The Knife Pole Festival.
Cutter's Pole Festival:
The festival is a big one, and the Lisu people from inside and outside of the country, dressed in festive costumes, gather from all directions at the Cutter's Pole Field on the banks of the Yangnai River. In the night falls on the earth, the knife pole field on the inside and outside of the many fires lit. Suddenly, the four big fires burning in the center of the square rose up in the air, irradiating the crowd in the spring.
Then the gong rang out, and the people on the knife-pole field took each other's hands and danced around the bright fires, dancing a brisk three-stringed dance. When the four piles of fire on the field burned down to the red coals, the host of the event announced that "jumping sea of fire" began.
Then, five barefooted brave men immediately broke into the sea of fire, bouncing in it, their rapid footsteps stepping on countless sparks flying around, like flying meteors.
Next, the fire breakers with lightning speed, each hand stick red hot coals, respectively, in the face and body scrub, and then let the fireball in their hands fly alkyne tumbling, rubbing. The crowd of onlookers, sometimes cheerful, sometimes nervous, sometimes admiring, sometimes surprised ... burst into a burst of applause.
After a tense and intense performance female pile of fire coals were stepped into pieces, the flame has been dying, "jumping sea of fire" activities come to an end. The next day, the knife pole field erected two more than twenty meters high safflower tree pole, the tree crosses thirty-six blade up the long knife. At noon, the happy crowd once again filled the square.
With the presiding officer, drums and gongs, firecrackers, last night's "jumping sea of fire" of the five fog big head wearing a blue cloth cap, dressed in a large, red robes, barefoot rushed to the knife under the tree, each filled with a cup of gallantry wine a drink.
Then jumped on the knife pole, hands grasping the upper surface of the knife, barefoot diagonally stepped on the lower sharp edge of the knife, the use of qigong skills usually practiced to support the palms of the feet, alternating hands and feet, step by step, upward climb. When the warriors climbed to the top of the high pole, the field clusters of the audience, each jaw-dropping, and burst out loud cheers.
It is said to commemorate an ancient Han Chinese hero who showed great kindness to the Lisu people. The Lisu people to the death of this hero as the anniversary of the traditional festival of their own people, and with the mountain of swords, the sea of fire and other symbolic rituals, to express the willingness to go into the fire in return for the feelings. Knife pole festival this day, a few strong men first performance "fire" ceremony.
They jumped into the red-hot coals with bare feet and performed various stunts. The next day, they sharpened 36 long knives, the blade upward respectively with rattan tied to two 20-meter-high wooden frame, into a knife ladder.
Performers climbed to the top of the ladder, barefoot and empty-handed, and performed a variety of difficult maneuvers at the top of the pole. Today, this thrilling traditional rituals, has evolved into the Lisu people good man performing stunts sports activities.