"Knife Pole Festival" is an annual traditional festival of the Lisu people along the Yunnan border of Lunma Mountain. The time is the eighth day of the second month of the lunar calendar. The origin of the knife pole festival has such a legend: the Ming Dynasty, the court sent the Ministry of War Secretary Wang Ji to the border to set up a border. After the arrival of the work of the Secretary, the hardship of the border people, and actively help the Lisu people to develop production, so that their days are getting better and better, by the people of the Lisu people's love. Later, Wang Shangshu was falsely accused by the treacherous ministers and was transferred back to the court. During the dust washing banquet on the eighth day of February, Shangshu Wang was killed by the traitorous minister with poisoned wine. When this unfortunate news reached the Lisu cottage, the people were so angry that they rubbed their fists together in order to avenge the death of Wang Shangshu. The Lisu people decided to set the eighth day of February, the month in which Wang Shangshu was killed, as the day for practicing martial arts.
In the Lisu people, "knife pole festival" custom has hundreds of years of history. According to legend, when foreigners invaded the Yunnan border in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court sent Wang Ji, the minister of war, to lead the troops to the enemy. After arriving in northwestern Yunnan, Wang Ji relied on the unity of the local Lisu people to fight and quickly expel the invaders. On the eighth day of February, Wang Ji was ordered to return to the capital, but was unfortunately killed by a traitor on the way. In order to commemorate the resistance to foreign invasion and the people who died in the battle, the Lisu people decided to make this day as the "knife pole festival", which has been followed, and gradually formed a traditional sports activities.
Activities
Every year on this day, people put on their festive costumes and come to the festival venue in groups to watch the activity of "going up to the mountain of swords and going down to the sea of fire".
After a few musket shots, the first seven or eight "Xiangtong" (on the knife pole performers) for the crowd to perform the "fire dance". Their upper body naked, bare feet, imitating a variety of animal movements, in a pile of a pile of red charcoal, jumping back and forth, but also from time to time to grab the charcoal in the body wipe, round and muddy ball of fire in the hands of rolling, rubbing, but they do not care. After the baptism of fire, means that in the new year to eliminate all kinds of disasters.
The center of the venue, standing two about 20 meters long thick wooden pole, wooden pole tied with 36 sharp long knife, knife mouth up, shining silver, forming a high and fear of the knife ladder. In people's awe and worry, on the knife pole essential rituals began, a few dressed in red, wearing a red head, barefoot warriors, step to the knife pole, kneeling in front of a picture of an ancient generals, and then raised his hands over the head of the cup, reciting the words, and then will be a drink of wine. Then, they jumped up, light and agile climbed up the knife pole, both hands hold the mouth of the knife, feet on the blade, fish line up.
The first to climb to the top, but also make difficult inverted movements, firecrackers. Thousands of spectators looked up and watched, from time to time bursts of applause.
This ancient and peculiar "knife pole festival", has been officially designated as the relevant departments of the Lisu traditional sports activities.
Every year on this day, the martial arts practitioners practiced their skills and taught advanced techniques. So the generations, the formation of knife pole festival. Festival this big, child ten miles inside and outside of the Lisu people, wearing holiday dress, from all sides of the river gathered to the sheep intestine knife pole field. In the night falls on the earth, the knife pole field on the inside and outside of the many fires burning. 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, the people on the knife pole field pull each other's hands, around the bright fire, 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 the start of "jumping into the sea of fire". At this time, five barefooted brave men immediately broke into the field of the sea of fire, bouncing in it, rapid footsteps stamped countless sparks flying around, like a passing meteor.
Then, the fire breakers with lightning speed, each hand stick red hot coals, respectively, in the face and body scrubbing, and then let the fireball in their hands in the flying alkyne tumbling, rubbing. The crowd of onlookers sometimes cheerful, sometimes nervous, sometimes marveling, sometimes surprised ... burst into a burst of applause. After a tense and intense performance female pile of coals were stepped into pieces, the flame has been dying when, "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, "jumping sea of fire" of the five fog big head wearing a blue cloth cap, dressed in a large, red robe, barefoot to the knife pole tree, each filled with a cup of gallant wine a drink. Then jumped on the knife pole, hands grasping the upper layer of the knife surface, barefoot diagonally stepped on the lower layer of sharp knife edge, 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 ascended to the top of the high pole, the field clusters of the audience, each jaw-dropping, and broke out a warm cheer.
The Lisu people on the eighth day of the second month of the lunar calendar of the knife pole festival, according to legend is to commemorate a Lisu people to give heavy grace of the ancient Han heroes. The Lisu people put this hero to sacrifice the anniversary of the death of their own people as a traditional festival, and with the knife mountain, under the sea of fire and other symbolic rituals, to express the willingness to go through fire to repay the feelings. Knife pole festival this day, a few able-bodied men first perform "fire" ceremony. They bare feet, jumped into the red-hot coals, performing a variety of stunts. The next day, they sharpened 36 long knives, knife upward respectively with rattan horizontal tied to two 20 meters high on the wooden frame, into a knife ladder. Performers empty-handed and barefoot, from the blade of the fast knife to climb to the top, and perform a variety of difficult maneuvers at the top of the pole. Today, this thrilling traditional rituals, has evolved into the Lisu good man performing stunts sports activities.