Brief introduction of bonfire party

Torch Festival is the only traditional festival of Oroqen nationality. Approved by the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Oroqen Autonomous Banner, June 18 of the Gregorian calendar is the Oroqen Torch Festival every year.

The origin of bonfire festival

The Oroqen people worship Vulcan for a long time. They think that fire has the function of exorcising evil spirits and removing dirt, and utensils and clothes are dried on the fire and considered clean. There is also the custom of sending Vulcan to heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. On the morning of the Spring Festival, you should offer sacrifices to Vulcan, and kowtow and pray to the bonfire when offering sacrifices. Every Spring Festival, when guests come to pay a New Year call, they must worship Vulcan first.

The Oroqen people have a series of strict taboos on fire: they are not allowed to splash water, throw dirt, spit at random, and they are not allowed to stab the fire with sharp things such as knives and sticks, so as not to offend and hurt Vulcan.

When they light a bonfire, branches and sticks must be laid flat, and it is forbidden to put them anywhere. When using firewood, be careful not to use firewood that may explode Mars, so as not to hurt Vulcan's eyes. Whenever people move, they are not allowed to put out the fire with water. They should take the fire from one place to another.

In the primitive hunting era, fire was an important condition for the survival of hunters for the Oroqen nationality. Fire can not only cook and keep warm, but also resist wild animals. Therefore, the ancient Oroqen people worshipped and believed in fire and Vulcan.

They used a fungus growing on birch stems as a tool to preserve fire. This fungus is shaped like a mushroom. After drying, the inside is powdery. Its fiber structure is compact and hard, and its volume is small. Rain is not easy to penetrate. It is an ideal fire storage material. Whenever hunting or moving, the hunter will pick out a piece of red charcoal from the fire pit, then put it in a fungus plant, tie it with a thong, wear it on a wooden stick and carry it on his back.

When the hunters arrived at the new camp, they buried the fire in the erected fairy column (Oroqen means "wooden house" in Chinese, called Cuozi, which is the house where Oroqen people lived during hunting), held a simple fire ceremony, and then added firewood to cook.

The ancestors of the Oroqen nationality have an indissoluble bond with fire. They hunt in the deep mountains and forests all the year round. In the struggle with nature, because of the fire, they can survive and reproduce from generation to generation. So I have a special feeling for fire, and I am very close to the bonfire.