Solar Terms 节气 2019

The choice of living in a time frame determined by the lunar calendar is like living in a poem with dense presences, seemingly obscure references and a growing sensibility toward variations of clarity.

按照阳历安排生活中的时间，就犹如活在诗中；人生开始充满不知名的寓意，视角也慢慢习惯徘徊在模糊与清楚的千姿百态之间。

The beginnings of the Chinese lunar calendar can be traced back to the 14th century B.C.E. It is based on exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and the phases of the moon.

By contrast, the oldest known solar calendar is in Peru. The regularly-spaced thirteen towers of Chankillo were constructed on the ridge of a low hill running near north to south. The towers create a “toothed” horizon with narrow gaps at regular intervals. Inhabitants of Chankillo would have been able to determine dates as well as the optimal time for planting crops by observing the sun emerging at sunrise through one of these gaps. 

我们知道人类最古老的阳历发现在秘鲁。昌基洛（Chanquillo）的13座塔楼建立在低矮的山脊上，由北向南。塔楼之间的距离固定而均匀；放眼望去，塔顶在地平线上排列成齿形。只需观察从塔顶间缝隙升起的太阳，昌基洛的居民便能判断出时间，甚至掌握YA插秧的最佳时段。

In Naxi Culture, the Dongba made agricultural calendars on paper. The one in the attached illustration has been translated into a stone relief set in the floor of a museum in Mujiaqiao Village near the airport.

在纳西文化中，东巴在纸上完成农业日历。附图中的案例已被翻译然后雕刻在石浮雕上，现在设在一间博物馆的地板上，地点在木家桥村 （Mujiaqiao Village）靠近机场附近。

During a recent ‘Three Village Gathering’, we learned from Yang Qing that the Naxi also have an agricultural calendar in the format of a song. Whilst there is no record of the melody in which it is sung, the words have been kept. Together with our friends from Ciman Village, we will, in the first instance, concentrate our research on this song.

在最近的一次“三村通”聚会上，我们从杨青那里了解到，纳西族也有歌曲记载的农用日历。虽然歌曲的旋律无处可寻，但歌词却保留了下来。我们将与来自次满村的朋友一起，集中研究这首歌。

In the meantime we observe our surroundings, here in Jixiang Village (Petra and Jixing and any visitors who like to join) on the Southern side of Lashihai and in Zheng Sheng Village, Wang Mei and Zhu Ming observe life on the Northern side of the lake. Here you can find a podcast on their reflections: 17/04/2019 Wang Mei’s reflection on working with the solar terms in Chinese.

与此同时，我们会观察周遭环境。在吉祥村，吉星、Petra和任何想参加的访客，在拉市海的南侧和正胜村做观察；王梅和朱明则在湖的北侧做观察。他们的心得都记录在此播客里：https://www.ximalaya.com/renwen/23225276/180566337 。 以下有关节气（solar terms）的解释和短片记录了我们的研究与过程，以及访客们的贡献。

Below are observations and video shorts of the solar terms with contributions from visitors. The sequencing is adapted to the calendar year, traditionally a cycle ends with the time of greater cold not the winter solstice.

During the time of ‘Winter Solstice’ (22nd December 2019 - 5th January 2020) a time anticipated with artists Utsa Hazarika and poet Kaitlin Rees during the Nov/Dec residency ’In advance of the winter solstice’ I once again try and make or rekindle ’sense’, by mediating time on the move, both visible and (in)audible time. Time captured during fleeting moments of resonance, when I find myself listening out, when life wants to know itself. William Wordsworth called them 'Spots of time'.

Moments that not just prompt but oblige me to pause and breathe with the location or Ort.

The German word Ort, Heidegger writes, used to describe the tip of a spear. The location where everything comes together.

Text by Petra Johnson, translated into Naxi by He Wenkan English version: spoken by Petra Johnson Naxi version: spoken by He Wenkan

One of the artists, who participated in the ’Mapping the Affective Landscape’ program in 2018 was Li Lisha, who had curated the Lijiang Studio Mural Project in the 2000’s and approached her present residency as a time of learning all the things that had intrigued her during her previous stay but with which she had not had time to engage then. After a day of helping to clean out the pigsty, she questioned the various characteristics that are said to belong to art. Her colourful description about the possible irrelevance of art when sharing a small stable with an inhospitable pig in order to clean, made me wonder if there are points of convergence between art and agriculture and what those might be.

Two years later, I made this film which is a compilation of short clips taken during the fortnight of the Time of Greater Snow. The spoken words take us along a three hour walk that circles the valley. During the 23rd solar term farmers kill their pig(s) and share their abundance with friends and neighbours. At the close of 2019, it was already apparent that a replacement piglet would be a lot more expensive than in previous years due to African swine fever. In fact, by February 2020 the price for a piglet had risen from 200 yuan in 2018 to 2000 yuan. People bought calves and goats instead. They also cost 2000 yuan and there was no disease going round threatening their survival.

This film essay holds the bands of abstracted images in Naxi embroidery across the landscape, that inspired them. It is self consciously aware of the process of embroidering from top to bottom rather than left to right, an approach that nurtures a distinctive difference of imaging ’nothing ever exists without the other’. written 11-12-2020 (He Jixing tells me that Xuemei’s parents gave the family a black pig for this year’s annual pig feast).

A compilation of events during the Time of Lesser Snow (22nd November - 6th December 2019)

A compilation of events during the solar term ‘Beginning of Winter’ (8th - 21st November 2019)

There is no compilation of events for the solar term of ‘Frost’s Descent’ (24th October - 7th November 2019)

A compilation of events during the ‘Time of Cold Dew’ (8th - 23rd October 2019)

A compilation of events during the time of Autumn Equinox (23rd September - 7th October 2019)

A compilation of events during ‘The Time of White Dew’ (8th - 22nd September 2019)

A compilation of events during the solar term “End of Heat’ (23rd August - 7th September 2019)

A compilation of events during the solar terms Beginning of August (8th August - 22nd August 2019)

Beginning of Autumn 

Theory, scallions, and hooting

Greater Heat

A compilation of events during the time of Greater Heat (23rd July – 7th August 2019)

Lesser Heat

A compilation of events during the time of Lesser Heat (7th – 22nd July 2019)

Summer Solstice

A compilation of events during the time of Summer Solstice (21st June – 6th July 2019)

Grain in Beard

A compilation of events during the time Grain in Beard (5th – 20th June 2019)

In 2022, the solar term of Grain in Beard begins on Monday, 6th June. The above video was made upon my return after a one month stay in Shanghai. Even though at this point my place of residence was Lijiang Studio, watching the video with the distance of three years, I do recall being surpised by the space of uncertainty I encountered on my return and trying to negotiate it in this video. Surprised because I had really missed not being in Lashihai, I had missed two full solar terms. I had not been able to live with the growth of plants and fruit and instead encountered them as somewhat estranged, filled with experiences I had not been privy to, rhythms, pulses that I had experienced as an absence whilst in Shanghai. This morning I listened to a podcast about sonic being in the oceans by David G. Haskell (An Ocean of Noise, Guardian The Long Read). In my most recent work I tried to recreate that fluid environment of the inner ear, I tried to communicate it as a presence of a potential in our body, the potential to vibrate with our environment when not filtered by air. And finally I understand why my stay at Lijiang Studio led me to this, my current, work, to an almost obsessive preoccupation with inaudible sound. And why the video has the quality of a series of repetitions that are not repetitions but a layering of incremental processes. Petra Johnson, 6th June 2022

Grain Rain

Grain Rain is the sixth seasonal marker on the lunar calendar and the last one in spring.

A compilation of events during the time of Grain Rain (20th April – 5th May 2019)

Pure Brightness

A compilation of events during the time of Pure Brightness (5th – 19th April)

The season of ‘Pure Brightness’ begun with the Qingmin Festival on April the 5th. Jixing writes about the first day: 昨天是清明节，和往年一样，大家一起上山扫墓，野炊。今年对野外用火的管理更加的严格了，两架直升机一直在墓地上空盘旋，森林火警强行扑灭了许多家庭做饭的火，菜只煮熟了一半，唯有不欢而散，而我们幸免，下山后听人们议论才觉得更加幸运. ‘As in previous years, everyone went up the mountain to sweep the graves and picnic. This year, the forest fire management is very strict. Two helicopters have been hovering over the cemetery. Forest fire fighters forcibly extinguished many families’ cooking fires. Their dishes were only half-cooked. The families were upset. Somehow we were spared, we finished our picnic, packed up and left, blissfully unaware of the commotion. All we saw were two buses parked nearby with sad looking young men in much too large uniforms. After listening to people’s talk later that afternoon, I feel very fortunate. ‘

A short compilation of events during the time Spring Equinox (21st March – 4th April 2019)

At the beginning of Spring Equinox all the fruit trees are in blossom, the apple tree blossoms are at the early stages, others are in full bloom. Between Beginning and End there will be showers of pink and white petals and by the end of the term, the shapes of cherries and papayas have become visible.

Below Sipei Lu describes her observations during the early part of Spring Equinox, which begins with a three day feast for the elderly on the fomrer site of the temple.

This year, one of the most visible events in the village was the demolition of a set of derelict buildings, once a restaurant, close to the lake. They had been built appproximately ten years ago as part of a drive to open up the area to tourists. In 2016, tourism was becoming curtailed and the restaurant closed. in early 2018, commercial horse riding stopped, as did the hiring of four-wheel drives that sped past showering pedestrians in dust. By late 2018, hotels adjacent to the North side of the lake were demolished. The immediate area around the lake is now a protected area, in the course of the coming months an ugly green fence will be built around the Southern side. Soon after generous openings have been clipped by fishermen.

On the 30th of March, I see He Shiyuan sitting close by the main ditch along the newly tarmaqued road leading to the lake. He Shiyuan has many places around the farmstead where he rests, observes, almost merges with the land. It is not unusual to see him squatting or leaning his body into the earth. It is unusual to see him in this location. By evening I learn that the reservoir has been opened and water is pouring down the ditch, flowing into side ditches. As the days progress I see how all the ditches in the village and surrounding farmlands begin to fill.

Spring Equinox

春分

by Sipei Lu 思培

Spring Equinox fell on the 21 March 2019. In that week, Zhu Ming and Wang Mei shared with us (Jixing, Petra, Sipei) their recordings of the previous solar term, the time of  ‘Insects Waking’ in form of daily notes and sketches of plants. We all had noted that our experiences of observing our environs had taken on a different quality now that they were prompted by an awareness of solar terms. Articles (in Chinese) about observations made during previous solar terms in 2019 can be seen  here and here.

2019年3月21日，春分来临。那一周，朱明和王梅与我们（吉兴、Petra、 思培 ）分享了前一个节气“惊蛰”的笔记和植物插画。我们都注意到，我们的观察，因为对节气认识的加深，开始出现了质量上的不同。有关2019年其它节气的文章（中文）可在这里和这里找到。

A couple of years ago, Zhu Ming and Wang Mei moved to the North of Lashihai to Zheng Sheng Village from another village further up the mountains. They are exploring different approaches to farming in their courtyard. Their preference for observing rather than mastering some quick concrete knowledge about plants recalls the essence of slow art. A pear blossom, once recorded on a daily basis, reveals a continuity of changes in colours, smells and shapes. As co-initiators of the Stalking Tao project, they will contribute observations from their locality for each solar term. The approach helps them to notice subtle changes that had gone unnoticed during the previous years of their stay. They plan to maintain this process of recordings for at least three years. Zhuming also shares these reflections with neighbours and in the process learns about local uses and knowledge of solar terms.

几年前，朱明和王梅从另一个村庄搬到了拉西海北面的zhengsheng village郑胜村。他们正在探索院子里耕作的不同方法。他们更喜欢观察而不是快速掌握耕作的具体知识，这让人想起了慢艺术的精髓。梨花，如果每天观察，会发现其颜色、气味和形状之变化的连续性。作为Stalking Tao项目的共同发起人，他们将为每个节气提供当地的观测。这过程将促使他们留意前几年所忽视的微妙变化。他们计划至少记载3年的观察。朱明还与邻居分享这些想法，并从中学习当地有关节气的的知识和操作。

We went up to the mountain to see the dragon’s claw willows and two deserted farms. The first one was locked with padlocks and though we found a key, we could not make it fit. The gate to the second one was wide open. After a short exploration, we left Jixing taking photographs inside and waited in front of the gate. We waited and waited. After what seemed like 20 minutes, we searched the courtyard, but couldn’t see anyone. Finally we called him by phone and he told us that he was already home. He had left through another exit. He had shouted our names before walking back. There was no reply. None of us had heard his calls. Had his voice been absorbed by the dense vegetation?

我们上山去看旱柳和两个荒废的农场。第一个用锁上了锁，我们虽然找到了一把钥匙，但始终无法解锁。第二间农场的门是敞开着的，经过一番探索，我们留下了在里头拍照的吉兴，会到门口等候。我们等了又等。20分钟后，我们又把院子搜了一遍，却不见半只人影。最后我们给吉兴打了电话：原来他已经回家了，是穿过另一个出口离开的。他回去前喊了我们的名字，但没人答复。我们谁也没听到他的声音。难道是被茂密的植物消声了吗？离开时，朱明和王梅送了我们一些柳枝和（其他植物的名字）作为礼物。

When we left, Zhu Ming and Wang Mei gave us some dragon’s claw willow branches as gift

During my stay (17 March – 24 March 2019: the closing of the ‘Time of Insects Waking’ and the beginning of ‘Spring Equinox’), Petra and I took two walks along the circular routes. Petra took notes of what had changed from the last time of her walks. Water levels have gone down. It is no longer possible to cross a ditch, because the boat that acted as a bridge, has been moved. Seeing pruned and unpruned trees in front of me, listening to Grandma talking about the good taste of locally grown fruits and grains in the old days, and walking around the dam which has changed the lives of many, I was wondering what stories the land under my feet would like to tell. If, as Jixing describes it, the earth is a body and we are making the instrument that resonates like a sound box of a guitar, what is the pitch of the sound the earth is making right now? How does the agitation of air incurred by our walking interact with that of the villagers working the land, the vibrant blossoms on the papaya tree, the cows walking back home after a days grazing in the wild flower fields, and the water rippling in the ditch?

在我逗留的期间（2019年3月17日至3月24日，惊蛰尾末/ 春分起端），Petra和我沿着环形路散了两次步。Petra记下了对比她上次散步时的变化。水位下降了，现在已经不可能穿过沟渠，因为作为桥梁的船不在了。望着眼前修剪了和尚未修剪的树木，听着奶奶大谈以前在当地种出的水果和谷物是如此好味道，又散歩在改变了许多人生活的大坝旁边，我想知道脚下的大地会有什么故事要说。如果，正如吉兴描述的那样，地球是一个躯体，而我们正在制作吉他声音盒一般能产生共鸣的乐器，那么地球现在发出的声音的音调是什么？我们散步时所激起的尘埃是如何与万物相作用，例如在耕作着的村民、木瓜树上鲜艳的花朵、从花田里归返的奶牛，以及沟渠里荡漾着的水花？

Somatic markers by Petra Johnson, from Dec 2018 to early Jan 2019, during the Time of Greater Snow, Winter Solstice and Time of Lesser Cold

Another walk we took this week was from Jixiang Village to Ciman Village in order to attend the annual Pear Flower Festival there. We thought it would be good to contribute to the Festival by counting the number of pear trees along the road between the two villages. Sadly there were only 39 trees along the 5.7km route. Most of them were lining the road you turn onto when coming out of the studio. When we shared our findings at the festival we were told 39 is an auspicious number.

Ciman Village is famous for its pears. You can find some of the oldest pear trees there. It once supplied one of the four top brands of pears in this country and they were sent to the central government in the 1950s and 1960s. The Pear Flower Festival is a celebration of the pear, but also is a time to pay tribute to the elderly. Since 1992 this event has been organised by the Association of the Elderly. This year, the Ciman Pear Cooperative and Media Centre for Community joined the organising committee, to show the achievements of and call for more participation in pear tree planting, as well as to exhibit photographs of villagers made by artists and old photographs of pear planting and harvesting. A photo competition was also launched at this festival to invite villagers to use photography to share their observations in life.

Back in Jixiang Village, there was also a special event for the elderly – a three-day feast at the beginning of Spring Equinox. Grandma told me that when she was young, she helped cooking for this event. Now she could just enjoy the meals. The venue for the meals was once used as a village temple and a school. Jixing attended this school for two years. After an early dinner, he showed his film The Village Temple to the elderlies. The film is part of his long-term project of tracing the history of the village with his fellow villagers. After graduating from university last year, Jixing went back to the village and has been conducting interviews with villagers and filming events as well as everyday life in the village. He also made two short films that straddle between dream worlds and realities and convey contemporary struggles and fortunes. The villager he had talked with in the film was present, others who expressed their wish to be present in a future film and many who had known the erhu player, who had passed away just recently and to whom the film was dedicated. In his very own evocative language, Jixing alluded in this film to the journey of fluids in the dying body.

Jixing also took a group photograph for those attending the banquet. Similar to the situation of the screening of his film, some villagers were very enthusiastic about it, some were indifferent, which left Jixing much to think about the next step of his work. How would his work evolve in time and in dealing with the complexities embedded in history? We agreed that actions need to be taken now, and at least we know, through this event, that there are many other active voices and there is much silence we can listen to.

Through Jixing, I got to talk to the main protagonist, Mu Zheng, in the film. He read my palm and gave me best wishes. When he read Jixing’s palm, Jixing asked, ‘Can you see when is the next time we make a film together’?

Many things took on new forms during this Spring Equinox. Text by Sipei Lu.

Insects Waking

A short compilation of events during the time of Insects Waking (6th Mar – 20th Mar 2019)

During the Time of Insects Waking, Sipei Lu arrives for a short visit (see her entry above) and co-ordinates and structures our ideas. Sitting in the car with Jixing and tasting the sound of the word for ‘Hello’ in Naxi with the varying intonations that come with our very own vernaculars, we hit upon the word ‘Allalalei’ for the project. In Zhengeng, the village on the other side of the lake (see Three Village Circular) Zhuming takes us to a deserted house halfway up the mountain. His intention is to learn from this house and its environment about its former inhabitant, now deceased, who was very knowledgable about medicine and the needs of plants. He and Wangmei do so by taking note of the plants, their orientation, their spatial relations to other plants, their relations to the buildings and the mountain. They find testimony to a life that would otherwise fade into oblivion.

Rain Water

A short compilation of events during the time of Rain Water (19th Feb – 5th March 2019)

Late afternoon on the 24th February, I hear agitated chattering below. Swallows are checking out the two nests by the library . One of them is a little broken (for image, see https://lijiangstudio.org/blog/2019/7/24/a-lla-la-lei-). Within days it has been mended and every morning as I step out of my door, I am greeted with welcoming swoops from roof to roof.

March, I learn later, is the month that is given to song, according to one of the two Naxi Solar Calendars, Chen Wanrong obtained and translated for me. In this clip you hear a conversation between He Jixing and his grandma He Shufen which concludes with a lullaby sung by He Shufen and is followed by the singing of swallows.

Beginning of Spring

A short compilation of events during the time of the Spring Festival (4th Feb – 18th Feb 2019)

On the day of Spring Festival, there is a traffic queue in the village. Everyone is heading up to the graves after breakfast. Boots of cars and trailers of tuctucs are filled with cooking implements. On arrival fires are set up and a big lunch is cooked. The graves are discreetly adorned. By the time we sit down to eat, offerings of food and baijiu have been placed at each one of them.

Our discovery about the destruction of the village temple continues to open up questions. A conversation with Muzhansong’s dad who was ten at the time, alerts us to so many other events that took place within that time frame. We begin to think about using the former site of the temple as a temporary space for gathering, learning, evoking these momentous events, a space of theatre that celebrates as it commemorates.

One of those events mentioned by Muzhansong’s dad, was the compulsory recruitment of young men in order to build a reservoir approximately four hours walk from the village. He Shiyuan was one of those young men. Recently married, he had to leave home and join the large workforce - ‘too many’, he says - that was to convert a spring which had served the village for as long as memory served to a water source that would in future be only available at pre-determind times of the year. Such a programmed environment gives rise to many repercussions beyond the personal. Before the building of the reservoir, which by the way took many years, villagers had moats around their farmsteads with a constant fresh supply of mountain water. Once fertilisers were introduced in the 80s, the moats became contaminated and villagers dug their own well. Another one was that additional ditches had to be built which could contain the force of the water released from the reservoir. From these new connections to the smaller ditches had to be laid.

On the 16th of February, the day He Jixing hears the first swallows, we (He Jiyu, He Jixing, both are He Shiyuan’s grandsons, Bochay Drum and myself) hike to the reservoir. We don’t know if this is the route He Shiyuan would have taken, we are able to walk cross country and find liquidised minerals on route, traces of small local industries. Unbeknownst to us at the time, there would also have been a grain mill (another victim of the reservoir) in those days. Winterwheat was part of the local agricultural cycle. On arrival, Jiyu sets off a new year cracker in the water.

Another event which Muzhansong’s mother felt strongly about, was the confiscation of all kitchen implements, even the Lajiao, around the time of the destruction of the temple. It was part of the introduction of communal kitchens. Lajiao is a homemade hot sauce. For a recipe of the He family sauce, see https://lijiangstudio.org/recipes.

Finally, students from Princeton built a path for us, that leads from the Qimometer, past the kitchen garden, curves around the sewage, passes underneath the shades cast by an old peach tree and an old Chinese Pear tree and ends at the Eastern entrance of the studio.

Time of Greater Cold

A short compilation of events during the time of Greater Cold (20th Jan – 3rd Feb 2019)

During late January/early February, a group of resident artists begun to research the Qilin Dance beyond our immdediate neighbourhood. Part of this research entailed a couple of trips to Daju on the other side of the Yulong Mountain Range, where another Qilin Master lived.

For a reflection on this trip, see https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P0ABPA--mkzwRdnNRPxO-fbyZEjwG3kHcsVZNOf4qJs/edit?usp=sharing by Ernesto Salmeron

Simultaneously a group of resident artists led by Wu Shuyin completed the Qimometer. For He Jixing and myself, the trip opens up another point of enquiry. Next to the yard where the Qilin Dance is performed in Daju is a village temple or Dark Room as it is called in Naxi. I learn that the site of the former village temple in Jixiang Village is now the old people’s community centre. Whilst the temple keeper in Daju died of old age, the temple keeper in Jixiang Village committed suicide shortler after the destruction of the temple. A school was built on the site. This discovery inspires us to offer regular open air film showings (see Jixiang Village Productions) and led to Jixing’s making of the film ‘村庙 - The Village Temple’.

At this point of my recordings, the ambition and/or question that accompanies me is, will these short clips ultimately document a journey from the unknown to the known and can I re-route my premises by making them visible?

Music by He Jixing; extract of rehearsal of Qilin Dance in Daju; extract of performance devised by Zhihao; extract of Qilin Dance performed in Jixiang Village.

Below is a short text reflecting on my encounters during this time, please scroll down for Chinese.

The function of art is to imitate nature in her manner of operation (John Cage)

What are the points of convergence between art and agriculture at the Time of Greater Cold in Jixing Village 2019 ?

The time of Greater Cold was a time
Of pea plants flowering
Of being prompted to think about presences and absences
Of noting in passing a strong desire to touch a mountain
Of encountering a dog whose ears are bandaged because of cosmetic surgery
Of seeing the wind move a fireball
Of building a cupola whilst learning about the destruction of a temple down the road

Of being told that five different animals: snub-nosed monkeys, wild chicken, wild pigs, red pandas and mountback deer frequent a deserted mountain farm North of the lake.

Of daily encounters with the strong West Wind

Of learning that he who looked after the still existing temple in Yingpan Village died peacefully and he who looked after the now absent temple in Jixiang Village committed suicide.

Of unlived lives and cold societies
Of weaving bamboo cut from the mountains into a roof down in the valley Of young people returning to the village
Of bustling markets
Of a chill running down the spine as words speak children
Of conifers oozing
Of bees gathering
Of peachbuds throbbing
Of having touched a mountain and feeling reassured.

时间    推移

催促    豌豆花开

令人反思   存在

不存在    燃起

触碰高山的  欲望

碰见  刚整容的狗

耳朵还绑着绷带

看   风吹动火球

打造圆顶  念着

街尾毁掉的庙宇

认识 金丝猴 野鸡

山猪 小熊猫  鹿

吹起 强劲的西风

闻  营盘村庙宇

的看管人 已逝世而

吉祥村已不在的庙 

前看护人也自刎了   

感叹  未完成的人生  

冷漠  高傲的社会

山上采竹  编织屋顶

喧哗的市集   迎接

回返家乡  的年轻人

懵懂无知的儿童

围过来 听古老的故事

感动   游走全身

针叶树淌着血

蜜蜂来回穿梭

桃木发芽  生气勃勃

终于触碰山头的我

心理一阵平静

Time of Lesser CoLD

A short compilation of events during the time of Lesser Cold (5th Jan – 19th Jan 2019)

The idea of collecting and compiling 12 second shots per solar term originates with returning artist in resident Sara Lewison. This first compilation is a record of events that took place at the studio in early January, during which we celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of He Shufen and He Shiyuan. Clips about the work on the land show the burning of small piles of dried organic waste, a process that simultaneously clears the ditches and supplies nutritious ash for vegetable patches; the pruning and tying of fruit tree branches and a collective trip to harvest mountain bamboo for the Qimometer.

And a text reflecting on being here at this point in time: (please scroll down for Chinese translation)

The walker
During the time of lesser cold

According to the agricultural calendar for 2019, the time of lesser cold begins on the 5th January. And so it did without and within: temperatures rose and bodies that had arrived at the end of 2018 begun to acclimatise. Practicalities like where to find the various ingredients for laying a fire; how to glide into sleep assisted by an electric blanket and – more puzzling to some than others - what to wear in order to stay asleep, had become routine. The most precious amongst these routines is letting the new day emerge in the company of Lao He whilst holding the inside of our outstretched hands close to the flames of the fire in the kitchen. The only sounds apart from the crackling of fire, are those of Xuemei’s hands kneading dough.

It took a few walks before I reconnected to the me, I had left in November; the me that had begun to learn from the landscape. My ability to perceive had entered a new relationship around October time, when the maize that I had seen planted in zigzag lines back in May, was being harvested. Something had begun to unravel, as I was able to weave episodes into a sequence; undo stitches and wind them into a ball. Now, during the time of lesser cold, most maize fields have been ploughed over, the plastic sheeting is hanging loosely off tree branches to scare away the geese that have come to overwinter on Lashihai. During these two weeks before the time of great cold, small fires in the ditches burn maize stalks and leaves that have dropped off the back off women as old as grandma on their way from the field to a small scooter truck. Carpets of green wild peas cover the shallows between rows of apple trees. As fires exhaust nitrogen at the edge of fields, a new source emerges on the fields. There is another overflow of maize.

Back in October, everyone who had a moment to spare would sit by a red canvas roof stretched across the compound of the new studio buildings. The roof protected the maize cobs harvested from a field measuring 34 by 185 paces. Small stools and empty baskets invited any passer-by to help wring off the sheaths from the harvested cobs. A novice like me would knock the bottom part of the cob against a hard edge and then twist, with the broken off chunk would come the sheaths. Professionals knew how to knock the lower part off without any extra implement. Cleaned up cobs were tossed into baskets and once full, the basket would be emptied onto the porch in front of the projection room. Erge lined the cobs in rows and carefully build them up into walls. These cobs are grown for pig food, not for human consumption. I was touched when I saw Grandma picking up individual corns that had fallen off the cobs and placing them into a drawer of an old desk that served as a loading bay from which Erge, Xuemai and Grandma would sling the full baskets onto their backs and empty them on the porch. By January the cobs had gone. Instead there was a mountain of maize corns on the porch. Once the corns had dried sufficiently they were bagged and taken into storage. Around the area where the grain had been shovelled into sacks the gravel below the porch had become dotted with individual corns. Spillage I thought. But then I saw Grandma sitting just there with a basket and picking out the corn from the gravel. I joined her until she sent me off to eat: long enough to become absorbed in the act of gathering; of being awed by the immensity of a life that within such abundance had no track1 with a word like spillage.

步行者

小寒来临时

 根据2019年的农历，小寒1月5日开始。果然，不出所料：温度渐渐上升，去年年底抵达的身体开始适应。所有抵达当地原有的实际的问题已成为日常，如哪里能找到生火的材料，如何用电热毯入眠，怎么穿才不会冷醒（有些人比较为之困扰）。其中最珍贵的是在Lao He的陪伴下，一边见证新的一天的诞生，一边用厨房里的火将手心烤暖。除了火的爆裂声之外，唯一的声音就是Xue Mei揉面团的声音。

 散了几次步才找回11月离开前的自己，已经学会从周边环境学习的自己。我的感知能力在去年10月左右，收割5月所种的玉米时，进入了新状态。我开始能将发生过的片段排列成序，编成一套说法。小寒时期，多数的玉米地已经犁过；为了赶走来拉市海过冬的鹅，树枝上也松散地挂了塑料布。在严寒前的两周里，沟渠里生着小火，烧着玉米茎和树叶。这些茎叶是在田里往货运小卡车的途上，从耕田妇女的背上掉下来的；年纪最长的妇女甚至有老奶奶。绿色的豌豆丛覆盖了苹果树之间的草地，田地边的小火继续烧着，田里又将出现一批新的稻物。不久，玉米又溢出了田园。

早在10月份，每个有空余时间的人都会坐在新工作室楼群旁搭建的红帆布之下。红帆布保护了从田里收割的玉米棒，田园大小大概34步宽185步长。那里摆放着的小凳和空篮企图邀请路人帮忙处理玉米鞘。像我这样的新手会将玉米的下半部敲击在坚硬的边角，然后用力一扭，玉米鞘就会随着掉落的部位退去。但是，专业的的高手能一次过把玉米鞘敲掉，不需多余的扭拧动作。处理好的玉米棒会被扔进篮子，篮子一旦满了，就会在投影室前的门廊清空，然后二哥会将玉米棒排列、堆积成‘墙’。当我看见奶奶捡起掉落的玉米粒，把它们放在一张旧桌子的抽屉里，我非常感动。那桌子是Erge二哥, Xuemei雪梅和奶奶用来‘上货’的平台。他们会将篮子装满玉米，然后从桌面背起篮子，把它带到走廊‘卸货’。到了1月份，玉米棒会清空，未处理的玉米又再次填满走廊。玉米一旦充分干燥，就被装进袋子放入仓库。在谷物被铲入麻袋的区域周围，门廊的砾石地上看得见玉米粒的点缀。我想，应该是无心洒落的玉米吧。后来，我又看见奶奶坐在那儿，提着一个篮子，从砾石中挑出玉米。我加入她的行列，一直到她打发我回家吃饭为止：很刚好的时间，足够我投入收集食物的举动，感慨如此富足的人生，是‘无心洒落’四个字无法追究1的。