Traditional Tujia Festival: Niumao King Festival

Tujia people have many traditional festivals, one of which is called Niuwangmao Festival, which was set up to commemorate Niuwang. Usually on this day, every family will kill pigs to worship their ancestors.

So, how did the Niumao King Festival in Tujia culture originate? Come and have a look with me!

Niuwang Festival, or Niuwang Festival, is a traditional festival of Tujia people, usually on the eighth and eighteenth day of the fourth lunar month, and some on the fifteenth day of August (Changyang). Tujia people have great respect for cows, calling them the king of cows and the bodhisattva of the king of cows. On this day, people are even more respectful to cows, giving them a rest, cleaning, feeding them with concentrated feed, and some even chanting scriptures for the souls of cattle kings. Niuwang Festival is a festival for cows and people. Tujia people worship their ancestors, eat Niuwang cakes, sing Niuwang operas and sing folk songs on Niuwang Festival, which has become a national festival to remember their ancestors and communicate their feelings.

It is true that people's feelings for cattle are mostly explained by the hard work of cattle in farming activities, but the internal motivation to promote a folk festival with the fear of the king of cattle as the core in national life lies not only in this, but also in deeper cultural roots. There is a legend among Tujia people in western Hubei. On April 8, a long time ago, the ancestors of Tujia nationality, such as Tan, Tian, Xiang and Huang, were attacked by other nationalities, and all Tujia clans suffered heavy casualties.

Several survivors struggled to escape and were suddenly blocked by the river ahead. The situation is critical and people are ready to fight with each other. Suddenly a bison appeared in the dense forest. Some people jumped on the back of the cow, some people grabbed the tail of the cow, and some people grabbed the horn. Bison carried them across the river, avoiding the disaster of genocide, and people developed and multiplied in new land. In order not to forget the saving grace of bison, this day is commemorated by future generations every year.

Tujia customs Tujia people mostly live in mountainous areas, mainly planting rice and miscellaneous grains. Houses are all built on the mountain, with bungalows or diaojiao buildings of Chinese fir structure. Tujia costumes have gone through the historical stage of men and women wearing short coats, skirts and barefoot. After the Qing Dynasty's political reform, the feudal dynasty ordered the clothing to be divided into men and women. The man in the back is wearing a pair of short fir, multi-cloth buttons and wide-leg pants. Women wear big-breasted shirts, which are big and long, with rolled lace, trousers or long skirts with lace under them. The old man is wearing a lace shirt.