Kuoshi Festival and Bathing Song Contest
The Lisu people have many festivals, the larger ones include "Kuoshi Festival", "New Rice Festival", "Knife Pole Festival" and "Torch Festival" , "Harvest Festival", "Bath Party", "Song Festival", "Crossbow Shooting Party", etc. "Kuoshi Festival" is also called "Yoshi Festival". "Kuoshi" is the transliteration of Lisu, which means "the beginning of the year" and "new year". It is the most solemn traditional festival of the Lisu people. Because in the past, the date was mostly determined by observing phenology, there is no unified and definite festival date in various places. It is usually held from late December to January of the following year in the Gregorian calendar. In December 1993, the People's Government of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province decided to declare December 20 to 22 every year as the Kuaishu Festival, so that Lisu compatriots everywhere can welcome the New Year and celebrate the festival together. During the festival, people generally have to brew water and wine, kill chickens and pigs, pound rice cakes, and prepare various sumptuous foods. They also need to pick off pine branches as many as the number of men in the family and insert them at the door to bring good health and good fortune. As is the custom of the Han people, there is a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. Even if someone is in a foreign country, family members should leave a seat and set out dishes and chopsticks for them. In some places, starting from New Year's Eve, it is forbidden to go to other people's homes. Even fathers, sons and brothers who have separated from each other are not allowed to communicate with each other. Restrictions were not lifted until the third day of the Lunar New Year. In most places, starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year, people gathered in sunbathing areas or open areas to carry out a variety of cultural and sports entertainment activities such as antiphonal singing, dancing, swinging, and crossbow shooting competitions. Some Lisu compatriots in the Nujiang area also go to the Denggeng Bathhouse in Lushui County to participate in the "Bathhouse Song Contest". What's interesting is that during the Kuai Festival, the first piece of cake cooked by any Lisu compatriot will be given to the dog first. It is said that this is to thank the dog for "bringing food to the world." There are many legends about dogs and grains circulated among the Lisu people. For example, one of them said that humans wasted so much food in ancient times that the gods were furious when they found out and ordered all the food to be taken back to heaven. Humanity is facing catastrophe. In this critical moment, a dog risked his own life and climbed up the heavenly palace to steal grain seeds and save mankind. The Knife Rod Festival falls on February 8th in the lunar calendar of the Lisu people. According to legend, the Knife Rod Festival on February 8th in the lunar calendar of the Lisu people commemorates an ancient Han hero who showed great kindness to the Lisu people. The Lisu people designate the death anniversary of this hero as a traditional festival of their own nation, and use symbolic rituals such as climbing mountains of knives and descending into seas of fire to express their willingness to go through fire and water to repay him. On the day of the Knife-pole Festival, several strong men first performed the "fire-walking" ceremony. They bare their feet, jump into the red-hot coals, and perform various stunts. The next day, they tied 36 sharpened long knives with the blades upward and tied them horizontally to two wooden frames more than 20 meters high with rattan rods to form a knife ladder. The performers climb to the top from the edge of the sharp knife with bare hands and feet, and perform various difficult moves on the top of the pole. Today, this thrilling traditional memorial ceremony has evolved into a sports activity in which Lisu heroes perform stunts. The "Bath Singing Competition", also known as the "Spring Bathing Festival", is also a traditional festival of the Lisu people. Now it is held more than the first month of the Lisu New Year. The location is more than 10 kilometers north of Liuku City, the capital of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, in Denggeng and Mazhanghe hot springs. At that time, people from neighboring counties and districts dressed in costumes. There were loads of people carrying dry food, luggage, and even cooking utensils. The usually quiet hot springs are now full of tents, crowded with people, singing and laughing, and it is very lively. The Spring Bath Festival, which used to be centered on bathing and curing diseases, has now become a holiday for people to relax and enjoy singing and dancing. Especially young people in their prime, there are dozens or hundreds of people in groups, competing songs and poems, looking for a loving partner, staying up all night, never getting tired of it.
"Lover buried in the river sand"
is a traditional festival entertainment and courtship activity for Lisu youth in Fugong County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It is held around the fourth and fifth day of the first lunar month every year. At that time, young men and women will gather on the banks of the Nu River to sing, dance and play. They also have to dig a sand pit on the beach with the help of their companions, carry the loved one into the "burial", and pretend to be very sad and crying, singing funeral songs and dancing funeral dances. After the trouble is over, the person you like is pulled out. They believe that through this activity, they can firstly express the sincerity and depth of the relationship between lovers, and secondly, they can bury the "god of death" attached to the person they like, so that the person they like can live a long and healthy life.
"Chewing tobacco and "bonding wine"
Lisu men and women have the custom of chewing tobacco and drinking. When guests come, they must present tobacco shreds; men and women must throw away tobacco shreds when seeking a partner. The box is a token. This shows the role of cut tobacco in the life of the Lisu people. When chewing tobacco, they first put the cut tobacco into their mouth, and then put some black gelatinous substance made from betel nut root, plum bark, chestnut leaves and slaked lime slowly. Chewing. Soon, the lips looked like they were painted coconut red. Nowadays, some women think that chewing tobacco is immodest, and quitting smoking has gradually become their conscious behavior. It is a playful way for men and women to socialize. They often store the high-strength wine they brew at home to entertain guests. As for banquets with big singing and dancing, they often drink the temporarily brewed wine. To avoid getting drunk. The most primitive container used by the Lisu people when drinking was bamboo tubes. Nowadays, ceramic vessels are sometimes used. When drinking, the host takes a bamboo tube and drinks it up face to face with the guest. No wine should spill over the floor. , otherwise you have to start all over again. Drinking "wine with each other" is absolutely not to avoid suspicion between men and women. If a husband and his wife have a banquet together, the husband drinks with other women face to face, and the wife also has a "double cup" with other men. This is a normal phenomenon. New arrivals often feel hot in the face and bloated by the locals, but the host remains calm. It turns out that when the host and guest drink the "face-to-face wine", the host is afraid of the wine spilling, so the mouth of the bottle is slightly tilted towards the guest. , the guests are afraid of the wine spilling, so they naturally open their mouths to receive the wine, but the host drinks less. However, this kind of drinking scene is indeed unique and rare, and often leaves a good impression on the guests.
Hot springs. "Spring Bathing"
The Lisu people in the Nujiang Gorge still retain the custom of "spring bathing". Wherever there are hot springs along the river, they are places where people gather to bathe during the Spring Festival. For food and luggage, build a bamboo shelter not far from the hot spring, or stay in a cave for three to five days, and bathe in the hot spring. Generally, men go to the upper pool and women to the lower pool. , but the distance is far. Some people bathe five or six times a day. They believe that only by repeated bathing can they eliminate diseases, enhance immunity, and have enough energy to devote themselves to work and production in the new year. In the hot spring area near Liuku, As early as a hundred years ago, a mass "Hot Spring Poetry Competition" was formed. At that time, singers from several kilometers away would come to compete in singing and poetry. At this time, there were dots of white tents near the hot springs. There are sweet rice wine and fragrant New Year food beside the bonfire that is kept day and night. The singers recite poems and antiphonal songs while tasting the wine and food they brought. This is how the old and new singers inherit and carry forward the traditions of their nation. In addition to this activity, Lisu youths in Fugong area are encouraged to participate in cultural and entertainment activities to add joy to the Spring Festival. There is also an "egg-shooting" crossbow competition. During the competition, young men carry a quiver and hold a crossbow. Their sweetheart holds a bowl on their head and puts an egg on the bottom of the bowl (or a wooden bowl on their head). Hold rice and eggs) as targets and stand a few meters away. When the game started, the young man calmly pulled the string, nocked the arrow, and fired the shot. There was only a "pop" sound, and the eggs flew, but his sweetheart was safe and sound. Suddenly, a warm applause broke out on the field. This is a thrilling and exciting competition, an activity that tests skills, courage, and true feelings. Of course, a young man with poor skills would rather miss the egg than hurt his sweetheart.
Edit this section for important festivals
The Lisu people used to believe in primitive religion, worship nature, and believe that all things have animism and there are wizards. At the beginning of the 20th century, some Western missionaries entered the Dehong and Nujiang areas and introduced Christianity and Catholicism. Before 1950, the Lisu people used the natural calendar to divide the year into flower blooming month, bird singing month, volcano burning month, hunger month, gathering month, harvest month, wine cooking month, hunting month and so on. There are 10 seasonal months: month, new year month and house-building month. Major festivals include bathing parties, harvest festivals, Chinese New Year festivals, etc. The Lisu people in Tengchong, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, celebrate the 'Knife Rod Festival' on the 17th day of the second lunar month every year.
With both feet in a lunge position, stand firmly on the front foot to keep the body balanced, push forward with the back foot, lean forward and push the opponent, and you will win if you push the opponent out of the prescribed limit. Although this activity is simple, if you want to win, you must have both strength, experience and skills. Only by skillfully combining the two aspects can you be sure of victory. For example, when the two sides are in a stalemate, they can suddenly swing their body and wooden pole to cause the opponent's center of gravity to become unbalanced, and then take the opportunity to push the opponent out of bounds. Or use the lever principle, the front hand slightly lifts the top bar, and the back hand presses down, which can achieve the miraculous effect of moving a thousand pounds four or two times. Swinging is the most popular sports and entertainment activity among the Lisu people with the largest number of participants. The swings of the Lisu people are divided into three types: "Dangqiu", "Cheqiu" and "Moqiu". "Dangqiu" uses a rope or rattan as a rope, and hangs it on the horizontal branches of tall trees or a specially designed swing frame. There are two types of swinging methods: single person and double person. The competition method is to win by biting the prescribed leaves or swinging the highest. "Cheqiu" is named after its shape like a spinning wheel. The "car" is made of two rectangular wooden frames crossing each other. An axis crosses the intersection and can be rotated on the wooden stakes. A hanging stool is tied to each of the four frames parallel to the axis. Competition method: A group of 4 people sit on 4 hanging stools respectively. They rotate around the axis with the "car". When it turns to the side of the ground, they push hard to make the "car" rotate continuously to complete the competition within the specified time. The one with the most circles wins. "Moqiu" consists of upright columns and a horizontal beam. The column is about 1.5 meters high, and a small grinding shaft is cut out of the top. The crossbar is about five or six meters long, with a small hole drilled in the middle and put on the grinding shaft at the top of the column, so that it can rotate. Because when it rotates, the two ends swing up and down like a swing, and move around like a grinding mill, hence the name. When using it, the number of people on both sides of the crossbar is equal, and they hold the crossbar at the same time and lie on it. If the person's feet touch the ground and push hard, the moqiu will fly around, and the two ends will alternately go up and down, which is thrilling and interesting. It can not only exercise the body, but also cultivate people's brave spirit
Edit this astronomical calendar
There are many mountainous areas where the Lisu people live, and the climate is extremely complex. For example, the Nujiang, Bijiang, Fugong, Gongshan and Lushui areas, especially Biluo Snow Mountain and Gaoligong Mountain, stand on both sides of the Nujiang River to the east and west. There is a vertical drop of more than 4,000 meters from the Nu River, Lancang River, and Dulong river valleys to the top of the mountain, forming three different climates: hot, warm, and cold. I was sweating like rain by the river at noon, but on the top of the mountain, it was still cold in the morning and evening, but the mountainside was mild and pleasant. For a long time, the Lisu people have been very familiar with scientifically mastering production seasons and arranging crop varieties according to the timing of terrain distribution and altitude. They created a "natural calendar" based on the changing laws of natural phenomena such as mountain flowers blooming, mountain birds chirping, and heavy snowfall, and used it as a phenology to judge production seasons. Over the years, the Lisu people have been accustomed to dividing the four seasons of the year into: the flower blooming month (March), the bird singing month (April), the volcano burning month (May), the hunger month (June), and the gathering month (June). There are ten seasons including July and August>, harvest month (September and October), wine-making month (November), hunting month (December>, New Year month (January), and house-building month (February)). According to "Yunnan Beizhengzhi": "Flowers and birds are all valued in farming. Plum blossoms bloom once every year to mark the year, bamboo flowers bloom once every sixty years to mark the age of sixty years, and azaleas are blooming workers. The female flowers bloom and are suitable for farming." "Yunlong Prefecture Chronicles" said: "The first day of the winter lunar month is New Year's Day, and chestnut leaves are used as New Year's trees." They were able to grasp the essence of the evolution process from the cyclic changes of the four seasons, which is the movement of the earth. And extended this understanding to the understanding of the universe, and came to the understanding that the constellations change once every twelve years, and sixty years are one period.