The New Year of the Miao people is similar to our Spring Festival, with making glutinous rice cakes, eating New Year meals, wearing new clothes, and visiting relatives and friends; but what is special about the Miao Nian is that the New Year does not fall on the Spring Festival, and the customs of the New Year are completely different. The Miao compatriots had long table banquets, drank village wine, danced reeds, bronze drums, cockfights and bullfights, and paraded in costumes, making the Miao Nian celebration a national intangible cultural heritage. This year, I experienced an extraordinary taste of the New Year in Leishan Miao Village in Qiandongnan, Guizhou.

The Miao Nian is called "Neng Yang". It is a time for the Miao people to celebrate the harvest and worship their ancestors and gods. The days come differently. The Leishan Miao Year in Qiandongnan Prefecture is generally the first "Mao" (rabbit) day in the first ten days of October of the lunar calendar. The Miao Year is not on the same day every year, and even the New Year in each village is not on the same day. The specific time is calculated according to the Miao calendar, and it is decided by the Miao hereditary clan leader "Guzangtou" and the village's "Huolutou", which is quite mysterious. Leishan's seedling year is divided into the early year, the new year and the old year, with a maximum of 15 days. During the few days in Leishan, we ate and lived in Miao villages. This is the largest and most spectacular Miao festival I have ever seen.

Miao Nationality Song and Dance Parade

The happiest thing in Miao Nian is not to feast on the mouth, but to feast on the eyes. Many intangible cultural heritage exhibitions of the Miao nationality can be seen at one time in the Miao Nian, especially the Leishan Miao Nian intangible cultural heritage parade. The uniform team, the colorful Miao costumes of various tribes, and the clanging silver ornaments, sang and danced to the rhythm of Lusheng. Twelve intangible cultural heritage display squares including "Yangasha", "Zhang'ao Bronze Drum", "Golden Pheasant Dance" and "Nanmeng Lusheng Dance", 2,000 Miao girls and boys in costumes danced and walked, and the silver bells rang Floats with the wind, tassels blow with the wind.

Long skirt seedlings, short skirt seedlings, red seedlings, white seedlings, green seedlings, flower seedlings, batik cloth, hand-embroidered flowers, the clothing of each Miao village is different, and I have never seen so many Miao costumes. dizzying. Both sides of the street were crowded with tourists and local people who had already been waiting here. Several foreign tourists were also seen. It is said that tens of thousands of people watched. Every time you take a photo, you can only capture the wonderful moments of the parade if you break through the crowd of onlookers. After a two-and-a-half-hour parade around the city, the parade team entered the Leishan County Cultural and Sports Center and held a large-scale song and dance performance of intangible cultural heritage.

Long Table Banquet for Thousands of People

In Miao Village, long-table banquets are eaten almost every day during the Chinese New Year. The long-table banquets are not only very long tables, but also crowded with people. The longest table can’t be photographed at the end. legacy list. Although there are various Miao delicacies in each meal, there are not as many meals as I imagined. However, there is a common feature, there is no dish without hot and sour. There are steaming bubble soup, Guzang meat, Guzang fish, sour soup dishes, sour soup fish, sauerkraut, chicken porridge, bad spicy, zengjiao dishes, etc., as well as glutinous rice and home-made old rice wine. Sour and fluid, spicy and appetizing, fat but not greasy.

alpine water wine

In the long table banquet, it is indispensable to be toasted, and the toast in Miao Village is very interesting. Accompanied by the reeds singing toast songs, a group of Miao girls came, holding a large bowl of glutinous rice wine. The wine bowls had long mouths, and the wine was poured from the heights on both sides to the middle, as if spring water was drawn from the mountains, and the wine flowed continuously. Go to the wine bowl in the middle and offer it to the guests. The guests cannot touch the wine bowl when drinking. This kind of toast is called "High Mountain and Flowing Water". Toast a bowl of wine and feed a bite of food, but the naughty girl will not let you eat it in one bite, she will shake the food in front of you, if you can't bite the food, you will continue to drink. I escaped several toasts while taking pictures, but I still drank it twice. One of them, a Miao girl actually picked up a huge piece of Guzang meat. I, who never eat fatty meat, ate it in one bite.

bar wine

The more powerful toast than "high mountains and flowing water" is "block wine", which is the highest ceremony for Miao village to welcome aunts and guests who come back to their mother's home. Married Miao women are called "aunts". When they return to their natal homes or when guests enter the village, the whole village welcomes them standing on the steps of the hillside. Filled wine must be drunk one by one before entering the Miao Village. When I went to Langde Shangzhai in Leishan County, I saw a large group of villagers in costumes on the hillside of Miao Village from a distance, singing and playing reeds, and immediately understood that we couldn't hide from the wine. Even though I was holding a camera, I was not let go, and I entered the village after drinking three bowls of wine.

When I was taking pictures in the village of Langde, I saw a very lively family. I wanted to see the real life of the Miao family, so I went in. The relatives and friends of this family had dinner together and drank Chuanzhai wine. Seeing strangers enter the house, they also enthusiastically pulled to eat. Seeing me thank you and say that I don’t have time to eat, they smiled and said that they don’t charge for eating, and they still have to drink a bowl of wine no matter how busy they are. Unable to refuse their enthusiasm, I drank two more bowls. After drinking the mellow self-brewed rice wine, I was a little bit flustered. The host happily said that he welcomes you again next time.

make glutinous rice cakes

During the Chinese New Year in Miao Village, every household eats glutinous rice cakes just like our hometown. Ciba can be used to worship ancestors, entertain guests, give gifts, and even build houses. Soak the glutinous rice, steam it, put it into a wooden mortar and stone mortar, beat it repeatedly with a wooden pestle and stone pestle until it becomes soft and sticky, pull out a ball and knead it into a round piece, then paint it with red or colorful colors, and after cooling it is Hard glutinous rice cakes. Freshly punched glutinous rice cakes are the best, wrapped with stuffing, or stick a layer of sugar, sesame powder, peanut powder or soybean powder on the outside, sweet and moist. I took a picture of the stove of a wine seller in Gage Ancient Lane. They happened to be making Ciba. The old man grabbed a ball of hot Ciba for me to eat, which reminded me of the taste of my hometown.

Guzang Hall Sacrifice

Guizhou Leishan passed the Miao Nian and lived in Qianhu Miao Village in Xijiang, an inn in Fengyu Bridge. In the early morning, stroll to the hillside viewing platform, overlooking the entire Miao Village valley, the Miao Village in the fog has a unique charm. The Baishui River passes through the village, and there are rows of stilted buildings at the foot of Leigong Mountain, and the densely packed Daiwa surrounded by clouds and mist is a little melancholy. As the sun rises from the mountain amidst the crowing of cocks, the Miao village is painted with bright colors. Although there are no firecrackers, you can still feel the strong flavor of the Miao village.

Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village has become a tourist attraction, but unlike most scenic spots in China, Miao people still live here, and it is still the largest Miao village in China and the world. It consists of more than ten Miao villages. The Miao people take care of themselves internally. The village elders manage the village. The "lulvang" (lulvang) of the Miao village is the most prestigious and elderly person in the Miao village. He is equivalent to the person in charge of each village. For sacrificial activities, "huolutou" is the elder who is responsible for farming and agricultural production. "Guzangtou" (Guzangtou) in Miao Village is mainly responsible for keeping the ancestral bronze drums, and is responsible for activities such as Miao sacrifices, New Year's Eve and reed drum dancing. Now some people also call Guzangtou King Miao. It is "Fang Lao" who convenes the meeting of Guzangtou, Zhai Lao, and Huo Lu Tou, and Fang Lao has the final judgment on disputes and affairs.

After the Miao Year, sacrifices are naturally indispensable, and the sacrifice of Guzangtou family is the most important ceremony in the village. On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, the head family of Guzang, a thousand Miao villages in Xijiang, offered sacrifices. The village elders and other elders from each village gathered in the Guzang hall. On the wooden table in front of the hall, there were "chidan" food, a bucket of rice, and a dustpan of glutinous rice. , a bowl of Guzang meat and two carp, 12 pottery bowls on the left and right, and a jar of rice wine on the ground. When the time comes, the elders of the village sing the ancient songs of the Miao nationality together. Guzangtou's elder brother presides over the sacrifice, worships the heaven and the earth, and worships the gods, and then goes to the Guzang hall to sacrifice the bronze drum. After the sacrifice, the village elders enthusiastically shared the food of "Jidan" with all the visitors. I also ate with the village elders, drank a bowl of rice wine, and ate a ball of glutinous rice. It is said that eating the food sacrificed by "Ji Dan" will bring good luck.

Silver jewelry for batik

Miao women don't like gold, but silver. The more silver ornaments, the better, and the heavier the better. When parading in Leishan, girls wear a lot of silver ornaments, such as silver horns, silver crowns, silver flowers, silver hairpins, silver combs, pins, earrings, earposts, earrings, collars, silver collars, silver collars, and silver chests. Cards, silver chest ornaments, silver handkerchiefs, silver mesh chain ornaments, silver flower combs, silver earrings, silver clothing pieces, silver waist chains, silver foot ornaments, etc., are crisp and melodious when walking, and look extraordinarily dazzling . A Miao woman who watched the parade wore thick sterling silver round earrings, and her ear piercing was stretched out. Chatting with a Miao old man, he said that the silver jewelry on these Miao girls weighs several kilograms, not to mention heavy, it takes a long time to wear dozens of kinds of silver jewelry. If it is a wedding day, some brides wear silver jewelry that is heavy. up to ten kilograms.

Gage Ancient Alley in Qianhu Miao Village in Xijiang, a narrow alley near No. 1 Fengyu Bridge, with oil-paper umbrellas of various colors swaying in the air. This is the base camp of the intangible cultural heritage of the Miao people. In the old silver village in Xijiang, I saw non-genetic people forging Miao silver. Although gas was used to fire the silver bars, the silver bars still needed to be hammered into shape little by little. It was a job that involved both intelligence and physical strength. I asked a local Miao girl why their silver jewelry is always so bright. She said that it is usually sealed when not in use. If it turns yellow and dark, it will be sent to Yinzhuang to be cleaned by the master with special silver washing water.

A set of beautiful traditional Miao costumes is all handmade. In the past, we had to do the weaving, batik and embroidery by ourselves. In the past, a set of luxurious costumes usually took one to three years to complete. Most of the hard-won Miao costumes are only available in It is only worn during various festivals. At the Aao Batik shop in Gage Guxiang, we learn to draw the first step of the batik process. Use a pencil to trace out the pattern you want to batik, then dip the wax knife into the hot wax, and then use the wax knife to dip it in. wax oil to draw patterns.

I chose the simplest pattern of a dragon, but the hand with the wax knife couldn't handle it, the thickness or thickness was very uneven, and even a drop of wax dripped on the canvas. As a non-genetic person, the local old Miao people do not need to use pre-drawn drawings at all, and draw directly with a wax knife. She took the phoenix pattern drawn by a tourist and taught us how to draw it with a wax knife. The lines of the wax painting are very even and delicate. After the pattern of the wax painting is drawn, it is put into the dyeing vat, and the wax will slowly melt. The pattern of the wax painting is white, and the other parts are dyed indigo.

Dancing Lusheng and Bronze Drum

The Miao people are good at singing and dancing, and singing and dancing have become a part of daily life. A Miao girl said that when she heard the sound of reeds, her feet would itch. I only listened to Wujiao Lusheng once during the cruise, and I often recalled the beautiful melody in my ears. During the Miao New Year, every village and village will dance the reeds and bronze drums. When three people play the reeds, they form a "band", and others can dance to the sound. Playing reeds is also very particular. The old man in Langde Shangzhai told me that the highest row of reeds is three meters high. The more respected the person, the higher the reeds they play. In the square of Langde Shangzhai Village, the villagers danced and played the flute, but the old man who played the lusheng had the air of a saxophone player, playing it mesmerizingly.

The Miao people dance the lusheng, and the most exciting thing is the golden pheasant dance. In the totem worship of the Miao people, the phoenix is ​​very common, and the "Shan Hai Jing" believes that the legendary phoenix is ​​the golden pheasant. There are dozens or even hundreds of people participating in the Golden Pheasant Dance, and some dance costumes are also dressed in bird clothes. Under the guidance of Lusheng, the girls hang their hands on their skirts, turn their palms down to incite them, and sway their bodies naturally, imitating the dancing action of a golden pheasant. As more and more people joined in the dance, the circle became smaller and smaller, surrounding the people who played the reeds and drums, and the red ribbons on the high rows of reeds fluttered in the middle like small flags.

If you miss the Miao Year in Miao Village, you can also go to the Miao singing and dancing performances to feel the lively atmosphere and spectacular scenes. In the "Xijiang Festival" theater in Datang, Leishan County, there is the first large-scale landscape performance "Xijiang Festival" of the Miao nationality. The whole mountain and the Miao village on the mountain are used as the background of the performance. As the plot changes, different scenes and angles are rotated, and the scene is very shocking. And in the Beautiful Xijiang Theater in Qianhu Miao Village in Xijiang, you can also watch another large-scale Miao style evening show "Beautiful Xijiang", which is also very down-to-earth. If you like the most authentic Miao dance, you can go to the local village square, and there may be unexpected surprises.

Under the drizzle, the Diaojiaolou is shrouded in light mist, and the Miao Village is ethereal like a fairyland, with a kind of artistic conception of ink painting. After taking pictures of Qianhu Miao Village in the small pavilion upstairs in Guzangtou’s house, I went down the mountain and walked to the Lusheng field. A row of women in traditional Miao costumes chatted in the long pavilion, as if they had frozen the time of the Miao years. In Miao Village, the fast pace of modern society is broken up by the tinkling of silver bells. Nostalgia and troubles of life are all gone with the reeds and singing.