The Spring Festival of the Dong ethnic minority has the customs of eating "more rice", "Niancha", grabbing "head water", "worshiping ancestors" and "performing the New Year". "and "traveling in the New Year" and other customs.
The Dong people live in the borders of Hunan, Guizhou and Guizhou, and they celebrate the Spring Festival with a big year and a small year.
The Dong people call the 29th day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar as the small year, also known as the "Auntie year", is a festival in honor of Auntie, which means that all generations of the ancestors of the sisters married, the year side to go home to visit their relatives and reunion.
Thirty lunar New Year, New Year's Eve night, to send the old and welcome the new, lights all night, happy to eat "more rice". This night the village village young men and women in the village villages to visit each other, eat "New Year's tea".
Eating "New Year's Tea" is very interesting, that is, the girls (or women) of each family, pick a bucket of water to the well, and so on the old man to honor and after (which means that the water does not forget to dig wells), the girls will be together with a spoon to scoop up the water, scooped to the well with white foam for the most auspicious. The girls use this water to cook fragrant oil tea for guests and family members, which is called eating "New Year's tea".
On the first day of the new year in the early morning, to grab the "first water" when the whole cottage rang a piece of spring to receive the blessing of the sound of firecrackers, the students will quickly pick up the bucket, hand-held torches, rushed to the well platform, playing a quart of water to quickly pick home. Because this is the first water of the new year, so called "head water". Dong people to grab the "first water" as auspicious and holy things, every family to comply with the ancient custom of grabbing only a quart of water.
Picked back the "head water", to special storage, can not be used to wash things. Can only be used for cooking, stir-frying, girls, daughters-in-law to the "head of the water" boiled, washed with glutinous rice brewed wine with eggs, soaked in aromatic Dong family tea, hospitality. According to legend, eating the rice, fried vegetables and oil tea made from the headwater will help to eliminate illnesses and disasters.
On the first day of the new year, the Dong family first worship ancestors. Girls open the door first thing, is to invite their female companions, with the cliffs and waterfront, to pick the red, pick home, the most beautiful branch of red into the chicken cage, dedicated to the rooster, in return for the rooster's crowing in the morning of the grace.
During the Spring Festival, the Dong people go from village to village to pay homage to the guests, called "line of the year" and also called "township guest", is a unique custom that other ethnic groups do not have.