What are the festivals of the Miao people?

There are many traditional festivals of the Miao people, including the Year of the Miao, April 8, the Dragon Boat Festival, the New Eating Festival, and the Autumn Catching Festival.

1, Miao New Year

Prevalent in Guizhou Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture and Guangxi Rongshui Miao Autonomous County Miao settlement. The date of the Miao New Year, varying from place to place, but are in the collection of grain into the warehouse, that is, respectively, for the ninth, tenth or eleventh month of the lunar calendar, Chen (Dragon) Day or Mao (Rabbit) Day or ugly (Ox) Day held.

In the first few days of the Hmong New Year, families clean their houses and actively prepare for the New Year's goods, such as: playing glutinous rice poi, brewing rice wine, playing bean curd, sprouting bean sprouts, and generally killing pigs or buying pork and so on.

The rich people also make sausages and blood tofu, and sew new clothes for their families. On the evening of the 30th day of the Miao New Year, the whole family has to eat the New Year's dinner at home and keep watch until midnight before opening the door to set off firecrackers to welcome the dragon into the house.

At first light, the elders of each family lead the ancestor worship at home. After breakfast, young and middle-aged men go to their neighbors' homes to pay their respects, known as donfniangx in Hmong, to wish them a happy new year.

In the first two days of the New Year, there are a number of taboos in the home, such as: do not go out to pick water, do not go up to the mountains to cut wood and grass; do not sweep the floor; women do not do needlework; in some areas, women do not cook, replaced by men; men do not go out to collect manure and so on.

Men's and women's marriages in the Miao townships are usually chosen at the time of the Miao New Year. Starting from the fourth day. Some older men and women also have to pick up wine, meat, glutinous rice poo and so on to visit friends and relatives, or busy at home to receive guests.

Some young men and women or in their respective villages to play the sheng dance, or jump copper drums, bullfighting; or young men to other villages to travel to the square field "square", men and women Ding each other song, pouring out their love and affection. Before and after the activities, lasted about 9 days to end. This is the most important festival of the Miao folk.

2, April 8

The eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional festival of the Miao in Guiyang, Huangping, Songtao in Guizhou Province and Xiangxi in Hunan Province. The festival developed from honoring the Miao hero Yayi.

Every festival, the Miao compatriots steam flower patties of rice, gather at a fixed place to play the sheng, dance or sing love songs to each other. The Miao in Beijing also celebrate the April 8 festival.

3, eat new festival

Mainly popular in Guizhou Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture and Guangxi Rongshui Miao Autonomous County area. Every year during the sixth and seventh months of the lunar calendar, when the rice paddies are tasseling in the fields, the Miao villages celebrate the "Eat New Festival" on the d-day (some of them on the afternoon or the e-day).

At that time, each family cooks glutinous rice, a bowl of fish, a bowl of meat, etc., and puts them on the ground (or on the table), and picks 7-9 rice pods from their own paddy fields and puts them on the side of the bowl of glutinous rice, and then burns incense and paper, and the elder pinches a little bit of the fish and rice and throws it on the ground, and puts a few drops of wine on it, in order to show respect for the sacrifice and to pray for a good harvest.

Then the picked rice pods are torn open, two are hung on the shrine, and the rest are given to the children to tear open and eat, and the whole family happily ****s into a beautiful meal.

The next day, the villages of men, women and children have to wear new clothes to watch the Lusheng will participate in jumping Lusheng will participate in jumping Lusheng dance; some pull the horse to the racecourse horse racing, some take the bullock to the bullfighting arena bullfighting, the festival period is generally 2 days.

4, Lusheng Festival

Popular in Guizhou's Kaili, Majiang, Danzhai counties bordering the boat stream area. The period of the festival is not uniform, generally in the first, second or third month of the lunar calendar; individual areas are held in July. The main purpose of the festival is to worship ancestors and celebrate a good harvest.

Generally before the festival to be held before the ceremony, first by a village of respected old man presided over the ancestor worship, at the same time, each family are in their own home to worship their ancestors, followed by the villages and cottages of the girls dressed in full dress, wearing silver flowers and silver jewelry, the boys are each with a reed sheng, from all directions to the reed sheng site.

The young men of each village form a circle, blowing the sheng and dancing for four or five days, with a very enthusiastic atmosphere, which is a kind of mass cultural activity integrating song, dance and music.

5, Catch Autumn Festival

Popular in Hunan Xiangxi and Guizhou Songtao around the Miao region, held every year on the day of the first fall, for a period of one day. It starts on the first day of the lunar calendar, when young men and women gather in villages and mountain fields to sing and dance and seek companionship.