The Lisu people in the Nujiang Gorge still retain the custom of "spring bathing". Wherever there are hot springs along both sides of the river, they are places where people gather and bathe. During the Spring Festival, people bring their New Year's food and luggage to build bamboo sheds not far from the hot springs, or find caves to rest. Stay in the hot springs for three to five days and take baths. The hot springs are divided into upper pool and lower pool. Generally, men are in the upper pool and women are in the lower pool, but the distance is far away. Some bathe five or six times a day. They believe that only repeated bathing can eliminate diseases, enhance immunity, and have sufficient energy to devote to labor and production in the new year. In the hot spring area near Liuku, a mass "Hot Spring Poetry Competition" was formed more than a hundred years ago. By then, singers from miles away will come to compete in singing and poetry. At this time, there are white tents dotted near the hot springs, and bonfires that burn day and night are served with sweet rice wine and fragrant New Year food. The singers recite poems and antiphonal songs while tasting the wine and food they brought. It is in this kind of inheritance and promotion of the traditional cultural and entertainment activities of the nation that new and old singers add joy to the Spring Festival. With the help of the subtle influence of the "Spring Bath" poem competition on the songs, we can cultivate people's noble sentiments and cultivate a social trend of unity and friendship. In addition to this activity, Lisu youths in the Fugong area will also hold a crossbow shooting competition with "shooting eggs on the head." During the competition, a young man carries a quiver and holds a crossbow. His sweetheart holds a bowl on his head and puts an egg on the bottom of the bowl (or a wooden bowl on his head with rice and eggs in the bowl) as a target. He stands a few meters away. outside. 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.
Important festivals
The Lisu people used to believe in primitive religion, worship nature, and believe that everything has 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
There are many mountainous areas where the Lisu people are distributed, 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.