The Tibetan New Year is the most solemn and warm traditional festival for Tibetans. Because the whole people believe in Buddhism, the festival activities are filled with a strong religious atmosphere, and it is a national festival to entertain the gods and the people, celebrate and pray.
The preparation for the New Year usually begins at the beginning of1February of the previous year. In addition to buying new year's goods, eating, drinking and having fun, every household should make a grain bucket called "cutting horses", that is, put the fried wheat grains and ghee on the left and right sides of a wooden box painted with colored patterns, and insert colored flowers made of highland barley ears and ghee on it. We should also soak a bowl of highland barley seeds in water to make them grow an inch or two in the new year. The wheat seedlings of "chariots and horses" are enshrined in the middle of the magic plan, praying for a bumper harvest in the coming year. Near the festival, men are busy cleaning the courtyard, while women elaborately make "Kasai", a crispy pasta, which is divided into ear-shaped, butterfly-shaped, strip-shaped, square-shaped, round-shaped, painted with pigment and wrapped with sugar. It is not only a mysterious art decoration, but also a delicacy to entertain guests. The variety and color of "Gexi" often become the symbol of the hostess's diligence, wisdom and enthusiasm, which is particularly eye-catching in festivals.
1Enter New Year's Eve on February 29th. On this day, it is necessary to hang new curtains on the lintel, insert brand-new prayer flags on the roof, and draw auspicious patterns with white powder in front of the door, room and kitchen to form a festive atmosphere. In the evening, the whole family sit together and have a routine "ancient meal", which is similar to the Chinese New Year reunion dinner. "Gutu" means wrapping stones, wool, peppers, charcoal, coins and other items into a knot. Whoever eats these things will spit them out in public, which indicates the fate and intention of this person. Stone represents ruthlessness, wool represents softhearted, charcoal represents black heart, pepper represents unforgiving, and coins represent wealth. So everyone chatted and laughed with each other and set off a happy climax. Then, the whole family pinched a witch and two bowls with four bars, and poured the leftover "ancient soil" bones and other residues into the bowls with four bars. A woman ran over with a witch and leftovers and threw them outside. A man lit a pile of hay, followed closely and said, "The devil is out, the devil is out!" " "Let the hay burn to ashes with witches and leftovers. At the same time, children set off firecrackers, which can be regarded as driving away demons and ushering in an auspicious new year.
On New Year's Day, housewives get up early. At about five o'clock, we will cook a pot of Qiang Ku, that is, highland barley wine made of glutinous rice, brown sugar and milk residue, and give everyone a bowl. Before getting up, the family drank "strong Ku" in bed and went back to sleep with their heads covered. Housewives sit at the window waiting for the sunrise. When the morning dawned in the east, they hurried to fetch water by the river or well with buckets, so as to fetch the first bucket of water for the new year. Legend has it that the water at this time is the most holy and sweet. Whoever puts auspicious water first can avoid many disasters in the new year. At dawn, the whole family put on new clothes and finished washing, and the younger generation began to congratulate their elders on the New Year and say "Tashildler" to each other. Then start breakfast and drink highland barley wine with each other. In pastoral areas, housewives cook sheep's heads according to the number of family members and hold a box in front of the oldest man. He will give each person a sheep's head and a knife in order of age. Everyone peeled off the sheep's head around the stove to eat, and wished each other family harmony and prosperity in the new year. On New Year's Day, guests are generally not received. The streets are deserted, and people only hold celebrations and Buddhist activities at home.
On the second day of January, relatives and friends began to pay New Year greetings. Guests will say "Loza Tashildler" when they come to the door, and the host will greet the guests at the door with "Chema". First, the guest picked up a pinch of glutinous rice with his thumb, forefinger and middle finger and threw some highland barley into the sky to show his respect for God. Then I picked up a handful of glutinous rice and highland barley and sent them to my mouth to thank my host for his hospitality. Then sit down and have a drink and chat. From this day on, folk artists also went out to perform activities, singing Tibetan opera and "Zhega". Wealthy families agreed with folk artists in advance to go home to sing on time and enjoy with the guests. Artists who are not invited can take the initiative to sing. The singer wears a white mask and holds a wooden stick, and pleases his host with impromptu lyrics, such as how beautiful the hostess is, how wise the man is, and how lucky he will be in the new year, and so on. Generally, he can be rewarded with good wine and good meat. In streets and villages, people also hold mass songs and dances and Tibetan opera performances.
This kind of cultural activity of visiting each other and entertaining oneself will last for three to five days, and then gradually turn into a Buddhist activity focusing on entertaining the gods. In Lhasa, people mainly attend the Zhao Chuan Fa Conference. In Changdu in the east and Qiangtang grassland in the north, people began to turn to the mountains to worship Buddha and burn incense to temples, praying for a good weather and peace in the new year.
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The most important traditional festival of the Qiang nationality is the Qiang calendar New Year. The time is the first day of the tenth lunar month. Stop working and go out during the festival. Gather at home and make calves, lambs, chickens and other sacrifices with flour to worship ancestors and gods. In some places, the palace dances to the sacred forest, killing sheep and sprinkling blood in front of the altar to sacrifice to God. Mutton is taken back to each family, and then the family is invited to drink homemade wine, sing wine songs and dance with pots and pans to celebrate the harvest. Qiang nationality is a nation that can sing and dance well. Men, women and children will sing their own folk songs, whether it is labor production or weddings, they will sing and dance. Festivals are the best time to sing and dance. Therefore, on holidays, Qiang people should enjoy singing and dancing. "Nine Songs" is the traditional singing method of "Zajiu" in the New Year Festival. When singing, the host and guest sit side by side and sing in pairs. The rhythm is slow and melodious, the voice is loud and euphemistic, and the style is elegant and simple. The lyrics are long, expressing good luck, viewing congratulations and rewards, or telling family history and recalling ancestors' achievements. Festival singing is often accompanied by dancing. The forms are tiaoguozhuang, tiaojiazhuang and pigsty, among which tiaoguozhuang is the most popular. When dancing, men and women exchange places, creating a warm and happy holiday atmosphere. After about half a minute, a shovel finally got up again. Dozens of men and women attended, accompanied by singing and dancing, often singing and dancing. Qiangdi is the main musical instrument accompanying song and dance. This is an ancient six-stage double-tube clarinet. In addition, there are small gongs, hand bells, suona, sheepskin drums, huqin, oral strings and other musical instruments. These instruments can play, play and pop up unique folk music, which makes people in festivals extremely happy.