Traditional Festivals of the Bai People
The Bai people are the 15th largest ethnic minority group in China, mainly located in Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and other provinces, with the largest population of Bai people in Yunnan Province, mainly living in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. In addition, they are also found in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality.
What are the most important traditional festivals of the Bai people?
Torch Festival, March Street (Ethnic Festival), Ching Ming Festival, Mid-Yuan Festival and Winter Solstice are the traditional festivals of the Bai. In addition, the Bai people are also the same as the Han people, the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year to the tenth of the Spring Festival, the first day of the custom of grabbing new water, who is the first to receive the first soup of the New Year spring water, then the next year will certainly be very auspicious. From the first to the fifth day of the first month, you are not allowed to move metal utensils other than kitchen utensils, splashing water and sweeping the ground. On the second day of the New Year, they offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and on the third day, they offer sacrifices to mountains and grasslands. When the Nujiang Bai people worship their ancestors before dinner on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, the presence of outsiders is taboo. On the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, you have to ask for the things you borrowed from others back, otherwise you will not find money and food in the coming year. Thus, things borrowed from other people's homes must be returned to them before the New Year's Eve. The seventh day of the Lunar New Year is the Women's Day, women don't cook, don't carry water, and don't do any other labor, but have fun; the ninth day of the Lunar New Year is the Men's Day, men rest. The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is the Ancestor Festival. The Bai in Yuanjiang County prohibit killing during the annual March Meeting or the Tianzi Temple Festival. The Bai people in Yunlong County do not allow people to walk around on the half of the seventh month.
Torch Festival Robbing Shengdu
Historically, the Bai worshipped the Lord of Honour, which is now preserved as a custom, manifested in the fact that there is a temple of the Lord of Honour in almost every village, which enshrines a clay or wooden statue of the Lord of Honour. Entering the temple of the Lord of the Bai, must be pious, solemn, prohibited loud noise, prohibited from touching the Lord of the idol. The Bai also worship various deities. The Bai people around Nujiang Prefecture, if someone is sick, they must make sacrifices such as cows and pigs for heavenly offerings. The activity usually takes place under a big tree on the top of a hill near the village, and the whole village participates. This big tree is considered sacred and inviolable, and cutting it down is forbidden.
The Bai people of Lanping County hold primitive rituals in the ninth and tenth months of the lunar calendar every year. The ceremony is held under a big tree next to the village, with a yellow cow as a sacrifice, called ? Dengtian cattle? The tree is called the "Tianniu Tree". The tree is called "Tengtianniu Tree". The tree is called "Tengtengniu Tree". and the tree is called "Tianniu Tree". Tengniu Tree. are sacred and inviolable, and it is forbidden to cut them down and to urinate or defecate under them.
March Street
March Street Dragon Boat Race
Yunnan Dali Bai March Street, also known as the Dali March Meeting, is a grand festival of the Bai people and the street period. It is held from the 15th to the 20th of March in the summer calendar every year. March Street is not only the largest material exchange event in western Yunnan, but also the unique style of western Yunnan ethnic sports and cultural entertainment event.
Tang Dynasty, Nanzhao capital city of Yang Tho Baocheng (now the ancient city of Dali) is not only the political, economic and cultural center of Yunnan, but also Nanzhao and Southeast Asia to store the ancient countries for cultural exchanges, trade and commerce of the important gateway. At that time Buddhism has been introduced to Nanzhao, Nanzhao white ancestors to Guanyin Bodhisattva extremely worship, ? On March 15 of each year, all gathered, with vegetables and food sacrifices, the name is sacrificed to the Goddess of Mercy, later trading here, passed on as sacrifices to the Goddess of Mercy Street? This is the earliest March Street. After that, March Street gradually evolved from the religious temple for the folk material exchange. Ming Dynasty Bai historian Li Yuanyang's "Yunnan Tongzhi" recorded: ? Guanyin City, March 15 under the Cangshan Mountain trading goods from various provinces. Since the Tang Yong Hui period to the present, the dynasties have changed, the city remains unchanged. Qing Dynasty, March Street reached an unprecedented scale and prosperity.
In 1991, the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture March Street as? March Street Ethnic Festival. During the festival, Chinese and foreign merchants gathered, the market is active. By 12 counties and cities to participate in the large-scale cultural performances, performances of the king whip, octagonal drums, double flying swallows, dragon lanterns and other ethnic characteristics of the dance. In addition, there are horse races, Dongjing music performance, dragon boat races and other cultural and sports activities.
Torch Festival
Torch Festival in Bai language is called Fuwangwu, held every year on the 25th day of the 6th month of the summer calendar, is a traditional festival of the Bai people, the day of the festival, men, women, and children gathered together to worship their ancestors. Through worshiping torches, lighting torches, playing torches, jumping torches and other activities, wishing for a good harvest and prosperity of six animals.
On the eve of the festival, the village erected a large torch about 20 meters high. With a pine tree as a pole, on the bundle of straw, pine branches, the top of a flag. The flagpole with a bamboo pole connected to three paper gabions made of rising bucket, meaning that even three times. Around each bucket inserted with the country peace and prosperity, the wind and rain, life expectancy, the five grains, six animals and other words and paintings of small paper flags; bucket hanging below the torch pear, begonia fruit, firecrackers, lamps and colorful flags.
At noon on the Torch Festival, people bring small torches, paper money, incense and candles, offerings, to the ancestral graves to sweep, pay homage. After the small torches lit, sprinkle three pine incense smoked tomb, and so the torch burned to the handle bar before going home. If the cemetery is far away from home, the festival will be held at home.
Before sunset, the family ate dinner in advance, help the old and the young to go out to watch the torch and horse racing. There are both adults and children who run the horses. After three laps around the torch, you can gallop into the distance. Those who don't run horses go from house to house to admire the torches in front of each house and see whose torches are exquisite and beautiful. Before the village's big torches are lit, young daughters-in-law with umbrellas, carrying newborn babies under the torches turn three times, to show that the evil spirits of the blessing.
When night falls, the village elders lead the offerings, kowtowing to the big torch. A few brave and robust young men, one by one, climbed up to the high erected big torch, will be small torches uploaded person by person will be the big torch lit. At that moment, the flames in the air, drums and music, firecrackers, loud cut clouds, the scene is spectacular. When the bamboo pole hanging on the torch was burnt, people scrambled to grab the bucket flying down in the air. Those who grabbed it were regarded as blessed people and were congratulated by everyone, and were flanked home by the hosts with cigarettes, wine and tea to entertain the flankers. The next year, the big torch on the liter bucket that is by the person who grabbed the liter bucket to prepare.
Torch Festival
The highlight of the torch festival is the torch play. Young men and women each hold a torch. When they see people, they grab a handful of rosin powder from their satchels and sprinkle it on the torches. Each sprinkle, emitting a dazzling light of fire, issued? Boom? A sound, the fire burns to the other side, is called? To a hand. The white people believe that the fire pointing to prairie to go to the body of the bad luck, . Therefore, competing prairie, joyful. After the prairie play, young people to groups, holding a small torch to the field, to the torch to sprinkle rosin powder, to the grain to light spike, the intention is to eliminate pests and diseases to ensure a good harvest.
The end of the torch festival also jumping torch. Around midnight, the carnival burning matchsticks piled into a pile of bonfires. One by one, young men and women cross back and forth from the bonfire two or three times to pray to the fire god ? to pray to the god of fire to avoid disasters and get rid of evil spirits. To see who jumped across the high, jump far, until the fun is over.
Around the three spirits
Every year in late April of the lunar calendar, the Bai people have to hold a three- or four-day? The festival is held for three or four days every year in the second half of the fourth lunar month. During the festival, thousands of men, women and children dressed in ethnic costumes, playing musical instruments, singing and dancing, gathered? Sacred Source Temple. Shengyuan Temple, to perform worship rituals, and carry out a variety of cultural and artistic activities. According to legend, Duan Zongyi, the general of Nanzhao and the ancestor of the Duan Clan in Dali Kingdom, is the highest god among gods among the Bai people. The temple where he lived is called ? Shendu?
Love
There are many festivals, temple fairs and songs in the Bai area. From the Spring Festival to the 18th day of the first month, there are festivals almost every day and dragon lanterns are played night after night. From the first month to the opening of the rice gate of the ` months, month after month there are temple fairs, all villages and cottages to welcome the Lord (i.e., the village or the local worship of the Lord God), the Lord of the Festival, very lively. In addition, there are March Street, Butterfly Festival, Three Spirits Festival, Torch Festival, Shibaoshan Song Festival, Common Gromwell Lake Song Festival, Haixi Sea Song Festival, etc. These festivals, temple fairs and song festivals are very popular. These festivals, temple fairs and song festivals provide excellent opportunities for young men and women to socialize and fall in love. The Bai girls and boys make full use of these opportunities to find objects, sing songs, or meet with their lovers, borrowing the three strings and songs to convey their feelings and talk about love.
In these festivals, temple fairs and songs, Bai young men and women especially like to participate in the Shibaoshan song. Every lunar July, tens of millions of young men and women have to go in groups to participate in the 7-9 days of the Shibaoshan song. You can see that there are girls and young men participating in the festival everywhere, on the mountains and down the hills, by the woods and cliffs, and inside and outside the temples. The girls put on their festival dresses and dress up carefully, and the young men are full of vigor, all of them carrying the three strings on their backs. Only to hear the sound of the three strings, singing, one after another, day and night, the scene is very spectacular. The girl and the young man can sing to know each other, can sing to each other to test, can also sing to ask each other personal and family situation, and then use the song to fully express their feelings of love. Such a back and forth, a question and answer of men and women singing, sometimes up to several hours or even more than ten hours, or even a few days and nights. Through the song, the girl and the young man recognized, fell in love, and even on the spot to give each other a gift of love, the alliance set for life.
Jianchuan Shibaoshan Song Club
Jianchuan Shibaoshan is located in the southwest of Jianchuan County about 25 kilometers of the Laojun Mountain system. Here the peaks and peaks, forests and trees, both known as ? South sky treasure? The Nanzhao Dali Grottoes is located, but also the annual Bai million people will be the venue of the activities of the song.
Shibaoshan song will be a grand Bai ethnic area of the national tradition of festivals, will be held from July 27 to August 1 in the lunar calendar, in order to stream of tens of thousands of people on the mountain, singing songs at will and is known in the world, from generation to generation, known as? The city of Bai songs is known as the city of Bai songs. The popular Jianchuan Bai tune was included in the international catalog of famous folk songs.
During the song, from Jianchuan, Eryuan, Dali, Lijiang, Lanping and other counties and cities of the Bai people from all directions converge here, while visiting the mountains and forests of the ancient temples, while the voice, unrestrained singing songs. Square garden more than ten miles of mountain trails, tourists like weaving, such as complaints such as the sound of the three strings, melodious tone of voice here and there, this echo, night and day in the mountains and forests.
Playing the strings and singing songs is supposed to be a clever way for young Bai people to seek a soul mate by song, and the song will naturally become their most public social occasion. Through the song to understand each other, test their talents, pouring out their hearts, so each lyrics are so simple and innocent, intriguing. Whenever there is a pair of wonderful duet, the onlookers immediately gathered around, people are from the best and most beautiful artistic enjoyment, there are many young men and women is through the song song into a hundred years of good.
Naturally, the mountain song is not only young people, regardless of men and women, young and old, as long as the mountain will be to stretch the voice. Older people believe that the song will sing the white tune can be happy and auspicious, or weekdays at home have made a wish to the gods, in order to protect the peace of the Qingji, must be on the Shibaoshan sing on a hundred or so tunes, so sing the tune of the move they still wish. Most of the middle-aged people will express their feelings through the song, showing their minds and talents. Songs popular tunes to the central dialect area of Dali Prefecture popular Jianchuan tune-based, with a dragon's head three strings or blowing leaves to accompany the lyrics are Bai poetry? The lyrics are sung in the traditional format of Bai poems, "San Qi Yi Wu". s traditional format, strict meter, can not run rhyme and run.
Excellent singers in the familiar mastery of traditional folk songs on the basis of the face of the scene plus improvisation, often wonderful words, moving heart. Once the rivalry will be the repartee, days and nights to sing down and not distinguish between the winner and the loser. Therefore, Shibaoshan song will be both the Bai people express their feelings, praise the life of the grand party, but also for the art of folk song exchange, the inheritance of folk art bridge.
Shibaoshan song will be known as ? Yunnan Hanging Temple? Baoxiang Temple area as the main venue, where jagged rocks, mountain springs clanking, winding stone steps leading to a building in the cliffs of the precious temple. At the foot of the mountain, there is a singing platform and a small square. During the song will become a special song service market, vendors gathered, a wide range of small commodities, especially a variety of snacks and local specialties most prevalent, for people's leisure and entertainment provides a great convenience, but also baked a strong atmosphere of the festival.
At night, the street into a bonfire party venue, young men and women play Shibaoshan unique? The dragon is a very special part of Shibaoshan, and it's a very special part of the city.
On the origin of the song, there are a lot of magical and beautiful legends, according to legend, Shibaoshan is shaped like a stone bell boulder was originally a golden bell. Whenever the golden bell rings, the Shaxi Dam under the mountain will have good weather. Later, there is a nine-headed dragon mouth flames, the golden bell into stone bell, and at any time to raise the demon law, often to the dam to bring drought pests. Shaxi has a couple named A Shi Bo and A Gui Niu to get the Lord's spiritual enlightenment, learned that with the song can break the evil dragon demonic law, so invited ten sisters and ten sisters every day on the mountain song, and finally defeated the evil dragon. They finally defeated the evil dragon. A Shi Bo and A Gui Niu were also killed in the fight with the evil dragon. In order to commemorate this couple, people went to the mountain to sing songs every year, which became a song festival passed down from generation to generation.
The Chicken Festival, held at the beginning of the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year from the first to the fifteenth in Binchuan Jizu Mountain;
Juggling the sea will be held on the eighth day of the eighth month of August in the Dali Caitun;
Shibaoshan song will be held for three days at the end of the seventh month of the lunar calendar in the Shibaoshan Shizhong Temple;
Torch Festival, held on the 25th of June in the White Tunzhai.
Ge Ge will be held on the first five days of January in the Dali Three Pagodas Temple.
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