March Street in Dali is a traditional ethnic activity with thousands of years of history. It is not only the oldest and most prosperous market in western Yunnan, but also an annual grand festival for folk art and sports exchanges among people of all ethnic groups in Dali.
March Street is held outside the west gate of Dali ancient city from March 15th of the lunar calendar every year, and lasts for seven to ten days. The shed is a city, where thousands of businessmen gather and trade a lot of local native products, Chinese herbal medicines, mules and horses, livestock and daily necessities. During the festival, traditional folk sports competitions are held every year, such as horse racing, dragon boat racing, crossbow shooting and swinging, as well as big Ben singing, classical music and folk song and dance performances, which are very lively.
March Street in Dali is known as "a street in a thousand years, a street in a thousand years." This is not only based on folklore, but also has a solid historical record:
In terms of folklore and myths and legends, March Street originated from Guanyin Temple Fair. According to legend, the land of Canger in Dali was originally occupied by a demon named Luo Cha. He made a living by eating people's eyes. Master Guanyin came to Dali and skillfully used magic to subdue Luo Cha. In order to prevent Luo Cha from making a comeback, 10,000 people gather in front of Cangshan Shrine (the street that has not changed so far) on March 15 every year. In order not to delay the livelihood of the people and let them do some business at the same time, Master Guanyin has formed an annual big market, and even March Street has always been called Guanyin City.
According to historical records, there are historical materials about the evolution of March Street in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. During Nanzhao period of Tang Dynasty, the most important historical event was that Wang Yimou Xun, the sixth generation of Nanzhao, and Cui Zuoshi, the envoy of Tang Dynasty, joined hands at Diancang Mountain Shrine in Zhenyuan Decade of Tang Dezong (AD 794) and made an iron scroll in quadruplicate, vowing to live in harmony with Tang Dynasty forever. Yi Mouxun asked everyone to gather in the square in front of the shrine on March 15 to commemorate this oath as heavy as Cangshan, and there was March Street from then on. In this sense, March Street is also a witness to the reunification of the motherland and national unity.
During the Dali Kingdom in the Song Dynasty, March Street became the largest horse and medicine trading market in southern China. Duan Zhengxing, the 17th king of Dali (the grandson of Duan and the son of Duan Yu), lived in Shaoxing for seventeen years (A.D. 1 147). In his thirty-one years in office, on the one hand, he actively reconciled with the Central Plains dynasty, on the other hand, he vigorously developed the economy. At that time, Dali was famous for producing thoroughbred horses in the Central Plains. In the Southern Song Dynasty, a horse buying company was set up in Yongzhou, Guangxi to import Dali horses. So Duan Zhengxing turned March Street into a horse trading market, with 1500 good horses traded every year.
According to historical records, there are thousands of merchants in the horse market. Traders in Huguang and Sichuan exchanged department stores such as silk, pen and paper, rouge pollen and ginseng for horses, swords, medicinal materials and precious specialties such as ivory, rhinoceros horn and velvet antler in Tubo and western countries for more than 20 days. Gao Liangcheng, prime minister of Dali, also set up horse racing in the horse market, that is, horse racing. Since then, there has been a tradition of horse racing in March Street. In the evening, Wuhua Building is full of songs, feasts and dances. Every household is hung with lanterns, and the royal concubines also go to the city to play with people. During this period, March Street has developed into the largest border trade market in southern China.
Xu Xiake's travels in the Ming Dynasty clearly described the lively scene of March Street, in which "thirteen provinces have nothing, and all kinds of barbarians are everywhere in central Yunnan" and "men and women are mixed and indisputable". Li Yuanyang, a Bai scholar in the Ming Dynasty, also wrote in Yunnan Tongzhi: "On March 15th, we traded goods from different provinces under Cangshan Mountain. Since the reign of Tang Yonghui, the DPRK has been more tired and the city has remained unchanged. "
In the Qing Dynasty, March Street became larger and larger. Li Xiexi, a student studying in Japan in Dali at that time, wrote a poem describing the grand occasion of March Street: "In the past, there were several prosperous spring and autumn periods, and millions of dollars flowed. Sichuan, Guangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou are exquisite commodities, and shopping malls are the best in Asia. " It shows that March Street has gained considerable international influence.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening up, the scale and influence of March Street have been stronger year by year. Since 199 1 was designated as a legal festival for people of all ethnic groups in Dali, its culture, sports and economy have taken on a new look. Every year, there are merchants and tourists from all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, Britain, the United States, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and other more than 30 countries and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, gathering millions of people. Dali March Street National Festival has become an important bridge for the world to know Dali and let Dali go to the world.
Bai torch festival
In Yunnan, many ethnic groups celebrate the Torch Festival, but each ethnic group has different methods. The Bai Torch Festival is held every year on June 25th in the summer calendar. In white, it is called "Wang Fu Dance", which means "Carnival in June". Whether in cities, rural areas or mountainous areas, dam areas are world-famous. In the eyes of Bai people, it is the most grand festival after the Spring Festival. In addition to the collective activities of setting fire to the village, every household should prepare delicious food and various holiday supplies, and the married girl should go back to her parents' home for reunion. Before the festival, the streets were full of signs of Torch Festival-small buckets, small torches, paper sachets, and impatiens roots for women to dye their nails. The festive atmosphere is very strong.
On the festival day, people stop all production and labor. Men, women and children dressed in festive costumes gather in the place where big matchsticks are erected, or in the village square, or in front of the main temple and the ancient stage, under the big green trees. In the noisy suona drum music, people are busy making fire sticks, grandfathers play cave classics and ancient music, and grandmothers chant scriptures in unison. Housewives should bring their children, salt, rice, wine and tea to the fields to burn incense and pray for a bumper harvest.
Every village or area should erect a big fire, cut down torch trees 50 or 60 feet high, bind them with firewood or bamboo, insert colorful banners and red incense, and then hang pear strings, apples and begonia, which is called "torch fruit". The top is also decorated with a large symbol of the Torch Festival-"Shengdou" printed with the words "peaceful country and safe people" and "good weather". At the top of the "Ascending Bucket", colorful flags are fluttering, and a white crane flying with wings is supported on the arch. Before the torch was erected, the old people offered sacrifices with "three sacrifices and nine ceremonies" and performed the ceremony of "three kneels and nine knocks". After the torch was erected, when dusk fell, the venerable old man, escorted by the suona drum band, took fire from the main temple and lit the torch.
When the flame rises, men, women and children sing and dance around the torch tree, and children scramble for the fallen torch fruit, which means welcoming auspicious wishes. Teenagers danced with small torches in their hands, constantly sprinkled rosin, flew out of flames, chased each other and sprayed each other to show their blessings, and then held high torches and patrolled the fields. Outside the village, people are buzzing and the fire is bright. The ancients once wrote a poem praising the cloud: "Ten thousand lotus flowers open the sea, and the stars fall into the world one day."
As for the reason of Torch Festival, Bai people think it is mainly to commemorate Mrs. Bai Jie. Legend has it that 1300 years ago, in order to annex the other five imperial edicts (small kingdoms) in Erhai area, Pirog, king of Nanzhao, designed and burned the Songming Pagoda in the name of ancestor worship and burned the owners of the five imperial edicts. Among them, Huang Deng's wife, Bai Jie, foresees the future in advance and is faithful afterwards. In order to dig her husband's bones, all her fingers dug out blood. Therefore, young Bai women should dye their nails to commemorate the Torch Festival. In some areas, on the Torch Festival, the boys will also hold horse races, and the Haidong area will also hold boat races, all to commemorate Mrs. Bai Jie's tenacious fighting spirit.
According to folklore, Torch Festival is an agricultural festival. Bai nationality has been a rice-growing nation since ancient times, and Torch Festival is a festival to celebrate the ear of rice. Use torches to kill pests and pray for a bumper harvest. Li Yuanyang, a Bai scholar in the Ming Dynasty, wrote in Yunnan Tongzhi: "On June 25, Shu Songming was the torch, shining on the field seedlings and occupying agriculture with fire." In addition, the Bai Torch Festival also contains some fertility concepts. For example, the torch tree should be provided by the young father who gave birth to a boy in that year, and the pit where the torch was erected should be dug by the father who gave birth to a girl in that year. The handle of the torch is covered with fruit, which symbolizes many children and many blessings. All these show that the Bai Torch Festival is an ancient festival that originated from the concept of production and fertility of Bai ancestors.
Jianchuan Shi Baoshan Gehui
Jianchuan Shi Baoshan is located in Laojun Mountain System, about 25 kilometers southwest of Jianchuan County. This is the location of Nanzhao Dali Grottoes, which is called "the treasure of the south sky", and it is also the activity place of the annual Bai people's song club.
Shi Baoshan Song Festival is a grand national traditional festival in the Bai area, which is held from July 27th to August 1 day of the lunar calendar. It is famous for its endless stream of tens of thousands of people going up the mountain to sing at will, which has been passed down from generation to generation and is known as the "Bai Song City". Jianchuan White Tone, which is popular in song clubs, has been included in internationally famous folk songs.
During the Song Festival, Bai people from Jianchuan, Eryuan, Dali, Lijiang, Lanping and other counties and cities gathered here from all directions, and while visiting the ancient mountain temple, they opened their voices and sang freely. On the mountain trails in Fiona Fang for more than ten miles, tourists are weaving, the voice of complaints is like three strings, and melodious tones come and go, echoing each other, floating in the mountain Lin Mang day and night.
Playing strings and singing songs has always been a clever way for Bai youth to seek intimate partners through songs, and the song meeting has naturally become their most public social occasion. By understanding each other's songs, competing talents and pouring out their hearts, every lyric is so simple and pure, which is thought-provoking. Whenever there is a wonderful duet, onlookers immediately gather around, and people get perfect artistic enjoyment from it. Many young men and women have established a century-old friendship through duets.
Naturally, young people are not the only ones singing to each other in the mountains, regardless of gender and age. As long as they come to the mountain, they will stretch their voices to the extreme. Old people think that singing white tunes at concerts can bring happiness and good luck, or they make a wish to the gods at home on weekdays. In order to ensure peace in Qinghe and Hebei, they have to sing hundreds of songs, so singing songs has become their wish. Most middle-aged people express their feelings and show their minds and talents through songs. Jianchuan tune is the most popular tune in the song club, which is popular in the dialect area of central Dali, with three strings or blowing leaves. The lyrics are all in the traditional format of the white poem "3715", and the meter is strict, so it is not allowed to be out of tune.
On the basis of mastering traditional folk songs, excellent singers face the situation at that time and improvise, often with witty remarks that touch people's hearts. Once diamond cut diamond answered questions and sang for days and nights regardless of the outcome. Therefore, Shi Baoshan Song Festival is not only a grand gathering for Bai people to express their feelings and praise their lives, but also a bridge for the exchange and inheritance of folk arts.
Baoxiang Temple is the main venue of Shi Baoshan Song Festival. Baoxiang Temple is called "Yunnan Hanging Temple", where there are rugged rocks and winding mountain springs, and many precious temples are built on cliffs. At the foot of the mountain, there is a platform opposite to Little Square. During the song festival, it became a market dedicated to the song festival. There are many vendors and a wide variety of small commodities, especially snacks and local specialties, which provide great convenience for people's leisure and entertainment, and also set off a strong festive atmosphere.
In the evening, this street became the venue for a bonfire party. Young men and women performed the "Xianglong" unique to Shi Baoshan and danced the overlord whip dance. Tourists from all regions also compete to perform, sing and laugh, and merge into a sea of joy.
There are many magical and beautiful legends about the origin of the song club. It is said that the boulder in Shi Baoshan that looks like a stone clock turned out to be a golden bell. Whenever the golden bell rings, the Shaxi Dam at the foot of the mountain is in good weather. Later, a nine-headed dragon spewed out flames, turning Admiralty into a stone clock, practicing demons at any time, which often brought droughts and insect disasters to the dam. In Shaxi, a couple named Ashley and Aguiniu were inspired by God. Knowing that singing can break the magical power of the evil dragon, I invited ten sisters and ten sisters to sing in the mountains every day, and finally defeated the evil dragon. Shi bo and A Gui were also killed in the fight with the dragon. In order to commemorate the couple, people go to the mountains to sing every year, which has become a kind of song concert handed down from generation to generation.
Around three souls
"Around the Three Souls" is a spring outing song and dance festival in Bai village in the west of Erhai Lake in Dali. It not only contains the worship of gods, but also full of indulgent songs and dances with the love of men and women as the main content. This is an extremely ancient folk activity. Bai Li is called "where to turn", and "where to turn" means wandering around. "Where to go" is a proper noun to express the place of love activities in ancient Chinese, but there is no accurate corresponding vocabulary in modern language, so some people translate it as "around the mountain forest" or "around the mulberry forest". In fact, this activity is not directly related to the mountains and mulberry forests, but "Buddha Capital" and "Mulberry Forest" are the only places where you can wander.
The duration of the meeting around Sanling is from April 23rd to 25th of the lunar calendar, lasting for three days. At that time, adult men and women in every village, including middle-aged and elderly people, wore holiday clothes, and many even put on makeup. They spontaneously formed a song and dance queue with the village community as the unit, and gathered thousands of people in the south gate of the ancient city of Dali. They set out from here, singing and dancing for three days. On the first day, I passed the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, a "turn around" along the foot of Cangshan Mountain, and arrived at Shengyuan Temple in Zhongqing Village, Xizhou, under Wutai Mountain. Shengyuan Temple is called the "Capital of the Gods" because it worships Zongbang, the "Central Master" in the Qingpingguan section of Nanzhao. It has become the central activity place of "Around the Three Souls".
People first burn incense and kowtow here, sing scriptures and pray for good weather and long life. Then they went out to the wild and danced the whip of the overlord, singing and enjoying themselves all night. The next day, he continued to sing and dance, passing through the village of Xizhou, and came to Jingui Temple, known as the "Xiandu" in Yicheng Village, Erhai. On the third day, I went to Majiuyi Village near Erhai Lake in the east of Dali, danced and prayed in the main temple, and broke up happily.
The characteristic of "Around the Three Souls" is that the love between men and women in its song and dance activities, in addition to praying for the good weather of the Lord God, is even more unscrupulous and unconstrained. The leader of each song and dance queue is a wizard and a witch. They held a branch as high as a man in one hand, waved yak tails and flower towels in the other, sang and danced, and led the team to move forward slowly.
There is a gourd with red silk tied on the branch. It is said that gourd symbolizes the mother's abdomen, and HongLing symbolizes yin and blood. The songs they sang are literally translated as "Flower Willow Song" and cross talk "Echo", which are humorous and all revolve around the eroticism and fertility of men and women. After that, the song and dance queues all sang erotic tunes, danced with overlord whip and octagonal encouragement, and danced in the form of back-to-back between men and women, heart to heart, foot to foot and so on. Express your passion freely.
There are many historical records about the form of "circling three souls". In the Ming Dynasty, unofficial history said, "This custom has been passed down for thousands of years", "Respect ancestors, continue children and grandchildren, love men and women, compose music day and night, and travel in Canger without any taboo between the old and the young", and remember that people at that time greatly praised the Bai folk songs in Sanling area, saying, "Sing all the songs of the world, men and women, old and young, have fun together, have a grand gathering in the three capitals, and the ancients decided to have a harmonious feeling." Yang Qiong's Notes on Central Yunnan in the Qing Dynasty also said: "There will be a meeting in Dali mountain forest area. Ji Chun floods every year, with almost 10 million men and women and hundreds of people in droves ... Men are still holding towels and fans, stamping their feet, singing, or whipping bullies.
..... The legend began in Nanzhao. Most modern scholars believe that "Around the Three Souls" is not only a farming festival to pray for good weather, but also a legacy of ancient men and women pursuing sexual freedom. Today, although the content of the activities has increased or decreased, it is more ancient and civilized, but the general form remains unchanged, which fully shows the national character of the Bai people who are passionate and can sing and dance.
Butterfly association
Butterfly Festival is an interesting activity of the Bai people in Dali. They are in close contact with nature and share beautiful spring scenery. It was held on April 15th of the lunar calendar at the foot of Yunnong Peak in Diancang Mountain, butterfly spring.
Butterfly spring is named after the inexhaustible springs spewing from the cliffs. The ancient trees beside the springs are covered with colorful butterflies. The natural scenery here is well known. More than 360 years ago, the great traveler Xu Xiake wrote: "The difference between a butterfly and a spring has been heard for a long time." "There are big trees on the spring. When flowers bloom like butterflies in early April, they must have wings, like butterflies. There are tens of millions of real butterflies, even with their feet hooked, hanging from the top of the tree and reaching out to the spring, colorful and colorful. Tourists watch this month in groups. It's already May. "
The tree in the spring described in it still exists today. It is an acacia tree with flowers like butterflies. Spring covers the sun, and there are fragrant trees such as sour fragrant trees and pistachio trees everywhere, emitting a fragrance. There are many exotic flowers and herbs in the shade, such as camellia, rhododendron, Datura, Moon Red and so on. Fiona Fang has a hundred acres of land and has become a world full of butterflies and bees. March and April are the best time for butterflies to gather here every year, especially on April 15. Local Bai young men and women meet here to watch butterflies, sing songs and talk about love, and the elderly also gather here to talk about performing ancient music and pray for good weather, which has become an annual butterfly party. ?
The Bai people have many beautiful legends about the origin of butterfly spring. Butterfly spring, formerly known as bottomless pool, is home to a vicious python in Shenmo Mountain, Yunnong Peak, behind the pool. It can suddenly become a tiger and a human form. It often goes down the mountain to devour people and animals and promiscuous women, and the people are miserable. One day, a hero hunter named Du Chaoxuan came here and learned that the python was endangering the villagers, so he sneaked into the mountain alone and shot the python with an arrow. After the python escaped, the next day, Du Chaoxuan followed it and met two girls washing blood clothes at Xikou, Xiayi. They were girls who were tricked into the cave by a python for lewdness, and their bloody clothes were replaced by Zhong Jian's python skin.
So, under the guidance of the two girls, the hunter went deep into the cave to fight with the python, and finally killed the python and rescued the two girls. Full of gratitude and admiration for Du Chaoxuan, the two girls decided to stay together for life, but Du Chaoxuan refused, so they quietly jumped into the bottomless pool. Du Chaoxuan learned the reason and regretted it. He also jumped into the pool for double suicide. All three of them turned into colorful butterflies and flew over the pool, attracting butterflies from all directions to pay their respects. From then on, the bottomless pool became butterfly spring. This legend has been passed down from generation to generation, and Du Chaoxuan is also regarded as the master by the local Zhoucheng Village. At the same time, these two girls are regarded as the ladies of the main family, and their statues are enshrined in the main temple for the world to worship.
Butterfly spring is a fountain symbolizing love and loyalty, and the butterfly will naturally become a grand gathering for Bai youth to pursue love and happiness.
This main part
The "Lord" is called "Wu Zeng", "Daobo" or "husband" and "old lady" in white, which means "own master", "great honour person" or "grandfather", which translates to "bless the Lord in one's own environment" and is the supreme protector worshipped by every village. The worship of the Lord is a unique religious worship of the Bai people. It originated from primitive polytheism and hero worship, but because its admirers have the characteristics of both gods and people, it is deeply rooted in the minds of the Bai people and has a long history.
The owners of villages have different identities, including emperors and generals in Nanzhao Dali, important figures in major historical events, loyal ministers and dutiful sons, national heroes or ordinary people who have made contributions to people in some ways, and animals and rocks from totem worship and nature worship. Once honored as the king of the country, he has the title equivalent to the emperor, such as "Protecting the King of the Country", "Westminster", "Herdi" and "Princess Ali of Lady Bai Jie", which shows his high status. In the Bai area, each village has its own main temple, in which wooden statues of the Lord and his concubines, children, six beastmasters, children and other gods are enshrined. Although there are no systematic doctrines and rules, the worship of the Lord has formed a unified belief of the whole nation and a series of sacrificial activities. This major festival is one of the biggest festivals.
The date of this major festival varies according to the identity and birthday of the village owner. Generally, the first day of the year or the birthday of this major festival is the holiday period, and it is usually during the Spring Festival or during the slack season in February, June, July and August every year. This kind of priest, also known as the main meeting, is the most grand shrine fire meeting in a year, which lasts for three to five days. It includes activities such as welcoming, offering sacrifices, praising and entertaining God. The main procedures are "driving, patrolling", concentrated sacrifice in the "palace", entertaining the gods with social dramas and songs. Finally, send them back to the main temple.
First of all, "driving patrol" means taking the Lord and his gods out of the main temple, putting them in a special sedan chair or float, and marching into the village under the escort of a long ceremonial team, including suona drum music, makeup riders, incense-holding old people, overlord whip dance team and so on. Every household set off incense and firecrackers to welcome them. Then the Lord and his entourage were placed in the "palace" color shed built in advance in the village square.
After two or three days in a row, it became an activity center for villagers to burn incense, take candles, sing hymns and pray for God's blessing. At the same time, people in Hecun dance lions, dragons, music, songs and dances here, and some even set up a stage in front of the "Palace" to perform local operas to entertain gods and people, and people and gods have fun together. In some places, several villages share a master, and according to this procedure, they are greeted and sent to each village for a few days, and finally sent back to the main temple for worship.
Every master has his own legend. The owners in the story are all like people, with families, marriages, experiences and hobbies. In the eyes of Bai people, the Lord not only has the wisdom and strength of God's superman, but also has human affinity, joys and sorrows. The worship and sacrifice of the Bai people to the Lord is not to pray for the well-being of the afterlife, but to be happy and auspicious in this life.
I believe that God can bless people to turn around Gan Kun and realize their good wishes. So that in the activities of offering sacrifices to the Lord, many humorous special customs are popular everywhere. For example, Long Sao and Gu Long, two owners of Baowo Village, Songgui Town, Heqing County, are said to be two peasant women. Because they know how to deal with drought, they have promoted the growth of Koharu and relieved the villagers' worries about spring drought and water shortage. Therefore, during the local main meeting, there will be a "master stepping on the field" activity, that is, the master will be carried to the edge of the field with a sedan chair, and then the waist of the master's woodcarving will be tied with colored silk, and the field will be dragged over the dam to wish the crops a bumper harvest.
The main meeting of the Bai nationality is not only a grand sacrificial activity, but also a happy national festival.
"Seedling Planting Meeting" and "Field"
"Seedling Planting Meeting" and "Tianjiale Music" are agricultural festivals organized by the Bai people around rice planting activities, which are popular in the northern part of Erhai Lake, including the northern part of Dali ancient city, Eryuan and Jianchuan.
The "seedling planting meeting" is not only a temporary labor mutual aid organization, but also a traditional custom that skillfully integrates entertainment and productive labor. Whenever the planting season comes in April and May, dozens of families or the laborers in the whole village voluntarily unite to carry out collective planting by changing jobs, which is called "Miao Hui". Every "Miao meeting" elects a "Miao official", who is not only an expert in production, but also a humorous and inspiring figure among the villagers. Seedling officials are responsible for arranging and dispatching labor, quality control and other production orders.
Every "Miao meeting" has a "Miao flag" as an activity symbol. The "Miao Flag" is magnificent and richly decorated: the flagpole is generally more than 30 feet high, and a bucket made of colored silk is inserted at the top, symbolizing a bumper harvest. A blue or red pennant with white teeth flutters under the bucket, which reads greetings such as "good weather" and "peace for the country and the people". The tail of the flag is also decorated with colored balls, pheasant feathers and big copper bells. Where the "Miao flag" is inserted, there is a planting team.
The first day of transplanting rice seedlings is called "opening the seedling door". People dressed in festive costumes, even the burden of seedlings should be filled with flowers, holding high the "seedling flag", starting with suona drum music and firecrackers, singing high-pitched "blowing cavity" and Bai tune along the road and marching to the fields. On the first ridge, the host prepared fruit wine. When the team arrived, everyone shared candy, drank and sang, and then began to plant in the fields with the sound of suona gongs and drums.
The whole planting activity was carried out in suona drum music and women's high-pitched white tone. There are many tunes in the Suona Qupai of the Bai nationality, such as "transplanting rice", "flying dragonfly to the sky", "bees crossing the river" and "crossing mountains and mountains", which are melodious and ups and downs, regulating labor mood. "Miao Guan" carries a gong and "supervises" back and forth behind the transplanted crowd. It's funny that whoever has poor quality and slow speed keeps banging gongs. Every time a hilly land is planted, women will sing a song together to say goodbye and wish the seedlings grow fast. Singing and laughing all day.
Lunch is sent to the field by the host, and there are inevitably large pieces of "Miao meat" and hot and sour fish symbolizing "more than one year". When we call it a day, we will share fried beans, which are called "foot-washing beans". In the eyes of Bai people, the most intense productive labor is also the happiest agricultural festival.
"Tianjiale" is another festival activity after all planting, some are called "closing the seedling gate" and some are called "Water Festival". Congratulations on the success of planting also include thanks to the water god. On this day, all the staff of the Miao Society, including the young and old at home, will go to our main temple for dinner, kill pigs and sheep, pay New Year greetings to our host and wish a good harvest. People held seedling flags and surrounded the "seedling officials" riding horses, followed by teams disguised as fishermen, firewood, plowing and reading, as well as the overlord whip and octagonal encouraging queues, and patrolled the villages.
Everyone's costumes and performances are all for fun. Dressing up as a man and a woman is the best way to exaggerate cross talk. The "seedling officer" also dressed as a clown, wearing a hat with a vertical seedling handle, a pair of boots and sandals, dark blue glasses, a beard made of wheat ears and riding a burly horse. In some places, there is also the custom of "beating Miao officials", which gives "Miao officials" great face. The performances of fishing, firewood, ploughing and reading are sung in the form of "blowing" accompanied by suona. The plot is funny, the lyrics are funny, full of strong local color and strong life breath. The whole activity showed complete relaxation and joy after intense labor, and also expressed wishes for a bumper harvest.
Girls' Day
Girls' Day is a commemorative song and dance festival for Bai women. The main content is to describe the sufferings and misfortunes of Bai women in the old society, and to pin their expectations and yearning for a better life. Yang Cen and South Yunnan, which are popular in Jianchuan County, are celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month.
The activities of Daughter's Day are carried out in the form of singing and dancing, which is a long Bai folk poem reflecting the life experience of girls. The content tells the tragic story of a girl, originally an innocent girl, who was arranged by her parents and abused by her husband and mother-in-law. She was rescued by her partner on a moonlit night and was still beaten when she got home. Finally, because of unbearable torture, she jumped into the Haiwei River and committed suicide.
Legend has it that girls jumped into the sea on the 15th day of the first month, so this day became the annual "Girls' Day". At that time, the girls in the village will get together and choose the most beautiful, intelligent, personalized and singing girl in the village to play the green girl. Some villages use idols of paper paste and color painting to represent young girls. At sunset, surrounded by "green girls", the women in the village entered the village from the river, holding hands all the way, singing and dancing on the beat, crossing the street until they reached the village square. Then I sang a long poem around the "girl" and told her painful experience as a sign of mourning until the moon set in the western hills.
The lyrics of the long poem "Girl" are sad and divided into five parts: elegy, love song, bitter song, elegy and magic song. Call the girl in "Lament" "Sister and girl, today, my sisters will come to reunite, and the river at the end of the sea will come to pay homage to you and tell your grievances." At first, until "Cinnamomum camphora, Cinnamomum camphora and the trees at the end of the sea are all green, cut down a big tree to build a boat and row it to the South China Sea. ..... "Every sentence is gripping and thrilling. With its distinctive national style and unique artistic charm, this long poem has become a classic in the history of Bai literature.
The traditional custom of "Mother's Day" spreads among the people, which is a wonderful work of Bai culture.
"playing with the sea", "circling the sea" and "sea lantern festival"