Folk customs in various places: (for reference)
1.. Tibetans
Each nation has its own unique culture and living habits. Tibetans are an ancient The enthusiastic nation has also formed its own living habits and taboos in life during its long history.
1. When two friends who have reunited after a long separation greet each other or chat, you cannot put your hands on each other's shoulders.
2. You cannot step over or step on other people's clothes, nor put your own clothes on other people's clothes, nor can you step over others.
3. Women should not dry clothes, especially pants and underwear, where everyone passes by.
4. Do not whistle or cry loudly in the room.
5. The family is away from home and the guests have just left. Do not sweep the floor or take out the garbage at noon, after sunset and on the first day of the Tibetan New Year.
6. Outsiders cannot mention the name of the deceased in front of his relatives.
7. The work that should be completed this year cannot be left to next year, such as twisting wool, knitting sweaters, carpets, etc.
8. Don’t just walk into other people’s homes at dusk, especially when there will be pregnant women, newly delivered mothers, or seriously ill people, and strangers are not allowed to go.
9. Do not take out any property at home after noon.
10. When a stranger comes to mountains and cliffs and canyons that you have never been to before, you cannot make loud noises.
11. Do not step on or step on eating utensils, pots, bowls, pans, etc.
12. If two people at home go out at the same time and walk in opposite directions, they cannot leave the house at the same time. They must go out before and after and at separate times.
13. Women cannot comb or wash their hair at night, nor can they go out with their hair down.
14. When using brooms and dustpans, they cannot be passed directly by hand. They must be placed on the ground first, and then another person picks them up from the ground.
15. Whenever relatives and friends come to your home or visit you, they will give you some butter tea or highland barley wine as gifts. When the guests leave, they should clear out the things. They cannot empty them all and must leave them behind. Put some in it or replace it with some of your own stuff.
16. Bowls with chips or cracks cannot be used for eating or serving tea to guests.
2.. Yi Nationality
The Torch Festival of the Yi Nationality, which is also the Year of the Yi Nationality. In the eyes of the Yi people, fire symbolizes light, justice, prosperity, and a powerful force that can destroy all evil. The Torch Festival is a festival of joy, love and happiness for the Yi people.
3. Hong Kong New Year Customs
The Lunar New Year is a grand traditional festival in my country, and I believe that every Chinese person does not know it. However, celebrating the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong is completely different from traditional customs and atmosphere.
In recent years, few Hong Kong people have traditionally posted Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures at home during the Lunar New Year. Instead, they have posted "Business is booming", "Business is prosperous", "Come in and out safely", etc. in some shops or homes. of Huichun. Even so, the original intention of posting Huichun is the same as posting Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures. It means auspiciousness and hopes that everything will go well and be safe in the coming year.
In addition, lion dances, dragon lantern dances, etc. will also appear in some villages and walled villages in the New Territories. It is also difficult to see large-scale lion dances and dragon lantern dance performances on the streets of urban areas during the New Year. As for setting off firecrackers and firecrackers, they are strictly prohibited in Hong Kong. However, since 1982, a grand fireworks display has been held on Victoria Harbor every year on the second day of the Lunar New Year. This has become a part of welcoming the Spring Festival in the past ten years. program.
Hong Kong is known as a "food paradise". There are many customs related to eating during the Spring Festival. Most families will also have a "reunion dinner" during the Spring Festival. Usually, they have a banquet at home, and the whole family will have a family dinner on New Year's Eve. Up and down, inside and out, we gather together to enjoy dinner. As for the main attraction after dinner, the first choice is to visit the flower market. During the Lunar New Year, there are New Year’s Eve markets in many places in Hong Kong and Kowloon, among which the flower market in Victoria Park is the largest and busiest.
Hong Kong citizens are accustomed to visiting the flower market as a family after dinner. On New Year's Eve, there are even more people, shoulder to shoulder, everyone celebrating the festival together.
The happiest thing about celebrating the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong is the children collecting "lushies". When paying New Year greetings during the Spring Festival, you can hear the laughter of "begging" for lushies everywhere. "Lishi" originally meant "good things" and meant good luck and good fortune. It has also become an indispensable custom for spending time with relatives during the Spring Festival.
4. Macao’s annual customs
Macao’s annual customs are unique. "Xie Zao" is one of the most traditional Chinese customs preserved in Macao. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, people in Macao call it "Thanks to the Kitchen God". According to Chinese tradition, Macau people also use kitchen sugar to treat the Kitchen God. It is said that the mouth of the Kitchen God is glued with sugar to prevent him from speaking ill of the Jade Emperor. I saw a portrait of Santa Claus on the kitchen stove of a Macanese family in Macau Flower Street. The strange thing is that there is a couplet on the side of the portrait of Santa Claus: "God speaks good things, and returns home with good luck."
Macau people celebrate the Chinese New Year on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. The 28th day of the twelfth lunar month is jokingly called "easy to fat" in Cantonese. Most business owners treat their employees to a "reunion dinner" at the end of the year. To show good fortune and good luck. The flavor of the New Year in Macau can be truly felt from the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.
5. Interesting Customs of Taiwan’s Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is the most solemn traditional folk festival with a long history of the Chinese nation. In Taiwan, which is separated from Fujian Province by a river, its history, culture, customs, living customs, kinship, etc. are all in line with the mainland of the motherland, especially the southern Fujian region. Therefore, the Spring Festival customs of the people on the island are naturally in line with those of the people in the mainland of the motherland. Much the same.
Because the ancestors of Baodao residents (mostly Hokkien and Hakka) went to Taiwan for development, it is a long time ago and has gone through many vicissitudes of life. The Spring Festival customs there have gradually formed some unique patterns and colors.
6. Interesting Jiangsu Spring Festival customs
In addition to the Spring Festival couplets, hanging New Year pictures, staying up late, lion dancing, New Year greetings and other customs that are the same as those across the country, Jiangsu folk also have Some unique customs are now compiled for the benefit of readers.
Suzhou people put cooked water chestnuts in their meals on New Year's Eve and dig them out when eating, which is called "digging for ingots". When relatives and friends come and go, they put two green olives in when making tea, which is called "drinking ingot tea" ",May you be happy and prosperous.
On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the people of Wujin hung the portraits of their ancestors in the middle hall, served tea, fruits and rice cakes, and the whole family performed New Year greetings in turn, which is called "worshiping the shadow of gods." They swept the floor and were not allowed to sweep from the house. , for fear of sweeping away "wealth" and "good luck", we can only sweep from the outside in.
Jiangning people have the custom of "beating the sacred drum" during the Spring Festival. The big flag opens the way, and the gongs and drummers beat the drum vigorously to add to the fun. On the third day of the lunar month, they "play the night drum", on the seventh day of the lunar month, they "beat the seven drums", and on the 10th day of the lunar month, they "beat the sacred drum". From three to fifteen, "shirtless drumming" is played, and the atmosphere is lively.
Nantong people have the custom of planting sesame stalks, holly, and cypress branches at the door of their homes or in front of their halls, which means that life is blooming and green all year round.
Huaiyin people also have the custom of "baking their children's heads" on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. At night, children are taken to the open field to light torches to drive away diseases and evil spirits. While roasting, they sing: "Roast your head to wake up your brain. Roast your feet to straighten your steps. Roast your belly to prevent diarrhea. Roast your whole body." Diseases will never be seen again. "
Wuxi fishermen have the habit of taking a boat to Xishan to worship the Yuwang Temple, to pray for the blessing of the water god and to worship Ao Yi Buddha, which is called "Shang?". After the Yuwang Temple was demolished. , this custom gradually became indifferent.
During the Spring Festival, there are still many taboos in the old customs in Jiangsu, such as not using scissors on the first day of the year to avoid quarrels; not using kitchen knives to avoid death; not eating porridge for fear of encountering someone when going out. Rain; not sweeping the floor for fear of sweeping away all fortune, etc. With the popularization of scientific knowledge, many unscientific customs have gradually been forgotten; however, healthy and beneficial entertainment and leisure activities have continued.
7. Guilin Spring Festival Customs From "Little New Year's Eve" to New Year's Eve
The Spring Festival enters Guilin's urban and rural areas at the zero o'clock bell on December 24 of the lunar calendar. From the 24th to 30th of the twelfth lunar month, people are busy buying new year's goods and cleaning their homes and outside to welcome the new year cleanly.
There are many kinds of traditional foods for the festival, and they contain good wishes: Steamed rice cakes are steamed on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month. Rice cakes can be sweet, mature, meaty, or vegetarian. If you eat rice cakes (high), your life and work will be prosperous in the new year. Advance step by step.
On New Year’s Eve dinner, people like to have family reunions, and the dishes must include "Yuanzi" and "Huanxi", which means reunion and joy.
Spring Festival Customs of China’s Ethnic Minorities
China is a multi-ethnic country. In addition to the Han people, there are 55 ethnic minorities. Although they have different languages, characters, and different lifestyles and customs, most of them celebrate the Spring Festival as a major festival of their own nation.
8. Daur people: prosperous every year
The Daur people in the north have the habit of paying New Year greetings. During the Spring Festival, people put on festive costumes and visit each house to congratulate each other. Every house has steamed cakes. As soon as New Year greeters come in, the host will treat them with steamed cakes. "Cake" is homophonic with "高" in Chinese. Treating each other with cakes means that each other's living standards will be further improved in the new year. During the festival, the Daur people also hold singing, dancing and sports activities that last for half a month.
9. Mongolian people: endless wine and meat
The Mongolian people in the north have a different scene during the Spring Festival. Before the festival, every household prepares the rams and various kinds of food that grew that year. Dairy products and a few bottles of wine. On New Year's Eve, people put on beautiful Mongolian robes and the whole family sits on the floor in the middle of the yurt to welcome the new year. Drinking and dining begins at midnight. As a rule, you should eat and drink as much as possible. The more wine and meat left over, the better. This symbolizes that there will be endless food and wine in the new year, and you will have no worries about eating and drinking. On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, men and women wearing various costumes mount their horses and rush to "hot" (villages) in groups to string yurts one by one. When making packages, one must first kowtow to the elders and give blessings. Then the son-in-law of the host family toasts the guests who come to make packages, and people sing and dance.
10. Zhuang Ethnic Group: Welcome Heroes
The Zhuang ethnic group living in southern China calls the Spring Festival "New Year's Day". On this day, people congratulate each other no matter who they meet when they go out, thinking that this will be auspicious for the year. Among the Zhuang people, there is also a custom of spending time in old age, which the Zhuang people call "eating the festival". "Eating Li Festival" is on the 30th of this month. According to legend, more than 100 years ago, a peasant armed force of the Zhuang ethnic group returned triumphantly after fighting against foreign invaders. At this time, the Spring Festival had passed, and in order to welcome them, the Zhuang people celebrated on this month. Let’s celebrate the Spring Festival for them on the 30th.
11. Buyi Nationality: The girl grabs the first load of water
The Buyi people living in the southwest border of China stay up all night on New Year’s Eve every year. At dawn, the girls rushed outside to fetch water. Whoever fetched the first load of water would be the hardest-working girl. The Jingpo people there like to hold target shooting activities before the Spring Festival, and the girls are the organizers and referees of this activity. They hung the embroidered purses on bamboo poles with threads, swayed them from side to side in the treetops, and asked the young men to shoot them. The girls will give wine as a prize to whoever shoots off his purse first. The purse usually contains a coin, a few grains of grain and a few decorative beads as a symbol of happiness.
12. Hani People: Swinging
A few days before the Spring Festival, the villages where the Hani people live have become lively, and the women are busy pounding rice cakes. Baba is a cake made from glutinous rice. The young men were busy going up the mountain to chop bamboo and prepare to set up the swing. The swing there is more than ten meters high. Hani people, regardless of gender, old or young, love to play on the swing. During the festival, everyone wears their favorite clothes to play on the swings, creating a lively and harmonious festival scene everywhere.
13. Dai Nationality: Throwing chaff bags
Dai young men and women like to throw chaff bags. During the Spring Festival, young men and girls throw chaff bags at each other to see who can throw them accurately. See who can catch it. When the play reaches a certain point, the girls will quietly steal the waist knife, turban or tied horse from the young man and run home. If the young man is interested, he will follow him. When the parents saw their daughter coming back with a turban and a horse, they hosted a banquet in honor of her.
In addition, April 13th every year is the Dai New Year, and it is also the most solemn festival of the Dai people - the Water Splashing Festival. They regard splashing water as a symbol of exorcism and good luck, and also regard it as a symbol of good luck and good luck. One day is regarded as the most beautiful and auspicious day.
14. Gaoshan Tribe: "Wirring around the Fireplace"
The Gaoshan Tribe living in Taiwan Province of China have a different style of celebrating the Spring Festival. On New Year's Eve, a family of old and young gathers around a round table with hot pot for dinner, which is called "circling the stove". Women who usually do not drink alcohol should take a symbolic sip of wine to show good luck. The vegetables eaten during "circling the stove" do not need to be cut with a knife. They are washed and boiled with the roots attached to express wishes for the longevity of the parents. If someone in the family goes out, a seat should be left vacant and the person's clothes should be placed on the empty seat to express the family's longing for him.
15. Manchu: Hanging flags to celebrate the New Year
The Manchu people are divided into four banners: red, yellow, blue and white. During the Spring Festival, people with red flags put red flags on their doors, people with yellow flags put yellow flags on their doors, people with blue flags put blue flags on their doors, and people with white flags put white flags on their doors. These hanging flags have beautiful patterns and bright colors, symbolizing the auspicious beginning of the year.
During the festival, boys set off firecrackers in groups, or ride various homemade wooden sledges, whizzing over hills and ice. Girls and young daughters-in-law wear newly made colorful clothes, gather in small groups, and play Galaha (pig or cow knee joints) together. On the evenings from the first to the fifth day of the lunar month, people also voluntarily organize to dance Yangko to celebrate the New Year. The Yangko team with a strong lineup not only performs in the village, but also performs in other villages. The onlookers often lean forward and backward with joy, forgetting their fatigue and cold. There were even enthusiastic spectators who followed the yangko team from house to house and did not return until dawn.
16. Bai Nationality: "Fang Gaosheng"
When the Bai compatriots in Yunnan celebrate the New Year, there is a celebration called "Fang Gaosheng". The so-called "high-sheng" method is to use a whole big bamboo, load gunpowder into the bamboo joints, and after lighting it, the whole big bamboo can collapse hundreds of feet into the sky, becoming a veritable "high-sheng". In some areas, Bai compatriots, like the Miao and Zhuang people, engage in the activity of "throwing hydrangeas" from the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival. Anyone who cannot catch the hydrangea will give a souvenir to the other person. Those who miss the ball many times but cannot redeem the souvenir will express their acceptance of the other person's love.
Seventeen. Dong Nationality: Lusheng Festival
Dong compatriots in Guizhou and Hunan have a popular mass activity of "Dong Year" (also called Lusheng Festival) during the Spring Festival. This kind of activity is similar to the "group worship" of the Han people, but it is more joyful and enthusiastic. This kind of activity is usually organized by consensus between the two village leaders. The two teams officially held a Lusheng singing and dancing competition in the square. At this time, the audience in the two villages danced to the music and had fun.
Eighteen. Yi Nationality: Tingling Tiger
The Yi people in Maidichong, Shuangbai County, Yunnan Province have a special custom of "Tigger Festival" during the Chinese New Year. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the whole country The adult men of the village gather at the ruins of the Earth Temple behind the village, kill dogs and offer "Mi Si" ("Mi" means soil, "Si" means owner, Mi Si means the god of the soil owner), and then the "Bimo" of the village offers sacrifices to the owner of the soil. Invite the Tiger God. Eight villagers dressed up as tigers and danced gracefully. The "tigers" had high ears, thick tails, tiger stripes all over their bodies, a Chinese character "王" painted on their foreheads, and a large copper bell hung around their necks, which looked majestic. After "Bi Mo" finished reciting the sacrifice to invite the Tiger God, the Tiger King led all the tigers into the village. During the entire Tiger Tiger Festival, the whole village, men, women and children, are immersed in the joyful atmosphere of welcoming tigers, seeing off tigers, watching tigers jump and driving away evil ghosts. The local people are convinced that only through the annual traditional Tiger Tiger Festival and respect After offering sacrifices to the Tiger God and praying for the blessings of their ancestors, all the villagers will have abundant harvests, a prosperous population, and become happier and happier year by year.
19. Sani people: eat glutinous rice balls
New Year’s Eve is called “Sirou period” in Sani language. It is very solemn to worship ancestors and eat New Year's dinner on New Year's Eve. In the afternoon, green branches are planted in front of every house, and a straw hat is hung on the branches. This is the silent notice: Keep out! No talking allowed! Even people at home are not allowed to speak loudly.
There is an interesting phenomenon in the Sani language: "Tangyuan" and "Celebrating the New Year" are the same word, called "Korsima". Because glutinous rice balls are a must during the New Year. Within half a month from the beginning of the first month, people indulge in joy. A bonfire party is held on the first night of the Lunar New Year, with duets of folk songs and Sanxianhu solos, simple and lyrical. The big three-stringed instrument was loud and exciting, and people sang and danced to the music.
On the second day of the lunar month, sacrifices are made to the mountain gods, and on the fourth day of the lunar month, Mars is sent to drive away disasters and show people's strength.
Every year on the afternoon of the second day of the Spring Festival, farmers will take the cow out, walk several times around the center of the village, and wear a red cloth with flowers on its forehead to show respect for its contribution throughout the year. He also feeds it rice and fatty pork to express his condolences to his close companion.
Sani people hold ancestor worship activities from New Year’s Eve to the fifth day of the lunar month. From their admiration and memory for their ancestors, we can discover the beautiful things in the nation's cohesion and traditional morality.
Taohuayuan is connected to Wuqiang River on the top and Wuling on the bottom. It is said that it was a refuge for the ancient Qin people to escape from years of war and exorbitant military service. They work and feed themselves in this isolated place, reproduce their descendants, and develop their own unique feng shui. The ancient folk customs here still show its past sentiments as a paradise of cave heaven.
There is Qinren Cave in Peach Blossom Spring, and there is a village named Sanhe Village in Qinren Cave. There are dozens of families in Sanhe Village, most of whom are named Qin, so the village is also called Qinren Village. Are these villagers surnamed Qin descendants of the ancient Qin people who went into caves to avoid chaos? No one has done any specific research. Anyway, the word "Qin" has been used throughout the ages, and their customs of clothing, food, housing and transportation are indeed very different from today's modern social customs.
Clothing: In the past, all the clothing materials used by people here were home-woven homespun cloth. Each family is equipped with spinning wheels and looms, produces its own cotton, spins and weaves its own cotton, and the woven homespun cloth is dyed with vegetable dyes in colors of green, blue, gray or purple. Most of the clothes are made at home. The dyed homespun cloth is cut into pieces and then stitched together by hand. There are also tailors who come to make clothes. A gray bag, a few needles, a few threads, and a pair of pig iron irons that look like today's small aluminum pots are all their tools. The style of clothing is a men's jacket. Women wear large clothes with one-color cloth buttons and loops, and their trousers are all large folded crotch trousers with a waistband of 4 feet, which is folded in front of the belly and tied with a cloth belt. Nowadays, the clothes of young people in the village are almost the same as those of people outside the cave, but many elderly people still wear double-breasted clothes, large clothes, and crotchless trousers. However, the fabrics for the elderly's clothes are no longer made from local textiles, but are selected from the market. Walking around the village, you can still find wooden spinning wheels and looms. Although these are no longer in use, they still display history. Even today, when sewing machines are widely used, there are still local tailors in the village who carry fire irons and ash bags.
Food: Of course, the staple food is rice, which is almost the same as the villagers outside the cave. The "food" referred to here specifically refers to tools for processing rice. The tools used by the villagers in Qinru Village to process rice were plates, stone pestles, and windmills. The dish is round and has two upper and lower leaves. The lower fan is fixed on the wooden frame, with a hardwood shaft in the middle, and the upper fan rotates around the wooden shaft on the lower fan. The friction surfaces of the upper and lower leaves are regularly embedded with many hardwood pieces as teeth, and loess is tamped between the teeth to fix the teeth. The function of the dish is to remove the coarse shells from the shells. When processing with a plate, the rice husks are piled in the hopper of the upper fan, and the upper fan is pushed to rotate manually. The rice husks are rubbed through the wooden teeth, and the coarse-hulled brown rice is sprinkled from the gap between the upper and lower surfaces. The brown rice is then processed using stone mills to become cooked rice. Most of the rice consumed by villagers today is processed by machines, but there are still workshops in the village that can process rice for villagers using ancient methods. It is true that some villagers used to process rice using mats and piles of stones in the workshops. They (especially the elderly) believe that this is more fragrant and softer than machine-processed rice.
Accommodation: In the past, the villagers’ houses were all thatched huts with bamboo fences. The huts are built close to the mountain, and each is independent. It is true that "chickens and dogs can hear each other." The interior of the house is simple, with slates and wooden blocks as benches, planks of wood as beds, gourds (commonly known as reeds) cut into scoops, and bricks as a stove. Today the huts have been replaced by wooden huts. The wooden houses are all covered with small green tiles and whitewashed walls, still retaining the ancient style. Although every household has a TV and a refrigerator, the cut-up melon and gourd are still the same.
Exercise: Although Qinren Village is close to the national highway, there are no roads in the village. The countryside is crisscrossed by roads and traffic. These roads in the countryside are not said to be better than cement roads and asphalt roads, but they do have their own advantages. advantages. It is filled with the green smell of fragrant grass and the moisture of earth and dirt. Stepping on it with bare feet makes people feel warm and comfortable, and it also makes people feel the beating of the pulse of the earth.
Banna Folk Houses
Folk house architecture is an integral part of the traditional culture of a certain nation in a certain social and historical period, and is also the epitome of traditional culture. The residential buildings of the Dai, Hani, Bulang, Jinuo, and Lahu ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna have many characteristics due to the influence of climate, altitude, terrain, building materials and other natural environments as well as social environments such as population, economy, religion, science and technology, and ideology. different forms and architectural styles.
Yasang Mudi built bamboo house
In ancient times, the Dai people had no houses to live in and could only live in caves. It was a man named Payasang Mudi who learned how to build a house. Teach everyone how to build Dai bamboo houses.
This time, it rained heavily, and Payasangmudi hid under a big tree to take shelter from the rain. He saw pieces of dustpan-sized taro leaves beside him that blocked the raindrops. The underside of the taro leaves was dry. He thought that people could also build a taro leaf-like shack to shelter from the rain, so he built a scaffolding with branches and covered it with leaves and thatch to make a flat-topped shack. He moved out of the cave and lived in a shack.
Soon, a heavy rain fell, and the leaves and thatch could not stop the rain. The rain stopped, and water continued to leak from the house, leaving no dry place. Payasangmudi had no choice but to move back to the cave.
Once, Payasangmudi took a dog up the mountain to hunt. It rained heavily again, and he hid under the roots of a big tree to avoid the rain, while the dog sat on the ground with its front legs propped up, its head held high, and its tail dragging on the ground. The rainwater flows down the slope-shaped dog's hair, but the ground on the dog's chest is dry. Payasangmudi then thought of building a house with a sloped roof to take shelter from the rain. He cut down four tree branches, two high and two short, planted them on the ground, and used leaves and thatch to build a sloping roof. The front side was high and the back side was short, allowing rainwater to flow down the slope. Because the house was built in the manner of a dog sitting on the ground, Sang Mudi called the house "Dumaze", which means dog-headed house. Sangmudi moved out of the cave and lived in "Dumaze". It rained again. The rainwater flowed down the sloping roof, but the house was dry. Later, it was windy and rainy, and the raindrops were blown by the wind into raindrops and fell into the house. The rainwater that flowed to the ground also flowed into the house, and the house was full of water again. Payasangmudi felt that "duma" was not good, but he couldn't think of what kind of house to build.
The king of heaven, Payayaying, was moved when he saw Payasangmuti building a house non-stop, and decided to give him some advice. One day, it was raining, and the king of heaven, Payayaying, turned into a beautiful phoenix and flew down to the world, landed in front of Payasangmudi, and said to him: "Look at my two wings, see if they can keep out the wind and rain. "The phoenix stood on its two long legs and spread its wings slightly to both sides, forming a posture in the shape of the character "中". Payasangmudi was surprised to hear that the phoenix could talk. He clasped his hands together and bowed to the phoenix, carefully observing how the rainwater flowed down his wings, neck hair, and tail. The ground beneath the phoenix's body was dry. Payasangmudi thought while looking at it, and decided to build a house that looked like a phoenix standing in the rain.
Many trees were cut down in Payasangmudi and split into pillars, and thatch was cut into grass rows. The house stands on pillars and has two floors. People living on the upper floor will not get damp. The roof ridge is like a phoenix spreading its wings, with one building on the left and one on the right, and one building in front and one behind. They are all slope-shaped, which can block rainwater from all sides. This kind of high-legged bamboo building can indeed shelter from wind and rain. Sang Mudi lives in it and is very comfortable. He named this kind of house "Henghen" (Dai language: Phoenix takes off).
After the payasang wooden bottom cover became "hateful", Dai family members came to learn how to build houses from him one after another. From then on, Dai bamboo houses were built one after another, one village after another, and people moved from caves into stilt bamboo houses.
After the Dai people lived in the bamboo house, they never forgot Payasangmuti, the founder of house building. In order to commemorate the achievements of Payasangmuti, the Dai people changed the name of the building from "Henghen" to "Henpayasangmuti". This name has been used to this day.
Zanha sings to exorcise evil spirits and celebrate the new house
In Dai villages, no matter which new house is completed, an activity to celebrate the new house must be held, in which Zanha (singer) is invited to sing and celebrate. New house. Do you know the origin of this custom? It comes from an ancient legend.
In ancient times, there lived a dragon in the river. This dragon visited the Heavenly Palace once a year. The dragon relied on a tall and straight tree to ascend to the sky. This tree grew on a large mound on the bank of the river. The dragon sent the snake demon Ushala and his wife to guard this big tree for him.
One summer noon, the sun was scorching the earth, and the earthen cave where Ushara Bing and his wife hid was as hot as a large fire pit. The snake demon couple thought that no one would cut down the trees in such a hot weather, so they crawled out of the hole and went to the river to take a bath without any worries.
At this moment, a man named Payasangmudi braved the scorching heat and went to the mountain to cut down the pillars for building a new house. He saw that the tall and straight Burana tree on the mound was really the best wood, so he cut down the tree and carried it back to make the pillars of the new house.
The snake demon Ushara Bing and his wife took a long bath in the river before returning to the cave where they lived. They found that the Dragon Climbing Tree on the mound had been cut down. They were so frightened that they froze there and were speechless for a long time. After a while, they decided to go get the tree back. The male snake demon said to the female snake demon: "You look to the east, and I will look to the west. No matter what, we must find the Dragon King's ladder to heaven!"
The male snake demon climbed to the west. One hundred yue (approximately: the unit of length of the Dai people), the female snake demon also climbed one hundred yue eastward. They searched for three days, but could not find the buried bona tree where the dragon ascended to the sky.
After the two snake demons met, they did not dare to stay at home for a moment, and hurriedly split up to look for them in the south and north. After the female snake demon crawled about two hundred meters to the south, she saw a village. I saw people in the village being noisy, shouting and shouting as they were building new houses. Seeing that there were many people in the village, the female snake demon got into the grass and observed the new house being built, carefully examining every piece of wood in the new house. She suddenly discovered that the center pillar standing in the middle of the new house was the buried tree that she and her husband were looking for. The she-snake demon hurried home to tell her husband what she had discovered. Upon hearing this, the male snake demon said happily: "Okay, have a good rest in the afternoon, and after dark, we will pull out the pillar and plant it on the mound."
It gets dark. , the female snake demon took the male snake demon and crawled towards the village. When they found the new house, they wrapped themselves around the center pillar, trying to pull it out and drag it away. However, the roots of the wooden pillars were buried deep in the earth holes, and there were many crossbars threaded through the holes in the bodies, making them very strong. They kept pulling out the pillar until dawn but could not pull it out.
At dawn, the Payasangmudi family moved their luggage and belongings out of the old house and moved them to the new house. They walked into the new house and found two large snakes wrapped around the center pillar. The two big snakes were not afraid at all when people came, and they were still wrapped tightly around the wooden pillars. Payasangmudi picked up a bamboo stick and went to beat the two snakes. The two snakes did not run away, but climbed up along the pillar, entangled themselves on the top of the wooden pillar and never came down.
When Payasangmudi was at his wits end, the villagers gathered around the two Zanha and came to congratulate the new house. Zanha walked up to the bamboo building and sang a few blessing songs, which made the villagers cheer loudly. The cheers were so loud that the two big snakes wrapped around the top of the center pillar fell to the ground in fright, crawled out of the house desperately, and hid in the grass. The Payasangmudi family moved into their new house.
From then on, whenever a Dai family builds a new house, the owner will prepare a banquet to invite the villagers to celebrate the new house, and must invite Zanha to sing, so that the evil spirits in the house can be driven away with singing. The owner of the new house and his family are safe and happy.
The animals help build the bamboo house with payasan wood
On the frame of the Dai bamboo house, there are many parts with the names of animal limbs, such as "dog's back", " "Egret wings", "elephant tongue", "cat chin"... If you want to know the origin of these names, you have to listen to this ancient legend.
Payasangmudi originally made a living by hunting, and he loved dogs, cats, finches and beasts very much.
Later, he raised all the birds and animals he caught. There were bird nests and animal nests everywhere near his house.
One year, it rained heavily for several months in Naxi, Mengban. The flat land turned into a vast ocean, and the bamboo buildings on the bottom of Payasangmu were submerged by the floods. He quickly built a bamboo raft and propped up a bamboo pole to escape from the flood. Many animals struggled desperately in the floods, and birds in the sky were also knocked down by the heavy rain and fell into the floods. Payasangmudi felt sorry for the birds and animals, so he rescued them from the flood on bamboo rafts, transported them to a high slope where the flood could not reach, and released them.
After an unknown number of days and nights, the wind stopped, the rain stopped, the flood receded, and the earth was revealed again. Payasangmudi returned to the place where he originally lived. The bamboo building was washed away by the flood. When he had to build a new house, he began to chop wood, split pillars, and cut thatch. The little animals rescued from the flood by Payasangmudi knew that their savior was building a new house, so they came from all directions to help him. After the animals discussed together, they were all willing to take something from themselves and put it on the roof truss of Sangmudi to help him build a new house quickly to repay the kindness of saving his life. The little monkey offered its neck and head to the mulberry tree to make a "ring stack" (wooden hammer), the elephant offered its tongue to make a "Ningzhang" (bamboo building component), and the locust offered its body to the mulberry tree to make a tether. The turtles are willing to lie down at the foot of the stairs to make "tin patches" (bamboo building components), the old dragon is willing to use his body as stairs, the turtles are willing to use their turtle shells to make the payasang wood base as a fence, and the egrets are willing to use their wings to make a fence. Grass rows, dogs offered their backs, kittens offered their chins, and mice also offered their tails; swallows and sparrows flew to the mountains to carry thatch for the Payasang wood to cover the roof... All the animals covered the new bamboo for the Payasang wood. Lou dedicated part of his body to help him. Thanks to the full help of the animals, Payasangmudi quickly built the bamboo house.
From then on, Payasangmudi recorded all the things donated by the animals on the drawings of building bamboo buildings and passed them on to future generations. Therefore, names such as "dog's back", "cat's chin", "elephant's tongue" and "egret's wings" appeared on the roof trusses of bamboo buildings. People also often carve dragon head patterns on the stairs of bamboo buildings to commemorate the old dragon's dedication.