At 8 o'clock on the evening of August 8 this year (that is, on June 24 of the lunar calendar), the square of Annan ancient city in Qinglong County was crowded and filled with festive atmosphere everywhere. 20 15 the fifth "torch festival" of the yi people in Qinglong county was held here. Tourists from all over the country and more than ten thousand people from Qinglong gathered here to share a "bonfire feast"!
Jiang Shikun, secretary of Qinglong County Party Committee, said in his speech at the party: Tonight, hardworking, kind and hospitable Yi compatriots will once again light auspicious torches, play emotional movements and dance happily to welcome friends and guests from afar. Let's hold high the torch of unity and hope, and let our feelings and dreams fly in the blazing bonfire and erratic dance. Afterwards, Kong Lung, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, announced the opening of the Torch Festival. Subsequently, yi dance's Amiqi Tuo, performed by students from Sambo School, made a shocking debut. Originated from Yi people's productive labor, the unaccompanied but uniform dance steps surprised the audience, and the crisp and powerful dance steps resounded through the ancient city of Annan at night, bringing people extraordinary original ecological artistic enjoyment.
According to the ancient custom, every year from June 24th to June 26th in the lunar calendar, all villages of the Yi people hold grand sacrificial activities, killing pigs and cattle, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, offering sacrifices to ancestors, exorcising evil spirits, and praying for the prosperity of six animals and abundant crops, which embodies the good wishes of the Yi people to respect the laws of nature and pursue a happy life. Six Mr. Bimo held the most solemn and sacred ceremony to light a fire.
According to textual research, although there are different opinions about the origin of "Torch Festival", its origin is most directly related to human nature worship of fire. Its purpose is to use fire to repel insects and protect crops. Torch Festival is called "Du Ze" in Yi language, which means "offering sacrifices to fire". In the ritual songs "Sacrifice to Vulcan" and "Sacrifice to Pot and Stone", there is a narrative about the miracle of Vulcan Aidige. The original form of "Torch Festival" is simply the ancient fire worship. Fire is a symbol of the Yi people's pursuit of light. There are different opinions about the classic legend of "Torch Festival". When it comes to the struggle between the gods and the land gods, people use torches to help the land gods destroy insects and defeat the gods. This theory comes from Nanzhao unofficial history and the Canon School of Normal School. These two books contain: Pirog, the leader of Nanzhao, tried to annex the other five imperial edicts, and the leaders of the five imperial edicts were burned to death in Songming Building. Deng Re's wife advised her husband not to go, so that her husband was not killed. The charity found her husband's body and buried it successfully with shrewd wisdom and persistent love for her husband, so Yunnan people burned it with torches. The Sani people of the Yi nationality in Shilin regard "Torch Festival" as a festival to commemorate the victory of the people's struggle with the devil. The Yi people in Wuding believe that "Torch Festival" means that ears of grain will grow as thick as torches. Later generations used this as a sacrifice to drive away ghosts and evil spirits in their homes, so as to keep people and animals safe.
On the other hand, Liangshan is the largest inhabited area of Yi people, located between Sichuan Basin in China and southwest Sichuan. There are many legends about the origin of Torch Festival. Among them, the most influential, widespread and representative story is that the Yi heroes defeated the gods and demons and United the people to fight evil and disasters.
According to legend, there were six suns and seven moons in the sky in ancient times. There is sun exposure during the day, bright light at night, barren land, rampant demons, and everything in the world is facing extinction. At this moment, the Yi hero, Zhige Along, shot and killed five scorching suns and six bright moons, tamed the last surviving sun and the last moon, conquered the raging flood and eliminated all kinds of demons that endangered the world. From then on, the world was sunny and lush, and the Yi people began to live and work in peace and contentment, just like a paradise. However, Enteguz, the god who rules everything in the world, was dissatisfied when he saw that the world was so prosperous, so he sent his son Hercules Sreja to the world every year to collect exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous fees. Wherever the heavenly soldiers go, they burn, kill and plunder, and do all kinds of evil. The beautiful human world has been turned upside down by gods and demons, and people are living in dire straits and suffering. Later, in the hometown of Zhige Along, there was a Yi hero named Blackbody Laba. He is strong, intelligent and fearless. When he rides a good horse, he can walk thousands of miles every day, and he can fly over cliffs and walls with his feet. He often solves problems for various tribes and eliminates violence, which is very popular among the people. One day, Laba went hunting in the mountains and stood on the top of a high mountain, intoxicated by the beautiful scenery. He couldn't help singing, expressing his love for nature and his desire for hairdressing life. The sonorous singing attracted the melodious and tactful singing of Zhang Ni A Zhi, a shepherd girl on another mountain. They crossed the mountains and rivers singing love songs until dark. From then on, they loved each other and swore to each other.
Hot Abby, a strongman eager for Zhang Ni A Zhi, heard about their love affair. Her heart was full of resentment and jealousy, and she was always looking for opportunities to kill Rabbah. Not long after, the jealous Slaby challenged Rabbah and wrestled with him. As a result, Rabbah, a folk hero of the Yi people, fell to his death in the wrestling duel. The gods were very angry about this. They released a large number of insects (locusts) to destroy the mature crops on the earth.
Zhang Ni A Zhi, a clever man, climbed the mountains and found a venerable Bimo (priest) on the horizon. Bimo leafed through the gobbledygook and told Zhang Ni A Zhi: We should use torches to eliminate locusts. Zhang Ni A Zhi and Blackbody Rabbah led people up the mountain to tie Artemisia torch, tied the torch for three days and three nights, burned the torch for three days and three nights, and finally burned all the bugs and saved the crops. Seeing this, the hateful Tiguzi flew into a rage. Use magic to turn the overworked black Laba into a mountain. Zhang Ni A Zhi looked at all this and was heartbroken. Under Bimo's prayer, she gave up herself and became a beautiful soma flower, which opened on the mountain and became a black Laba. This day happens to be June 24 of the lunar calendar.
From then on, in order to commemorate this day, the Yi people will strike a flint to light the flame in the traditional way on June 24th of the lunar calendar, light the torch and go to the fields to pray for good weather and good harvests in the coming year. People sang and danced to celebrate the victory of disaster relief, praising the bravery of Laba dressed in black and the cleverness and beauty of Zhang Ni A Zhi. Over time, the annual "Torch Festival" of the Yi people was formed. The "Torch Festival" of the Yi people generally lasts for three days and nights, and is divided into three stages: welcoming fire, playing with fire and sending fire. (Author: meteor across the night sky)