Guizhou Rongjiang "Sama Festival" worships the "Great Grandmother" of the Dong ancestors

Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province held a grand folk ceremony to commemorate the Dong people's common ancestor god "Sama".

The "Sama Festival" is the oldest existing traditional festival of the Dong people. Generally only married women and a few highly respected village elders are allowed to participate. It is called the "Women's Day of the Dong people" and is a legacy of customs during the matriarchal society of the Dong people.

"Sama" is a transliteration of the Dong language,"Sa" means grandma,"Ma" means big, and "Sama" means big grandmother.

It is said that in the matriarchal clan society, a brave and skillful female leader of the Dong nationality made many military achievements in resisting the invasion of foreign enemies. Unfortunately, in a battle against an enemy several times his own, he died heroically. The Dong people respect her extremely much and regard her as a god who can bring peace and good fortune, and respectfully call her "Sama". In the hearts of the Dong people, Sama is the greatest god.

On the 19th, the reporter saw at the "Sa" ceremony at the Yuezhai Temple of the Virgin Mary in Rongjiang County that most of the participants in the sacrificial activities were married women. At the beginning of the sacrificial activities, the people in charge of Sa first cooked tea and offered incense and tea to "Sa". The housewives of each family, dressed in costumes, lined up to enter the Temple of the Virgin Mary, each of whom came forward to drink a sip of grandma's tea, picked an evergreen branch of the "Millennium mugwort") and placed it in the bun, and then followed the old woman holding a half-open umbrella around the village for a week, worshiping the Tudi Temple, and finally came to the square in the village, holding hands to dance the unique dance "Duoye" of the Dong people.

Li Xiuchun, a 79-year-old man from Yuezhai, told reporters: "Sacrifice to Sama has been held since ancient times. It is once a year and has never stopped, just to pray for the safety of the whole family."

Sama Festival culture has a long history and strong connotation, and has a profound impact on the social life of the Dong people. It is understood that the 2006 Rongjiang Dong Sama Festival was included in the first batch of China Intangible Cultural Heritage List.