Melodies of the Dust Land Chapter 51

The large number of descriptions of folk customs and customs in northern Shaanxi folk songs are another feature of its unique local "flavor". People often say that "there are different customs in different places". Folk customs and traditional habits have strong local characteristics. Compared with descriptions of natural scenery, they can better express the emotions of life in a place, especially the subtleties of these life and emotions. Therefore, it has a stronger and more vivid sense of color and emotion. "Welcome to the bride" directly runs through the story of the wedding in northern Shaanxi

For the wedding ceremony, "Jiuqu" uses "welcoming guests", "taking a seat", "toasting", "drinking", etc., which directly express the style of the wine shop in northern Shaanxi, as well as "funeral songs" and "priestly tunes" , "New Year's greeting tune" and so on. There is no need to elaborate on the rich flavor of life and distinctive local characteristics of these songs that are directly produced from customary activities. 

What expresses the local flavor of northern Shaanxi more strongly is another way of description, which integrates people's customs and customs with the characters and stories of the work, and integrates them with life. For example, from songs such as "Crying for Husband", "Singles Crying for Wife", "Lovers Visiting the Sick" and other songs, we can understand how funerals are carried out in northern Shaanxi, what people wear after death, how to put them to death, how to bury them, and how There are a series of rules and particularities such as paying homage to the dead and memorial ceremonies; in songs such as "Criticizing the Matchmaker", "Girl Looking for a Man", "Daughter-in-law Tortured" and other songs, we can see the whole process of girls from northern Shaanxi from matchmaking, engagement to marriage. The process and attention to detail, including the most minute parts, such as the occasion, location, reception during the engagement, who must appear and who cannot participate, what necessary "procedures" must be completed, etc., will be clearly understood.

The value of the description of people's customs and customs lies not only in its knowledge, but also in its ability to create a sense of life and interest in the work, firmly grasping the readers. The most prominent ones in this regard are those works that seem to have nothing to do with people's sentiments and customs. For example, "Harm the Baby" was originally written about women's pregnancy and childbirth, and it has a certain intellectual content. This kind of work is written from the first month of pregnancy to ten months, and then to the birth of the child, which can easily become boring. 

However, because the work focuses on the psychological reflections of the man and woman, and adds a lot of descriptions of people's customs and customs, the work is full of interest, bright colors, and has a strong artistic appeal. For example, in the first paragraph: "The plum blossoms bloomed in the twelfth lunar month, and they bloomed so strangely; they bloomed and let the slave family get pregnant." Not only does it make people understand that in northern Shaanxi, it is generally the custom to hold weddings around the Spring Festival, but the wife is still worried about pregnancy. An inexplicable mood gives the work a sense of life; another example is when a husband says to his wife: "I have attracted you for this reason alone."