Religious Beliefs in Bingzhongluo Township

Bingzhongluo is the first terrace where Nujiang River flows through Gongshan, where fields are densely covered and villages are adjacent. It is a rare open area in Nujiang Gorge. Bingzhongluo Township is mainly inhabited by ethnic minorities such as Nu, Tibetan and Dulong. At the beginning of the 20th century, with the introduction of Christianity, several ethnic groups in Bingzhongluo had different religious beliefs. Primitive religion, Lamaism and Christianity all exist.

Bingzhongluo is a Tibetan settlement in Nujiang Prefecture. Every year from the 25th to 29th of the twelfth lunar month, there is an important festival called "Fighting Festival". During the festival, lamas in Puhua Temple will perform lama dances in the square to reward ghosts and gods for devout men and women, welcome blessings, avoid disasters and exorcise evil spirits, eliminate disasters and take refuge, and pray for good weather in the coming year.

Puhua Temple is a temple founded by Karmapa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, which has an important position in the local area. Lama dance is called "Qiangba" and belongs to a kind of Tibetan opera. There are several fixed programs, which are staged in turn. The actors wear masks and dance with drums, cymbals, suona, horns and brass instruments. There are no lyrics and no white words. The audience can distinguish between good and evil, loyalty and treachery, ghosts and gods from the shape and color of the mask. After the performance, the audience formed a circle with the village as the unit, challenging the men in other villages to "thank you". This is a kind of song and dance village. The challenged village should organize its own people to fight. Otherwise, it is regarded as incompetent and ridiculed. Men who participated in the "White Association", armed with broadswords or daggers, sang and danced around the dance floor where offerings were placed. You ask me and answer, and the lyrics are full of fun.

On June 15 of the lunar calendar, there is also an important religious activity in Puhua Temple-the Tour Festival. Pray for God's blessing to avoid disaster, happiness and good luck. Early in the morning, tourists from villages in Bingzhongluo Township came to Puhua Temple. Four people are playing conch and gong. Seven other people carried the golden Buddha statue, 73 women carried the scriptures, and a group of people sang the "Immortal Sutra" along the winding path of the Nujiang River and read the six-character mantra. Chanting, trombone and conch echoed in the valley. Wherever he went, the village lit the grain pine smoke, blew the conch French horn to go out to meet him, and entertained guests with highland barley wine. On this day, people are beaming and dressed in costumes, just like gods coming to the world.