The Origin and Customs of Miao Festivals

There are many traditional festivals of Miao nationality, such as Miao Year, April 8th, Dragon Boat Festival, Eating New Year's Goods Festival and Catch Autumn Festival, among which Miao Year is the biggest. Miao year is equivalent to the Spring Festival of Han nationality, which is usually held after autumn. On the morning of the festival, people put the prepared delicious food on the stove near the fire pit to worship their ancestors, and put wine on the noses of cows to show their gratitude for their hard work for a year. Dressed young men and women are dancing in the hall. Except for historical festivals, most festivals are held in the slack season after autumn harvest or before spring ploughing. However, due to the influence of natural factors, social and clan differences, Miao traditional festivals have obvious regional characteristics and show different characteristics.

1, year of seedling

Popular in Miao areas of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou and Rongshui Miao Autonomous County in Guangxi. The dates of the Year of Miao vary from place to place, but they are all held after the millet is harvested, that is, on the day of Chen (Dragon), Mao (Rabbit) or Ugly (Bull) in September, October or November of the lunar calendar. In the first few days after the Year of Miao, every household should clean the house and actively prepare new year's goods, such as making rice cakes, brewing rice wine, making tofu and bean sprouts, and generally killing pigs or buying pork. Wealthy families have to make sausages and blood tofu, sew new clothes for their families and so on. On Miao New Year's Eve, the whole family will have dinner at home, and they won't open the door until midnight to set off firecrackers to welcome dragons into the house. At dawn, every household is presided over by the elders at home to worship their ancestors. After breakfast, young and middle-aged men go to their neighbors' homes to pay New Year greetings, which are called "donfniangx" in Miao language to express their congratulations on a happy New Year. On the second day of the lunar new year, there are some taboos at home, such as: don't go out to fetch water, don't go up the mountain to cut wood and grass; Don't sweep the floor; Women do not do needlework; In some areas, women do not cook and are replaced by men; Men don't go out to pick up shit or anything. Men and women in Miao village usually get married in Miao year. From the fourth day. Some elderly men and women also visit relatives and friends with wine, meat and glutinous rice cakes. , or are busy receiving guests at home; Some young men and women either dance in blowing sheng in their respective villages, or dance in bronze drums for bullfighting; Or the young man went to other villages to "tour", where men and women sang and poured out their love. Before and after the activity, it took about 9 days to end. This is the most solemn festival of Miao people.

2. Spring Festival

This is a traditional festival celebrated by the Han nationality and other ethnic minorities on the first day of the first lunar month. In Qiandongnan Miao nationality, the Spring Festival is called "sissy" and the traditional "sissy" coexist, and it is celebrated with other ethnic groups, especially those Miao nationality areas that do not celebrate the Year of Miao nationality, but are not as grand as the Year of Miao nationality. Miao people who know Chinese characters also paste couplets and door gods, and the rest are the same as Miao years. Some people choose to marry men and women during the Spring Festival. The Miao people in Xiangxi celebrated the Spring Festival and held a grand "Cattle Farm" activity. Miao people in Rongshui county, Guangxi celebrate the Spring Festival and hold Lusheng dance, with tens of thousands of people every year.

3. Dragon Boat Festival

This is a traditional festival for Miao people to race on the water. It is popular on both sides of Qingshui River at the junction of Taijiang and Shibing counties in Guizhou, and on both sides of Bala River in Taijiang, which flows into this river. The Miao language in eastern Guizhou is called "qab Niang x vongx". There are sixty or seventy Miao villages, such as Pingzhai and Liaodong, each of which has one or two dragon boats for rowing competitions. Every year, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, or from the 24th to 27th, Miao people living on both sides of the strait hold grand dragon boat races in turn. Dragon boat races are also popular in Fenghuang, Luxi, Jishou, Baojing and Huayuan in Xiangxi, Hunan Province, which are divided into men's teams, women's teams and mixed teams. The scene is very lively. Although the Dragon Boat Festival of Miao nationality is a festival with dragon boat race as the main content, it is also a festival for ethnic culture and entertainment, social interaction between young men and women, visiting relatives and friends of middle-aged and elderly people, talking about the year and production experience.

April 8, April 8

The eighth day of the fourth lunar month is a traditional festival for Miao people in Guiyang, Ping Huang, Songtao and Xiangxi, Hunan. This festival is to commemorate the Miao hero Yayi. During the festival, Miao compatriots will steam rice with flowers and gather in a fixed place, blowing sheng, to dance or sing love songs. The Miao people in Beijing also celebrate April 8.

5. Eat New Year's Day

Mainly popular in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou and Rongshui Miao Autonomous County of Guangxi. Every year in June and July of the lunar calendar, when rice is heading in the field, every household in Miao village celebrates the "Eating New Year's Day" on the fifth day (some in the afternoon or morning). At that time, every household would cook glutinous rice, a bowl of fish and a bowl of meat. And put them on the ground (some on the table), pick 7-9 rice buds from their own rice fields and put them on the edge of the glutinous rice bowl, then burn incense and paper. The elders will pinch a little fish and glutinous rice and throw them on the ground, drop a few drops of wine to show their respect and pray for a bumper harvest, and then tear off the picked rice buds and hang two on them. The next day, men, women and children in each village put on new clothes to watch the Lusheng party, participate in Lusheng dance and participate in Lusheng dance. Some pull horses in the racetrack, and some take buffaloes to the bullring for bullfighting. This festival usually lasts for two days.

Guading area is on the first or second day of June in the lunar calendar, Tang Kai area is on the second day of June 16, and Wu Di, Wengxiang and Binhai Heping Music are in mid-July. Have a plenty of July and a half. During the festival, there will be 3-5 days of meetings, including travel, lusheng dancing, bullfighting and horse racing. "Eating New Year Festival" is the most grand festival for Miao people at the turn of spring and summer. It evolved from ancient sacrifices, and the festival time varies from place to place, usually from the beginning of June to the middle of August in the lunar calendar. On the day of the festival, invited guests dressed in festive costumes, picked up gifts and came to visit with bullfighting. After the ancestors were sacrificed, the host and guests frequently raised their glasses to wish a bumper harvest. The next day, bullfighting, horse racing and Lusheng dance were held. As night falls, old people's wine songs are floating in the room, and youthful laughter and cheerful melody are rippling on the Lusheng field. Lusheng, wine songs, love songs and flying songs pervade the night sky in Miao village.

6. Lusheng Festival

It is popular in Zhou Xi area at the junction of Kaili, Majiang and Danzhai counties in Guizhou. Festivals vary from place to place, usually in the first month, February or March of the lunar calendar; Individual regional elections will be held in July. Mainly to worship ancestors and celebrate the harvest. Generally speaking, a ceremony will be held before the festival. The venerable old man in the village presided over ancestor worship. At the same time, every family worships their ancestors in their own homes. Then, the girls in each village dressed up and put on silver flowers and ornaments. Boys bring their own Lusheng, and they come to Lusheng venue from all directions. Young people in each village form a circle, and blowing sheng dances for four or five days. The atmosphere is very warm, it is a kind of singing and dancing.

7. Huashan Festival

This festival, also known as "stepping on the flower mountain", "jumping on the flower field", "stepping on the field" and "stepping on the mountain", is popular in Miao areas in northwest Guizhou, south Sichuan and southeast Yunnan. Because Miao people live in different places and have different costumes, the dates of Huashan Festival are different and the names of the festivals are different. Some are in the first month of the lunar calendar, some are in June and some are in August. In Tiekui area, northwest Guizhou, the fields jump from the sixth day to the eighth day of the first month, the peach fields from February 14 to 16, and the rice fields from July 16 to 18. First, select flower grafted seeds or flower grafted stems. The so-called "planting flowers" means hanging red with three horses and carrying a small amount of soil to other flower fields to pile in Xintian to show the planting of flowers; The "flower stem" is made of evergreen trees, three to four meters high and stands in the center of the flower field. At that time, people from all directions came in ancient costumes, and the patriarch announced the start of the jump. Boys are blowing reeds, and girls are dancing around the flowers and competing with each other. A two-meter-long red silk and a small red cloth bag with tips are hung at the top of the flower stem. Whoever can climb the pedicel while blowing sheng is there, take down HongLing (some hung a pot of wine) and a red cloth bag, and come down from the top of the pedicel in blowing sheng, will win the prize. Horse racing, archery and continuous hemp needle competitions are also held in some places. Young men and women sing and play national musical instruments, such as lusheng, Xiao, flute and oral string. Lovers give each other embroidered handkerchiefs, belts and other things. Old people take the opportunity to visit relatives and friends, talk to each other, and have activities all day, even late at night.

8. Catch the Mid-Autumn Festival

Popular in Hunan Xiangxi, Guizhou Huatao and other Miao areas, it is held every year on the day of beginning of autumn for one day. For the annual Lunar New Year "beginning of autumn", young men and women gather in villages and Shan Ye to sing and dance and seek partners.

First of all, a man and a woman dressed in ancient national costumes dressed as "autumn palace and autumn woman", in the cheers of people, holding a full corn cob and a golden ear of rice, came to the autumn stand to report the harvest of one year to people and congratulate them on the harvest. Then, the young man rushed to the swing. The swing frame is 10 meters high, shaped like a spinning wheel, and has eight staggered spokes, each of which can seat one person. Qiu Ren pushed hard, the swing turned faster and faster, and people cheered. Suddenly, Qiu Ren was sent to resist the crossbar of the swing. The swing came to a screeching halt and the people on it jumped down. It is customary to be the last person stopped on the swing to sing loudly. Some young people deliberately stopped on it and took the opportunity to confide in their lovers with songs.

Miao people celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival in early autumn every year. The original intention of catching autumn festival is to catch autumn "thousand" There is a beautiful legend about the origin of this festival:

According to legend, a long time ago, there was a handsome Miao youth named Bagui Daya. He is not only clever, brave and upright, but also helpful. Miao people like him very much. Baguidaya is not married yet, and media people keep coming to his house to be matchmakers. The girls in Jiujiuzhai have a crush on him, but unfortunately he has never liked him. Where is the girl in his heart? One crisp autumn day, Bajiadya was hunting in the mountains. Suddenly, he saw an eagle catching something and flew over. He drew his bow and arrow to shoot it down. When he looked carefully, it turned out that the eagle was catching a beautiful embroidered shoe. Baguida thinks that a girl who can embroider such beautiful shoes must be smart, beautiful and ingenious. Baguida is determined to marry this powerful and brave man. He thought of a good way to make a swing for people to sit on and let the girls nearby play on it. At this time, he took the flower shoes to the swing field one by one, and finally found this beautiful girl, so he married her. The swing for girls in Bagui University has evolved into an interesting entertainment tool for people.

9. Step on the drum

It is popular in Miao areas of Kaili, Danzhai and Leishan counties in Guizhou. On the first pig farm day in the second month of the lunar calendar, young Miao men and women automatically gathered in the local singing field to step on drums. This drum is made of solid nanmu hollowed out and cowhide stretched at both ends. At that time, a venerable old man will move the nanmu drum and drum stand placed in his house into the drum field and beat the drum hard. People will dance when they hear the sound, and young people will take the opportunity to choose a spouse. Old people also put on new clothes and sang old songs around nanmu drums. After the dance, the girls took out their own hand-woven ribbons and presented them to Nanmu Drum to show their gratitude. People sang heartily and didn't leave the drum field until dark. Finally, the drum master carried the nanmu drum home and put it upstairs. Fish is also used to worship Nanmu Drum during festivals.

10, Sacrifice Festival

The Miao language of "Festival of Sacrificing You" is called "farmer friend", which means eating or offering sacrifices. "You" is the name of a person and a family. It means to pay tribute to an ancestor who called you. According to the ancestral word of mouth in Layao Village, a long time ago, there was an ancestor of Layao people, who was strange and brave, and made great achievements in the tribal struggle. But later they were lured and killed by other tribes, and the living had to flee for their lives and migrate all the way. Some of them came to Qiandongnan and Danzhai, and Layao people were one of them. Layao people offer sacrifices especially to their dead ancestors. "

The time to celebrate this festival is the second cow farm day in the lunar calendar 10. On the day of the festival, every household should prepare glutinous rice Baba, sweet wine, fish, vegetable leaves and vegetable leaves, and ask priests to read sacrificial words and hold sacrificial ceremonies. There are 9 bowls, 9 Baba blocks and 9 heaps of vegetables on the sacrificial table of 9 ancestors, which corresponds to the historical records: "There are 9 tribes in Jiuli * * *, and the chief is Chiyou, who has 8/kloc-0 brothers, that is, 8 1 national chief". When the Festival of Sacrifice to the King was read, the priest read the corresponding eight paragraphs, each with nine bowls of wine. These phenomena are of great historical research value. Relatives and friends from far and near came to the party to celebrate. Make the whole place completely immersed in a happy and peaceful atmosphere.

Sacrificial Festival is an ancient traditional festival of Miao nationality, which has research value in history, ethnology, folklore, psychology and religion. It is also a festival to promote national equality, national unity, social harmony and progress, and cultural exchanges and development in ethnic areas.