China's southern ethnic groups mainly engaged in agricultural production, there are a number of closely related to agricultural production of the festival. In agricultural production, the main labor force of livestock for the cattle, so many ethnic groups in addition to the New Year's special feeding of cattle, many ethnic groups have to separate another festival to honor the cattle, such as the King of the Cattle Festival, Cattle Souls Festival, Cattle Birthday, Wash the Cattle Festival, and so on.
The Dong ethnic group around Longsheng, Guangxi, will be busy around the plowing oxen before the spring, repairing the oxen fence, making lanterns, preparing green grass, glutinous rice and sweet wine, and so on. In the evening of the first day of spring, a lantern is used to open the way in front, followed by a bamboo and papier-maché "spring ox" danced by two young men, and at the end of the dance walks a farmer and his wife, played by a capable laborer and a good singer and storyteller. They represent the whole village, and when they arrive at each house, they congratulate the hosts on the "spring bull's visit to the house, and good weather. The hosts, on the other hand, set off firecrackers to welcome them and give them gifts such as brown sugar and poi, kicking off spring plowing with the festival of welcoming the spring bulls. After the Spring Cow Dance Team has traveled to each house, a song and dance party is held on the flat land, where not only dances imitating labor are performed, but also songs are sung, including questions and answers about agricultural matters. On the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, Dong people in Rongjiang and Chejiang areas of Guizhou Province also celebrate "Cow Washing Festival", in which every family takes their cows down to the river and washes them, and kills chickens and ducks to bless the cows, wishing that the cows will be clean and safe. According to the legend of the old people of Dong nationality, the plowing ox is changed by the King of Ox Demon. In the beginning, the King of Ox Devil was appointed by Jade Emperor to convey his order to human beings, and he mistakenly said "the Emperor gives you three meals a day and your stomachs are full" as "the Emperor gives you three meals a day and your stomachs are not yet full", which caused people to suffer from hunger. As a result, people were starving. So the King of Ox Devil came down to the earth to help the people to work hard as compensation for the mistake of conveying the will. In order to thank the plowing ox for its contribution to the development of agriculture, the Dong family celebrated the Ox Washing Festival every year. The Buyei people also have this festival. The Naxi people in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, also hold two "Ox Feet Washing Festivals" from June 20 to 30 and from September 10 to 30 of the lunar calendar every year. These two periods of time is the spring and fall after a busy farming, the need for a little rest, so people in the above two periods of time to choose a day, the whole village to hold a meal, and wash the oxen, feed it 12 wheat cakes and a bundle of grass, but also in the oxen on the fence to hang a string of wheat cakes to express the meaning of condolence.
The Lisu people in Lamping County, Yunnan Province, believe that: in ancient times, cattle live in the sky, living very comfortable. Later, it saw the earth on earth Lisu people eat bitter wild fruits for a living, the heart is very intolerant. So in the spring of the year, back of the sky god, will be hidden in the gourd seeds sprinkled to the earth, so that the earth began to have five grain growth, the Lisu people out of the plight of hunger. The God of Heaven was angry and drove the ox out of the sky and into the earth. The Lisu people kept the ox in their home, but when the ox saw the people's hard work, it took the initiative to come out and pull the plow and harrow to help plant the crops. When the gods of heaven saw that life on earth was getting better, they released frost and insect pests to cause trouble and persecution. In addition to plowing, in order to ensure the growth of crops, the cow went up to the sky to argue with the gods to prevent all kinds of disasters from succeeding, the Lisu people have made great achievements. Therefore, every year on the fifth day of the sixth lunar month, the Lisu people here also celebrate the "Cow Bathing Festival". On this day, not only do families bathe their cows, but they also boil a pot of salted rice and feed it to the cows. The oldest woman in the family prays to the cow, hoping that it will intercede with the God of Heaven to avoid disasters and have a good harvest.
The Zhuang farmers in Guangxi, the first day of the first month of the new year, to let the children to the river bank to lead the "stone cattle" back to
home. It is believed that all holes in the stone, is the "stone cow", can be worn with a cow rope, led home, "raised"
in the cattle pen, in order to get a year of cattle only prosperous, free from disease and disaster. On the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the Zhuang believe
that it is the "Festival of the Cow King", "Festival of the Cow's Soul" or "Festival of the Opening of Rice Planting". The Mulao, Dong, Buyi, and Tujia ethnic groups
have a "Cow King's Festival" on this day, celebrating the festival for the plowing cows in various ways. The Zhuang in the mountainous areas of northwest Gui,
thinks that this day is the birth anniversary of the Ox King (also in the seventh day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth month or the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar to celebrate this festival
). They believe that plowing oxen are whipped and scolded by people during spring plowing and lose their souls, so after spring plowing, when the ox
king's birthday, they should be consoled, invoke their souls and let them rest. Each family should be led by the parents of the ox around the table for a week,
and then fed glutinous rice and sweet wine, egg soup or green bean soup, etc., to bamboo tube filling, and then fed patties. Children will
wrap red paper around the bull's horns to congratulate him on his birthday. Adults will clean and repair the cattle pen. The Buyi people make "ox
wangba" for the oxen to eat. The Mulao people offer wine, meat and glutinous rice to the oxen, and then feed the glutinous rice to the oxen after the sacrifice.
The Dong ethnic group in the Sanjiang and Mengjiang areas of Guangxi will pick up a kind of leaf that is said to be able to generate energy, and use its juice to
compost the rice and steam it into black rice to feed it to the oxen, so as to strengthen their bodies. Yao people in the mountains of northern Guangxi also believe that the eighth day of April
is "the birthday of the king of cattle", so on this day, not only to let the cattle rest, but also to feed the cattle to eat
glutinous rice, or to the Ula leaves, maple leaves and cooking coloring made of black glutinous rice, in order to reward its
contributions to mankind, and prayers! the cattle's robustness.
When the Tujia people celebrate the Cow King Festival, they gather at the Cow King Temple in full costume to offer wine, meat and rice, and
they also play suona, set off firecrackers, and dance with swinging hands to entertain the King of the Cow. It is said that in the past the Tujia slash-and-burn,
living hard, and then because the King Bull came down to earth, to help farming, and with the five grain gods, so that each spike of grain knot
ninety-nine hundred and eighty-one grains, so that the earth can be full of food. However, it angered the Emperor of Heaven, and the Ox King was sent down to the earth to plow the land for a long
period of time, and was not allowed to eat meat or rice, but only grass, and had to regurgitate. But the people thanked it, not only
for it to repair the temple, and set April 18 for the Ox King Festival, when it let it rest, to give it red color,
feeding with fine fodder, and kill pigs and sheep, to the temple sacrifices, and sincerely express the gratitude of the feelings. Sichuan Province
Aba Autonomous Prefecture of the Qiang people, the first day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, "Cow King will be", some places to make the sun,
moon shaped buns, hanging on the horns of the cow, and let it free, in the nearby grassy hillside wandering around, to fully
enjoy the pleasure of resting in the natural world.
The Cow King Festival of the Gelao and Miao in the Qiandongnan region, which falls on the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, is also known as the Cow Sacrifice Festival,
To Honor the Cow Festival, to honor the Cow King Bodhisattva, etc. On this day, not only do they stop serving the cow, but they also stop serving the cow. On this day, not only do they stop working the oxen, but they also feed the oxen with the best fodder,
and hang a mochi cake made of glutinous rice on each of the two horns of the oxen, and lead them to the pond to look at the shadows,
to make them happy. At the same time, the patties on the horns are taken off and fed to the ox to celebrate the birthday of the ox king. In the Li ethnic area on Hainan Island,
also celebrates the festival for the ox on the day of the ox between July or October every year. In the Li Heimou System1
area living in the center of the Wuzhishan Mountains, on this day, the head of the mu has to beat gongs and drums in his home to invoke the spirit of the ox. They regard precious stones as a symbol of the cattle
soul and a blessing for the cattle to reproduce, so the Mou-tou couple will wash precious stones in pots at home for the cattle
to be strong and prosperous. People also perform the "Sopang" dance on the occasion of the festival of the King of Cows to pray for the development of the cattle
, which is the wealth of the family.