Introduction to Fenlong Festival

Category: Society and people's livelihood

Problem description:

Can you be more detailed! ! ! ! ! ! Thanks!

Analysis:

The Maonan Dragon Festival is a traditional festival for the Maonan people to pray to gods for a good harvest. It is held around the first Chen day (Dragon Day) after the summer solstice in the lunar calendar. Generally, the event lasts for two or three days. It is said that the "dragon" is in charge of rain. Worshiping it before and after the "Dragon Day" is to ask for even rainfall and a good harvest. The day before the festival, a bull is killed and its head, tail, feet and internal organs are sacrificed to the dragon. During the ceremony, a mage chanted sutras and danced. The beef is distributed to each household or sold in the market, and the income is used as festival expenses. Two or three days after the dragon sacrifice, each household worships its ancestors, immortals of the three realms, kitchen king, landowner empress, etc., and also prays to the gods for a good harvest. He also fed the cow with glutinous rice and steamed meat to reward it for its hard work in farming, and gave the cow a day off to let it have a good rest. Married daughters bring their children and gifts back to their parents' homes to celebrate the festival. Relatives and friends often come to celebrate the festival. Young men and women dress up and gather to sing and choose close friends. Now during this festival, most religious and superstitious activities have been abandoned. Cultural and sports competitions or science popularization activities related to production and life have been added.

The Temple Festival is a traditional festival of the Maonan people, also known as the Fenlong Festival. The date of the festival varies from village to village. Some villages set it on the first Hai day from the lunar summer solstice, while others set it on On the first chen day since the summer solstice.

Before the festival, housewives start to prepare special food for the festival. They go up the mountain to collect golden flowers and maple leaves for making five-color glutinous rice, and go to the wild market (market) to buy pink powder, pink glutinous rice and so on. Green powder, then steam five-color glutinous rice and steamed pork. The five colors of red, black, yellow, green and white glutinous rice exude a special fragrance. People also happily went outdoors to fold back the willow branches. Knead the glutinous rice into small balls and stick them on the willow branches and insert them in the middle hall to wish for a good harvest in the new year.

Before the temple festival, people also visit relatives and meet friends. Their married daughters use Hsinchu baskets to carry five-color glutinous rice and steamed meat wrapped in leaves. Taking their children back to their parents' home, grandpa and grandma were indescribably happy to see their grandson. During the Temple Festival, the elderly in the village come to the Sanjie Temple erected by the villagers to worship the Lord of the Three Realms and pray for Najib. Legend has it that the Lord of the Three Realms is a capable person of the Maonan tribe. It was he who taught us how to use cattle to plow fields and how to raise vegetable cattle. In order to commemorate his achievements, later generations built the Three Realms Temple. There are also statues of the Three Realms gods in the temple. During temple festivals, entertainment dances are performed in front of the temple to pray for the prosperity of the six animals and the health of everyone.

Young men and women are even more joyful during the temple festival. This is a day to express your feelings. In the early morning of the festival, they would bring five-color glutinous rice and sing in pairs, or look for their loved ones. On the singing field and at the mountain pass, singing and emotion are everywhere, and the festive Maonan Mountain Township is filled with incomparable joy.

The dragon is the national totem of the Maonan people. Therefore, the image and influence of the dragon are ubiquitous in the lives of the Maonan people. The biggest dragon festival is the Fenlong Festival, also known as the May Temple Festival. It is an annual traditional dragon festival for the Maonan people.

Every time during the Fenlong Festival, every household in Maonanshan Township likes to steam five-color glutinous rice and steamed meat, fold back bamboo branches and willow branches and insert them on the shrine in the middle hall. Five-color rice is kneaded into small balls and stuck between the branches and leaves, wishing for a bumper harvest and fruitful harvests.

Whenever the festival approaches, Maonan women are particularly happy and busy. They go up to the mountains in groups to collect various medicinal and colorful plants such as golden flowers, maple leaves, purple orchids, etc. to make dyes, boil them into potion, and soak the rice. Weave a new bamboo basket, buy enough glutinous rice, pork belly and other refined colorful foods. At dawn, fill the bamboo basket with colorful glutinous rice and steamed pork. Wear new clothes, take the old and the young, visit relatives and friends and go back to your parents' home for reunion.

The Maonan people live in the Dashi Mountain area on the border of Guizhou and Guangxi. The terrain is higher in the south and lower in the north. The climate is different between the north and the south, so the folk customs are also different. With the steep Tie'ao as the boundary, Zhongnan in the north is called Shang. Tuan, Xianan in the south is called Xiatuan. The date of the festival is counted from the summer solstice in May every year, counting forward according to the order of the earthly branches, until Chenri is the Dragon Festival of Xiatuan. Therefore, the upper group always celebrates the festival five days earlier than the lower group. Because it is divided into two activities to sacrifice the dragon, it is called the Dragon Festival.

The Lord of the Three Realms is the most worshiped protector of the Maonan people. He is also the god of medicine and the god of cattle. Legend has it that he once subdued the evil god Thunder King, and the Dragon King and Thunder King were in charge of wind, rain, thunder and lightning. God, so to worship the founder god who raised Maonan vegetable cattle, so to kill the cattle, one must go to the Sanjie Temple to hold a grand "Spine Ox" ceremony. The masters practiced scriptures, sang sacred songs, and danced wood-faced dances to pray for blessings. Praying for rain and wind, the atmosphere was solemn and lively afterwards.

"The Dragon Festival in May is the Dragon Boat Festival, and the brothers and sisters come together to worship the Dragon King. This year, the brothers and sisters sit in the same row, and next year the brothers and sisters enter the bridal chamber." Young men and women take advantage of the division of the dragon to sing and express their feelings to find the one they love. Flowered bamboo hats and embroidered shoes were given to women. The scene was extremely lively and full of strong ethnic colors.

If you have the opportunity to participate in the Maonan Dragon Festival in person, you will not only be able to taste the famous Maonan dish beef at home and abroad, but also the delicious five-color glutinous rice and steamed rice noodles, and experience the Maonan culture. The various mysteries of love between ethnic young men and women have increased our understanding of ethnic customs, so why not do it!