The traditional culture of China's ethnic minorities

The traditional cultures of China's ethnic minorities include: the totem worship of the Miao, the Naadam of the Mongols, the Torch Festival of the Yi, the Nowruz of the Uyghurs, and the Dong's "Great Song".

1, the Miao totem worship

Miao ancestors have their own worship totem. Due to the many branches of the Miao people, widely distributed, they worship a variety of totems. Such as the phoenix, maple, butterfly, the god dog (Panhou), dragon, bird, eagle, bamboo and so on. The Miao ancestors in Qiandongnan region worship maple wood as a totem, believing that their ancestors originated from maple wood.

They also worship the butterfly as a totem, believing that their ancestor, Jiang Yang, was born of a "mother butterfly". The Miao ancestors in the border areas of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou also used the dish gourd as a totem, and many dish gourd temples and Xinnian palaces still remain in this area. The Miao in western Guizhou, on the other hand, take the bird as their totem.

2, Mongolian Naadam

The grassland event a Naadamu: that is, the meaning of the amusement, carnival, more in the grasslands held in August, originated seven hundred years ago. NaDaMao day vendors gathered, talking about all kinds of art, the main traditional sports such as horse racing, wrestling, archery.

3, the Yi torch festival

The traditional festival for the Yi people, the date of the annual lunar calendar for the 24th of June, which lasts three days. During the festival, people dressed in costumes, concentrated in the village near the dam or gentle slope, singing, dancing, horse racing, bullfighting, sheep fighting, wrestling, beauty contest, etc., the activities of the content of colorful and lively. In the morning, people have to kill animals to sacrifice to their ancestors; in the evening, they have to hold torches and roam around in the crop fields, meaning to burn pests and pray for a good crop.

4, Uyghur Nowruz

Nowruz is the oldest traditional Uyghur festival, in the spring equinox, equivalent to the calendar March 22nd. On this day, various celebrations and the traditional "Mezilev" are held.

5, the Dong "big song"

"Big song" is the essence of Dong music, the main feature is the formation of polyphonic structure and musical expression. The Dong folk have a traditional singing group, singing team organization, every festival or singing team to visit or meet the singing team to visit, to sing "big song" and gain reputation. When singing, the troupe sings a combination of lead and chorus, with high and low voices, and its complete multi-voice structure is the most perfect folk chorus found in China, and it is known as "the voice of heavenly lai".