What is the Torch Festival?

The origin of Torch Festival ◆ There is such a magical and touching legend about Torch Festival. In ancient times, there was a castle on a high mountain. There lived a scholar in the castle. He has a pair of mouse eyes, broom eyebrows, a silver carp mouth and a pointed chin. His thin face was covered with black pockmarks. People nicknamed him "Black Devil". This black devil is evil, and his men have raised a large group of servants and thugs to brutally rule and oppress the Yi people. He invented all kinds of excuses, exorbitant taxes and levies, paying per capita tax for giving birth to children, paying high mountain rent for hunting in the mountains, and collecting taxes for fishing in the rivers ... All kinds of exorbitant taxes and levies really made the people breathless. In order to resist the cruel rule of the evil god, he held many uprisings, but it was difficult to capture the strong castle of Tusi, and many people were arrested and starved to death. There was a clever and capable shepherd, his name was Zaka, and he came up with a way to outwit the toast castle. He secretly contacted the poor in Jiujiuzhai and decided to put all the sheep in the stable from June 17, and only fed water every day, without forage, and starved for seven days and seven nights. In the evening, the insurgents rushed to make shuttle marks, cut down bamboo sticks, ground machetes and axes, and tied torches to the horns of each goat. Everyone agreed to rebel on the evening of June 24th. That night, the moon had not yet appeared, and the breeze was blowing gently in the mountains. Only one horn sounded, and the first "Mother Torch" was named. At this time, all the insurgents immediately opened the door of the sheepfold, lit thousands of torches tied to the horns, and drove the sheep to attack the castle of Tusi. Countless sheep were so hungry that they rushed to the mountain to eat leaves and grass by the fire. Zaka led the uprising people to fight bravely. As we approached the castle, drums and shouts shook the earth. The dark Lord hurried to the castle and saw the mountains and plains turned into a sea of fire. People surrounding the castle from all directions have begun to attack the city gate. The dark Lord ordered his servants and thugs to guard the gate, but he crept into the cave and prepared to escape. At this time, all the uprising troops have breached the castle and swarmed in. I looked everywhere, but I didn't see any toast. Later, Zaka arrested the housekeeper for questioning. Fearing death, the big housekeeper knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, and immediately led Zaka and them to the hole where the toast was hiding. Zaka told the butler to go down to the cave first and told the dark one to come out and surrender. This big housekeeper, usually Smith, was scared out of her wits, but she was afraid to go down to the cave. Suddenly he collapsed to the ground and couldn't get up. Everyone was looking around. Suddenly, a dagger flew out of the hole and a cold light shot it to the ground. It turns out that Zaka was prepared. He predicted that the dark Lord would not surrender easily and that he would die. So when the dagger in the local cave flew out, Zaka was agile and shot it down with a machete! When Zaka and others saw that the Dark Lord could not die, they decided to burn him with torches. So at one command, thousands of torches immediately piled up into a hill around the mouth of the cave, only to see the raging fire burning more and more brightly. In a short time, the earth was also burned red, and the evil toast, the black devil, was buried in the torches. To commemorate the victory in the struggle against tyranny, June 24th was designated as "Torch Festival". Torch Festival is a traditional festival of Yi, Bai, Wa, Bulang, Naxi, Lahu and Pumi nationalities in southwest China. Festivals vary from place to place. The Bai and Yi nationalities in Yunnan are usually around June 24th every year. Most of the Yi people in Guizhou are in early June. There are different legends about the origin of festivals. According to the legend of the Bai nationality, Guo Shizhong, deputy commander of the Han Dynasty, killed the chief Manana in Dali, and found that the chief's wife, Henan, was beautiful and wanted to marry her. Henan pretended to agree, but put forward three conditions for ancestor worship and late husband. However, when he paid homage to her husband, Henan set fire to the mourning hall and jumped into the blazing fire to commit suicide. The loyalty and courage of Henan people have won people's admiration and admiration. Since then, every year on the day he committed suicide in Henan, Bai compatriots will light torches and travel around villages to commemorate him. When Wang Pi Logue of Nanzhao invited the five imperial edicts leaders to a party, Deng Dan, the wife of the five imperial edicts leaders, advised her husband not to go. She didn't listen, so she put iron on her husband's arm, and Pirog set fire to the Songming Pagoda. All the five imperial edicts leaders were burned to death, so charity found iron and fed her husband's body back. Pilog heard about its advantages and wanted a wife. After burying her husband in a charity ceremony, she closed the city and committed suicide, so the people of Yunnan burned a torch to hang it every day. A long time ago, Slaby, the evil god in the sky, came to the Yi people to distribute food and money, collect rent and tax, and extort money, which aroused the resistance of the Yi people. In order to defeat the evil spirits, everyone elected a hero named Attila Ba, who fought against the evil spirits for nine days. Kuya killed the evil spirits and saved the people from harm. When the heavenly king heard this, he was furious and went down to eat crops in an attempt to starve people. It's the "tiger bravery" season in the Yi calendar again, and the potato bears the potato, the buckwheat blooms, and the corn bears the burden. After eating "Tian Chong" for three days and nights, we saw that Yi's crops were about to be destroyed. At this time, everyone gathered at the top of the mountain for a meeting to discuss the countermeasures of holding high the torch and burning "Tian Chong". So the Yi people, men, women and children, all raised torches to burn "heavenly worms". The torch relay lasted for three days and nights, killing most of the "heavenly worms", protecting the dealers and obtaining a bumper harvest. A few "tianchong" are hidden in the crops. In order to prevent them from harming the people again, the Yi people hold high torches every year in the "tiger die" season, and today's Torch Festival is formed year after year. There are many legends about the origin of Torch Festival among Bai, Naxi and Pumi. The burning of Song Minglou mentioned above is the most common. ◆ Every Torch Festival, a torch should be erected in front of every household of the Yi and Bai nationalities. A pagoda-shaped torch was piled in the center of the square. Choose a pine tree three or four feet high and set it in the middle, and stack firewood around it to form a pagoda shape, with a green tree covered with safflower, white cake and begonia at the top. At night, men, women and children hold torches and gather in the square to light the tree tower with the sound of gongs and drums. Suddenly, the flames burst into the sky, and the dry wood crackled, blending with the sound of gongs and drums and cheers, shaking the earth. The Torch Festival of Naxi people is scheduled for June 25th, 26th and 27th in the old calendar, which is a grand festival for Naxi people after the Spring Festival. On the first day of Torch Festival, people choose long pine branches, chop them into thin strips, add flammable Song Ming in the middle and bundle them into torches. At night, all the torches in front of each house are lit, and the torches on the second day are generally higher than those on the first day. The third day is the climax of Torch Festival. The torch was tied high and big, beautifully decorated, and lit up every corner in order to illuminate crops, eliminate pests and wish a bumper harvest. People held torches high and danced all night. In many Yi areas, horse racing, bullfighting, wrestling, archery, tug-of-war and swinging are also held. Traditional festivals of Yi, Bai, Naxi, Wa, Lahu and Hani nationalities in southern China. Most of the time is held for one to three days around June 24 of the annual summer calendar. The activities of all ethnic groups and regions are not exactly the same, but it is essential to light torches made of pine trees on holiday nights, or insert them in villages or hold them in fields, accompanied by various song and dance activities. When the Yi people celebrate the Torch Festival, the villages light torches at night, and the torches spread and swim in the fields and mountains, which is quite spectacular. The Yi people use torches to light the fields, which is the reason for the bumper harvest. According to folklore, the Torch Festival is to attract ears of grain to watch the torch, and to play with the torch is to put out diseases and insect pests of seedlings. During the festival, some places will kill pigs and cows to sacrifice to the gods; In some places, every household will bring a chicken to the field to offer sacrifices to "the land and the land mother". Folk believe that torches can drive away ghosts and evil spirits, so after lighting torches, you have to go door to door and sprinkle rosin on them while walking. This is called "giving gifts". During the Torch Festival, there are various social, cultural and entertainment activities. Singing, dancing, horse racing, bullfighting, wrestling, archery, tug-of-war and swinging are held in various villages. The bullfighting and wrestling competitions in Guishan area of Lunan Stone Forest are particularly famous. Before the bullfight, each village should elect representatives to participate, and bring the selected fat cows to the venue, and the masses dressed in festive costumes come to watch. At that time, a prestigious person will announce the start of the game, so gongs and drums will be loud, trombones will ring, firecrackers will be deafening, and couples of young men and women will play the big three strings around the stadium and dance happily. In a jubilation, the players led a bull with a round head and a big horn into the venue and were reviewed by the referee. When the referee gave the order, the owner let the cow go and let it fight according to the opponent selected in advance. The fierce bull raised its hoof, turned its horns, rushed at the other side and dug sideways until it defeated the other side. The winner can get a spherical Ayabeni hanging on the sideline ball post. Another important competition during the Torch Festival is wrestling. Participants wore shorts and went shirtless. Hug each other at first as a sign of friendship. At the command of the referee, he fought hard and bravely, and finally fell his opponent and landed on his shoulder, winning. This game is very exciting. Wrestling in one place, all parties gather together, and people dressed in costumes watch and cheer from all directions. Boys carry big sanxian and bamboo flute; The girls carried their carefully embroidered flower bags, played cheerful music and danced happily before and after the competition, which filled the competition with a warm atmosphere. Torch Festival is also a good opportunity for young men and women to communicate and choose their spouses. During the festival, they lit torches for fun and gathered in the fields in the mountains to hold a spring fire party. Young men and women play and sing with each other under the bonfire, singing and dancing heartily, staying up all night, looking for their beloved objects from them. Winners and wrestlers in bullfighting often become the objects that girls pursue and admire. About the origin of Torch Festival, there is a legend of Yi people in southern Shandong. In ancient times, there was a magic jade who brutally persecuted the people. The masses couldn't bear it any longer and rose up against it. However, the devil's fortress could not be attacked for a long time, so sheep attacked instead, that is, torches were tied to the horns and hind legs of each sheep to drive them away, and the result was victory. In order to commemorate the victory of this struggle, people celebrate each other by lighting torches on June 24 of each summer calendar, thus forming the Torch Festival. The legend of Bai nationality is different. Guangxu's "Kunming County Records" contains: "In the Han Dynasty, there was a foreign woman named Nan whose husband was killed. Nan vowed not to be a thief, that is, she died in the fire on June 24, and the Chinese mourned it, so she was a meeting."