Bazaar is a place where rural areas conduct centralized trade or regular gathering and commodity trading activities in fixed places. According to records, the market originated from people's gathering and trading in prehistoric period. Due to the expansion of Exchange scale and scope, the market gradually formed with fixed time and place. On the market in Northern Shaanxi, what impresses me most is "Occlusion" and "Pinch your fingers" .
In my memory, the bazaars in Zizhou county are held every five days. For example, the first day, the sixth day, the eleventh, the sixteenth, the twenty-first and the twenty sixth day of every month in Matigou Town, the second and seventh day, the twelfth, 17th, 22nd and 27th of the month in shuanghuyu Town, and the fourth, ninth, fourteenth, 19th, 24th and 29th of every month in zhoujiajian town are the market days In this way, according to the date of the market, in order to avoid that the market of two neighboring places is on the same day, which will affect the trading volume of the market, people separate the markets of several towns in a county from each other, forming a situation that the adjacent markets are not on the same day.
In the old days, the general market set up stalls by industry, and each industry had a fixed and centralized business area. For example, Matigou is common in grain market, pig and sheep market, mule horse market, melon and vegetable market, coal market, salt market, etc.
Specifically, grain market mainly deals with millet, beans, flour, etc.; small livestock market mainly sells pigs, sheep, rabbits and other small livestock; Luoma city mainly sells horses, donkeys, mules, cattle and other large livestock; Guacai city mainly deals in various vegetables and fruits; coal city mainly deals in coal from different producing areas. Due to its location in the well-known "Shili Salt Bay", Matigou is rich in "small salt" (named for its small particle size and made from salt well brine), so it also has a unique salt market, mainly dealing in various kinds of salt of different quality.
On June 14, 1947, Tang Luo, a reporter from the newspaper office in Northern Shaanxi, wrote in his diary: "today's fair, the farmers from the surrounding four townships carry people on their backs with agricultural and sideline products, and merchants from afar with goods gather in this narrow and long street for trading. On the street grain markets, there are open black wool bags and girdles filled with millet, corn, buckwheat, peas, soybeans, black beans, mung beans and a little wheat. These colorful grains are the focus of market transactions. People haggle in front of those grain bags, causing disputes. There are cattle, horses, mules and donkeys in the livestock market. The agent drags his sleeve to set the price with the seller, and then he and the buyer knead and knead together. Finally, he makes a bid. You fight him and quarrels endlessly, like fighting. "
Among the numerous markets, the mule horse market is the most particular. This is not only because for many years mules, horses and oxen have been farmers' indispensable draught animals, their treasures, and relatively rare livestock, which are generally not easy to sell; but also because of their high prices, it is not easy to deal with transactions, and they generally have to go through the coordination of occlusal (also known as dental trade, is the market broker), so it often attracts the attention of many people.
In every market, people with occlusion come to the market early. When they see someone leading animals into the market, they take the initiative to meet them and ask, "fellow townsman, what price do you want for the animals you're pulling today? I can help you find the right buyer. " With the consent of the seller, the broker carefully observes the animal and negotiates in a "pinch" way. In front of the seller, he points out the shortcomings of the animal and asks for a lower price. With the basic agreement on the price, occlusal began to look for the buyer and find the buyer. After the buyer carefully looked at it, he praised the advantages of the animal in front of the seller, and then "pinched" the price with both sides. Once the transaction is concluded, the seller will give the broker a certain commission. With the large-scale outflow of rural population, the rural market in Northern Shaanxi has long disappeared from the scene of the old crowd.
The so-called pinching refers to a way in which the buyer (seller) and the occlusal couple pull up one corner of their clothes, or cover them with towels and other objects, and stretch out one hand for handshake type pinching to determine the price. It is also like playing dumb language. There is a traditional agreement that what kind of finger represents what kind of quantity, what kind of pinching method represents what kind of bid. Although this is a kind of local method, it is worthy of being a relatively safe trading means. First, it keeps secret and does not disclose the price of the transaction, thus protecting the privacy of both parties. Second, for the sake of safety, the amount of money should not be exposed. Because the information was backward at that time, especially for mule and horse dealers, if they wanted to understand the local customs and commercial conditions, they could not suffer great losses only through professional occlusion. Therefore, although this kind of way was more local, it was also highly agreed by both the buyer and the seller. It was a way of bargaining that could be carried forward and praised. It not only reflected the hobbies and habits of the working people, but also reflected the interests and habits of the working people Their intelligence and wisdom.
Generally speaking, the index finger represents one, index finger and middle finger are two, index finger, middle finger and ring finger are three, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and little finger are four, five fingers are extended at the same time, thumb and little finger are six, thumb, index finger and middle finger are one, pinch is seven, thumb and index finger are eight, index finger is nine, and clench fist is ten. Because there are certain common conventions, perhaps for the sake of speed, both sides often mutter, "this total number, this zero number, this can't, this can" bargaining, until the transaction.
Most of the people engaged in occlusal surgery are smart people in the street or in the nearby villages, and their skills are only passed on between father and son or relatives and friends. On the market trading day, there are not many "toothshops" who can bear the responsibility independently. They have eaten in their own homes early, and then enter the livestock market early. They have been "wandering" until the market is scattered, and more or less "labor expenses" are put into their pockets. In other people's opinion, it's too easy to earn money. In fact, ordinary people are still very difficult to do it.
Later, with the large use of agricultural machinery, animal power gradually withdrew from the social stage of rural production. The previous prosperous trade of mule, horse and cattle was becoming more and more "depressed", and the trading of a small number of livestock in the market became open and transparent. Those "teeth" that had been active in the market of mules and horses had to be "unemployed", and they had no choice but to disappear in the rural market scenery.
As a kind of traditional broker way or cultural symbol, we can't forget it. We should sort out and record this kind of cultural heritage which has been inherited for thousands of years and has strong regional characteristics, so as to make it a memory that will never be lost in local culture.
