Wen | Duan Xiugui

In 1950s and 1960s, many little boys in rural areas of Tengzhou and Southwest Shandong had "sheep beards".

When a few-year-old boy shaves his head, if his parents ask him to grow a goatee, the barber will leave a pinch of hair on the back of the child's head. In less than half a year, the hair slowly grew into a lock, like the beard on the chin of a green goat, hence the name "sheep beard". Some boys not only have a sheep beard, but also have a hair (XIN) across their foreheads, commonly known as "crescent moon", and some also have a pinch of hair on their heads, commonly known as "strange hair".

Once a boy has a goatee, the barber usually tries not to trim it when shaving his head and let it grow. When boys play and run, the long goatee will float with the wind, like a ribbon on the back of a navy soldier's hat. Some children's goatees will be braided by their mothers. When they shake their heads, their braids will swing with them. Of course, when urchins fight, the sheep beard is also the most likely to become an "attack target" and is tightly held by the other party's friends.

When I was a child, I belonged to a small group with a goatee.

I don't know from which dynasty and generation the boy began to grow a sheep beard, but this custom should be common in Tengzhou and its surrounding urban and rural areas in the old China period, and it may also be found in other places. At that time, the people's living environment was harsh, and the original medical and health conditions not only led to high maternal mortality, but also premature infant death. However, in feudal tradition, boys are "precious". Many people think that boys can't eat in Laba, and that growing a sheep beard may have the function of avoiding evil spirits and eliminating disasters. Leave a "grasping hand" on the child's head to prevent it from being accidentally taken away by evil spirits, and pray that the child will grow up quickly and become a healthy adult. This custom lasted until the fifties and sixties after liberation and until the seventies.

I am the eldest grandson of my family. My coming out has undoubtedly brought great joy and hope to my family. According to my mother, my grandfather spent a lot of money to make silver bracelets and anklets for me. The happiest thing is my grandmother with strong feudal ideas. After imitating the nickname of a relative who works at Hankou airport, she gave me a nickname of a girl like that relative, saying that when I grow up, I will be productive and earn a lot of money. Therefore, it is natural to leave me a goatee.

I vaguely remember that once my grandfather shaved my head-grandpa had his hobby and hobby of shaving my grandson's head. Growing up as a "head protector", I don't like shaving my head. In my cries, my mother put me on a stool, and my grandfather finally shaved my head. Not long after shaving, my uncle came to a goat on foot for more than 20 miles. According to this, it should be that the old man shaved my head and left a goatee this time. According to the rules of our hometown, the boy has a sheep beard, and grandma's family will send sheep to her grandson no matter how rich or poor. My goatee is a silent advertisement. When grandpa and grandma knew about it, they immediately sent an uncle to see Yang off. We have a saying here: "My nephew is my grandmother's dog. Run when you are full. " As a grandson (nephew), it seems natural to send something to grandma's family in the past and now, and grandma's family sends something to grandson (nephew). Pleasant goat sent by my uncle will of course be "accepted" by my parents. So children's sheep beard is called "Lai Jiumao" in some places!

Uncle sent a blue goat. ? This sheep is very small and strong. It has two gray horns on its head, and red strips of cloth are tied on the horns, which probably means auspicious and festive. It has a lock of beard on its chin and two beautiful little meat bells.

Being young, I don't know what the male goat has to do with my goatee, but I'm quite novel about this "playmate" from afar. I always feed it grass every day, hoping to get close to it. But this guy seems ungrateful and unfriendly to me. Once I took him outside to play, but when I got out of the sheepfold, he ran as fast as he could until he threw me to the ground. This morning, I sneaked into the sheepfold to visit this "old buddy" who made me love and fear. Who knows that just after opening the door of the sheepfold, this guy suddenly jumped out of the sheepfold and "vacated" the ground at me! Put me on my back and cried like a pig. My leg was swollen for several days. From then on, as soon as I saw this guy, I was afraid, avoided and broke up with him completely.

Sheep beard doesn't seem to bring me health and good luck. When I was young, I was weak, and sometimes I dealt with hospitals and clinics. My superstitious grandmother sometimes asks my mother to "call my soul". In my memory, there are not only the pain of the nurse's ass when she gives an injection, but also the horror of being filled with Chinese medicine by her grandmother and mother. In the third year of my grandma's herding sheep, my urine turned yellow and I couldn't see it clearly. Although grandpa is a Chinese medicine practitioner, he abides by the medical principle of "doctors don't treat diseases" and rarely sees his grandson personally. My parents took me to see western medicine and Chinese medicine to raise money for medical treatment. Finally, my father led me to Han Zhuang, sold the goat, and then took me to a clinic in Jizhou.

The Chinese doctor sitting in the consulting room is a kind old man with a goatee. Later, I learned that he is a famous Chinese medicine practitioner in my hometown, and I called him Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang treated me with a prescription and told my father to grab a pair of "tea" (another name for Chinese medicine). When I got home, my grandmother and my mother were well-intentioned and tried their best to give me medicine. It didn't take long for me to drink this pair of "tea", and I was all right. This goat, which I love and fear, was given by my grandmother's family and made a selfless and crucial contribution to my healthy growth.

I grew up, and my goatee grew longer and longer with my age. One year before school starts, I finally want to say goodbye to Sheep Beard. According to superstition, the sheep beard can only be cut off if there is a wife-tearing rack. However, the chances of women fighting are too small to be satisfied. I'm lucky. One day, when I was playing in the dark at home, I suddenly saw my mother coming home quickly, holding scissors in one hand and dragging me into the street. It turned out to be two grandmothers, Man Zi and Wo Wo. I don't know why, but they started fighting!

My mother took me to the ring. No Wude, Man Zi's grandmother, ranted about Chuzhou dialect that no one could understand. She took grandma Wo Wo's bread and pressed grandma Wo Wo to the ground. A large wave of people are busy fighting, and a small group of people are watching my mother cut my sheep beard. At that moment, in a stall in the height of fierce fighting, my mother clicked two scissors, and the sheep beard, which had sheltered me from the wind and rain for several years, suddenly separated from me! I was cut by the revolutionary party like a good citizen in the former Qing Dynasty, and my head suddenly felt empty and my neck was ventilated for a long time.

According to superstition, sheep beards can't be thrown away after being cut, but will be thrown into the river after the autumn flood. When my mother sheared my sheep beard, the Beijie River had just been dug. In early autumn, heavy rain caused floods. When I got home, I heard the sound of the northern boundary river flooding behind the village. When the rain stopped, my father led me to the river. I saw the river full of ditches, muddy waves rolling, and peanut seedlings and branches drifting upstream from time to time. Father walked to the water's edge, waved, and threw the sheep beard wrapped in red cloth into the flood. Suddenly, a big wave came, the sheep beard disappeared, and drifted westward to Weishan Lake with the flood.

"Farewell" to Sheep Beard means farewell to the carefree urchin era, which means that my young life is about to undergo a small butterfly change. From then on, I became a schoolbag-carrying pupil, and started a long career in primary school, middle school and university, and embarked on a long and arduous road of life struggle.

According to the old rules, I'm old enough to grow a goatee now. The transformation from "goatee" to "goatee" is a long and difficult process, and it must be honed and eroded by decades of wind and frost before it can be cultivated into a "positive fruit". Only with the development of social trends, people's aesthetic concepts and living habits are constantly changing, and it is impossible for anyone to grow a goatee, except for a few people with different skills. Imagine, wearing western-style clothes and shiny leather shoes with a gray goatee hanging on your chin, what kind of impression will it give to contemporary people?

Sheep beard, as a standard on the back of my head, has been saying goodbye to me for almost 60 years, but the childhood impression left in my mind will not disappear. It reminds me of the care and care of my parents and ancestors, encourages me to live a good life, treats life well, and passes on love and affection to the younger generation. ...

About the author: Duan Xiugui, a native of Tengzhou, Shandong, is a senior Chinese teacher in middle school. He has worked in Tengzhou No.2 Middle School, Tengzhou Economic Restructuring Office, Government Office and Education Bureau. Currently, he is a consultant of Tengzhou Guo Shan Cultural Research Association, a director of Jining Confucius Cultural Communication Promotion Association and a member of Tengzhou Huaxia Cultural Promotion Association. He writes some articles in his spare time.

Mr. Zhang's comment on The Sheep Beard;

People in China have done a lot of articles on hair, especially children's heads. Even in the same area, there are different models. In my hometown, there are some monkeys with sky on their heads, some with horseshoes on their foreheads, pig tails or duck tails on their backs, and some with croissants on both sides.

These "beasts" have never "climbed" on my head. Their heads have been shaved clean and turned into mountains and hills, which is the so-called monk's head. But crying every time you shave your head is more painful than being ordained by a monk. It turns out that my mother didn't take me to the barber's shop in town to save money on haircuts, but asked a barber with old blunt scissors to clean my hair. Although I have permed my hair with hot water for a long time, it still hurts badly, and my scalp often cuts bleeding holes. Haircuts need blood and tears. This is my childhood!

Duan Xiugui's childhood was much happier than mine. He grew a sheep beard and got a green goat from his uncle. It seems that customs also reflect different lives.

Grandma's custom of sending goats is unique. I have never heard of it. Maybe only in Tengzhou, I think this custom means blessing and good luck!

This unique custom has probably disappeared for decades, so it is meaningful to write it in a rescue way. ? This article is eloquent, carefully chosen, natural and smooth, and it is a good article with good quality and humor!

Mr. Zhang, male, from Weishan County, Shandong Province, graduated from Tengxian No.1 Middle School (now Tengzhou No.1 Middle School) and is a Chinese Department of Qufu Normal University. Director of China Prose Society, Vice Chairman of Shandong Prose Society, Vice Chairman of the 9th and 10th CPPCC of Jining City, Professor of Chinese Department of Jining University, Honorary Chairman of Jining Writers Association and Honorary President of Jining Canal Culture Research Association.