Shui people, who call themselves rensui or sui people, mainly live in Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Dushan County, Libo County, Duyun City, Rongjiang County, Leishan County, Congjiang County, and Danzhai County in the south and southeast of Guizhou Province , Fuquan City, etc. The Shui people have a long history. It is said that they have existed since Qin Shihuang unified the six countries and migrated here from the Central Plains. I have only heard of such a nation before, but I have never come into contact with it. By chance, I went to Guizhou for a trip at the end of June. A new friend from Guizhou, Xiao Yanzi, said that her friend was in Sandu, a member of the Shui tribe, and was preparing for the Mao Festival. It was very lively. She invited her to the festival and asked me if I would be interested in traveling with her. , so I gladly went.
The Mao Festival of the Shui nationality is called "Ji Mao" in the water language. It is also called "Eastern Valentine's Day", also known as "Song Festival". It is popular in some villages in Sandu County and Libo County, Guizhou Province. The festival lasts for four days. According to the ancient customs, starting from the Mao day in the ninth and October of the water calendar (fifth and June in the lunar calendar), there are four batches in different regions to celebrate the festival in turn on the Mao day. Therefore, different villages have different festival times. In the eyes of the Shui people, the Mao Festival is very important, which is equivalent to celebrating the New Year.
Every time the Mao Festival is celebrated, the Shui compatriots will prepare sumptuous delicacies at home to entertain the guests. Usually, they will prepare enough meals for the whole day early in the morning. Eating, often from nine o'clock in the morning to more than twelve o'clock in the evening. During the three days I’ve been here, basically I have to eat two or three restaurants for every meal. The people of the Shui people are very hospitable. Although I’m a stranger, they are all proud to have guests from afar. Even if they don’t know each other, they can chat After a few words, you will be kindly greeted to have dinner at home. The dishes are mainly meat, and chicken, duck, beef and pig are the main dishes. The warm and simple Shui people often say: there are no good dishes at home, but they are all raised by themselves. In the words of our urbanites, all free-range chickens, free-range ducks, free-ranging cattle, and pigs that do not eat feed are quite primitive. The Shui people love to drink, and every household makes their own rice wine, which is called Jiuqian Wine by the locals. Of course, there is no shortage of wine during the festival. Toasting is a common thing on the table. They will feel that the guests are happy with the drink, and they are even happier. And they have a very interesting custom, if many people drink together, when the climax is reached, the host and the guest will hold up the wine glass and say "yo! yo! yo! (going)" three times, and then pour out the wine in the glass. Drink it all up, during the Mao Festival these days, the sounds of yo yo in the village fill your ears. BY THE WAY: It is said that Jiuqian wine is soaked with more than 100 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines. It is brownish yellow in color, rich in fragrance, sweet and refreshing.
Compared with the dishes on a plate, I prefer another way of eating them, which is hot pot. The hot pot here is a little different from other places, that is, put a small shelf on top of the hot pot and put a bowl There is no doubt that Guizhou people have a tradition of hot pepper sauce.
During the festival, the happiest thing is of course the children, they can play wantonly and eat all kinds of delicious food like crazy. Children's happiness is extremely simple, they will enjoy themselves when they have something to eat and play, but when people grow up, they will be influenced by their family and society, and they can no longer be as simple and happy as they were when they were young.
Uri is the climax of festival activities. On Mao Day, the first day of the new year, there is a custom of singing antiphonal songs among young men and women who drive to Maopo. Maopo was selected after many years of customs, and it is a place for young men and women to conduct extensive social activities in the form of singing antiphonal songs. Not only young people from villages near Maopo will go to Maopo to sing duets, but also men, women, old and young people from outer villages and neighboring counties who do not pass the Mao Festival will also come to participate in the grand event. And many businessmen also come to set up stalls to sell various food and daily groceries, which will immediately make the whole Maopo full of people, just like a market day. The path leading to Maopo seemed to be impenetrable due to the influx of a large number of people, so some smart people walked through the field path. The winding field path and the continuous flow of people formed a beautiful scenery.
The festival is the day to promote the marriage of young men and women. In the past, the Shui people were deeply restrained by feudal ethics, and the social activities of young men and women were restricted to a certain extent. Even if they had a love partner in private, they could not communicate freely. You can only entrust your acquaintances, such as sisters at home, to secretly convey a certain amount of love information when necessary. However, there is no such restriction on antiphonal songs on the Mao Festival. Young men and women are free to choose their beloved ones to sing antiphonal songs. As long as the two sing to their heart's content, afterward, the man's family only needs to go to recognize the relatives with pigs, wine, glutinous rice and other recognition gifts, and they can get married after choosing a wedding date. Generally, the family rarely interferes. Of course, the times are different now. Most young men and women fall in love freely, and the Shui people are gradually Sinicized, and the number of people who can sing Shui folk songs is gradually decreasing. Therefore, most of the people who can sing duets on Maopo are men and women over 30 years old. . There is a certain way of antiphonal singing. The girls cover their faces with umbrellas, and the boys secretly look for objects. I saw under the umbrella, in the jungle, in the field. A bunch of young men and women played love songs against each other. They are in pairs, or in groups of three or four, singing softly - expressing love with eyebrows and singing to show love.
And the bold men are in groups of three or four, holding hands and surrounding the woman they like. Success, now that technology is advanced, look, the couple in the picture above are exchanging WeChat.
Not far from Maopo, there is a valley named Lover’s Valley, which is probably named after the Mao Festival, also known as Oriental Valentine’s Day. There is Ruyi Waterfall in the valley, where you can play in the water to cool off the heat. Slowly walk up the mountain along the path next to the waterfall. On the way and on the top of the mountain, you can see a towering tree with a thick trunk that can be surrounded by several people. At the top of the mountain, you can watch Maopo from another angle. It is still crowded and lively.
Looking in the other direction, you can see the criss-cross fields, the fertile fields and the beautiful houses, just like people in Taoyuan. Until the sun went down, the crowd gradually dispersed, the three capitals moved nine times, the Shui nationality Mao Festival, and the hospitable Shui people made me spend an unforgettable festival. I will remember this place, remember you, one day I will Will be back!