Mountain Sacrificial Meeting, also known as Mountain King Meeting, Mountain God Meeting, Mountain Turning Meeting, Pagoda Meeting, Heavenly Sacrifice Meeting and Restoration Meeting, is a traditional sacrificial meeting preserved by the Qiang people to this day. It is a religious activity to pray for heaven, earth, man and god, and to bless the prosperity of the Qiang people and six livestock, lush crops, lush forests, safe places and all the best. This custom still exists in the stockade of Qiang people's settlement in Qingpian Township, Beichuan County, Sichuan Province.
Mountain festivals are generally held in the countryside. Because Qiang people are distributed in Maoxian, Lixian and Wenchuan in Aba Prefecture of Sichuan Province and Beichuan County in Mianyang City, the dates of mountain festivals are different in different farming seasons or because of different tribes. February or April or June or August of the lunar calendar, choose a day. The time of mountain festivals varies from place to place, some in April and some in August, and they are held once or twice or three times a year. Originally meant to pray for a bumper harvest or "restoration", it has now become a traditional festival. The whole activity procedure is complicated, and there are three ways: "sheep offering sacrifices to the mountain", "cattle offering sacrifices to the mountain" and "hanging dogs offering sacrifices to the mountain".
On this day, Chinese fir branches are planted on the roofs of houses, paper-cut flowers are hung on indoor altars, and pine and cypress branches are burned. Qiang people in each village sacrificed cattle and sheep to the mountain, jumped into the pot, drank and ate meat, and went home happily. "Shibi" (Duangong) sings an epic and performs the stunt of barefoot trampling on red-hot iron pots and plowshares. In some places, it is forbidden to cut wood, mow grass, dig medicine, hunt and so on three days after the mountain sacrifice. Qiang people usually hold a mountain climbing party in spring and a fairy singing party in autumn. Sacrificial ceremonies are generally presided over by Duan Gong of Qiang nationality.
The place of sacrifice is generally on the hillside near the stockade, and there is a stone tower about two meters high. There are several white stones at the top of the tower, representing the gods, mountain gods and tree gods respectively. Around the tower is a lush "sacred forest", planted with pine, cypress, green bar and other tree species.
The form of mountain sacrifice meeting
Witch history is very particular about clothes. He is wearing a monkey head hat, beads and a stick. The main musical instrument is sheepskin drum. The sacrifices of mountain sacrifices are usually slaughtered sheep, dogs and chickens. The "Great Sacrifice" held once every three years is to sacrifice sacred cows. Sacrifice activities will be held around the pagoda, which is about 3-4 meters high and conical. There is a big white stone at the top and a few small white stones around it, symbolizing the god of their national belief.
First of all, the mountain sacrifice is a classic of closing mountains, repairing mountains and worshiping mountains led by Shibi. If it is a triennial festival of mountain gods, Zhong Shizhen will also chant scriptures for ancient Qiang tribes, ancient Qiang tribes' migration and tribal heroes for 1-2 days.
The procedure of offering sacrifices to mountains is extremely complicated. Due to different legends and totems, there are different sacrifices, which can be roughly divided into three types: "sheep offering sacrifices to mountains", "cattle offering sacrifices to mountains" and "hanging 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 firewood, cut grass, dig seedlings and hunt in the mountains three days after the mountain sacrifice.
Hanging dogs to sacrifice mountains
The traditional mountain sacrificial ceremony held by the Qiang people to pray for a bumper harvest in the coming year is very popular in Tumen area, where village leaders often use white dogs and fatten them up. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty called Qiang people "white dog Qiang" or "hanging dog Qiang", and the ceremony was held in spring and summer. When offering sacrifices to the mountain, we lit a bonfire and burned cypress branches in front of the white stone altar. Xu decorated the branches of Chinese fir with paper flowers and put paper flags on the altar. Then, he wore a monkey skin hat and a leopard skin cassock, drummed on a sheepskin drum and prayed for good luck. The owner put the white dog into a big backpack, and the Qiang people gave the dog food in turn, then sealed the mouth of the backpack, hung the backpack high on the branch with a rope, and sent people up the mountain to get the dog seven days later. If the white dog is safe and sound, it will be a good omen for the year. If the white dog dies, it means the disaster is serious.
Kill the chicken and sacrifice the mountain.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, some Qiang villages in the county have ceremonies to kill chickens and worship the white stone pagoda next to the village. When offering sacrifices, sprinkle chicken blood on the top of the white stone or around the heads of cattle and sheep, and then light the branches of cypress trees; And chicken blood, and then insert two sen poles with colorful paper strips on the ground and the small tower on the roof respectively. At this time, "Xu" sang a toast while knocking on the sheepskin drum and turned around the tower. People cheered and jumped up to offer sacrifices to Sharon. Every drought, every household sends people to kill chickens, beg for rain, or search for mountains in the "Longchi" area of the mountain. It is forbidden to go up the mountain to cut wood, hunt and dig medicinal materials in order to comply with God's will. If it doesn't rain, a large-scale rain-begging ceremony will be held. The participants were all married women, crying in front of Baishi Pagoda and singing rain-praying songs to feel the arrival of rain.