What are the festivals of the Miao people?

There are Miao New Year, April 8, Dragon Boat Festival, Eat New Festival, Catch the Autumn Festival and so on, among which the Miao New Year is the most grand.

The Miao New Year is equivalent to the Spring Festival of the Han Chinese, and is usually held after the fall. In the morning of the festival, people put the delicious food on the stove by the fire to offer sacrifices to their ancestors, and smear wine on the nose of the ox to show their appreciation for its hard work for a year. Young men and women in full costume perform the Stomping Dance. With the exception of historical festivals, most of them are held during the farming season after the fall harvest or before the spring plowing season. However, due to natural factors, social and clan differences, traditional Miao festivals are distinctly regional and show different characteristics.

Miao Nian

Prevalent in Guizhou Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture and Guangxi Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, where the Miao live. The date of the Hmong New Year varies from place to place, but it is held in the ninth, tenth or eleventh month of the lunar calendar after the harvesting of grain into the barn, i.e., respectively, on the 辰(Long)日(Dragon), or 卯(Rabbit)日(Hare)日(Ultimate(Bull)日(Ux)日. In the first few days of the Miao 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 tofu, sprouting bean sprouts, and usually killing pigs or buying pork, etc.

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 observe the New Year's Eve until midnight before opening the door to set off firecrackers, indicating that they welcome the dragon into their home. At first light, the elders of each family will 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, cut grass; do not sweep the floor; women do not do needlework; some areas, women do not cook, replaced by men; men do not go out to pick up manure and so on. Male and female marriages in the Miao countryside are usually chosen at the time of the Miao New Year. It starts from the fourth day.

Some older men and women also have to pick the wine, meat, glutinous rice 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 blow the sheng dance, or jumping copper drum dance, bullfighting; or young man to other villages to travel to the square field "travel to the square", men and women Ding each other song, pouring out their feelings of love and adoration. Before and after the activities, lasted about 9 days to end. This is the most important festival of the Miao folk.

Dragon Boat Festival

This is a traditional festival of Miao people's water rowing competitions, popular in the junction of Guizhou's Taijiang and Shibing counties on both sides of the Qingshui River, and injected into this section of the river on both sides of the Taijiang Bara River, known as the "Ha Yang Yong" (qab niangx vongx) in the Miao language of Qiandong. In the half dozen or so Miao villages here, including Pingzhai and Liao Dong, every family has one or two dragon boats for rowing competitions.

Every year, on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, or the twenty-fourth to the twenty-seventh day of the five days, the Miao people living on both sides of the river take turns to hold a grand and solemn dragon boat race. In Hunan Xiangxi Phoenix, Luxi, Jishou, Baojing, Huayuan and other places, also popular rowing dragon boat, and divided into men's team, women's team, mixed team competition, the scene is very lively. Miao Dragon Boat Festival, although the main content of the Dragon Boat Racing Festival, but also the national culture and entertainment and young men and women to socialize, middle-aged and elderly people to visit friends and relatives, talk about the year and production experience of the festival.

April 8

The eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar is a traditional festival of the Miao people in Guiyang, Huangping, Songtao in Guizhou province and Xiangxi in Hunan province. The festival was developed by honoring the Miao hero Yayi. During the festival, Miao compatriots steam rice patties and 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.

Eating New Festival

Mainly popular in Guizhou Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture and Guangxi Rongshui Miao Autonomous County. 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 "Eating New Festival" on the day of the d (some on the day of the afternoon or the day of the e).

At that time, each family cooks glutinous rice, a bowl of fish, a bowl of meat, etc., are placed on the ground (some are also placed on the table), and in their own rice paddies to pick 7-9 rice pods to put on the side of the bowl of glutinous rice, and then burn incense, paper, pinched by the elders of the fish and a little bit of rice thrown on the ground, and a few drops of wine, in order to show respect for the sacrifice and pray for a good harvest, and then the picked rice pods to tear open, hang two then tear open the picked rice pods, hang two on the shrine, and the rest for the children to tear open to eat, the whole family will happily **** into the 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, and some take the bullock to the bullfighting arena bullfighting, the festival period is generally 2 days.

Lusheng Festival

Popular in Guizhou's Kaili, Majiang, Danzhai counties bordering the Zhouxi area. The period of the festival is not uniform throughout the region, but is generally held in the first, second or third month of the lunar calendar; individual areas are chosen to be held in July. The main purpose of the festival is to worship ancestors and celebrate a good harvest. Generally before the festival to hold a ceremony, first by a village of respected old man presided over the ancestor sacrifice,

At the same time, each family is in their own home to worship their ancestors, and then the villages and villages of the girl dressed in full costume, wearing silver flowers and silver jewelry, the boys are each with a reed-sheng, from all sides to the reed-sheng site, the village of the man young people are each surrounded by the circle, blowing the sheng and dancing, lasted for four or five days, the atmosphere is very It is a kind of mass cultural activity integrating song, dance and music.