The Miao nationality is an ancient nation, living in the mountains in the southwest of my country. They not only have a long history, but also have a very rich culture, especially for guests from afar, they have a very grand welcome ceremony. Yufan has been to many ethnic villages and experienced the welcome ceremonies of different ethnic groups. In terms of enthusiasm and grandeur, the high mountains and rivers and twelve gate wines of the Miao nationality are among the most solemn (I don’t mean to belittle other ethnic groups, such as offering Hada, horse wine, etc. are also very enthusiastic).
Banmen wine is an ancient custom in Qiandongnan Miao villages in Guizhou, and it is also the most popular and distinctive way of welcoming guests in Miao villages. It is said that in the past, whenever the Miao Village had a grand festival or married a daughter, relatives and friends would come to the door to give gifts and congratulations. And hospitable hosts and virtuous and generous relatives and friends always want to hold happy events decently and lively, and at the same time, it is also a good opportunity to show their wealth and entertain friends. Under normal circumstances, there are three bars of wine, and the highest reception etiquette is twelve. However, we encountered a higher than twelve bars of wine in Qianhu Miao Village in southeast Guizhou, the largest Miao village in the world. The courtesy, that is, before the 20 wine barriers, there is another high mountain and flowing water (as shown in the picture above), several men are playing Lusheng, and more than 20 young Miao girls stand in a V shape on the way into the village. The tourists who enter the village sit at the front, and then the sister in the middle will put the wine bowl on the mouth of the tourists, and the sisters on both sides will pour wine into it, pouring into the wine bowl in the middle like two small waterfalls. Wine, reeds don't stop, wine doesn't stop.
After passing the level of high mountains and flowing waters, one enters into the ceremony of twelve door-block wines. Standing at the very front is an elder with a fairy spirit and long beard (the above two pictures, one picture is taken in 2016) Taken, the first picture was taken in September 2020), he is a respected elder in the village, he is 80 years old this year, there is a wooden table in front of him, there used to be a row of wine bowls on the table, this time to see , he held an ox horn with rice wine in it, and then raised the wine bowl or ox horn with both hands to toast each guest. Although Yu Fan couldn't drink enough, he was moved by the atmosphere of the scene and the sincere smile of the elder, and stepped forward to have a drink Fortunately, the degree is not high, otherwise you will be dizzy.
The first door-blocking wine where Elder Yang is located is called Congratulations Wine, which expresses the warm and hospitable blessings of the Miao people, and there are eleven more behind him, which are the second kindness wine, the third hardworking wine, The fourth wine of bravery, the fifth wine of wisdom, the sixth wine of beauty, the seventh wine of understanding reason, the eighth wine of honesty, the ninth wine of generosity, the tenth wine of longevity, the eleventh wine of wealth, the Twelve perfect wines. Each drink represents a blessing.
This is the scene where the drone overlooks the gate wine in the air. There are twelve tables in the middle, with wine bowls and wine names on the tables. About two meters away, there was a row of elder brothers and younger sisters dressed in costumes at each station. The elder brothers played the cheerful Miao family welcome song, and the younger sister played a brisk welcome dance.
According to an uncle in the Miao Village, the Twelve Barrier Wine of Qianhu Miao Village is an improved Barrier Wine. The original form is to set up toast points along the only way to enter the village, so it is also called the Barrier. The scale of the wine does not necessarily have to be this big, but sometimes it is much larger than this. Because of the grand festival, the whole village may come to the village entrance to welcome the guests. The current form is for tourists to understand the Miao culture. So set together. The second is to rename each barman wine and endow it with auspicious meaning. The previous name, or different Miao village names will be different. For example, in some places, the first one is called “Jieqing” (pronounced “genheng” in Miao language), the second one is auspicious (pronounced “Niangyou” in Miao language), and the third one is called “Ping An” (pronounced “Niangle” in Miao language). , the fourth is Kangjian (pronounced "Yamu" in Miao language)...
In addition, there are long-standing legends behind the twelve bars of wine, each of which represents a story, and these stories are full of mythology. Due to space limitations, Yu Fan will not repeat the specific content here. Anyway, in a word, this barman wine has a long history and a rich culture. What everyone drinks is the wine of the Miao Village, and what they taste is the culture and enthusiasm of the Miao family. However, everyone, don’t be intimidated. Not everyone and every wine must be drunk. If you like to drink, you can drink it. , focusing on participating and feeling the culture.
What needs to be reminded is that in any case, you can only pick up the ox horn wine with your mouth, not with your hands, and you can pass the level after taking a sip. If you pick up the wine with your hands, the person toasting may let go. You must drink up the wine of the horns. Door-blocking wine is the highest etiquette for welcoming guests in Miao Village. The more guests drink, the happier the Miao family will be. Someone once described it as saying: what you drink at the door is ox horn wine, what you taste is the fragrance of rice dew, what you appreciate is the folk customs, and what you feel is enthusiasm. Friends, when you come to Miao Village, you must try it!
