The origin story of the Yi Torch Festival
Long ago, heaven and earth were connected. One year, the god of the sky, Siti Gujia, sent Siti Abi to the earth to collect taxes. When the harvest failed due to a disaster on earth, people couldn't afford to pay the tax, and a Hercules on earth, Otti Raba, who could eat copper and iron, killed the tax collector, Sijar Abi.
The gods were furious, and first sent a flood to drown the people on earth, but the flood was overcome. But the flood was overcome by the people. The gods then released all kinds of pests to the earth to eat the people's crops, and Othiraba and the people gathered around a fire to discuss a cure for the pests, and inadvertently found that a bug that fell into the fire was quickly burned to death.
So, the Russian body of Rabah on the organization of the people to raise torches to burn insects, and ultimately defeated the insect pests, captured a good harvest. Over time, this has become a custom, forming the Yi Torch Festival.
Expanded:
In the eyes of the Yi people, fire symbolizes light, justice, prosperity, and a powerful force that can destroy all evil. The Torch Festival is a festival of joy, love and happiness for the Yi people.
The Yi Torch Festival is usually celebrated for three days, the first day of which the whole family gathers and eats wine to congratulate each other. People cook the meat of livestock and cut it into heaps to sacrifice to the gods and ancestors, and then use it to drink wine. In the evening, torches are burned to light the prairie, which usually lasts for three nights. People's emotions are very enthusiastic. People take the village as a unit, holding up torches around the village and the fields to shine prairie, as if a thousand fire dragons flying.
The next day and the third day, the torch festival into the climax, the whole Liangshan boiling. The young men put on their national costumes and wrapped their headscarves with heroes' knots; the women wore pleated skirts and gathered on the vast grassy dams to engage in all kinds of traditional sports competitions. The boys compete in wrestling, horse racing and archery, while the women sing, dance and play the mouth harp.
China.org-Minority Customs: Yi Ethnic Groups