The first day of the second lunar month is a traditional folk festival with a long history in Baisong Yao Township, Jiangyong County.

Bird-catching Festival has become the "Valentine's Day" of Yao nationality, and it is one of the most important and favorite cultural and recreational activities of Yao youth.

Legend one

Every year, the first day of the second lunar month is the bird catching festival of the local Yao people, also known as the bird worship festival and the bird singing festival. Different names and forms. Every household should make Baba for the bird. First, stick Baba on the bamboo branches and put it in the corner of the field to feed the birds. While inserting it, learn to call the birds to eat, so as not to damage the crops. The Yao people in Jianghua and Jiangyong celebrate this as a grand festival. On the first day of February, the Yao people in Lingxi, Jianghua Yao Autonomous County celebrated the Songbird Festival, which is also an auspicious day for unmarried young men and women to choose their spouses through songs. According to folklore, during Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, a fairy named Ying Gu came to Yaohan in Jianghua and fell in love with Li Xiaoer, a young Yao nationality. After they got married, the Jade Emperor learned that in early February, a team of magic soldiers came down to catch Yinggu, and Yinggu could not escape. She and Xiao er jumped off a cliff in Baitou Mountain, and later became a pair of birds. The male was a phoenix, and the female was a phoenix and flew with me, and they never separated. In order to celebrate the love between Ying Gu and Li Xiaoer, the Yao people designated early February as Songbird Festival.

Legend 2

According to legend, a long time ago, Jianghua Mountain was densely forested, which was very suitable for birds to thrive. Tits, pheasants, turtledoves, etc. Dinosaurs who ate grain survived the severe winter. When they saw the peach blossoms, they spread their wings and flew to the sky. They stood on the high branches and sang cheerful songs when they saw people coming from the mountains. Seeing the golden corn seeds in my sister-in-law's hand, handfuls and strings were scattered in the Shan Ye and mud in black Wo Wo, singing more happily, inviting partners to come to the "party"! In this way, they often flock together, flying like a dark cloud to cover the sun and falling on the ground like a shady one. As soon as the cultivators left, they skillfully tried the scarecrow, flew down the hillside and kept pecking with their pointed mouths. Soon, the mountain soil was destroyed. Bird damage has become a heart disease for mountain cultivators.

There was no harvest in the mountains, and the farmers had to eat vegetables, and the government's money, water and grain flowed dry. The emperor panicked and quickly issued an imperial decree: "Whoever controls the bird damage will enjoy nine forests and be tax-free for nine years."

After the imperial edict was issued, both the mountain owner and the cultivator tried their best. There is a man named Pan Yinggu in Panyun Village. He likes singing. The plowman listened to her song, as if he had melted a piece of honey in his mouth; She sang to the mountain spring, and the mountain spring stopped flowing; She sang to the mountain forest, and the birds were too ashamed to speak. Pan Yinggu's singing stopped and the birds refused to leave for a long time. The farmer thought: Pan Yinggu must have a way to catch the bird. So, all the men and women in Pan Yun Village came to Yinggu's Mulou to learn singing from her, and discussed spreading this song to the farmers in Jiujiu Village, and agreed to divert the birds from Jiujiu on the last day of the first month of next year before sowing, and arrived at Baitou Mountain without spring seeds. In Panyun village, there is a mountain owner named Pan Adu who keeps a pair of thrushes. Every morning, he hangs the birdcage on the beam of a wooden building and lets the thrush sing. Strange to say, some tits are also attracted. They stop at Zhaitou every day and spend the night on the eaves of the building. The mountain owner was very happy: "Haha, Jiujialing is in my name again." So he quickly mended the book and reported it to the emperor. The emperor drew a little brushwork and ordered the shanzhai to raise more thrushes in the mountains. One day at the end of the month, birds were lured to Shiyan Mountain in Baitou Mountain by birds.

When the last day of the first month comes, we plan to plant corn early. Early in the morning, the farmers in Jiujiuzhai were singing and partying in Zhaitou. The mountain owner of Jiujiuzhai watched the birds fly out of the forest and came to the hut. He was so happy that he raised his birdcage, grabbed ahead of the cultivators and gathered at Baitou Mountain. Birds really chase songs, people and fly to Baitou Mountain.

On this day, there are many people and birds on Baitou Mountain. On sunny days, birds fly in rows to block the sunshine for the singer; On rainy days, birds fly in droves to shelter the singer from the wind and rain. The cultivators sang from morning till dusk, and the birds really forgot to fly back to the mountains. When I was tired, I fell on the rock and people quietly left. The next day, the birds flew to the clouds in search of songs. They fly around Baitou Mountain, as if there are endless songs on the top of the mountain. In this way, the birds stayed in Baitou Mountain for half a year. When they woke up, there were only rice stalks left on the slope, and the people who started farming had already collected food at Zhaimen. The bird was drunk in Baitou Mountain for half a year, and then woke up and flew back to Lao Lin. Only hay, corn stalks and sweet potato vines are left on the slope, and the cultivators have already collected grain at Zhaimen. This year's harvest, the mountain owner said that he was good at singing thrush in the cage to distract the birds, so Jiujialing went to the mountain owner, and the nine-year tax went to the mountain owner. The plowman was not convinced and sued the emperor. With a grain of salt, the emperor ordered ministers to be sent to Baitou Mountain for interrogation.

On the last day of the first month of the second year, Gengshan people stayed at home. The birds out of the forest, without the sweet songs of youth in the hut a few years ago, only heard the cry for help of the thrush in the cage, so they quickly spread their wings and flew back. The bird cage in the master's hand was smashed by the minister. The next day, on the first day of February, the cultivators gathered in Baitou Mountain again, and birds flew out of the forest to listen to songs. They were drunk for half a year. In this way, Yaoshan achieved a bumper harvest. Since then, people have named the first day of February "Bird Festival".

Legend 3

Every year, the first day of the second lunar month is the "Bird-catching Festival" of Yao people. According to legend, a long time ago, the forests in Yao mountainous areas were dense, which was very suitable for birds to thrive. Tits, pheasants and turtledoves that feed on grain have become the number one enemies of early corn and early spring crops in Yaoshan. People have no crops every year, so they have to live on wild vegetables, and the government's sources of money, water and grain have also dried up. The news alarmed the emperor, who issued an imperial edict: whoever controls bird damage will be rewarded with nine ridges and nine years of tax exemption. The imperial edict was sent to 99 villages in 9 mountains, 9 ridges, and the mountain owners and cultivators tried their best.

There is a Yao girl named Messi. She is smart and has a good voice. As long as she sings to the mountain, the bird is too ashamed to speak and the song stops. They are still hovering in the sky, pursuing the taste of songs, and they are too fascinated to fly away. On the first day of February, Messi took the birds away from Yaoshan with the young people who studied singing with her on weekdays. Birds are intoxicated by singing for half a year. When they woke up and flew back to Yaoshan, only hay, corn stalks, sweet potatoes and vines were left on the slope. The cultivators have collected food in the village. This year, 99 villages in 9 mountains and 9 ridges were not harmed by birds, and all of them got a bumper harvest.

The emperor rewarded it, but the credit was cheated by a greedy mountain owner. The following spring, the emperor sent envoys to ask the mountain owner to drive away the birds, but the mountain owner made no achievements. Seeing that the birds almost ate all the seeds sown, my sister couldn't bear to let everyone miss the sowing season, so she opened her mouth and the birds listened to her. This fact alarmed the special envoy. When the envoy returned to Beijing and presented it to the emperor, the emperor happily gave Yaoshan to his sister. Therefore, the Yao family must regard the early February of the lunar calendar as a bird catching festival.