gupouk

姑婆屋项目（2020-持续中）Gupouk （2020-ongoing）

以姑婆屋*为起点，抛开现有对自梳女意识形态化的叙述，追寻他们逐渐消逝的网络和遗迹，以身份代入的方式重新书写，重提这个群体的历史经验。我将碎片的信息拼凑出他们的生活面貌，牵引出当中的复杂性，同时提问网络消逝的缘由和过程。我亲身追寻姑婆屋的遗迹，将自己的生活经验代入，将现代的生活和姑婆屋并列，探讨在权力和生存的拉扯下，寻找能够自主的灵活的缝隙，同时追问流动的人、土地与家之间相互的关系，并以此展开创作，包括写作、摄影、影像、刺绣、装置和系列出版物，包括《绝情种》。

Through researching on comb sisters's house*, I set aside the existing ideological narratives of the comb sisters, and trace back their elapsing network and legacies, reconstruct them and recaptures the historical experience of this group of women. I collected and put together all fragments of information from documents and internet to piece a picture of their daily lives, drawing out the complexities involved, while asking questions about the causes and processes of the network's disappearance. I traced the remains of the comb sisters' houses, substituting my own life experiences, juxtaposing modern life with their experiece, search for a magical gap of autonomy under the struggle of power and survival, and asking about the mutual relationship between women, land and home, and developing a body of work during the research, including writing, photography, video, embroidery, installation and a series of publications, include Cold Hearted.

*姑婆屋：现记载最早由明朝中期开始的习俗，居住在西江流域的女性举行梳起仪式，以表示终生独身，当地称他们为姑婆。因被排除于男权宗族系统外，姑婆们以股份制集资购买房屋居住，称为姑婆屋。姑婆屋除了用于居住，还是他们聚会的场所和集体祠堂。实际上住入姑婆屋的除了宣誓独身的女性，还有寡妇等女性无家者。姑婆屋随着他们下南洋打工，还存在于马来西亚、新加坡和越南等地。
Comb sisters' House: The custom is now recorded as having first begun in the mid-Ming Dynasty, when women living in the Xijiang valley performed a comb-up ceremony to signify lifelong celibacy and were locally known as nun (spelled in cantonese as 'gupouk'). Being excluded from the patriarchal clan system, the comb sisters pooled their money to buy a house to live in, called comb sisters' house, on a shareholding basis. Apart from being used for housing, the house is also a meeting place and a collective shrine for them. In fact, in addition to the sworn celibate women, there were also widows and other homeless women who lived in the house. It also existed in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam as they went to work in the South East Asia.

至2022年8月搜集到姑婆屋或与自梳仪式有关之地点的确切位置（由北至南，沿着西江）：
By August 2022, collected the exact location (from north to south, along the Xijiang River) of the comb sisters' houses or the site associated with them:

·观音堂，肇庆端州区塔脚路，西江岸边
·养善堂，肇庆端州区米仓巷25号
·龙华洞，佛山西樵太平村凤巢村里巷大道水塘边
·益善堂，佛山西樵江浦西路官山墟大众街13号
·潮水庙，佛山西樵江浦西路新风路29号
·颐年院（颐老院），佛山禅城南庄镇紫洞南路
·冰玉堂（鹤岭静安舍），佛山顺德均安沙头村鹤岭大街29-2
·未知名，广州番禺大岭村龙津街14号
·梳起石，广州番禺小谷围街南亭村海心岗岛上
·福善堂，广州海珠区同福中路二圣宫前2-8号
·黄村姑婆屋（已被拆除），广州天河黄村村内池塘边
·冯永乐堂，广州海珠区柳塘大街1号
·义和堂（十姊妹屋），东莞常平南门街28号
·蕴贞精舍（堂），香港新界大埔船湾
·万佛堂，香港九龙牛池湾西村龙池径
·仁慈堂婆仔屋，澳门望德堂疯堂斜巷8号
·联居，马来西亚槟城义福街46号
·群愉，马来西亚义福街56号
·未知名，马来西亚槟城义福街52号
·未知名，马来西亚槟城义福街60号
·侨居，马来西亚槟城南华医院街29号
·华联，马来西亚槟城南华医院街21号
·聚群居，越南胡志明市第十一郡第六坊陈贵街150号
（搜集将持续更新 The list will be continuously updated）

至2022年8月搜集到姑婆屋但未知其确切位置（由北至南，沿着西江）：
By August 2022 Houses was collected but its exact location (from north to south, along the Xijiang River) is unknown.

·永远堂，肇庆端州区米仓巷
·未知名，佛山顺德大良华盖里
·广州市番禺区钟村街汉溪村
（列表将持续更新）
·未知名，中山小榄，南头公社
·合意堂，东莞常平
·成意堂，东莞常平
·未知名，香港新界北区沙头角
·超顺堂，新加坡水仙门，广合源街(pangoda street)，牛车水
·大坡二马路（新桥路）的泰山药行拐个左弯，去9号新洋服店，新洋服店斜对面咖啡店三楼），新加坡广合源街

2023年5月更新：
Updated on May, 2023:

·未知名，香港流浮山

（搜集将持续更新 The list will be continuously updated）

姑婆屋分布地图，图中白色部分为珠三角和东南亚部分地区地图之剪影，绿色图标为姑婆屋的位置，他们沿着西江水域向东、南方向流动，直至東南亚。
The map of the distribution of the comb sisters' houses, the white part of which is a silhouette of the map of the Pearl River Delta and parts of Southeast Asia, and the green icons show the location of the comb sisters' houses, which flow in an easterly and southerly direction along the waters of the Xijiang River to Southeast Asia.

姑婆芋，2021-，图纹

姑婆芋，植物，常见于室内、城市绿化带、野郊和山林，喜阴凉湿润，耐干旱，极易生长，经常在没有种植的情况下自生长而出。因其外形与芋头非常相似，却有毒性，人若误食会中毒，触碰其汁液会致皮肤搔痒红肿。
The pattern of “gupoyu” , “gupoyu” is the local name of Alocasia Odora, a plant commonly found indoors, in urban green belts, in the countryside and in mountain forests, likes shade and humidity, is drought tolerant and extremely easy to grow, often growing out on its own without planting. Because of its close resemblance to taro, it is toxic and can be poisoned if eaten by mistake, and touching its sap can cause itchy, red skin.

*姑婆，对父系宗族的女性长辈的称呼。亦有指未婚的、离群的、具有“威胁性”的老年女性。在西江沿岸，有时自梳女被称为姑婆。在珠三角亦是对自梳女的其中一中称呼。
“gupo” is also the name of a female elder of a patrilineal clan, it means nun. It is also used to refer to unmarried, outcast, "threatening" older women. In Pearl River Delta, sometimes comb sister is called a “gupo”.

我为这种植物设计了一个图纹，使用家用绣花机以此图纹制作一系列物件，就像日常使用物件上面的“吉祥”或“祝福”的花纹般，姑婆芋在此时化身为同样可被流传的和承载姑婆故事的花纹，出现在日常生活中。
I designed a pattern for this plant and used a home embroidery machine to create a series of objects with this pattern, just like the 'lucky' or 'blessed' patterns on everyday objects, where the Gupo Taro is transformed into a pattern that can also be passed on and carries the stories of comb sisters, and is present in everyday life.

生长在姑婆屋遗址内的姑婆芋，摄于观音堂（广东肇庆），2021
The Gupo Taro in Guan Yin Tang——a comb sisters' house, photography in Zhaoqing (Guangdong) , 2021

养善堂，摄于广东肇庆，2021
Yang Shan Tang, photography in Zhaoqing (Guangdong), 2021

龙华洞，摄于广东佛山西樵镇，2021
Long Hua Dong, photography in Xiqiao Town (Foshan, Guangdong), 2021

益善堂，摄于广东佛山西樵镇，2021
Yi Shan Tang, photography in Xiqiao Town (Foshan, Guangdong), 2021

冰玉堂，摄于广东佛山顺德，2021
Bing Yu Tang, photography in Shunde (Foshan, Guangdong), 2020

陈嘉璐亲身到达珠三角各个城镇，追溯及研究珠三角自梳女（当地亦称“姑婆”）群体和姑婆屋的聚散和轨迹，关注姑婆从西江流域至东南亚的流动记忆和路线。她尝试探讨人与土地的关系，对消逝的网络进行追踪，以此展开与他们的对话，并生长出不同媒介的创作，包括装置、摄影、织物刺绣和写作，意在重新书写经验，提供不一样的叙事和样本。
Chen Jialu has travelled to various towns in the Pearl River Delta to trace and field research the history and trajectory of the group of comb sisters (also known locally as 'Gupo') and comb sisters houses, focusing on the memories and routes of the movement of comb sisters from the Xijiang River basin to Southeast Asia, attempts to explore the relationship between people and the land, tracing the fading networks and thus initiating a dialogue with them, with the intention of rewriting the experience and providing a different narrative and sample.