"On the 14th night, shake the tender bamboo, the tender bamboo is tall, the tender bamboo is long, I am as long as the tender bamboo" "On the 14th night, send the toad, the toad man, the toad woman, send your toad to the river" This nursery rhyme describes the custom of children shaking tender bamboo and sending toads on the 14th night of the first lunar month in Xichong. According to the older generation, a long time ago, there was often a "toad plague" in the spring and summer seasons in northern Sichuan, and adults and children coughed incessantly, and even coughed until their throats bled. In order to pray for peace, the ancestors started the custom of sending toads on the 14th night, which was done year after year and became a traditional custom. Before and after the liberation of the 1950s, the 14th day of the first lunar month was not only a small year, but also a happy festival for children. After breakfast, the friends in the same yard invited each other to go to the bamboo forest to select bamboo to make toad lanterns. The selection of bamboo is particular, and the selection is specifically for one-year-old tender bamboo that is not thick or big, which is easy to cut and make lanterns, and the lanterns made are also light to carry. Everyone cut a few bamboos and cut them into pieces more than four feet long, leaving a knot on the end for the lantern. After the materials were prepared, everyone was busy making lanterns. First, break the bamboo joint with the knot, then carefully split the broken bamboo joint into several strips, and then split the remaining bamboo into thin strips, use it to roll into a bamboo ring as big as a small bowl and tie it tightly, then put the bamboo ring into the split bamboo joint, let it bulge the split bamboo joint, and in order to fix it, tie it with bamboo strips from the opposite sides, so that a shuttle-shaped toad lantern frame with pointed ends and a large middle is ready. Then it needs to be processed, and white paper is used to paste it from all sides to make a lantern, so that it is easy to insert candles, and half of the bamboo strips must be folded off at the bottom of the lantern, leaving this hole without pasting paper. Finally, dig a small ball of wet mud from the edge of the field and press it on the knot at the bottom of the lamp. The toad lantern is ready, and you can only look forward to the daylight. As dusk fell, the children in the same courtyard rushed to the bamboo forest, selected the tall and straight young bamboo, held the bamboo with both hands and shook it, and sang in unison: "On the fourteenth night, shake the tender bamboo, the tender bamboo is tall, the tender bamboo is long, I am as tall as the tender bamboo!" The cheerful and tender children's voices rose and fell, echoing in the bamboo forest. It seemed that their bodies were really growing with the shaking of the tender bamboo. They shook more vigorously and sang louder, attracting a group of young men and women, who also joined in the fun and joined the ranks of shaking the tender bamboo. Everyone sang nursery rhymes while shaking the bamboo. The tall bamboo tips were shaken by everyone, echoing the nursery rhymes. Everyone was immersed in the happy atmosphere of shaking the tender bamboo and singing nursery rhymes. It was finally completely dark, and everyone ran back home with a shout, inserted the prepared half candle into the lamp holder, and lit the candle carefully with a match. The lamp lit up at once, emitting a red light that spread around. The companions shouted and held up the bright toad lanterns. They gathered from all directions and ran towards the path leading to the field ditch. In an instant, a red fire dragon meandered in the night. Everyone walked and sang happily: "On the fourteenth night, send off the toad. Toad man, toad woman, send your toad into the river!" Everyone shouted and collided with each other. Amid the shouts of "Toad lantern, toad woman, send your toad into the river", everyone threw the lanterns into the paddy fields by the roadside. Some threw far, some threw close. Most of the lanterns were thrown out and stood obliquely in the water in the fields, the lanterns were still on, some fell down due to unstable footing, and the lanterns went out. For a moment, the paddy field was dotted with red toad lanterns, both near and far, and reflected in the paddy field. The lights on the ground and in the water complemented each other, dotted in the field, and formed a beautiful and unique night scene. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)