National life customs, traditional festivals, food culture

As the earliest inhabitants of Hainan Island, Li nationality has gradually formed its own unique way of life under the natural environment of Hainan Island. They believe that everything in the world has a soul, with good luck, bad luck, good luck and bad luck. Therefore, in daily life and labor, the Li people have formed various living customs, such as productive labor, building and moving, getting married and having children. They all attach great importance to the seasonal time, and always hold a certain prayer ceremony before the action, so that everything will be safe and smooth without accidents.

In the harmonious area of Li nationality (now Wuzhishan city), it is a popular custom to celebrate "ox day" in March, July and October of the lunar calendar every year. Li nationality has its own calendar, with l2 days as a cycle, and each day is named after an animal, similar to the twelve earthly branches of Han nationality. The Year of the Ox is considered as "lucky day", "good day" and "auspicious day". Therefore, every Year of the Ox, we should dance "blessing dance". On the first "Cow Day" in March, which is full of spring, we should dance a "blessing dance" for cows and wish them fat and prolific. In the hot summer of July, the first "cow day" of rice transplanting, we should dance "blessing dance" for "rice" and pray for vigorous seedlings and bumper crops; On the first "ox day" in the autumn of October in the harvest season, we should dance "blessing dance" for "people" and look forward to the peace and prosperity of the whole village. Whenever such a ceremony is held, people in the whole village gather in the wooden house to kill pigs, hold wine and hold a banquet, and dance a "blessing dance". First, people beat gongs and drums in turn, and then Woodenhead and his wife, dressed in costumes, drank the "blessing wine" which was washed with "precious stones" (according to legend, it was a stone tool handed down by ancestors and a symbol of blessing the soul), and then danced. When dancing, Wood walked back and forth from the door to the house with two pieces of rattan leaves soaked in "Fu wine", kept shaking the rattan leaves, followed his wife into the house with wine, and then sprinkled "Fu wine" on the upper body to show "Fu". After the wooden couple danced, the people in the village went into battle together. The man wore blue, blue and green robes and waved his sleeves back and forth from the house to the door, swinging from side to side. The woman is holding a wine bowl and dancing behind the man while toasting "Fu Jiu". Dancers, both men and women, walk steadily and keep their backs straight. Accompanied by the sonorous sound of gongs and drums, they take small steps forward and step back until they shout in unison all night. This kind of dance is rough and simple, and the original dance atmosphere is very strong.

In addition, in the "harmony" system area, the annual dance must be held every New Year, also known as the safety dance. On the second day of the first month of the new year, all the men and women in the village wear national costumes and hold ceremonies to celebrate the Spring Festival under the leadership of the most senior elders. People kill pigs and chickens, offer sacrifices, knock wooden drums and gongs. Accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums, they danced happily to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, praying for the safety of people and animals in the village and a bumper harvest of crops in the new year. When dancing, dancers must keep their bodies balanced and straight, follow the rhythm of gongs and drums, and swing their hands back and forth on both sides of their waists. Every time you go to the third step, stand with your feet together, bend your knees left and right, and repeat the cycle. The whole dance is magnificent and solemn, which reflects the expectation of the Li people for a better life with the arrival of spring.

In Sanya, Baoting, Lingshui and other counties and cities, there is also a prayer dance "Bowl Dance" specially performed for children, which belongs to female dance. Whenever the child is sick or the parents go out, the mother will ask the "mothers" to dance. There are generally more than two dancers, and there are two kinds of dance movements: one is to hold flowers and grass; The other is a bowl on his head, with a bamboo chopstick in his right hand and banging the bowl on his head. When dancing, line up, sing and dance, and the pace is very slow. Li people believe that this kind of dance can pray for children's safety and happiness, so that they can be protected by their ancestors, eliminate disasters and grow up healthily.

In some places of the Li nationality, the legacy of "ancestor worship" is still circulating. There is no textual research on when Li society will transition from matriarchal society to paternal society, but it is undeniable that this transition should be complicated and long.

Life custom dance, because it is closely related to people's daily life, also has a certain degree of influence in Li society.

State. From the form and content of life custom dance, it should belong to the extension of religious sacrifice dance, which is a transitional form of religious sacrifice dance gradually developing into entertainment and festive dance, and it is developing in the direction of entertaining people more than entertaining gods.

Dai is a nation with a long history and unique culture. In China, it mainly lives in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Dehong Autonomous Prefecture.

There are many festivals in Dai nationality, the most striking of which are closing festival, opening festival and water splashing festival.

Opening and closing ceremonies

These are two closely related Dai traditional festivals.

The closing festival begins in mid-July and lasts for about three months, while the opening festival is held in mid-October.

During the village closing festival, no marriage or building is allowed, and no large-scale entertainment activities are held in the village. Three months later, when the closing day expires, the Dai people will hold the opening day celebration.

Opening the door is also called "getting out of the depression". On the day of the festival, what was put behind the Buddha during the closing ceremony was taken out and burned, indicating that the Buddha had "walked out of the depression"; On the second day of the festival, the whole family went to the temple to worship Buddha; On the third day, there will be a grand "flower picking" activity, which is a temple fair integrating sacrifice, assembly, art and commerce.

During the Opening Day, young men and women dressed in costumes went to the Buddhist temple to worship Buddha, offering food, flowers, wax strips and coins. After the service, a grand cultural rally was held to celebrate the end of fasting since the closing day. The main contents include setting off sparks, rising and lighting lanterns.

At this time, the rice harvest is finished, so the opening day is also a festival to celebrate the harvest. Young people can fall in love or get married at this time, and adults can go on business trips or visit relatives and friends.

the Water Sprinkling Festival

Apart from the closing ceremony and the opening ceremony, the Songkran Festival is the most distinctive festival of the Dai people, which is held in mid-April of the Gregorian calendar.

At the Water-Splashing Festival, people will worship Buddha. The girls will wash the dust for the Buddha with fresh water floating with flowers, then splash water on each other and bless each other. At first, water was splashed with hands and bowls, and later with pots and barrels. The more intense the splash, the drums, splashing water and cheers will become one. Traditional entertainment activities such as dragon boat racing and flying lanterns will also be held during this period.

If you come to Xishuangbanna during the festival, you can not only feel the cheerful festive atmosphere, but also see the characteristic bamboo houses where the Dai people live: approximately square bamboo houses supported by dozens of thick bamboos, suspended floors and thatched rows covering the roof. Here you can also eat delicious bamboo rice and enjoy the wonderful peacock dance of Dai girls.

But before going, it is necessary to understand the taboos of the Dai people: they are afraid of outsiders riding horses, driving cattle, carrying burdens, and entering the stockade unkempt; When entering the Dai bamboo house, you should take off your shoes outside the door and walk gently inside. You can't sit above or across the fireplace, you can't enter the owner's inner room, you can't sit on the threshold, etc.