水口村農曆新年活動

(English follows) 

農曆新年對於不少鄉村來說都是重要節日，水口村也不例外，由一班有心的原居民繼續延續著傳統。每逢年初二，縱使有不少村民在市區居住，大家仍然會回到水口村聚首一堂慶祝新一年的到來。水口村民們仍然保留著拜祭大王爺和社壇（守護農田的神）的習俗，舞獅更會逐家逐戶採青，場面非常熱鬧。古時的水口村民都是以務農為生，而我們計劃這年會開田試驗耕種，希望與村民一同拜祭大王爺和社壇，一同守護水口農田的未來，為水口的生態帶來美好的新一頁。

我們為水口村特別設計了一套五款的賀年揮春︰(1)「福」字貼 ︰福字中間用藍色加上「水口」二字，及在「田」字上加上金黃色稻米，寓意豐盛的一年；(2)「如魚得水」；(3) 「笑口常開」；(4)「聰明伶俐」；(5)「龍馬精神」。 (2)-(3): 將粗體字/ 圖中排列方法連起來，可以讀出「水口」二字，希望新一年為水口村帶來祝福。而所有揮春的角落都有以「水口」組成的祥雲圖騰。初二到訪時，看到不少村民門前都貼上我們設計的揮春呢。不少村民讚賞「福」字設計，包含著田間水道和稻米，而這正正就是大家都期望透過本計劃重現的一大片金黃色農田。

最後，非常感謝村民邀請我們參與慶祝農曆新年，與眾同樂，令我們都能感受到鄉村在農曆新年時熱鬧的氣氛和傳統。新年過後，我們經過第一年的基線研究和完成進行中的土地測量後，便會開始開墾荒廢了一段日子的農田。冀望能一帆風順，開田成功！

#社區參與 #水口 #水口保肓 #大嶼山保育基金

↑ 拜祭大王爺

↑ 拜祭社壇

↑ 舞獅到門前採青

↑ 於水口鳳凰士多派發揮春給村民

↑ 水口揮春設計圖

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English Version

Lunar New Year Events in Shui Hau Village

Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations among rural villages. Shui Hau village is no exception, as the indigenous inhabitants still keep passing down their traditions to generations. Every second day of the Lunar New Year (“初二”), the villagers will gather and return to Shui Hau Village to celebrate the arrival of the new year, even though some of them have moved to urban areas. Shui Hau villagers continue the tradition of worshipping “Tai Wong Yeh (大王爺)” and “Shea Tan (the shrine of the Earth God who protects the farmland), and even “Cai Qing (採青, meaning plucking the greens) with lion dancing. In the old days, the Shui Hau villagers had been practising farming for a living. While we have planned to kick off the recultivation in Shui Hau, it is hoped that joining the worship of “Tai Wong Yeh” and “Shea Tan” would be a good start for the future farmland rejuvenation and wishing for a new page of good future for the nature in Shui Hau.

We have designed a set of five ”Fai Chun” (Chinese couplets) (1) “福 (Good Fortune)” character: blue colour in the middle of the character with the words “Shui Hau (水口)” and gold rice on the “田 (farmland)” character, implying a prosperous year; (2) “Like a Fish in Water (如魚得水, meaning is similar to like a duck to water)”; (3) “Be Always Smiling” (笑口常開)”; (4) “Smart and Clever”; (5) “Long Live Spirit”. (2)-(3): by connecting the bold characters/arrangement in the picture, the words “Shui Hau (水口)” can be read out, hoping to bring blessings to Shui Hau Village in the Lunar New Year. Meanwhile, all the “Fai Chun” have auspicious cloud patterns composed of the Chinese characters “Shui Hau (水口) “. During our visit on the second day of the Lunar New Year, we saw many villagers putting up our designed ”Fai Chun”. There were lots of villagers admired the design of “福” that includes the element of irrigation channel and paddy fields, echoing their hope on the revival of the extensive golden farmland landscape through our project.

Finally, we are very grateful to the villagers for inviting us to celebrate the Lunar New Year together so that we could all feel the lively atmosphere and traditions of the rural village. After the Lunar New Year, we will start to recultivate the farmland that has been neglected for a long time, as we have been conducting a baseline ecological survey for a year and have nearly finished the land survey. Good luck with our farmland recultivation!

↑ “Tai Wong Yeh” worship

↑ “Shea Tan” worship

↑ “Cai Qing” with lion dancing

↑ Distributing “Fai Chun” to villagers at Shui Hau “Fung Wong” Store

↑ The design concepts of Shui Hau “Fai Chun”