar to Western Halloween.
The only difference is that foreign kids dress up as monsters and ghosts, and intimidate others by doing mischief in exchange for some candy.
But our children say good things, give good luck, and exchange for some pocket money.
Can we also see cultural differences and racial advantages and disadvantages from this aspect?
An ancient oriental country like ours with a civilization of five thousand years seems to be much kinder after all than the barbaric people who have never retreated completely.