Miao people's ox-bending ceremony | rural notes
As we all know, bullfighting has existed for a long time in Hunan, Guizhou and Miao areas. Bullfighting or whipping bulls, which Miao people call "farming" and "eating dirty meat", is one of the most solemn traditional festivals of Hunan, Guizhou and Miao people.
The content of the ritual of the vertebral ox is rich and colorful, including offering sacrifices to the ox, singing and dancing with lusheng, chanting spells and witchcraft, etc. After thousands of years of evolution, Miao villages in different regions have different memorial ceremonies. In Guizhou, according to the myths and legends of Miao ancient songs, this activity was promoted to ancestor worship ceremony; Xiangxi scenic spot is a major activity of offering sacrifices and wishing. ...
According to the Miao ancient song "Butterfly Song", the ancient maple tree gave birth to the butterfly mother, which is the ancestor of the Miao nationality (equivalent to the Nu Wa Niangniang of the Han nationality). Mother butterfly laid twelve eggs and hatched the earliest people, ghosts, gods and beasts. But after a long time, the last egg still can't hatch. Mother butterfly had to let Fengshen scrape the egg off the cliff, and then the eggshell broke and a little bull was drilled. But the mother of the cow and butterfly didn't hatch by herself, and she was resentful.
In the long run, the little bull will often do some "bad things" and deliberately annoy the mother butterfly. I don't want to. I once caused a terrible disaster. Mother butterfly was very angry and died sadly.
Mother Butterfly died because of the calf. Jiang Yang, the eldest son, and other brothers and sisters punished the calf and made him farm for generations to atone. I never thought that the little bull still didn't plow diligently, which led to the poor harvest of the cultivators.
As a result, other brothers and sisters became ghosts and gods, telling human beings that only by killing the young cows can the mother butterfly be blessed with a bumper harvest. Later, people did it, and it was really a bumper harvest. Therefore, vertebral cattle have been passed down to this day. ...
There are also rumors that the cow-wishing ceremony was originally to worship Pan Nv, and later it evolved into a comprehensive religious sacrifice activity centered on the sacrifice of Pan Nv. During the Kanggan period, bamboo cattle became a memorial to the great gods and ghosts in western Hunan.
When you reach middle age, if you are seriously ill or have no children, you will make a big wish. If the illness turns to safety, or if you want to have children, you will hold a ceremony to reward your wishes.
How to hold a bull-wishing ceremony?
The main family prepares a buffalo with four corners and straight ears, eyes, nose, mouth, horns and hooves. When the autumn harvest is over, they will choose an auspicious day and sacrifice the cow to the ghost.
Half a month before the festival, the host family will let the brothers in the clan report to their relatives respectively. The most urgent relatives are the mother and brother-in-law of the host family, called "leg-lifting" relatives.
At that time, the relatives who "lifted their legs" invited their brothers to go with them, ranging from more than ten people to more than sixty or seventy people, and invited drummers to play suona, beat gongs and drums, and queue up in the main room to participate in the cattle training. In addition to preparing a buffalo, the owner must also buy a yellow cow and two pigs, as well as fragrant paper, firecrackers, sweet wine, sour fish and so on. Relatives and clansmen should give gifts.
In ancient times, the sacrifice lasted for five days at a time, but in the Republic of China it was changed to three days. The first day is "loading". That morning, relatives with leg lifts came to line up. As they approached the host's house, they set off firecrackers and had a good time, and the host came out to meet them. In the evening, all the invited guests are basically here. After dinner, the male and female guests began to sing and dance with the drums (in almost all sacrifices, Miao people need to sing and dance).
At the same time, the senior priests (wizards) in the village also started the ceremony, chanting, playing divination and toasting several times until late at night.
The next day is the "Spine Cow". Early in the morning, the old company ordered the helpers to choose a field outside the village (usually Tian Ping), erect a five-flowered column and fasten the buffalo on the column. Then the host put on his holiday costume, sacrificed the ghost with wine and meat, burned incense paper, and bowed to the cow three times and nine times. At the same time, the old priest read a spell, telling the origin of cattle offering sacrifices to ghosts. When the old man finished chanting, my uncle chased the cow with a spear in his hand and wanted to stab it. Then give the spear to the young child to stab the cow. At the same time, gongs and drums were loud, cows struggled to fight around the style, and young people chased the assassination until the cows died on the ground.
When the cow falls to the ground, it depends on the backward direction of the cow to decide good or bad: the head is facing the owner's house, and the external evil is the main factor. The cow was stabbed to death, and the people attending the celebration shared the beef. The head, heart, lungs, liver and other internal organs of cattle belong to the owner to sacrifice to ghosts; The first leg of the cow belongs to the mother's uncle, the second leg belongs to the wife's uncle, and the third and fourth legs are given to other close relatives; The cow breast belongs to the old company.
On the third day, we will "collect cow pillars" and "respect cow heads" to see our uncles and relatives off. Early that morning, all the relatives got together and the old company held a ceremony. My uncle wished each other well, so he cut off the horn and tied it to the upper end of the central column in the hall as a souvenir. Then take the style back and put it at home for later use.
Finally, eat a personal meal to reward the old company.
PS: This wishing activity is particularly tasty.
Miss Angel is ill. I wish her a speedy recovery.