Torch Festival is usually held on June 24th of the lunar calendar every year. The main activities are bullfighting, sheep fighting, cockfighting, horse racing, wrestling, singing and dancing, etc. However, due to the different nationalities holding the Torch Festival, there are more or less differences in the origin, holding time and festival activities of the Torch Festival. So, what is the origin of the torch festival of all ethnic groups in Yunnan?
Yi ethnic group
According to legend, the Yi people once had a very beautiful and capable girl. She fell in love with a young Yi man named Along a long time ago, but men from the nearby 12 tribe still came to propose. Among these suitors, there is a local official who is very fierce and cruel. He said to the girl: If you don't agree to my proposal, I will kill the cottage and let the whole village suffer with you. The girl had no choice but to agree to marry him on June 24. On the wedding day, the girl put on a white dress, a short black coat and a flower apron on her chest, and lit a fire in front of the house.
When the head of 12 department arrived, the girl came out of the room, took a deep look at Aaron, and then jumped into the fire. Aaron tried to hug the girl at the moment she jumped, but only pulled off one of her skirts. In this way, the girl died of double suicide.
12 In memory of her, the boys pushed a big cow to each other. Whoever can push the cow down will win. After that, everyone killed cows, drank, sang and danced to appease the dead. Later, the undertaker designated June 14 as the Torch Festival. Aaron's torn skirt became the belt of Yi women, and the girl's smoke became the morning mist of the mountain. According to the local people, whenever the magpie sings in the morning, a girl will faintly appear in the distance of Yi Shan, so people call her Magpie Girl.
Naxi language
Legend has it that Old Apu, the god in the sky, was jealous of the happy life on earth, so he sent an old god to the earth and asked him to burn the earth into a sea of fire. It is strange to see a man carrying an older child, but the younger child is led by him. He came forward to ask why, and the man told him that the child he was pregnant with was his nephew and the child he was holding was his son. Because his brother and sister-in-law are dead, he should take good care of his nephew.
Hearing this, God was deeply moved by the human virtue. He felt that people were so kind that he couldn't bear to hurt them, so he told the man the news that God was going to burn the earth. He asked the man to tell people that he would light a torch in front of his house on June 24, so that disaster could be avoided. In the past, every household lit a torch on this night. The gods thought that people had died in the fire, so they fell into a deep sleep and never woke up. Later, Naxi people designated this day as Torch Festival.
Laku nationality
It is said that there once lived a good man and a wicked man on the mountain. The wicked only eat human eyes. On June 24, the good man wrapped beeswax in the goat's horn, and then lit the beeswax to let the goat find the wicked. When the wicked saw the fire, they thought that someone had hit him with a musket, so they quickly hid in the cave and blocked the hole with stones. But I never thought that there was a flood in the cave and the wicked drowned. Since then, people no longer worry about evil people eating their eyes, and finally they can farm and live peacefully. In order to thank the kind people for their great kindness, the Lahu people designated this day as Torch Festival to commemorate it.
Bai (ba)
In the early Tang Dynasty, there were six tribes in Yunnan, collectively called Liu Zhao. The southernmost tribe in the six imperial edicts is the Mengshe imperial edict, also known as Nanzhao. Nanzhao has developed rapidly and become increasingly powerful, so its ambition has gradually increased. One day, Pelugo, the king of Nanzhao, invited five other imperial edict leaders to a banquet. Mrs. Chariti, the wife of Deng Ruozhao, the leader, thought that Pelog had ulterior motives and advised her husband not to go, but he wouldn't listen. When she left, the charity lady wore an iron ring on her husband's arm with tears in her eyes to protect herself.
On the day of the party, Pirog invited everyone to an attic made of pine trees, which is Song Minglou. When everyone was drunk, Pirog ordered the building to be set on fire, and the leaders of the five imperial edicts were burned to death. When Mrs. Charity learned the news, she hurried to Nanzhao. Facing the ashes of Song Minglou, Mrs. Charity was heartbroken. She dived into the ashes, pulled out her husband's hoop, and then found his body and took it home.
Later, Pilog heard about this clever and virtuous charity lady and wanted to marry her. However, Mrs. Charity resolutely refused to get married. After burying her husband, she closed the city and followed her dead husband, leaving only this touching story. After that, the Bai people in Yunnan celebrated the Torch Festival to commemorate the historical story of burning down the Songming Building and the brave and clever charity lady.
Nowadays, Torch Festival has become one of the most solemn festivals in Yunnan minority areas, and it has been endowed with newer and more contents. While inheriting and carrying forward the outstanding part of the traditional Torch Festival, the local people have also integrated the atmosphere of many times. For example, during the festival, many foreign tourists will come one after another, and the Torch Festival will become a good opportunity to attract people from all walks of life to come for sightseeing and trade talks. Not only that, all kinds of mass cultural and sports performances held during the festival are also more colorful year by year, providing people with a rich literary feast.