Festival customs of the Buyi people
Traditional festival customs of the Buyi people
1. Spring Festival: It is customary to start from the beginning of the first lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, including New Year's Eve. The Buyi language calls it "Lingxing Festival", which is a grand festival for the Buyi people. Generally starting from the twelfth lunar month, every family cleans the inside and outside of the house one after another, kills pigs, makes bacon, makes glutinous rice cakes, pushes tofu, kneads blood tofu, makes wine, makes liqueur and sews new clothes. On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, get up early in the morning and paste Spring Festival couplets on doors, windows, cattle pens, and pig pens. At around 16 o'clock, firecrackers are set off and the "New Year's dinner" is eaten. This meal is the most important of the year, and the whole family gathers together to eat the "reunion dinner." When it gets dark, go to the Feng Shui tree next to or behind the village (some go to the Tutu Temple) to pick up your ancestors (called "Reqi" by the Buyi people) to go home for the New Year. It is said that in the future, the ancestors can protect the safety of their families. There are usually two people who go to "Rebait". The elder holds a rice sieve, and puts a piece of glutinous rice cake, an egg, a rope, a piece of pork, and fragrant paper in the sieve. On the way back, he muttered: "Come and celebrate the New Year with us... ...Come on, soul, take your time...". As soon as they arrive at the door of their home, they light firecrackers to indicate that their ancestors have arrived home, and then place wine, rice, meat and glutinous rice cakes in front of the shrine for worship. In the evening, both adults and children sit by the fire pit and listen to the old man telling stories (telling stories) or playing suona, which is commonly known as vigil.
2. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, women rush to fetch "New Year's water" (also known as "Smart Water") from wells or rivers in the early morning. According to legend, whoever grabs the first bucket of "New Year's water" will win the prize. There will be continuous wealth throughout the year. The children put on new clothes and happily played around with snails and feather shuttlecocks. Young men and women are not willing to be lonely, and they are also invited to sing duets outside the village or other villages. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, each household has to cook another meal to worship their ancestors. When offering sacrifices, the elders of the family stand next to the table and burn incense paper while reciting the "Bao Bao Song". On this day, the married girl or son-in-law will return to her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings. If you like hunting, you can go up the mountain with your hunting dog and shotgun on your back on this day.
3. During the Spring Festival, various entertainment activities must be carried out. In Guangshun Maiwa Village, Shao Village and Zhulin Village, the Buyi people like to perform local opera performances to congratulate each other from house to house. In the days of Daihua, Guyang, Muhua, Yunpan and Mengqiu, the Buyi people often visit relatives and friends and sing "in-law songs", "ancient songs", "love songs" or "love songs" to congratulate each other and add to the festival. atmosphere.
4. New Year's Eve: On the last day of the first lunar month, the Buyi people of Changshun make glutinous rice cakes to worship their ancestors to show that the New Year's Eve is over and spring plowing is about to begin. However, with the promotion of science and technology, some places have changed the habit of going to the fields only after the new year. Some farmers don't even wait for the fifteenth day to be over before they are busy in the fields.
5. March 3: It is a traditional festival of the Buyi people. Every year on the third day of the third lunar month, the Buyi people, as a family, invite each other to gather together to visit the graves and have a group meal. The atmosphere was warm and grand.
6. Ox King Festival: On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the Buyi people graze their cattle to rest, no matter how busy they are with their farm work. Every household must make yellow, blue, black, white and red "five-color" glutinous rice. Rice (colored with "dyed rice flowers and leaves"), steamed glutinous rice, first knead a ball and give it to the cow to show appreciation for the cow's hard work, and then people eat it. On this day, liquidambar branches and leaves are hung around the house. According to legend, crops can grow as lush as liquidambar.
7. June 6: It is a grand festival of the Buyi people. On June 11, 1981, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission officially approved it as a traditional festival of the Buyi people. Regarding the origin of this festival, it is said that the ancestors of the Buyi people, King Pangu and his son, invented the rice planting technology. In order to commemorate them, people hold sacrificial activities on the sixth day of June every year (that is, the day when Pangu died). This happens every year and is passed down from generation to generation and is still followed today. . The young people put on new clothes and walked together to catch the bridge, whistle and sing antiphonally. There are three places where the Buyi people go to bridge in Changshun County: the first is Guyang Bridge, the second is Zhongba Shanshu Bridge, and the third is Eagle Slope in Huishui. Among them, Guyang Bridge has the greatest influence and is very lively. Whenever we go to the bridge, almost every household in the neighboring villages is filled with relatives, friends and guests from afar. In addition to the Buyi people, there are also Han, Miao and other fraternal ethnic groups rushing to the bridge. On bridge day, new bridges, old bridges, riversides, sand dams, highways, and fields are full of human world and ocean of songs. According to statistics in 1984, more than 40,000 people rushed to raise the bridge. June 6th, this traditional festival of the Buyi people, has actually developed into a multi-ethnic country and is a happy day of national unity.