The folklore of Chongqing people, which has been developed over the centuries, such as paying homage to the New Year on the Spring Festival, observing lanterns on the 15th day of the 15th month, sacrificing to their ancestors on the Ching Ming Festival, enjoying the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as hanging wine fronts, catching the temple fairs, riding on sedan chairs, flying kites, and so forth, is more or less the same as that of other regions in China. But since Chongqing has five Tujia and Miao autonomous counties, both of these warm and traditional ethnic groups have their own unique folk festivals.
The dexterous Tujia people have a remarkable talent for dancing. Every year, from the third to the fifteenth day of the first month, the Tujia people hold grand rituals, prayers and joyous celebrations. Men, women and children put on their festive costumes and dance the joyful and enthusiastic hand-swinging dance. At one time, full of ear loud drums, full of eyes of the hovering dance shadow. The brave and warlike Miao people are fond of singing. The annual "Catch the Autumn" is a traditional festival for the Miao people to show off their singing voice. Young men and women can also "catch the fall" festival, through the voice of song to express their love for each other.
Sacrifices, Prayers, and Celebrations
The Tujia people in Qianjiang have large-scale sacrifices, prayers, and celebrations from the third to the fifteenth day of the first month of the year, during which they dance the Pendulum Dance. At the time of the event, there is a great deal of excitement, hundreds of miles around the Tujia people, men wearing Silankappu, women in colorful dresses, come in teams. Pendulum before the Hall, decorated with lanterns, sorcerer wearing a phoenix crown and high hat, waist tie eight skirt, hand-cranked brass bells Division knife, hands and feet in command. Three guns, drums and music, suddenly singing, men and women with each other, dancing and dancing, all night long. "Ten thousand red lanterns, a thousand stacks of people, a piece of lingering swinging hands song". Pendulum dance from the ancient Bayu dance, action has a single pendulum, double pendulum, pirouette pendulum, the performance of ritual ceremonies, labor scenes or combat action, fast-paced, beautiful dance, primitive breath shocking.
Miao "catching the fall"
Miao people can sing and dance well, the Miao song or high-pitched and impassioned, or the clear more melodious, people do not meet the song to meet, everyone will be singing, to song greetings, with the song of the narrative, with the song to send love. Song, is the shadow of the Miao people inch by inch, or young men and women to express their feelings, the intercommunication of the heart of the big matchmaker. Wedding, more away from the song, the master of the guests to sing thank you song, the matchmaker sing thank you matchmaking song, we have to sing the blessing of the newlyweds song, friends and family to race each other song, song, disk song, even sing three days and three nights.
"Catch the autumn" is the annual traditional festival of the Miao people, the day of the autumn, the cottage of the Miao people, dressed in festive costumes, from all directions to the autumn field, the field of drums and gongs, singing, playing swings, on the knife ladder, lion dance, play dragon lanterns, jumping monkeys inspired by the drums and drums, song stage race song, a bustling and unusual. Young men and women take advantage of the "Catch the Autumn" to find couples, the song of the song of the bride to show off their singing voice.
In addition, the Miao festivals, there are "March 3", "June 6", "July 7", "over the Miao Festival "and" Sheep and Horse Festival "and so on.
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Folk Culture
Bayu culture is part of the long history of traditional Chinese culture. The first traces of "Yanhuang" are in the Yellow River basin, while the rumors of the ancestors have begun to spread southward since Xia Yu. Yu's birthplace is rumored to be in three places, all in the Yangtze River basin, namely Sichuan, Jiangxi Jiujiang and Anhui. According to a number of historical records, Yu was born in Shihniu Township, Guangru County, Wenshan County, Sichuan Province, and married to Tushan of Jiangzhou. Ancient Jiangzhou is today's Chongqing. After the Qin Dynasty destroyed Ba State and set up Ba County, the Ba people took a long step into the process of Sinicization. Over the past three thousand years, Chongqing has left the marks of traditional Chinese culture everywhere. Chongqing and Hubei border, there are Qu Yuan, Wang Zhaojun's hometown; Fuling Zhouyi Park, is the birthplace of Cheng Zhu science; Dazu stone carvings, gathered a large number of treasures of China's Tang and Song dynasties grottoes; Hechuan Diaolong, preserved Nanjing military and civilian resistance to the invasion of the Mongolian army of the site of the ancient battlefield. Poets through the ages, such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Liu Yuxi, Su Shi, Lu You, Guo Moruo, etc., have written many popular famous lines here. Bayu people over the centuries to form the Spring Festival to pay homage to the New Year, the fifteenth day to watch the lanterns, Ching Ming ancestors, Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, as well as hanging wine fronts, catching the temple fair, sedan chair, kite flying and other folk customs, covering the wedding, funeral, entertainment and games, the concept of ghosts and gods, worship and taboos, the year seasonal, industrial and commercial transactions and other areas, and other regions of China, is not similar to the same. Chongqing's colorful local theater, opera, painting, handicrafts and mass festivals, etc., can also reflect the customs and folklore of Bayu.
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Chongqing Tujia Lunar New Year's Eve Dinner
"Buckle meat" and "sea pepper" are indispensable
Just before the month of Lunar New Year, the Chongqing Municipal People's Government has organized the Chongqing Tujia and Miao Autonomous County Board of Directors to prepare the Lunar New Year's Eve Dinner. Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, Banxi Township, red apricot village farmers Xu Wenxu family has been busy. In order to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner, some essential traditional main dishes can't be prepared without 10 days and half a month in advance. The most important of them are "buckled meat" and "dunked sea pepper". Xu Wenxu said, "buckle meat" seems simple, but to do the real fat, tender and crisp, is to put in a lot of work. The "dunking sea pepper" is the glutinous rice noodles mixed with ingredients and then filled with a hollowed out sea pepper, and then put into the pickle jar sealed for half a month, to the New Year's Eve, out of the oil can be fried on the table.
Xu Wenxu told reporters, the reason why the Tujia people attach importance to these two dishes, because it is rare to eat meat a few times a year, glutinous rice is also a rare thing, so the family will take these two dishes as a New Year's Eve dinner to show the opportunity to show their crafts, but also in order to treat the family after a year of hard work.
Surprisingly, seaweed was also once the main dish of the Tujia New Year's Eve dinner. Because it used to be difficult to eat salt in the areas where the Tujia people gathered, and medical conditions were poor, people often suffered from great neck disease due to iodine deficiency. In order to supplement iodine for their families, the Tujia people served a dish of seaweed at the New Year's Eve dinner to supplement the iodine needed by the human body. In the conditions at that time, kelp for the Tujia people, really can be called "mountain treasures, sea food", often eat simply impossible, so it became a good dish on the New Year's Eve dinner. Now, the kelp has long been out of the New Year's Eve dinner "stage".
The Tujia people ate the New Year's Eve dinner, each family will burn a wood, we sit around and listen to the old man telling stories, vigil until dawn, called "guarding the ridge" to express the love of the field.
The continuous migration of the Hakka people has made them more attached to their homeland. Nostalgia for their native landscape, customs, so they are tightly united, overcame one hardship after another, the traditional customs of the Hakka people become a strong link. Among the Hakka people of Sichuan origin, the traditional customs and habits of the Hakka people have been maintained for two or three hundred years.
The Hakka people attach great importance to the Lunar New Year. Every household hangs colorful lanterns, pastes door gods, and writes auspicious language on grain silos and poultry and livestock pens to indicate an auspicious harvest for the coming year. Conditions of the Hakka townships from the first month to February to play the lamp dance, the types of lamps are dragon lamps, lion lamps, clam lamps, etc., which is the Hakka people in the origin of the colorful lamps of the custom handed down to this day.
In addition, there are large-scale celebrations - dragon dance, there are colorful dragons, fire dragons, dragons, water dragons, off the dragon and and on the Sichuan dragon. Among them, the Shangchuan Dragon is the most distinctive. Shangchuan dragon is the early Qing Dynasty Liu immigrants from Jiangxi Province brought to the west of Sichuan, by the Liu clan year after year to tie the dragon, year after year to dance the dragon, for the New Year's Day, pray for the wind and rain. Shangchuan dragon is huge and majestic, operated by thirty to fifty people dancing, the dragon head weighs thirty to fifty pounds, playing the dragon skillful, road more.
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Customs of Catching the New Year in Chongqing
The most ethnic festival of the Tujia people is the New Year's Day, and the most ethnic song and dance in the festival is the "Sheba Day".
The Tujia people, in their hand-waving activities, remember the hardships of their ancestors, honor the achievements of their ancestors, and display the life of the Tujia forefathers, and the whole activity is characterized by strong traces of ancestor worship.
New Year's Eve: The Tujia people worship their ancestors and call the day of ancestor worship "New Year's Eve".
But the time of the "New Year" varies according to family name, clan, and region. For example, the Peng family name in the west of the Youshui River and the six major surnames of Shidi Peng, Bai, Li, Ma, Cai, Tian for the third of March; the Tian family name in the village of Longtou, Youshui Township for the eighth of April; can be a large, sandy beaches, Youshui townships Li family name for the first day of July.
Over the clan year, to be held in the ancestral hall ancestor worship ceremony, the first sacrifice to the king of the soil, and then sacrifice the ancestors of the clan. Ancestral hall, the whole day firecrackers, iron cannon roar, horn sound, "ho feed" burst, its pomp is difficult to compare with other festivals, and gradually changed to household sacrifice. Sacrifice to the king of the soil, there are Lord Peng, Tian good man, to the old man; also sacrificed Ran Xuanhu, Tian Xuanhu, Yang Xuanhu and Ma Fubo. Among the ancestors of the clan, the Yang family sacrificed to Yang Zaisi, the Li family sacrificed to the three ancestors of the "Tian" generation, part of the Peng family and Xie family of the eight great kings.
Before the sacrifice, touring the townships string village, visiting friends and relatives, song feast, really "full of songs, guests such as flow of joy," up to three, five days long.
Catch the New Year: Tujia Spring Festival, generally one or two days earlier than the Han Chinese, there are six or seven days ahead of time, known as "Catch the New Year". The time of "catching the New Year" varies according to the clan branch of the family name. In Youyang County, for example; Laozhai Township Peng surname, Lunar New Year on the 29th day of the lunar month; Houxi Township Peng surname, Lunar New Year on the 24th day of the lunar month; can be large townships and beach townships Li surname, Lunar New Year on the 28th day of the lunar month. The Li family in KeDa Township and Beach Township celebrate "Catch the New Year" on the twenty-eighth day of the lunar month. The way of celebrating "Catch the New Year" is not exactly the same. Kedah, beach township Li surname over the "Catch the New Year", prohibit the killing of chickens, pigs, night ban on oil lamps, can only light candles, and overnight. Part of the Peng surname over the "New Year", early in the morning by the man to cook. Rice is ready, ancestor worship is completed, and then call women, children get up. After the meal, the whole family went out to play. Tujia people usually use pots and pans to cook, over rice "is cut into meat, plus condiments, a layer of rice layer of meat," radish, etc., and cook a pot. "New Year's rice" done, to first worship ancestors. Sacrifice, burning incense and candles, burning money and paper, three kneeling and nine kowtowing, remembering the virtues of the ancestors, praying for the blessing of the ancestors.
The reunion of the New Year, the first fruit trees and plowshares, cattle pens, pig pens, chicken coops to feed, to the pestle, mill, hoe, etc. stick "New Year's Eve money", in order to seek a bumper harvest, six animals thrive, fruitful, prosperous.
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New Year's Eve is the most important New Year's Eve, which was recorded in the Wei and Jin dynasties. On the night of New Year's Eve, the old and the young with their families stay up to keep the New Year's Eve, get together and drink soundly, *** enjoy the joy of family, which is a New Year's Eve custom that is still highly valued by the descendants of the Yellow Emperor. After the first rooster crow, the new year began, men, women and children are dressed in festive attire, first to the elders in the family birthday wishes, and then go to friends and relatives, congratulate each other on the blessing. At this time, the land of God, everywhere sparkling color, from the first to the fifteenth, people are immersed in the joy, peace, civilized atmosphere of the festival.
"One night even two years old, five nights divided into two days"
New Year's Eve night, the family reunion, ate the New Year's Eve dinner, chatting around the fireplace, say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, this is China's prevailing New Year's Eve custom of the New Year's Eve. According to historical records, this custom is the earliest its in the North and South Dynasties." Is the night, the ban in the firecracker mountain call, the sound heard outside, the common people's home, sitting around the stove, up to the day do not sleep." Later gradually prevailed, to the early Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong Li Shimin wrote a "year-keeping" poem: "Cold resignation from the winter snow, warm with the spring breeze." Until today, our people are still accustomed to the New Year's Eve night vigil, outside the house when the firecrackers, indoor sitting around the fireplace or watching TV, laughing and talking.
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Minorities in Chongqing still retain their own traditional customs. The Tujia, who live in Qianjiang District, have traditional festivals and folk activities such as New Year's Eve, New Year's rush, singing Nuo opera, dancing with swinging hands and jumping lanterns. New Year's Day is the Tujia ancestor worship days, hand dance is a kind of folk activities evolved from the sacrifice. The Tujia people in Xiushan, from the third to the fifteenth day of the first month of the year, spontaneously form a lantern team, people carry lanterns, walk around the house, beating gongs and drums to pay homage to the New Year's blessings. Xiushan lantern tune "*** Yang Bian Tan" is famous at home and abroad.
Catch Autumn Festival is a festival of the Miao people in the border area of Chongqing, Guizhou and Hunan. Every year, on the day of "Autumn", people in Miao villages invite their friends and families to gather at the autumn festival site in full costume. On the field of drums and gongs, the sound of singing, playing swings, on the knife ladder, lion dance, play dragon lanterns, singing stage race song, etc. is fascinating. From the first to the fifteenth day of the first month of the year is the Nanchuan Miao's "Treading on Mountains Festival", where men dance with the sheng, girls sing, and young men and women blow the sheng and sing to each other to tell their hearts and find a partner. Every festival, all ethnic groups sing and dance, lively and extraordinary. In addition, there are sheep and horse festival, Mars Festival, crying marriage, jumping funeral and other national customs and activities. The colorful folk customs have become an important tourism resource in Chongqing.