Every year on November 20th of the lunar calendar, in the ancient city of Nianduhu in Tongren County, which was built during the Ming Dynasty, villagers usher in the most important "Yutu" epidemic prevention ceremony in the "Yutu" witchcraft heritage. As early as the fifth day of the lunar calendar, the monks in the temple have recited the Ping An Sutra for three days, kicking off the prelude to the custom of "Yutu" at the end of the year in the village.
On the eve of jumping Yutu, the local people will also carry out the "Bang Ji" activity. The first is to invite the gods. At dawn, the sedan chair of Erlang God is invited from the temple of Erlang God to the home of the person who is going to hold the state sacrifice, and the sacrifice is performed under the leadership of the mage.
In the afternoon of the second day, the selected seven men came to Erlang Temple, took off their shirts, rolled up their trouser legs, painted tiger and leopard patterns all over their bodies, including their faces, with ink or pot ashes, and used the white paper that the master had cursed. Tiao tied his hair into an angry state, just like a tiger's fury.
Surrounding Sangtai, the quaint "Yutu" dance is danced rhythmically with the sound of gongs and drums. When the performance was about to end, someone fired a gun at the entrance of the village. When the Yutus heard the gunshot, they rushed out of the temple aggressively and went straight to the village.
The mage leads the way, and the villagers follow. Seven of them live in the dodder, two are big tigers and five are small tigers. Accompanied by the gongs and drums played by the mage, two big tigers only patrol the street to frighten them. Their duty is to prevent the demons from sneaking away from every house. Previously, steamed buns, fruits, wine and meat had been prepared on the altar tables of each household, waiting for those Yutu to come and enjoy them.
After entering people's homes, Yutus can search for food unscrupulously, hold the food in their mouths, shake their heads and tails, and act like a tiger devouring it. After the Yutus climbed out of other people's homes, they gathered at the entrance of the alleyway in the village. The villagers put the prepared buns with holes in the middle on the sticks held by the Yutus. After the Yutus gathered together, they walked out of the village while dancing.
If there is a sick person in the villagers' home, they will jump over the sick person to show that the disease will be driven away.
After the "Seven Tigers" walked all over the village to eat their fill, the villagers lit firecrackers, the mage chanted scriptures, and the villagers drove Yu Tu away. The person playing Yu Tu fled all the way to the river, broke the ice on the river, and then washed the tiger and leopard pattern off his body. On the way back, people lit a fire and asked them to step over the fire, indicating that the demons and evils had been eliminated at this time.
Regarding the historical origin of the "Yutu" custom, the current academic circles generally agree that there are two viewpoints: the Chu Feng custom and the ancient Qiang tribe's tiger totem worship, and there are many folk theories. After all, a large number of investigations and studies are still needed.
In 2006, the "Yutu" dance of the Regong Tu nationality and Regong art (Thangka, pile embroidery, clay sculpture), and the "June Festival" of Regong Tibetan Township were included in the first batch of intangible cultural heritage lists by the Ministry of Culture.
