Festivals, Customs or Activities of the Miao People

The Miao people are a rich ancient civilization, etiquette of the nation, the age of the festival is unique and distinctive. Miao traditional festivals are divided into functional meaning: ⒈ agricultural activities festivals; Pake material exchange festivals; 3 men and women socializing, love, choice of spouse festivals;⒋ ritual festivals; careful commemorative, celebratory festivals. According to the chronological order, a year is divided into twelve months, and each month has more than one festival. In the moving month (Rat or Zi month), 1-15 days (from the first Zi day to the second C day) is the festival of playing New Year, in which the first Zi day is the festival of heavenly age, the Miao people don't go out (far away from home); the first ugly day is the festival of earthly age, during the period of the first ugly day to the second ugly day (from 2-14 days), the people have to go to visit their relatives and friends, to congratulate each other for the new year, men and women singing songs to each other, playing with dragon lanterns and lions, etc.; the second C day is the festival of the second year. The second Yin day (15th) is the year of the tail (burning dragon lanterns). The first ugly day of the partial month (ox month or ugly month) is the Social Day, also known as the Dragon Head Festival, in which the Miao people offer sacrifices to the God of the Land, catching dragons, and Anlong (dyeing rong in Miao). the first c day of January (tiger month or c month) is the festival of material exchanges and socializing between men and women (known as the March 3 Street Festival in Chinese). the first unday of February (rabbit month or month) is the festival of the King of the Ox (known as the 8th day of the 4th lunar month in Chinese), and the festival of socializing between men and women is Cherry Club and Buddha's Birthday. the first e day and second c day of March (dragon month or month) is the Festival of the Dragon King (known as the 8th day of the 4th lunar month in Chinese). The first e day and the second c day of March (Dragon month or Cinnabar month) are the Little Dragon Boat Festival and the Big Dragon Boat Festival respectively, of which the Little Dragon Boat Festival was later called the Qu Yuan Festival and the Song Master's Festival in honor of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan (芈姓). the first s day of April (Snake month or Sibuti month) is the Dragon Bucking Festival (known as the June 6 Festival in Han Chinese, June Fields), and the Festival of Eating the New Year (the ripening of the barley). the first zi day of May (Horse month or Woo month) is the Festival of the Little New Year (known as the Seven Sisters in Miao language, i.e., the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper). June (sheep month or not) of the second c day for the duck festival, the second e day for the autumn festival. July (monkey month or shen month) of the first shen day for wine festival (glutinous rice harvest brewing sweet wine, rice wine). august (chicken month or you month) for the festival of rituals (the main vertebrate cattle, eating pigs, jumping incense, return Nuo wish, Anlong and other ancestor and soul activities). september (dog month or huxiu month) hunting festival, the day of sacrifice to the three gods of the meishan, start hunting. october (dog month or xu month), hunting festival, the day of sacrifice to the three gods of meishan, and the beginning of the hunt. october (the month or huxiu month), the day of sacrifice to the three gods of meishan, and the beginning of the hunt. October (pig month or Ohio month) dd, noon for eating pig soup festival (kill the pig), Zao Shen Festival (Zao Shen), New Year's Eve (New Year's Eve, the Han Chinese said the Miao people October New Year's Eve).

Religious Practices

The Miao used to believe in the spirit of all things, worship of nature, worship of ancestors. "The Gouzang Festival is the biggest festival of the Miao folk. The first is a small festival of seven years, and the second is a large festival of thirteen years. In the lunar calendar from October to November of the Bhai day, when to kill a bullock cattle, jumping Lusheng dance, sacrificing ancestors. Food time to invite friends and relatives *** get together, in order to enhance the relationship, family harmony.

The main beliefs of the Miao people are nature worship, totem worship, ancestor worship and other primitive forms of religion, the Miao traditional society superstitious ghosts and gods, prevalent witchcraft. There are also some Hmong who believe in Christianity and Catholicism. Very few Miao believe in Buddhism and Taoism.

Traditionally, the Hmong people have a number of giant or odd-shaped natural objects, often considered to be a spiritual manifestation, and therefore worship them, wine and meat offerings. Typical natural objects of worship include boulders, caves, trees and forests. In addition, the Miao believe that some natural phenomena or natural objects have a divine or ghostly nature, and the Miao language often does not distinguish between ghosts and gods, or the two words are used together. In most cases, ghosts are considered to be abandoned or aggrieved souls and tools transformed, often bringing disasters, sickness, plague or other misfortunes to humans, such as the so-called Eastern ghosts, Western ghosts, sow ghosts, hanged ghosts, tiger ghosts, and so on, which are known as evil ghosts. And natural phenomena with spirituality are often considered good ghosts, with a certain degree of divinity, such as the god of mountain, the soul of grain, the god of cotton, the god of wind, the god of thunder, the god of rain, the god of the sun, the god of the moon, and so on. For good ghosts and bad ghosts, the Miao people's sacrificial method is also different. The good ghosts are sent and welcomed, and the sacrifices are more sincere, while the evil ghosts must be bribed and cajoled until they are driven away.

In many areas, the Miao people also believe that there are many monsters in nature. For example, cows cover themselves with feces in their stalls or spin around in their stalls, stamping feces into circles, pigs eat piglets or lie down in their troughs, ducks eat duck eggs, tigers go into the fields, two snakes cross their tails, and hens make the chirping sound of roosters, etc. All of which are considered to be the corresponding evil spirits.

In some Hmong areas, the cult of man-made objects are land Bodhisattva, the land milk, the family god, sacrificial bridge, wells and so on. Land Bodhisattva Miao called land ghosts, generally by a few stone base, the land house is mostly wooden or with three slate built, extremely simple, set in the village next to the intersection or the roadside pedestrian resting place. The belief in the family god exists in some of the Miao in the Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan dialect, that is, the "family god" idol is set up at home. The bridge festival is popular in most parts of Southeast Guizhou. Dragons are also worshipped and sacrificed to by the Miao in various parts of the country.

Totem worship. Many of the eastern region of the Miao and Yao *** with the worship of Discus (a kind of sacred dog). They have been told the story of "the mother of God, the father of the dog" for generations, and regarded Discus as their ancestor. Some Hmong in the central region believe that their ancestor, Jiang Yang, originated from the heart of a maple tree, and thus regard the maple tree as their totem. In some other areas, the Hmong worship buffalo and bamboo as their totems.

Universally, ancestor worship occupies a very important place in Miao society. They believe that although their ancestors are dead, their souls are always with their children and grandchildren, and they must make offerings of wine and meat on New Year's festivals, and even honor their ancestors in their daily diets. Many regions hold ancestor worship ceremonies on a regular or irregular basis. In western Hunan, there are "knocking on a stick pig" and "sacrificing an ancestor with a cow", in southeastern Guizhou, there is "eating a bullock", and in Qianzhong, there is "knocking on a barang". In Qiandongnan, there is the custom of "eating bulls", and in Qianzhong, there is the custom of "knocking barangs". Among them, the eating of bullocks in southeast Guizhou is still prevalent and is the most typical. Eating bullu is also known as the Festival of Drum Offering, Drum Society Festival, Drum Zang (bullu) Festival, to clan (drum society) as a unit, held once every seven or thirteen years. They believe that the souls of their ancestors reside in the wooden drums, and the drums are played to summon the souls of their ancestors to enjoy the offerings of their children and grandchildren. The officiating priest is known as the bullock dirty head, and the bullock dirty cattle are specially bred for this purpose. Each festival lasts for three years.

Most Miao people believe in witchcraft. The main sorcery activities are over the Yin, divination, God referee, ghost sacrifices, in addition to compulsion and so on. Sorcery activities are presided over by sorcerers. Most of the sorcerers are non-professional. They play the role of presiding officers in the various primordial worship and witchcraft activities mentioned above, and in some places, the sorcerers also serve as village elders. In addition to being familiar with the ritual methods, most sorcerers can also tell the genealogy of their branches, the major historical events of their people and the routes of their migratory origins, and are familiar with all kinds of myths and legends, ancient songs, ancient lyrics and folk tales, and some sorcerers also have the functions of singers and dancers. Therefore, sorcerers are the important inheritors of traditional Miao culture and play the role of intellectuals in Miao society. In addition, sorcerers also master certain medical skills and know some herbs, which are supplemented with scientific medicine while driving away ghosts for people.

In addition to these traditional beliefs, since modern times, with the Western missionaries deep into China's interior missionary, in the junction of Yunnan-Guizhou-Chuan area, Guizhou Kaili, Hunan Yuanling and other areas of some of the Miao people converted to Christianity, in southeast Yunnan there are a small number of Miao belief in Catholicism. Especially in the northeast of Yunnan and northwest of Guizhou, the Christian faith was once strong and influential. Foreign missions or missionaries opened many primary and secondary schools, medical institutions, and even implemented some economic development projects in the Miao areas, which played an indelible role in the progress of the Miao society and the improvement of their political status. Famous pastors include Dang Juren of Anshun, Bergeri, Zhang Daohui and Wang Shude, the first two of whom were killed in the Hmong area.

After the establishment of new China, the influence of Christianity and Catholicism declined for a time, and in recent years there has been a certain trend of recovery. However, now that Christianity and Catholicism are practicing the "three selves", there are many differences in social organization, social influence, and even the content of beliefs between Christianity and the pre-1950 Christian faith.

Foreign Hmong, there are a few Hmong in Vietnam and Laos who believe in Catholicism. There are also Hmong in the United States, France and other Western countries who believe in Christianity and Catholicism. The Hmong in Laos and Thailand are also influenced by Buddhist culture. Nevertheless, traditional ancestor worship and the concept of the soul are still largely preserved in their societies.

Hmong Festivals

The Hmong used to believe in the spirit of all things, worship nature, and worship their ancestors. There are many festivals, in addition to traditional annual festivals and sacrificial festivals, there are also festivals specifically related to eating. Such as: Duck Festival, New Eating Festival, Fish Killing Festival, Tea Picking Festival and so on. In addition to preparing wine and meat for the festival, but also must prepare seasonal food. The Spring Festival and the Bullfighting Festival are more solemn. Every festival striking copper drums, blowing suona to welcome the god, the activities are generally hosted by the head of the village (called the king of Miao), in addition to the "will be girls", "Huashan Festival" (the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar) and other folk festivals.