A Brief Introduction to Qiang Folklore What is the "Mountain Festival" of Qiang people?

Qiang people worship mountains. Qiang people are a people who love sacrifice and worship. Qiang folk, sacrificial ceremonies, various names, different models. Among many sacrificial activities, the annual Mountain Festival is the grandest, largest, most complete and most representative one.

Sacrifice to the mountain, Qiang language "Subushi", also known as wishing party, Tazi party, Mountain King's party. It is generally held in the sacred forest and sacrificial ping where the Qiang people sacrifice. Qiang people's houses (including watchtowers) are usually built halfway up the mountain or on the ridge. This is because there were frequent wars in the ancient Qiang period, and the Qiang people were repeatedly wiped out by officers and soldiers or invaded by foreigners. Choosing this terrain to build a village is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it is easy to retreat into the forest on the mountain. So there is a forest behind each village as a barrier to protect the cottage. Therefore, the Qiang people can call it a sacred forest, and they cherish it. In addition, in the dam deep in the forest, white stones are often used to form a tower-shaped stone pile, on which stands a huge white stone (quartz stone) as a god. On the hillside around Qiangzhai, there is also a flat land the size of a basketball court as a sacrificial ping. There is a sacrificial ping on the ridge of Hei Hu village in Maoxian county. There is a mountain king tower at the northern end of Sacrificial Ping. There is a furnace hall in the middle of the tower, which is dedicated to "simmering mulberry". At the top of the stone pagoda, there is a stone pillar about two feet high and ten centimeters thick. At the top of the stone pillar, there is a "white stone" representing gods and mountain gods for people to worship.

The whole mountain festival will be conducted in an orderly manner under the command of Shibi. For example, before the festival of mountain gods, people are sent to worship sacrificial vessels, ritual vessels, incense sticks and other utensils in front of the tower. Five-colored flags were planted around the Woods and altars were arranged. People attending the Mountain God Festival are dressed in festive costumes, carrying prepared head meat, white wine, triangular or crescent-shaped bread, as well as some firewood and white stone, which are placed in front of the White Stone Tower in the Sacrificial Ping.

At this time, the head of the meeting (now the village head and the patriarch) has prepared a black ram (and a yak if you want), a red rooster, an altar of wine, a big three-pronged steamed bread, head meat and a bucket of grain. At the beginning of the mountain festival, people will "stew mulberries" in front of the sacrifice tower, and then people will throw the pine branches and cypresses they carry with them into the mulberry stew furnace, or sprinkle some whole grains and white wine on the smoking firewood. In return, God will keep his promise and pray for good luck. At this time, Shibi came on stage, wearing a monkey head fur hat (with nine small seashells on it), prefixed with a ferocious idol with big fangs (similar to swallow's mouth), wearing a knife at his waist, holding a ringing plate and a sheepskin drum, and walking in front of the mountain god sacrifice team with a head (crutches). Then, a group of disciples followed closely, playing musical instruments or holding Chinese fir branches (Ten Zhuo) hung with five-color paper. Other people who participated in the Mountain God Festival followed the stone wall and walked into the venue with musical instruments, musical instruments, firecrackers and fire.

At the meeting place, Shibi first burned incense and waxed in front of Shanwang Pagoda (Baishi Pagoda), and offered sacrifices to the gods with meat, wine and steamed bread prepared by the meeting head. A pile of cypress branches was lit on the ground, and all the people who attended the sacrifice meeting of mountain gods and the sheep as sacrifices crossed the cypress branches without exception, and smoked their sacrifices and utensils on the cypress branches to show cleanliness and welcome the gods.

At this time, Shibi beat the sheepskin drum with his hand and sang the word "Ta Shi Shu", which was used in a corner of the mountain festival and also for people attending the mountain festival. The word says: when you come to see the public, make it clear first. The stone wall raises the chicken and takes the wicker, and the evil spirits drive the hall. The stone wall is cleaner than the portable drumstick, and the altar corner is dirty. In order to understand decontamination and filth, Shibi traveled all over the Nineteen Beams. Lasso is used to cover sheep, and sheep is used to cover sheep. Trap the sheep and go home to help clean up the rocks. It is a good practice to put three lassos on the cock and carry it on your back. Demons and monsters were driven out of the hall. Redstone, Yellowstone and Baishi are inseparable from the release of filth. Wooden strips, wicker strips and peach strips are sharp tools to ward off ghosts and evil spirits. The dissociation of filth can not be separated from sanshui, and white water can solve the filth altar. Black water removes the pollution of rocks, while yellow water hydrolyzes the pollution without trace.

After Shi Bi sang the words to relieve filth, he recited the word "Wish" ("Guo Xi Ge Er") and recited the auspicious "Disaster Elimination and Avoidance Classic" to eliminate disasters and avoid disasters for all the people present.

After reading the Disaster Mitigation Sutra, Shibi knocked on the sheepskin drum to ask God to sing "Please Be Nervous" and asked God to pray at the altar. Because of his polytheistic belief, Shibi invited many gods, among which the main gods are: God, Land God, Mountain God, Tree God, Land God and Qiang Valley God. At the same time, family gods such as Dayu, Erwang and Mujiezhu, warehouse gods, house gods, ancestor gods, hero gods, ironman, Tienv, Vulcan, dragon king and sheep must also be invited.

In this way, polytheism, which originally belonged to primitive religion, nature worship and ancestor worship, was mixed with the beliefs of Buddhism and Taoism and the Han nationality, making the polytheism of the Qiang nationality more complex and compatible.

After asking God to finish, Shibi took out the black goats (or cows) and chickens for sacrifice and slaughtered them on the spot to repay God's wish. Qiang people also have certain rituals and regulations to sacrifice mountains and sheep. First of all, Shibi wants to sing the word "taking sheep as a sin" ("Song of Guo Bode"). He first asked the mountain gods and immortals to accept the chickens and sheep (while singing, he wiped the highland barley seeds from the sheep's head to the sheep's tail, put the highland barley seeds in the ears of the chickens and sheep, and watered them three times. If the chicken and the sheep tremble three times, Shibi declares that God is accepting sacrifice. Immediately kill the sheep and put the chickens up the mountain (some kill a chicken, some put one). Then put the sheep's head on the top of the tower, give the sheepskin to the stone wall, cook the mutton on the spot, and distribute it to all households (called "scattered staff", and distribute it according to the quantity before liberation). Things like internal organs will not be distributed to every household, but to the people attending the meeting, one for each person.

Mountain God Festival is not only a meeting to reward God for making wishes, but also a festival gathering of Qiang people to enhance the cohesion of the nation. At the same time, the party is also used to "educate the people on the high platform." To this end, Shibi will sing the Qiang epic "Qiang War" which reviews the national history, the traditional historical stories "Mu Jie Zhu and Da" and "Chijigebu" which praise the hard struggle and heroic achievements of the ancestors, and some will also sing the story drama "Shibi Drama" adapted from the above epics and folklore. Or perform witchcraft performances such as barefoot stepping on red plowshares (red-hot iron plowshares), stepping on fire pits, fishing pots, climbing knives and ladders. There is even a folk lantern festival class that performs lantern festivals, such as Guan Gong's mother Huang Bao, Zhao Kuangyin's mother Jing, Dayu's flood control, Zhong Kui's marrying sister, Seven Fairies' descent, Ping An Rice, and Meng Jiangnv's weeping for the Great Wall. , to achieve the purpose of * * * entertainment.

There will be "crown ceremony" and "giving good luck" (wool) activities at the Qiang Mountain Festival. The so-called "crown ceremony" is an adult ceremony held by some young men who have reached the age of 16 and participated in the Mountain God Festival for the first time, marking their adulthood and stepping into society. At that time, Shibi sang around the stone pagoda, tied a pinch of wool on the chest of the young people who participated in the Mountain God Festival for the first time, and lit a little lard on their foreheads to show the blessing of the gods and let them see the world. The young people who accepted the "coronation ceremony" also expressed their gratitude to Shibi. After the coronation ceremony, Shi Bizan sang the first song "With the Villagers". Mother Shiba Inu Damomali. The main idea is: it is very hard for the leaders to help organize the mountain god sacrifice meeting for everyone to eliminate disasters, and the villagers actively participate in the sacrifice and wish good luck. On behalf of the gods, Shibi wishes the leaders and villagers a clean, safe and prosperous life. At this time, the person in charge of the meeting, on behalf of the participants, asked Shibi to eat a small piece of steamed stuffed bun, a piece of meat and drink a glass of wine. Shibi thanked the equipment and got drunk after the meeting. People attending the meeting began to eat steamed bread and meat, drink and sing wine songs. Some young people who participated in the Mountain Festival for the first time distributed the Panlong steamed bread specially brought to families, and they also invited him to eat steamed bread and meat to congratulate them on their coronation. Later, they were recognized as men by the whole village and will shoulder the responsibilities of society and the country.

After the "Crown Ceremony" ceremony, the Mountain Festival came to an end. At this time, Shibi sang the words of immortality ("don't forget to walk"), and on behalf of the gods and mountain gods, he gave the best words to the people attending the meeting in order to wish good weather and prosperity for people and animals. Moreover, on behalf of the ancestors, he tied a white wool on everyone's hair or buttons, wishing the participants a long life and good luck. At the same time, I also asked God for the seeds of highland barley (a magical witchcraft) and distributed the invited seeds of highland barley to the Qiang people attending the meeting, meaning "God bless" to ensure a bumper harvest of crops and prosperity of cattle and sheep in the coming year. Such activities, with fantastic movements, frequent drums and cheerful jumps, show the amazing power of the stone wall and bring the atmosphere of the Mountain City Festival to a new * * *.

After the mountain sacrifice, Shi Bi recited the scriptures and sent them to God. At the same time, people were organized to carry the "White Stone God" around the village under the guidance of the stone wall to drive away the filth in the village and welcome the prosperity of the cottage. This time, the jubilant Qiang people held a five-color pennant, followed the team to exorcise evil spirits and pray, shouted and jumped, and firecrackers came and went, indicating that cattle and sheep would flourish and thatched cottages would flourish in the coming year.