Lingtou Festival, also known as "Liantang", is a traditional festival of Yao nationality. On this day, people will dress up, get together, sing and dance, and celebrate festivals.
Sacrificing ancestors is one of the important activities of Lingtou Festival. On the seventh day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the Yao people will gather in the ancestral temple to offer sacrifices, burn incense, burn paper money and so on. To express our memory and respect for our ancestors. In the process of ancestor worship, people will also sing Yao songs and dance Yao dances to show their commemoration and admiration.
In addition, during the Lingtou Festival, people will splash water on each other to show their blessings and good luck. There are many forms of splashing water for blessing, such as spraying water with a water gun, splashing water with a pot cover, splashing water with a red and white rooster after offering sacrifices to the gods, and so on. In some places, water-splashing festivals will be held to let tourists participate and feel the enthusiasm and joy of the Yao people.
The origin of Lingtou Festival
There are two theories about the origin of Lingtou Festival. One is that Lingtou Festival originated from sacrifice. During the lunar calendar1October 16 to 16, the Yao people choose a day to worship their ancestors. After ancestor worship, they should hang lanterns above the main entrance of the house to show good luck. Later, people began to sing, dance and entertain after ancestor worship, which gradually evolved into a grand traditional festival.
Another way of saying it is that Lingtou Festival originated from begging for rain. A long time ago, the Yao people suffered a severe drought and could not survive. In order to pray for rain, people organized large-scale sacrificial activities, which were held on the seventh day of the eighth lunar month. At the sacrificial ceremony, people will also splash water on each other to show their blessings. After the sacrificial ceremony, people will hang sacrifices and lanterns above the main entrance of the house to show good luck. With the passage of time, this ritual activity gradually evolved into a traditional festival.
The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Lingshan Lingtou Festival.