When is Torch Festival?

Torch Festival is on June 24th of the lunar calendar.

Torch Festival, also known as "Chinese Valentine's Day", is an ancient traditional festival of Yi, Bai, Naxi, Jino, Achang, Lahu and Bulang ethnic minorities, with profound folk cultural connotations. Among them, the Yi Torch Festival is large in scale, rich in content, spectacular in scene, with a large number of participants and strong national characteristics, which is called "Flower Age" in Yi language.

Torch Festival began with people lighting torches to pray for a bumper harvest, and then gradually expanded into a grand comprehensive festival focusing on holding torches, praying for entertainment and socializing. It is called "Oriental Carnival" or "Oriental Valentine's Day".

In 2006, the Torch Festival of Yi people in Chuxiong, Yunnan and Liangshan, Sichuan was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects; 20 1 1 The Torch Festival of Yi people in Hezhang County, Guizhou Province was included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.

The origin of Torch Festival:

There are different legends about the origin of Torch Festival, each with national or regional characteristics, which can be roughly divided into Yi legends and other national legends.

There is a saying among the Han people that Zhuge Liang of Shu Han carried the torch to the south; In the legend of Bai nationality, Torch Festival commemorates the goddess of charity; Naxi people commemorate an old general with Torch Festival. The legend of Lahu nationality is used to commemorate the good people and destroy the wicked; Yi legend is used to commemorate Attila Ba, a strongman.

Among them, Yi legends are widely circulated and widely accepted by people. Although there are mythical and illusory elements in folklore, it is still valuable for studying the origin of Torch Festival.