The Dragon Sacrifice Festival, a traditional festival of the Jinuo people
In our country, various places have some special traditional festivals to celebrate harvests, worship gods, etc. The Dragon Sacrifice Festival is one of the main traditional festivals of the Jinuo people. It is divided into the big dragon sacrifice and the small dragon sacrifice. It is an indispensable part of the Jinuo people's culture. So, how did the Dragon Sacrifice Festival come about? What kind of rituals and customs are there? Let’s take a look.
The Dragon Sacrifice is a commemoration day for the founder of the Jinuo people, Ayaoyaobai. It is usually held in June and lasts for three days. Ayaoyaobai created the Jinuo people and their mountains, rivers, sun, moon, Animals and plants were eventually martyred by assassins during the land-building movement.
After Ah Yaoyao died in vain, the Jinuo people mourned her for thirteen days. The current "Sacrifice to the Dragon" was passed down from that time. On the day of dragon sacrifice, no one in the village is allowed to go out. No singing, dancing, or loud frolics are allowed in the village. People from outside the village are not allowed to enter the village. Violation of these is a disrespect for the ancestor of Jinuo, Ayaoyaobai, and a violation of the Jinuo ethnic group. etiquette.
On the first day of dragon sacrifice, Zhuoba and Zhuo Sheng took the parents of each family to hold a sacrificial ceremony in the sacrificial room outside the village. First, a buffalo is killed on a fixed big tree next to the village, and then a sow and seven piglets are killed by the pond outside the village. After killing the cow, a piece of the cow's tail is hung on the big tree, and the food is eaten. The pig skulls with the meat removed are offered beside the pond.
When sacrificing the dragon, Zhuoba will announce taboos. The main content is:
"Those who do not participate in the sacrifice and do not abide by the taboos will break their jaw bones if they fall in front and break their jaw bones in the back. If you fall down, your head will be smashed. If you fall on the left side, your bones will be broken. If you fall on the right side, your legs will be broken. If you meet a leopard, you will be eaten by a leopard. If you meet a tiger, you will be carried away by the tiger. If you climb a tree, you will fall."
After the sacrifice, each family takes a piece of meat home, cuts three pieces of lean meat three fingers wide and twelve centimeters long and roasts it. Early the next morning, the three pieces of roasted beef and the dried beef are roasted. The chicken is delivered to the elder's house. At noon, people from the elder's house shouted three times at the door: "Ha ha ha, ha ha, ha ha" (meaning it's time to eat), and the parents of each family went to the elder's house to have dinner. After the meal, the elders sent people to collect rice from each household. The person sent brought a bamboo tube that could hold one kilogram of rice. The rice of each family is packed in bamboo baskets and placed next to the bamboo strip table. When the rice collector arrives, he puts the rice in the bamboo tubes and piles them on top. Then he uses bamboo slices to pick up the rice. The more rice he picks off, the more rice he picks off, which indicates the future of that year. The better the harvest.
During the three days of dragon sacrifice, all production activities in the village were stopped, traffic in the village was blocked, and two wooden stakes were set up at the entrance of the village to prohibit all people from leaving the village, and people from outside the village were not allowed to enter the village. Women are not allowed to go out on the first day, and violators will be punished. The Jinuo people believe that entering or leaving the village is a sign of disrespect for Ayaoyao, the grandmother of creation. During these three days, the men told stories, customs and production in the village, the old people did dirty work, and the women did needlework, spinning and weaving.
After the sacrifice, each family goes out of the village to check how the crops are growing, whether there are any disasters, and whether there is a good harvest. After the inspection, they must report the situation to Zhuoba. If a disaster is found during the inspection, usually In the event of a disaster, each household will make its own sacrifices. If there is a major disaster, a white pig will be killed and a village-wide sacrificial event will be held.
The method of worshiping the dragon in Yanuo Village is somewhat different from that of Baduo and Baya mentioned above. They banned the village for three days, namely the first, second and fourth days. They are not allowed to work in the fields on the day of the ban, but they can work in the fields on the second day. Instead of robbing the cow, the village elders sent someone with a chicken, a cup of wine, and a liter of rice to Pumi Village to offer sacrifices to the magic sword. It is said that this magical sword can cut off flowing water. Whenever there is a flood after a long period of rain, the sword can be sacrificed to pray for clear weather.
The sacrifice to the little dragon is held on the 13th day after the sacrifice to the big dragon. The sacrificial ceremonies are all performed by the village elders "Zhuo Ba" and "Zhuo Sheng". In order to sacrifice the dragon, cattle were sacrificed and farming was stopped for three days. Even the whole village was not allowed to leave the village. The elder brought a chicken, a bottle of wine, and a liter of rice to Moyangzhai to offer sacrifices to the sword. It is said that there is a sword there that can control the weather. Sacrificing the sword can pray for rain during drought; sacrificing the knife can pray for sunshine during floods. When sacrificing a knife, after killing the chicken, insert three pieces of grass into the head of the chicken, then burn it on the fire, and then look at the lines on the chicken leg bones to identify good or bad luck. This is actually "chicken divination" or "bone divination". The activity of sacrificing Xiaolong must be held for six consecutive days. There is no crop work, but the men have to go hunting in the mountains and the women have to do housework at home. The purpose of worshiping the dragon is to pray for good weather and a good harvest.