Today is the New Year of the Dong people. We have the honor to witness the joyful scene of the Dong compatriots celebrating the new year in the largest Dong village in the country - Zhaoxing Dong Village in Liping, Guizhou. Before introducing the Dong year, let me introduce the evaluation method of Zhaoxing , it is not only the largest Dong village in the country, but also the largest Dong village in the world, and it is also the Dong village with the most drum towers. In 2005, it was selected as one of the "Six Most Beautiful Ancient Rural Towns in China" by "China National Geographic". In 2007, it was jointly selected as "the 33 most attractive tourist destinations in the world" by "Fashion Travel" and "National Geographic" of the United States. land" one. As one of the sub-venues of the 2018 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Zhaoxing Dong Village has amazed the world in just a few minutes of appearance!
According to local Dong friends in Zhaoxing, the Dong family thinks that the year of labor is over and the new year is coming after autumn, when the crops are plentiful, the animals are thriving, and all farming tasks are completed. Therefore, they regard the first day of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar as the beginning of the new year. At this time of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the petals, when the grain is full, and the livestock pen is full, every family will gather together to celebrate the new year by slaughtering pigs and cattle. In 2010, a complete set of customs of the Dong Year was formed. The whole New Year’s event was extremely grand, and Yufan also took a lot of photos. It is really difficult to introduce it in detail in an article, so I would like to introduce one of the Dong Year in this article. There is one activity, that is, the lively activity of promoting officials.
The so-called "official lifter" is called "Dian Ningmeng" in the local Dong dialect, also known as "Na Mian" (painted face), which is one of the most solemn folk activities in Zhaoxing Dong Village. According to the staff, the official lifter The activity has a history of more than 300 years, and the custom is generally held during the "Yuehe" (collective guests) during the Spring Festival, in order to hope that the coming year will have good weather and the village will be prosperous and safe.
The form of the officials is peculiar. The "officials" are usually dressed up by cute children aged 2 to 5 in the Dong village, and they are basically two, which means that good things come in pairs. They sit on a sedan chair, Carried by the villagers to parade in the village, and accompanied by entourages with strange makeup. Through masquerade performances, the past social phenomena and legends of the Dong village are exaggeratedly reproduced, which has a strong dramatic color.
For those of us who are newcomers from other places, at the beginning, we are looking at the novelty and excitement, and later we are looking at the culture and inheritance, but many people are at a loss. I understood the meaning of the activity, and after understanding it later, I found out that this official-carrying person actually has a very rich culture, and he has a lot of attention.
What is the method of "carrying officials"? After three cannons were fired, the team of "official lifters" set off in two ways: the first team consisted of more than 10 young men wearing hoods and dark blue underwear. They jumped into the stream of the Dong village, and some Holding fishing nets, some holding fishing sticks, and some holding farming tools... along the stream, down the water, imitating the scenes of various farming activities in the water, this way is to pray for good weather and a good harvest in the coming year .
The other team is a large team of more than 100 people. They are dressed in costumes or fancy clothes. They set off from the Rentuan Drum Tower of the Zhaoxing Dong Village, and pass the Drum Tower of the Righteous Group, the Li Group, the Zhi Group, and the Xin Group. The "officials" are dressed up by two children, a man and a woman, and they sit on a simple bamboo sedan chair and are carried by two people respectively. Behind the sedan chair is a group of attendants, some of whom are dressed in strange clothes, some with ragged clothes and some with straw faces Wipe the dust, some dress up as soldiers and bandits to open the way, some men disguise themselves as women in exaggerated and humorous actions...
At the back of the parade is a long line of entourages of young men and women and old people dressed in costumes. On the way, some played Lusheng, and some set off firecrackers. Every time they entered a Drum Tower, firecrackers were set off to welcome them, and tea and water were poured. On the way, there are also links such as "blocking roads and robbing" forcibly asking for "road money", girls blocking sedan chairs to sing songs, and asking "officials" for auspicious red envelopes, etc., which reproduces the picture of production and life in the ancient society of the Dong people.
These are the cruisers of the waterway. They hold various production tools, sometimes hit the water surface, sometimes make strange noises, and sometimes make various actions to interact with the tourists onlookers. , Also happy tourists.
Zhaoxing Dong Village is actually divided into five groups: Ren, Righteous Group, Li Group, Zhi Group and Xin Group. Interact with tourists, while a group of people walking by water will jump into the pond next to it, doing various actions such as hitting the water and touching fish.
The team of officials carrying officials marched along the stream in the Dong village, and the two bearers covered their faces, wondering if he would be able to clear the road every year.
The scene was very happy, but watching the waterway personnel in the water, I still sweated for them. You must know that the temperature today is very low. Even though we are wearing thick clothes, we still feel very cold, but they can be happy. Jumping into the water is admirable in itself.
In the process of promoting officials, there is also an interactive link. I saw a person dressed in straw holding delicious kippers with a tree fork. If tourists want to eat, they need to compete with the scarecrow. The scarecrow smeared pepper on his face. Stepping on the unique pace, the scarecrow is forced to have no way out, and the scarecrow will admit defeat. Just holding the pickled fish with the wooden stick in his hand, and putting it behind his head, the tourists took the opportunity to eat the delicious Dong family pickled fish. It is said that Eating salted fish will bring good luck.
Regarding the origin of the activity of carrying officials, a respected old man in the village told Yufan that "carrying officials" actually originated from the commemoration of Wu Zhihe, a hero who slayed monsters and kept the Dong village safe. , Supernatural powers, made a lot of contributions to the people. Later, in order to thank Wu Zhihe for his kindness, the villagers in the village would carry him around the village every year on the seventh day of the first lunar month when the snake's head was beheaded, and let his people pay homage.
Later, in order to commemorate Wu Zhi and the hero, the activity of carrying officials was passed down from generation to generation, and became one of the most solemn and traditional activities in the Dong village. Now it is changed to children dressing up as officials, hoping that they will become prominent in the future. , Become the new hero in the village. Finally, the old man said that choosing to hold the event of promoting officials on the occasion of the Dong Year Festival can also be used to connect with clan relatives, enhance friendship between villages, and also allow foreign tourists to better understand the traditional culture of the Dong people. It can be said to serve multiple purposes.
Have you ever seen an activity like this? Do you have such a strong Chinese New Year flavor in your place?