"This place is shrouded in clouds and mists all year round. It is a mysterious sacred place for sacrifices. The valley is full of bull heads and white bones of various shapes..."

Seeing this place already makes people feel a little creepy. I didn't expect there to be such a primitive and mysterious place in China. This place is called Longmoye. The local Wa people believe that after people leave this world, they will come to Longmoye.

Long Moye, a mysterious mountain wonder

In the mountains of the Awa Mountains on the China-Myanmar border, there is a sapphire-like tropical freshwater lake named Mengsuo Longtan, which is regarded as a holy lake by the local people.

The water is not deep, and there is a dragon to make spirits. Just like the name of Mengsuo Longtan, there are many beautiful or mysterious legends circulating here, which make this Longtan quite spiritual.

The Holy Land of Long Moye is located here. "Long Moye" is pronounced in the local Wa language, "Dragon" means forest, "Moye" means a buffalo head, and "Long Moye" means a forest holy place with a cow's head hanging on it.

As the name describes, Longmoye is a forest full of bull heads and bones. If you want to enter the Holy Land of Long Moye, you must first go through a rugged mountain path and enter the valley.

The sun was shining brightly just a second ago, and my body was slightly burning from the sun. As soon as I stepped into the mountain, I felt bursts of cold air rushing towards my face.

At this time, the white bones of bull heads began to come into view. Judging from the appearance of these bones, they had been placed here for some years. Most of these bull heads are hung on wooden stakes that are close to decay, and some stakes even have several bull heads in a row.

The stone steps, tree trunks, fences, and even the bull's head are covered with moss, glowing with green light, and the air is filled with the smell of damp grass, creating a quiet and mysterious artistic conception.

With the deepening, the number of bull heads is also increasing. After turning over a small waterfall, you will come to Long Moye's worship platform. This is the core area of ​​Long Moye's holy land, and it is also the place where the cow's head and white bones are densest.

There are densely packed bull's heads and white bones everywhere on the cliff, in different shapes and shapes, as if there are thousands of empty eyes staring at you, and the fine hairs stand on end instantly.

These bull-headed white bones are like the guardians of this sacred territory. I don't know if they will welcome me, an uninvited guest. So, I took a few photos and left in a hurry, ending the short journey of exploring the secrets of Long Moye. Looking back now, I still feel a little shivering on my back.

Fortunately, it is broad daylight now. If it was evening, seeing such a scene would make people panic just thinking about it.

Buffalo head, a noble sacrificial relic

Longmoye Holy Land is a must-visit place in Ximeng County. This small county is located in Pu'er City in southwest Yunnan, bordering Myanmar. It is one of the only two Wa autonomous counties in my country. Wa compatriots have lived for generations here.

For tourists, the Holy Land of Longmoye is an alternative place to hunt for novelties, but for the Wa people, it is a sacred place of worship.

The Wa people believe in primitive religion. They believe that after the end of life, the soul will be entrusted to Longma in another way. Therefore, whenever there are major festivals or encounter difficulties, they will hold sacrificial activities in Longmoye and keep the buffalo head in Longmoye.

Gradually, Long Moye's buffalo heads accumulated more and more, forming the current appearance. According to statistics, as many as 3,000 ox-headed bones have been gathered here, and the scale is quite grand.

Why buffalo? Because in the Wa culture, the buffalo is the savior of the Wa people, so the Wa people worship the buffalo and regard it as a mascot, representing power and wealth.

There are Niutou piles in every Wa village. The larger the size of the Niutou piles, the stronger the strength of the village.

Today, bull head sacrifice has been passed down as an important cultural tradition of the Wa people, but the early Wa people had another terrible way of offering sacrifices.

Hunter's head, the original belief of the Wa people

The Wa nationality is a nation with a long history, but because it is located deep in the mountains, the Wa people living on the edge of the Awa Mountain are ruled or influenced by the chieftains of the Dai nationality, and basically belong to the feudal lord system, forming independent villages and tribes.

Due to the very backward social productivity, the local Wa tribes have maintained their primitive living customs and primitive religious sacrifice traditions for a long time, including the custom of "headhunters" offering sacrifices to valleys.

At the earliest, this act was to pray for good weather and a good harvest this year, and most of the sacrificers were voluntary sacrifices from their own villages. Later, it gradually developed into the sacrifice of the heads of the captives of the hostile tribes after conflicts between tribes.

This barbaric and cruel "headhunting" sacrifice continued until after liberation. It was not until 1958 that it was completely stopped under the intervention of the central government and replaced by bull heads.

Although the head sacrifice has been banned, the primitive religious beliefs and sacrificial traditions of the Wa people have been preserved. As a precious historical heritage and unique national culture, it has become an important part of enriching the diversity of Chinese civilization.

The society is developing and the times are progressing. Just like the "headhunting" sacrifice of the Wa people, many stubborn diseases of feudal superstition deviate from contemporary values. The most correct way to open up is to inherit and develop traditional culture through sublation.

Practical information Tips:

Location: Inside Mengsuo Longtan, Ximeng County, Puer City, Yunnan Province

Ticket price: 30 yuan / person

Points to note: 1. It is not recommended to take children who are too young to go to Longmoye Holy Land; 2. Although there is a ticket office in Longmoye Holy Land, there are many trails around which you can enter directly; 3. The mountain road to Ximeng County is rugged and self-driving Pay attention to control the speed of the vehicle.

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