Up to now, primitive religions are still preserved in Qiang areas, and animism and spiritual worship of various beliefs are prevalent. The gods worshipped by the Qiang people can be roughly divided into four categories and more than 30 kinds, including nature worship, ancestor worship, spiritual worship and totem worship. Except for Vulcan, represented by Hucun (Tang Huo), others are widely worshipped as a symbol of white quartz stone (called Ahol in Qiang language, which means white stone god), and the highest white stone god in the middle of the roof is Tianshu Bita.
Historically, there were no local religious organizations and temples in the Qiang area, and all the people engaged in religious activities were Qiang wizards (Duan Gong in Chinese and Abaxu in Qiang). "Xu" is limited to men and can get married and have children. Its main scripture is *** 16 of the altar sutra in the upper, middle and lower layers, which has been handed down to this day without written records. Scripture is a verse with four words and one sentence, two sentences and one section, which emphasizes ups and downs and rhymes. The main instruments of "Xu" are monkey head hat, sheepskin drum, gong, magic stick, teacher's knife, token, animal bone seal, claw ring and so on. The witchcraft of Xu includes divination and divination (sheep divination, egg divination, white dog divination, etc. ), exorcising ghosts and evil spirits (sending hairy people away), stepping on red pots, plowing birch trees, opening red mountains, rowing bowls, etc. Before practicing "Xu", you should clean your future with clean water, burn incense and smoke your body or kill white chickens to worship your ancestors. In case of large-scale sacrificial activities, such as worship ceremony, adult ceremony, etc. You must abstain from eating onion and garlic and fast bathing 49 days in advance to show piety and respect for God. In Qiang villages, everything is done, such as mountain worship, crown ceremony, wishing, calming the nerves and exorcising ghosts, treating diseases, unexpected filth, evoking souls, eliminating disasters, watching geomantic omen, building houses, marrying men and women, naming newborns and turning over the dead. They must be presided over by Xu, so they have a high position among the Qiang people. They are not only the intermediary between man and god, but also the disseminator of culture and play the role of spiritual leaders.
The most solemn national festivals of the Qiang nationality are "Mountain Festival" (also known as Zhuanshan Festival) and "Qiang Year Festival" (also known as Qiang calendar year), which are held in spring and autumn respectively. Praying for good weather in spring and thanking the gods for their harvest in autumn is actually a farming activity, but it is always full of strong religious color and reflects the glory of mysterious culture. The time of holding mountain festivals is not uniform in different places, including the first month, April and May, and it is also held 1 time or 2-3 times every year. The procedure of mountain sacrifice is extremely complicated. Due to different legends and totems in different places, sacrifices are also different, which can be roughly divided into three types: "sheep sacrifice mountain", "cattle sacrifice mountain" and "dog sacrifice mountain". Most of the ceremonies were held on an empty dam in the deep forest. In some places, it is forbidden to cut firewood, cut grass, dig seedlings and hunt in the mountains three days after the mountain sacrifice.
The Qiang people's New Year is celebrated on the first day of the tenth lunar month every year, usually lasting 3-5 days, and in some villages it lasts until the tenth day of October. According to the folk custom, in the year of Qiang, gods should also be sacrificed, such as the gods of heaven, mountains and landlords (village gods). The whole village will have a reunion dinner, drink Zasa and dance Sharon until everyone is happy. The whole ceremony was presided over by Xu, while the miscellaneous wine was opened by the respected elders in the village. During the festival, relatives and friends can congratulate each other and welcome each other.
In history, Qiang men have reached the age of 15, and there is still the custom of holding an adult ceremony (coronation ceremony). Invite friends and relatives to sit around the fire in advance. The coronation recipient wore new clothes, bowed down to the statue of the ancestor of mankind, and accepted a gift from Xu on behalf of the gods-a five-color cloth (amulet) with white male wool tied on it. Later, the elders of the clan will tell the history of their ancestors, and Xu Can will recite scriptures and pray for blessings (commonly known as "Peace and Protection") to worship the gods of the family and sheep.
Due to the limitation of natural conditions and environment, most Qiang people in the upper reaches of Minjiang River stay in the stage of farming culture. Where they live, they live, eat and dress, plant and harvest, and be self-sufficient.
Housing Qiang houses are generally made of local materials and stone. They are divided into two or three floors, mostly flat-roofed houses. The back of the house is tamped with yellow mud to keep out the rain, and the surface is slightly inclined to facilitate drainage. Two-story building with livestock pen and toilet; The bottom floor of the three-story house is a barn, and the houses are connected by wooden ladders. Thirty or fifty rooms are gathered in a village, which is the Qiang case. They are located in the high mid-levels and valleys, row upon row, spectacular. "Wenchuan County Records" in the Republic of China said: "Qiang people live in villages and look like foreign buildings from a distance."
Denglong (carved by Qiang people) is another characteristic building of Qiang people, with a height of more than ten feet, which has been enduring for several years. Qionglong cage is made of stone, with four edges, six edges, eight edges and eight edges, and the lines are vertical and clear. Generally built in Zhaikou, it plays a defensive role in wartime and acts as a beacon tower, which is a cultural phenomenon of the Qiang people.
In the history of costumes, Qiang costumes are mostly woven from self-produced hemp, commonly known as "linen shirts", or woven from cow wool, commonly known as "qi shirts", and there are also cloth shirts, mostly cyan. Men wear belts and women wear flowers on their waists. She was wearing a sleeveless sheepskin jacket with badminton tied to her feet. She is wearing straw sandals or "Yun Yun shoes" (Qiang embroidered cloth shoes). After liberation, the Qiang people in the valley were all Hanfu.
The diet is mainly corn, wheat, wheat, beans, potatoes and vegetables. The diet mainly includes steamed rice, steamed bread, Daoxiao Noodles buns, dough (noodles), wheat bran (noodle soup) and potato cakes. Featured foods include steamed wine and blood steamed bread. Self-produced orchid cigarettes are widely smoked. The Qiang area is rich in cash crops such as apples, peppers and walnuts, which are sold at home and abroad.
The marriage of Qiang people is monogamous. In history, there are customs such as "pointing to the belly as a relative", "early marriage", "changing relatives", "buying and selling relatives" and "robbing relatives". There are also procedures such as "women staying over", "drinking", "thanking guests" and "returning to the door", which are extremely grand. Men are not discriminated against when they go to women's homes. After getting married and having children, it is customary to send meals and drink full moon wine.
In addition to cremation, there are customs such as burial, Ming burial and rock burial.
Qiang folk literature is extremely rich. The famous narrative poems "Mujizhu" and "Beating Anju" and "The Battle of Qiangge" are not only national epics, but also precious cultural wealth. Folk stories such as "surging into the sky" and "creating the world" reflect the unique aesthetic and artistic views of the Qiang people. Qiang nationality is a nation that can sing and dance well. Beautiful salon dance and touching folk songs are the crystallization of national traditional culture.
The exquisite embroidery technology of Qiang nationality occupies an important position in the history of arts and crafts in China.
From "living by weeds" to "living by mountains and taking rocks as their houses", the Qiang people have experienced a long period of time, created splendid culture and made great contributions to developing the southwest frontier and safeguarding the reunification of the motherland. Qiang culture has a long history and is rich and colorful. In the new era, the Qiang people have endowed the Qiang culture with new connotations. Relying on the advantages of nature and resources, the Qiang people will vigorously develop hydropower, tourism, agriculture, industry and commerce, and the Qiang area will have a better tomorrow. Qiang culture will be more brilliant.
Qiang people's diet: The main foods of Qiang people are corn, wheat, highland barley, beans, soybeans, peas and buckwheat. There are also rice and flour shipped from the western Sichuan plain. Vegetables include radish, cabbage, pepper, lotus root and so on. They often eat their own sauerkraut, and three meals a day is a habit. Making a diet and cooking is very simple. The common method is to add vegetables to the corn porridge, which is called "Mailazi". There are steamed bread made of corn flour or wheat flour or steamed corn, which is called "noodle steaming"; Cook the rice with corn flour until it is half cooked. If rice is mainly corn flour, it is called "gold coated silver" and rice is called "gold coated silver". Some use highland barley or wheat as fried noodles for grazing or eating when going out. Qiang people seldom eat fresh pork, and usually kill pigs in winter to the future. Pork is cut into long strips and hung on the beam of the kitchen. It is best to smoke dry into "pig fat" and smoke yellow in color. Traditionally, the longer this kind of "pig fat" is stored, the better. Fresh lean meat after killing pigs is washed and poured into the small intestine to make sausages, which are usually eaten on the first day of New Year's Day.
Both men, women and children like to drink wine brewed by highland barley and barley itself, which is also called highland barley mixed wine. When brewing, the highland barley or barley is cooked and mixed with distiller's yeast, put into the jar, covered with grass or clothes for 7 days and then turned sour. When drinking, open the jar and pour boiling water, insert a thin bamboo tube and suck it in turn. Usually drink half of it and then add water until it tastes good. I used to smoke orchids, but now I smoke more. In villages near Tibetan villages or mixed villages, elderly men and women usually smoke snuff.
Qiang etiquette: it is a popular hospitality etiquette among ethnic minorities such as the Qiang nationality in southwest China. When there are distinguished guests at home, the host often invites them to drink the local unique altar wine (that is, "miscellaneous wine") to show their respect. First, put the table and the jar filled with glutinous rice wine in the hall. There are no seats around the table, and the guests are standing around the table. Before drinking, the host called the housewife out to open the altar and brought a basin or bowl full of hot water. People suck fine bamboo in the water and then pour it into the jar, so that there is no shortage of wine. Then, the host and guests take turns drinking with fine bamboo. When the wine is almost finished, water must be added until the taste of the wine becomes weak.
Qiang taboo: 1. The parturient is not full moon, so she can't go into the kitchen for fear of offending the kitchen god and the family god Bodhisattva; You can't meet strangers either, for fear that strangers will bring ghosts in.
2. Pregnant women can't enter the newlyweds' new house.
3. Patients should avoid meeting strangers and set up benches outside the ward to show that outsiders are not allowed to enter. Whistling is forbidden in the ward at night.
You can't put chopsticks on the bowl horizontally after dinner, and you can't pour wine backwards, because it's a ghost worship ceremony.
5. Avoid sitting on doorsteps and stairs.
6. On the first day of the first month, avoid shouting and cursing loudly, and hide the tongs, ropes and kitchen knives, because these things symbolize bad luck.
Qiang funeral: burning graves, Qiang funeral customs. In Yanmen Township, Maobo Autonomous Region, there are several fire graves in a village. These fire graves are located near the village, in the shape of wooden doors, about five feet square with small doors. When people die, they burn coffins together. Sweep the dust from the small door and throw it into the fire grave. In some places, there is a fire grave called * * *.
In ancient times, there were three burial methods, water burial and cremation. Cremation is a way of burial handed down from ancient times. After liberation, cremation was still only carried out in some parts of NATO, and other areas changed because of the influence of Han nationality. Cremation is still used for violent deaths, infectious diseases and other abnormal deaths. He was cremated three days after his death. Before cremation, please recite the mantra in the palace, and then carry it to the crematorium, where there is a movable cabin dedicated to the traditional gods of the family. At this time, the cabin will be moved to other places, the coffin to be cremated will be put in the original place, and then firewood will be piled around and the coffin will be burned. At this time, the relatives of the deceased sat together to learn martial arts and dance for the funeral. After incineration, the ashes are buried underground or in caves.
Marriage and family of Qiang nationality: The marriage form of Qiang nationality is basically monogamy. Before liberation, young men and women did not have the freedom to fall in love, which was regarded as harmful to family style and marriage was not free. Feudal buying and selling marriages prevailed, and children's marriages were arranged by their parents.
There are three procedures when you get engaged. First, you "open your mouth", which means you can make drinks. When men and women are minors, the man asks the matchmaker to be a matchmaker with the woman in his mind. If he agrees, his parents will propose a certain time, and the man will hold a banquet at the woman's house, which is called "opening wine". At the banquet, the amount of money proposed by the woman was agreed by both parties, indicating the initial success of the engagement. A few months later, the man went to the woman's house to prepare a banquet for his closest relatives, which was called "small wine". At this time, he should send some bride price and put it on the altar to show his solemnity. On the "Big Wine Order", the two companies specially agreed on the wedding date, and the man should entertain guests and entertain the woman's relatives and friends. At this time, the man paid the dowry as agreed, and specially prepared a penny for his mother-in-law. During the whole engagement, girls are not allowed to appear, nor are they allowed to hide in their rooms or relatives' homes.
Qiang people are basically monogamous patriarchal families, and each family is a production and living unit. Generally, immediate family members live together, and most of the family members are it runs in the family. Parents and children are the majority. On average, there are 3 to 5 people in each family. Except for the only son, many-child families will split up after their sons grow up and get married. Parents leave a son as the support and offspring of the elderly, and the youngest son accounts for the majority.
In the family, the male elder is the head of the family and the father is the head of the family. If the father dies, the son can take over. If there is no heir, the family property will be inherited by the father's relatives. Men are always in a dominant position in the family, and can control family income and expenditure, arrange production, decide marriage and property inheritance, preside over ancestor worship and participate in major social activities. On the other hand, women are in a dominant position. Not only do they have no right to inherit property, they can't participate in major sacrificial activities, and they can't just talk and laugh with men. Because Qiang women occupy an important position in productive labor, they have to engage in farm work and housework from planting to harvesting, and are influenced by the remnants of matriarchal clan system, so they also have greater power and status in the family. Children need to consult their opinions when they get married. If there is no childhood property, the son-in-law can inherit the family business. In addition, in the family, the mother-in-law has great power, such as weddings, funerals, separation, inheritance and other major events, which must be agreed by her mother-in-law and presided over by her mother-in-law.
Qiang festivals: The most solemn national festivals of the Qiang nationality are the "Mountain Festival" and the "Qiang Year Festival", which are held in spring and autumn respectively. Praying for good weather in spring and thanking the gods for their harvest in autumn is actually a farming activity, but it is always full of strong religious color and reflects the glory of ancient mysterious culture. The time of holding mountain festivals varies from place to place, including the first month, April and May, and also 1 time or 2-3 times a year. The procedure of offering sacrifices to mountain gods is extremely complicated. Due to the different legends and totems in different places, the sacrifices are also different. It can be roughly divided into three types: sheep offering sacrifices to mountains, cattle offering sacrifices to mountains and dogs offering sacrifices to mountains. Most of the ceremonies were held on an empty dam in the deep forest. In some places, it is forbidden to cut wood, cut grass, dig seedlings and take measures to sacrifice on the road three days after the sacrifice of mountain gods.
The Qiang New Year is celebrated on October 1st of each year in the family calendar, which usually lasts for 3-5 days, and in some villages it lasts until October 1st. According to the folk custom, in the year of Qiang, gods should also be sacrificed, such as the gods of heaven, mountains and landlords (village gods). The whole village will have a reunion dinner, drink Zasa and dance Sharon until everyone is happy. The whole ceremony was presided over by Xu, while the miscellaneous wine was opened by the respected elders in the village. During the festival, relatives and friends can congratulate each other and welcome each other.
Other parties
March 3rd: Married women worship the Empress and Bodhisattva on March 3rd every year, praying for God to give their children peace.
March 12: Slaughter a sheep in the stockade on March 12 every year, pray for the land bodhisattva to bless a bumper harvest, avoid roads for one day, and forbid passers-by to enter the village. This day is called "seedling meeting".
July 7th: Unmarried women have a "dental meeting" on July 7th every year. That is, invite the girls next door to get together, sing and dance, and have fun.
1 1 month 1 day: Every year, 1 month1day, we go to Niuwang Temple to burn incense, wax and paper money, slaughter a sheep and a chicken, and pray for Niuwang Bodhisattva to protect the cattle. On this day, all the cows in the village have a day off, so it is also called "Cow King's Club".
Mountain King's Club: "Mountain King's Club" is to pray for the mountain king bodhisattva to bless the prosperity of six animals and the bumper harvest of crops. When you do this, you must kill a sheep. The duration of the Shandawang meeting varies from village to village.
Guanyin Club: Guanyin Club is held three times a year. The first time was March 19, the second time was June 19, and the third time was September 19. Pray for Guanyin Bodhisattva to protect the safety of the village population.
Pearl Pass: "Pearl Pass", held on June 24th every year in the village as a unit, dedicated to the Pearl Pass. On that day, the whole village rested, put on new flowers, sang and danced, and held a big banquet. This was the biggest temple fair.