陌上尘

“地无三里平，天无三日晴”，贵州一眼望去高原山峰林立，盆地里却藏着许多古老而神秘的千年古寨。这些村寨是当地少数民族生活的空间，也是他们文化形成、储存和流传的载体。在贵州这片纯净美丽的土地上，少数民族村寨星罗棋布，点缀于群山之中，构成了独具特色的寨子文化。千百年来，尽管世事变迁，寨子和寨子里的人们依旧保持祥和宁静，这些寨子宛若“世外桃源”。

初次踏入古寨，人们总会感觉到一种神秘的氛围。这里的建筑布局，都是那么清奇独特；这里的一砖一瓦，都有历史的气息；这里的符号文字，都记载着古老的传说。这是一个可以忘却烦恼的地方，在静谧而又色彩斑斓的古寨中，感受到的是大自然与人和谐相处的那份“真”意，颇有陶渊明在名篇《饮酒》中“此中有真意，欲辨已忘言”的那种自得。

寨子是贵州的典型文化符号之一，涵盖当地丰富多样的民俗风情。故有人说，贵州游玩的乐趣，一半藏在古寨中。这些形形色色的古寨，受到不同民族文化的影响，呈现出各具特色、多元丰富的建筑风貌。

比如侗族村寨，侗寨分布在贵州东南一带，大多依山傍水，通常由风雨桥、鼓楼、凉亭、寨门、吊脚楼、井亭、晾天架、萨殿等建筑组成。作为全国最大的侗族聚集区，侗寨在贵州非常有名。大名鼎鼎的肇興侗寨就是其中杰出的代表，被称为“侗乡第一寨”，也是侗族的民俗文化中心。据考证，肇兴侗寨始建于南宋时期，距今已有800多年的历史了。从远处望去，寨子四面环山：绵延不断的群山之间森林密布，掩映着几百幢杆栏式青瓦木楼的民居，错落有致，非常壮观。寨子里面，花桥、鼓楼、溪流、吊脚楼首尾相望，尤以标志性建筑鼓楼居多，这里是目前中国规模最大的侗寨鼓楼建筑群，被誉为“鼓楼之乡”。全寨分为五大房族，坐落在五个片区，当地称之为“团”，分别以“仁、义、礼、智、信”命名。在寨子里生活一段时间，一定会被这里浓郁的文化氛围感染。这里有侗歌队、侗戏班，每逢佳节人们都会欢聚一起“鼓楼对唱”，中秋时节还有“芦笙会”，平时路上或许还会遇见“拦路歌”，无不洋溢着古朴而又热闹的田园生活气息。

在贵州，苗族村寨的原生态文化也保护得较好。著名的“千户苗寨”就在贵州西江，是世界上最大的苗寨。西江千户苗寨由十余个自然村寨相连成片，梯田依山势扩展，白水河穿寨而过，将西江苗寨一分为二。寨子里最具特色的建筑是吊脚楼，这些吊脚楼大都依山而建，远远看去层峦叠嶂、宏伟壮丽。吊脚楼通常有三层，底层用于存放生产工具、关养家禽等；第二层用作客厅、堂屋、卧室和厨房等，堂屋外侧建有独特的“美人靠”，苗语称“阶息”，主要用于乘凉、刺绣和休息，是苗族建筑的一大特色：第三层则主要用于存放谷物、饲料等。每逢宾客到来，寨子里的苗族人会摆上香甜的“拦门酒”，送上敬意和祝福。款待宾客的长桌宴是苗族宴席最隆重的礼仪。要是遇到重大节日，还可以领略一番几千人一起就餐的长桌宴盛况。对于游客来说，傍晚的观景台是无论如何部不能错过的地方。夜幕下，千余户人家华灯初上，星光璀璨，就像一座富丽堂皇的宫殿，令人感到非常震撼。

西江千户苗寨还建有一个苗族博物馆，是典型的苗族吊脚楼风格，由六栋双层结构的吊脚楼组成。博物馆有11个展厅，每个厅都有不同的主题，比如节日厅、歌舞厅、服饰银饰厅、体育苗医药厅、巫文化宗教信仰厅等。馆内藏有1200余件苗族文物，对苗族的历史、生活、服饰、医药、建筑、巫文化宗教信仰等各个方面进行了全方位的展示，是人们了解苗族生活和习俗的重要信息来源。

典型的贵州寨子，还有布依族的石头寨。寨子依山傍水，最为奇特的是，寨子里几乎所有建筑都由石头建成，是名副其实的“石头寨”。据当地人讲，石头寨距今已有六七百年历史，采用石头做建筑材料，不仅能就地取材，造价便宜，还与当地气候条件相适宜，冬暖夏凉，非常舒适。走进寨子，满眼都是石头建筑——以石为墙，以石为廊，以石为柱，以石为瓦，宛如一个石头的世界。这些石头建筑，历经风雨冲刷，越发显得洁白，在青绿色群山的映衬下，构成了一幅天然的水墨画，美轮美奂。在石头寨，男人大多是石匠，擅长石工活，他们砌的石头墙壁不仅整齐，而且不用粘石剂也很稳固：女人则以蜡染制作为主，作为著名的蜡染之乡，石头寨的桥上、河边都能看到忙于点蜡、漂蜡的女性。如果有兴趣，游客也可参与设计一回蜡染，亲身体验传统工艺的制作乐趣。

此外，人们可以在仡佬族的仡佬古寨品味古典的油茶油香，在白裤瑶的瑶山拉片村感受场面壮观的“瑶王宴”，在水族文化代表的巴茅古寨体验铜鼓斗角舞，在土家族的江口云舍村饱食“土家十大碗”，在革家人的麻塘革家寨纵情歌舞……还有很多远离闹市喧嚣的古寨，在历史的发展长河中，为现代社会保留了丰富多彩的原生态民族文化，让我们对历史多了一份温情与敬意。

贵州的寨子文化，以其悠久的历史、多彩的民风民俗和恬静的田园生活，构成了一幅天人合一的美丽画卷，也为现代社会忙碌的人们打开了一扇精神窗户，让我们可以沿着文化传承的足迹，寻求心灵的自由。

Stockade Villages—Guizhou’s Ethnic Cultural Landscape

“There never are three miles of flat land in sight，nor three sunny days in a row.” The Guizhou Plateauserves up a distinct rugged and craggy mountainousview upon first visit. However， beneath these erectedgiants and deep in the basin hide many ancient andmysterious stockade villages that have existed for overa thousand years. These villages are living spaces forthe indigenous minority groups there; they are alsovessels through which their culture takes shape， getspreserved and passed down. Such villages formed byminority groups are scattered all over Guizhou’s simple and beautiful soil， often veiled by mountains， givingrise to a unique village culture. For thousands of years，despite all the happenings in the world， these villagesand the people living within kept up a peaceful and serenepace of life. These villages seem like a true “wonderland”.

A first time visit to one of the ancient villages willalways entail people being mesmerized by its mysteriousatmosphere. The layout of architecture there isso particular; every single brick and tile is loaded withhistory; every word and symbol encapsulate age-longlegends. This is a place where people truly forget about worldly troubles. In this quiet and colorful location，people could contemplate the true meaning of man’sharmonious connection to nature， much like what theancient poet Tao Yuanming writes in his famous work“Drinking Wine”： “There is insight and wisdom in allof this， though I do not know the words to describe it.”

Stockade villages are one of the representativecultural symbols for Guizhou， containing a variety ofethnic traditions and aesthetics. As such， people havecommented that half of the fun of traveling in Guizhoulies in the villages. These villages， sprung from di erentethnic and cultural traditions， o en present themselvesin distinct and multifarious architectural shapes.

One good example would be Dong villages usuallyfound in southeastern Guizhou. These villages arebuilt around high mountains and waters， consisting ofFengyu bridges （a specialized covered bridge）， drumtowers， pavilions， village gates， diaojiaolou （a woodenhouse supported by 1—2 meters high pillars）， well pavilions，liangtianjia （a granary on stilts at the back ofa house）， Sasui （the name of a hero in their folk traditions）altars and so forth. As the biggest commune forDong ethnic people in China， Dong villages enjoy agreat reputation in Guizhou. The prestigious Zhaoxingvillage is a great representative of such， claiming to bethe No. 1 Dong minority village as well as the culturalcenter for Dong folks. Investigations have shown thatZhaoxing can be dated as far back as the SouthernSong Dynasty， some 800 years ago. Looking fromafar， the village is surrounded by mountains wheretall trees stand， concealing a few hundreds of woodencolumn-tie houses with tiled roofs that run jaggedthrough the mountain range， charting a spectacularview. In the village， flower bridges， drum towers，streams and diaojiaolou form a sophisticated networkof geographic spectacle， amongst which drum towerstake up a prominent presence， earning Zhaoxing thetitle of having the biggest drum tower group across all Dong villages in China， hence the name “harbor fordrum towers”. The village is divided into five distincthousing sections， or tuan according to the local people，respectively named a er the ve virtues of Confucianism：“Ren （Benevolence）， Yi （Righteousness）， Li （Propriety），Zhi （Wisdom） and Xin （Fidelity）.” Having livedin the village for a while， one is bound to be a ected byits cultural atmosphere. There are chorus and theaterperformances， festival singing ceremonies in the drumtowers， Lusheng （a reed-pope wind instrument） ceremoniesduring the Mid-autumn Festival， and occasionalroad-blocking singing exchanges. It is a simple yetvibrant idyllic lifestyle.

Guizhou also keeps intact the indigenous culture ofMiao villages. The famous Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village，the thousand-household village， is the largest of its kindin the world. It comprises more than ten normal-sizedvillages sprawling over the mountains， with terracefields expanding along the slopes. The Baishui Rivercuts through them， dividing Xijiang into two parts. Themost representative feature of the village is diaojiaolouas they line up the mountain ridges， forming a magni -cently jagged architectural spectacle if looked from afar.A diaojiaolou usually has three stories： the ground ooris used as storage rooms for farming tools and sheltersfor poultry. The second floor is usually dedicated toliving functions， including living rooms， meetingrooms， bedrooms， kitchens and more. Outside a meetingroom one also finds a unique piece of bench furniturelining the terrace railings called meirenkao （thebeauty recliner）， or in Miao language jiexi （the terracerest）. It mainly provides a sitting place for people tocool down， do embroidery or chill， being a distinctiveMiao architectural symbol. On the third oor of a diaojiaolou，grains and feeds are stocked there. Every timea guest comes to the village， the locals will serve themlanmenjiu， or homemade rice wine as a gate welcominggesture， a symbolic ofiering of good wishes and blessings.A long table feast will likely follow as it suggeststhe highest degree of welcome. If one chances upon a major festival， they will de nitely experience the longtable feast ritual with joined participants of up to a fewthousand. For tourists， it is also a must to reach a designatedviewing spot near the dusk to take in the wholeview of the village. Under the night sky， every householdis lit like a star. And the whole village feels like aregal palace， breathtakingly magnificent.

A Miao-themed museum can also be found in theXijiang Qianhu Miao Village. It is a typically diaojiaoloustyledstructure that comprises six two-storied houses.There are 11 exhibition halls in the museum， eachpresenting a di erent theme， such as festivals， singing anddancing rituals， clothing and silver accessories， sports andMiao medicines， and the Miao voodoo culture and religion.Altogether the museum contains more than 1，200cultural items， a full-on expression of Miao people’shistory， lifestyle， fashion， medicine， architecture and folkreligion is an important source for visitors to learn aboutMiao people’s life and traditions.

Another representative stockade village in Guizhouwould be the stone villages by Buyi nationalities. Surroundedby tall mountains and waters， the villages arecompletely made of stones， a realistic representationof its name. According to the locals， the stone villagesdate back to over six or seven hundred years ago. Usingstones as the construction material is not only coste-ective but also it for the climate there as the housesare warm in winter and cool in summer. Once enteringthe villages， one’s vision is fully occupied by stonyarchitecture， including walls， corridors， pillars andtiles， a real stony world. As the stones have weatheredharsh climates over the years， they grow whiter andwhiter and subsequently work well with the verdantelement of mountains to form a beautiful naturalizedinking painting. In the villages， men are usually stonemasonswho are so good at their job that the walls theybuild are not only smooth but sturdy even without the help of any adhesives. The women in the villages areengaged in batik-dyeing cra s. As a famous center forbatikdyeing， one can nd women busying with waxingand bleaching either on a bridge or along a riverbank.If interested， tourists can also participate and experience rst-hand the joy of making a traditional craft.

Moreover， people can taste the fragrant oil teain Gelao villages by Gelao nationalities. People canexperience the “royal Yao feast” in Lapian Village ofYao Mountain Prefecture by the White-trousers Yao，a branch of the Yao ethnic group. People can witnessthe traditional bronze drum dance in the form of twobulls fighting in Bamao villages by Shui ethnic people.People also have the option of feasting on the “tendishes” according to Tujia ethnic traditionsin Yunshe Village of JiangkouPrefecture. Additionally，people can choose to enjoy a good singing and dancing session in MatangGejia villages by the Ge people. There are so manymore stockade villages sitting quietly and far from thebustling secular world. Over the long course of humanhistory， these villages have well preserved their robustand diverse indigenous cultures and folk traditions，inspiring us to show more respect and gratitude towardshistory.

The stockade village cultures in Guizhou， withtheir elaborated histories， diverse folk traditions andidyllic lifestyle， constitute a beautiful painting wherehuman and nature reach a golden harmony. They openup a spiritual window for the hustling modern crowdswhere one can trace the footsteps of ancient culturesto pursue the heart’s freedom.