The origin of Liangshan Torch Festival

There are three legends about the origin of the Liangshan Torch Festival:

First Legend:

Legend has it that a long, long time ago, the gods and goddesses in the sky were jealous of the happy life on earth, and sowed uncountable locusts on the ground. They gnawed at the crops. However, the brave Yi family members did not succumb to the heavenly gods. Led by the hero Ati Laba, they came up with a way to destroy the locusts with fire. People lit up torches and went to the fields day and night to catch and burn the pests. After a few days of hard work, people finally eliminated the "sky worms", in order to commemorate the torch to eliminate the "sky worms" victory, to celebrate the harvest, every year on the 24th day of the sixth lunar month, the people will light up the torch parade, and held a variety of commemorative activities.

Second legend:

Shu Lun wrote and repaired "Xichang County" in:...... Tang Kaiyuan, the fourth China Liangshan Yi Torch Festival spectacle Deng Gengzhao, one of the six edicts. Southern Zhao wants to merge the five edicts, because the star back to the festival called the five edicts to drink in the Songming building. Deng Geng wife charity, fear difficult to stop the husband do not line, do not listen, is to iron bracelet about the husband, back and leave. Than to Nanzhao, fire its building, the edicts to find the husband's remains unrecognizable, only charity to bracelet reason will be his remains to return. Nanzhao is different from his favor, to hire the coin, good to husband not buried as a resignation, both buried is in the cherry city to defend themselves. Nanzhao to soldiers surrounded by, March food, good full dress end sitting hungry to die, Nanzhao seek regret, flagging its city said Deyuan. Today, Dian custom June 24, than the House of Pine. The prairie is more than ten feet long, into the night to burn first, used to illuminate the field to pray for the year, to torch the brightness of the dark divination of the abundance and failure. Relatives and friends will get together, chopping animals and drinking wine, Yi Han with the ...... As the Xichang County Records. Literature and Art Zhi (Jianchang Zhuzhi lyrics) contained: go to the banquet prophets do not go back, Chai Lou smoke cold is still sad, and now the fire tree along the custom, bear to make the heart of the ice into ash; Huixin early to go back to the hard to return to the gift of the gold cup of hidden since the sad. The ancient people still shine bright section, swallowed to six edicts have become ash.

The third legend:

A long time ago, there is a Hercules in the sky called Sjak Abi, there is a Hercules on the ground called A body Raba, both have the strength to pull mountains. One day, Sjak Abi wanted to wrestle with Atiraba, but Atiraba had to go out in a hurry, and when he was leaving, he asked his mother to treat Sjak Abi with a plate of discus. Thinking that Ati Rabah must be very strong since he had the discus for his meal, Sjak Abi hurried away. When Atiraba returned, he heard from his mother that Sjarabi had just left, so he chased after him to have a wrestling match with him, which resulted in Sjarabi being thrown to his death. Knowing this, the sky god Entiguz was furious and sent hordes of locusts and borers to eat the crops on the ground. A body Raba will be in the old calendar June 24 that night, cut to many pine branches, wild artemisia branches tied into torches, led the people lit up, to the field to burn insects. Since then, the Yi people have designated this day as the Torch Festival.

Introduction to Liangshan Yi Torch Festival

Liangshan Yi Torch Festival is the second Star Festival of the Yi Solar Calendar, which is celebrated in the hottest month of June in the lunar calendar. Yang Shen, a poet of the Ming Dynasty, once wrote a poem entitled "Star Festival in June of every year". According to historical documents, the Torch Festival has the meanings of "occupying agriculture with fire color", "praying for the year by holding a fire in the field", and "carrying a light in the field, the cloud can avoid worms", etc. The Torch Festival is the most important event of the Yi people. The Torch Festival is the largest, richest, most spectacular, most participatory, and most nationally distinctive of the many traditional festivals of the Yi people.

Celebration mode:

The Torch Festival is the grandest traditional festival of the Yi people in Liangshan, Sichuan Province, when families drink wine, eat lumps of meat, and kill livestock to sacrifice ancestors. People wear new clothes, carry out cultural and sports activities with national characteristics, men participate in bullfighting, sheep, chickens, horse racing, wrestling; women sing, play the mouth string, play the moon piano. At night the torch in front of the house tour around; the third night in groups holding torches all over the mountains, the fire, and then concentrated to a lit bonfire, playing the torch, drinking, singing and dancing, have been playing until the end of the dawn.

The Liangshan Yi Torch Festival is held once a year, and it was decided in April 2013 that it would be held every five years. Its main venue is usually located in Puge County or Butuo County, and a branch venue is set up in Xichang City, the capital of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, where the beauties selected in the pageant generally come from Meigu County.

The Torch Festival is celebrated for three days:

The first day of the Torch Festival is the Fire Festival. On this day, everyone wears their beloved dresses and is happy. Villages and hamlets will slaughter cows and sheep and set up banquets, with various kinds of meat and sweet and fragrant wine, which are fragrant and overflowing, to honor the gods, who will also be full of praise. When night falls, people from neighboring villages will set up an altar at a place chosen by the old people, light the sacred fire by striking a stone in the traditional way, and have the Bimo (Yi folk priests) recite scriptures to offer the fire. Then, every family, adults and children will take the torch made of artemesia grass from the hands of Bimo, and roam

Walking in the corners of the fields, they emulate the legend of the ugly woman who drove away the insects with fire.

The second day of the Torch Festival: passing the fire. On this day, families gather under the sacred fire at the altar to hold various traditional festival activities. The boys are expected to emulate the legendary Ati Raba, horse racing, wrestling, singing, bullfighting, goatfighting and cockfighting. The girls follow the example of the legendary Ashima, wearing beautiful clothes, holding up butter umbrellas, singing "Doloho" and dancing the Dasi dance. On this day, the most important activity is the Yi beauty contest. Elderly people have to select the annual beauty contest from among the boys and girls according to the criteria of the legendary Ati Raba, who is industrious, brave and handsome, and Ashima, who is kind, intelligent and beautiful. At nightfall, a pair of loving men and women, in the mountains, on the banks of the stream, under the yellow umbrellas, plucking the moon lyre, playing the mouth string, telling each other how much they love each other. Therefore, some people call the Liangshan Yi International Torch Festival the "Valentine's Day of the East".

The third day of the festival: sending fire. This is the climax of the entire Liangshan Yi International Torch Festival. When night falls on this day, everyone will hold a torch and run around. Finally, people will get together with the torches in their hands, forming a pile of huge bonfires, happy people will gather around the bonfires to sing and dance to their hearts' content, the scene is extremely spectacular. Therefore, it is also known as the "Oriental Night of Carnival".