Grandma Liou Liao's New Year in Liouguei／阿嬤們的高雄新年 劉廖玉金─六龜的客家庄新年
Grandma Liou Liao's New Year in Liouguei
◎English translation: Hou Ya-ting ◎Photos by Kang Chn-cai, Pao Chung-hui
At the time of the interview, Grandma Liou Liao Yu-jin was at her grandson's house, where she lives on the top floor of their two-story apartment. Sitting on her green sofa in her living room, Grandma Liou Liao seemed a bit of embarrassed by the arrival of visitors. "I have been suffering from influenza lately," she admitted. Grandma Liou Liao had wanted to be her usual energetic self for her interview. However, as the interview went on Grandma Liou Liao began to relax.
Born in 1931, Grandma Liou Liao grew up in Liouguei's Hakka Village. Her parents had originally settled at Nianhu, Miaoli County, but relocated to Liouguei to open a hardware store, which is still located beside Liouguei's bus station. The humble hardware store supported the family of seven children, until Grandma Liou Liao married Mr. Liou Mao-ji, a Taiwanese man who worked at the Farmer's Association. At 21, she bid farewell to her beloved hometown and moved to Tantou Village in Linyuan.
When Grandma Liou Liao recalled her Lunar New Year in Liouguei, her eyes lit up with joy. "Lunar New Year brings back memories of my happy childhood," she exclaims happily, basking in the celebratory joy of Lunar New Year in Liouguei.
The process of preparing the food amplifies the atmosphere of New Year. The grown-ups would devote themselves to the meticulous process of baking rice cakes and Jhongzih (sticky-rice dumpling) for the New Year. At Grandma Liou Liao's table there would always be sweet cakes and Luobo Pudding (shredded white turnip and grained rice). Pork was a special dish as it wasn't affordable for everyday meals at that time.
Grandma Liou Liao's also remembered how her sister, who was tailor specializing in Western clothing and probably busiest during the New Year, would always manage to find time to make each of her siblings an new outfit. During her childhood, Grandma Liou Liao would happily dress up in their new clothes to pay homage at the shrine. They would pray for the upcoming year on the first day of Lunar New Year. All these factors had been essential parts of Grandma's New Year's memories, which give her many reasons to smile and plenty of good resources to make a wonderful story-teller.
阿嬤們的高雄新年 劉廖玉金─六龜的客家庄新年
◎文／周書正 ◎攝影／康村財、鮑忠暉
我在劉廖玉金阿嬤的孫子家中，見到了剛從感冒中康復過來劉廖阿嬤。那是一間位在頂樓的雙層公寓，劉廖阿嬤坐在客廳的青色沙發上看起來神色有些緊張。
「最近就感冒啦」她這樣解釋，聲音不大卻十分堅毅；接著她稍微理了理衣服、調整坐姿，緊張和不安便從她的眉頭上退去了，像是她剛剛在自己身上施了魔法一樣。
一九三一年出生的劉廖玉金阿嬤是六龜客家人，她的父母在他出生之前就從苗栗南湖搬到六龜定居，在現在的高雄客運六龜站的對面開了一間五金行，這間小小的五金行養大了劉廖阿嬤以及她的六個兄弟姊妹。在二十歲那一年，劉廖阿嬤嫁給了在農會上班的閩南人劉茂己阿公；也就此搬到林園的潭頭村，離開了六龜，離開了代表自己青春時代的客家庄。
講到了囡仔時代在六龜的過年印象，她眼睛都亮起來了。「彼時陣過年就是歡喜啊。」然後她說起了六龜新年的種種情景。
大人們總是忙著炊粿，更勤奮一點的人家除了炊粿之外還會包粽子作為年夜飯的主菜。六龜的年夜菜是以甜糕跟蘿蔔糕拉開序幕、再加上平日難得吃到的豬肉料理就是最豐盛的年夜飯了。在劉廖阿嬤的記憶中，姊姊的洋裁店在過年前的一段時間總是很忙，卻仍然會替家裡面的弟弟妹妹們做套新衣服。
在大一年初一的早上，穿著新衣到神社去參拜是童年時每逢春節最開心的事情。劉廖阿嬤記不起童年時去的神社的位置跟名字，只記得隨著政權的更迭，神社早就被拆除夷平了。但這座她口中「後山的神社」，還是在她的新年印象裡面，溫柔地擁抱著那個在奉納箱前祈求新年幸福的小女孩。