雩祭 RAINMAKING
雙頻同步錄像，4K， 彩色，32分41秒 | 2-channel video, 4K, color, 32 minutes 41 seconds
1963年夏季恰逢乾旱，《香港工商日報》記錄了上水鄉村的二百餘名婦女於梧桐河畔的華山山頂設壇求雨的過程。她們在山頂的求雨石邊鋪設青竹、花果、清水、祭祀牲畜，演練一套古老的儀式。據稱法事進行不久，便天降甘霖。
During the summer drought of 1963, The Kung Sheung Daily News reported two hundred village women in Sheung Shui who set up an altar on the top of Wa Shan by Ng Tung River, praying for rain. They laid bamboo, flowers and fruits, fresh water, animal sacrifice beside the rain prayer rock on the mountain top, and performed a set of ancient rituals. It is said that not long after the ritual was performed rain fell from the sky. (河上沒有人唱歌展覽圖錄，So Much Water 節選，瞿暢撰）
In the summer of 2021, in front of a green screen, she reenacted the 1963 ritual according to the archival records. Ringing a copper bell and pacing the Steps of Yu, she chanted mantras and prayed to the Shangyang bird god for rain. With soybeans and x-ray films she produced the sound effect of a thunderstorm. An imaginary, historical echo.（excerpt from “So Much Water” by Qu Chang, There Is No One Singing On The River’s exhibition catalogue）
「先是在石碑前，插下一棵（數尺長）青翠綠竹（懸有紙製商羊及紙旛），碑前供奉{七頭}（燒豬)丶{ 鮮花}丶三牲禮品菓物，及六桶（貼符）清水，繼而敲起銅鑼皮鼓，{恭請比丘尼誦經唱咒作法儀軌}，口中唸唸有詞，有時以手作勢，哀求上蒼早降甘霖，不時則口含一啖清水，時飲時噴。」
「 」香港工商日報，1963年6 月3日
{ } Anthony Liu，臉書，2020年2月21日
（ ）北區風物志，第123頁
“First, erect a green bamboo (several feet long, hung with paper Shangyangrainbird and streamers) in front of the stele. Before the stele, offer {seven} (roasted pigs), {flowers}, three animal sacrifices and fruits, and six buckets (with talismans) of water, then hit the gongs and drums, {as the bhiksuni recites sutras, chants mantras and leads the ritual}, chanting and gesturing with hands, praying to the heavens for rain, from time to time taking a sip of water, sometimes swallowing, sometimes spitting it out.”
“ ” The Kung Sheung Daily News, 3 June, 1963.
{ } Anthony Liu, Facebook, 21 February, 2020.
( ) Heritage of the North District, Hong Kong, pp.123
(please click page 3 to continue reading)
