What are the traditional festivals of the Miao people?

Festival Name: Miao Dragon Boat Festival Festival Period: 24-27th day of the fifth lunar month China's Miao people are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hubei, Hainan and other provinces and regions. According to the fifth national census in 2000, the population of the Miao is 8,940,100 people. The Miao use the Miao language, which belongs to the Miao branch of the Miao-Yao language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Miao believe in the existence of spirits or ghosts and gods, worship their ancestors and nature, and believe that the gods have irresistible power, so they pray to the gods and ancestors for blessings, whether it is to get rid of disasters and illnesses or to seek children and wealth. When praying for the elimination of calamities and evil spirits, ghosts are driven away by sorcerers, and the activities of sacrificing to gods and ancestors are extremely solemn. The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival of the Han Chinese people, and people row dragon boats in honor of the poet Qu Yuan. The Miao people also have a Dragon Boat Festival (Dragon Boat Festival) in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, in the festival rowing dragon boat racing. Miao Dragon Boat The Miao Dragon Boat Festival has its own special origin. According to legend, in the area of the Steep Water River, there is a big black dragon that is ferocious, brutalizing the common people and doing all sorts of evils, which is extremely detested by the people, who want to get rid of it by all means. The river lived a family of fishermen, the old fisherman and his son depend on each other to make a living by fishing and hunting. One year in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the young man was robbed by the Black Dragon while fishing. The old fisherman was very sad and angry when he heard the news, and was determined to get rid of this harmful demon and save his son. So he resolutely took a steel knife and fire, went deep into the dragon's cave to fight with the black dragon to the death, fought fiercely for nine days and nights, cut the black dragon into three pieces, saved his son, and burned down the dragon's cave to prevent future trouble. Unexpectedly, smoke rolled down the Steep Water River, and the dragon's body went downstream, making both sides of the river dark. Fortunately, a Miao girl went to the riverside to pick water and accidentally dropped the wooden spoon used for scooping water into the river. She used a flat stretcher to fish for the wooden spoon, and as soon as the stretcher touched the wooden spoon, there was a clattering sound, the sky brightened up, the darkness gradually disappeared, and the earth regained its light. In order to commemorate the old fisherman in addition to the evil and good deeds and the Miao girl expelled the merits of the darkness, the Miao people to the May 24-27 days as a few days every year in the Steep Water River rowing dragon boat race on the traditional festivals. However, the Miao dragon boat and the Han Dragon Boat Festival rowing is not quite the same. The Han Chinese dragon boat is a whole long boat, while the Miao Dragon Boat Festival dragon boat is made of a mother boat and a child boat. They are canoes hollowed out from three cedar trees of different thicknesses. The one in the center is called the mother boat, or the main boat, and is longer; the ones on both sides are called the child boats, or the attached boats, and are shorter. In the bow of the mother boat is decorated with a big dragon head more than one person high, which is carefully carved from willow wood, with very exquisite color painting and lifelike dragon eyes and whiskers. Therefore, the whole dragon boat itself is a very interesting craft. On the day of the competition, the participating dragon boats are all dressed up in a new look. The boats are decorated with colorful flags, and the sailors, dressed in green lapel suits and blue cloth pants with silver-flake hats on their heads, stand on both sides with oars. Commanding the drum master stood in the bow of the boat, looking particularly powerful. At the command, the drummer beat the drums with a strong rhythm, and the sailors sang the dragon boat song, breaking the waves in the river and striving to be the first. At this time, the scene on the river is quite spectacular and fascinating. A dragon boat looks like a real dragon, speeding along the river. The cheers and applause of the audience on both sides of the river were intertwined and extraordinarily inspiring. The Miao men in full costume rowed hard. The Miao family also preserves some unique and excellent traditional customs at the moment of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival. One is in the race before the dragon boat, must be the rice planted, dry good farm work, otherwise the competition will be looked down upon; two is the weekdays have some conflicts, a dragon boat must shake hands, unity; three is the organizer of the race at the end of the place to put out a big fat duck, let the sailors who arrived at the end of the chase to catch, forming a very interesting picture. The Dragon Boat Festival is highly valued by all Miao families. Each village has its own dragon boat, beautifully crafted, but also for the protection of the dragon boat and boat house. In the Steep Water River, you can often see a long block of tile-roofed wooden frame house, that is the boat house. Once the game is over, the dragon boat into the warehouse, so as not to rain and sunshine. Therefore, the Miao family's dragon boat can be used for more than ten years or decades, or even hundreds of years.