Yi New Year: Being with our ancestors

There are many religious ceremonies and few folk festivals in the Liangshan Yi area. "Kushi" can be said to be the only festival celebrated by the Yi people in this area. The word "Ku" of "Ku Shi" is a noun, which means year and year;"Shi" is a variation of the adjective "Shi", which means new, and "Ku Shi" means New Year;"Shi" is a verb, which means turning, reincarnation, and circulation."Ku Shi" means turning year, extending to "New Year". The Yi people's "Ku Shi" has the same significance as the Han people's Spring Festival, which has the same significance as the Han people's own traditional festival. It is different from the Han people's Spring Festival. Among the festivals of various ethnic groups in China, it is also a festival with distinctive ethnic characteristics.

There is such a legend about the origin of the Yi New Year. Once upon a time, there were three giant man-eating beasts called Lectebi, who lived in three directions of the earth, changing places every once in a while. Some change one place every three years, some change one place every year, and some change one place every day. These three pythons can suck people and animals far away. People are very afraid, but there is nothing they can do. One day, the hero Zhige 'aru came to a stockade. After hearing about the python, he took a condor with a copper rope in his hand, and hid on the soil ridge and called out Lectebi's name loudly. Lectebi heard this, and he opened his huge mouth and wanted to fly over to eat Zhige' aru. At this time, Zhige 'aru released the condor and pecked through Lecteby's mouth. He immediately tied Lecteby's mouth with a copper rope and asked while beating: "Lecteby! Are you still eating people? Lecterby, are you still eating people?" Lecteby was beaten until he screamed and swore that he would never eat people again. From then on, Zhige 'aru made a rule and ordered Lecteby to leave the world and live in the sky. He said: "From now on, you can no longer go to the world to do evil and eat people. Every year after the autumn harvest, you will be left with some lungs and liver for you when you kill pigs." This led to the rise of the Yi Year.

Tasting "Gangan Liquor" In fact, the Yi New Year is related to the Yi people's "October Solar Calendar". In this traditional calendar, a year is fixed to 10 months, a month is fixed to 36 days, and the additional 5-6 days are the New Year's Day, that is, the "extra days". The average Chinese New Year's Day is five days a year. Every third year to the fourth year, one extra day is added as a leap day. After the Chinese New Year, the New Year begins. To this day, the Yi people in Ganluo County call celebrating the New Year "Chelejue", which means "Zhuan October." The festival period in the Yi calendar year generally lasts for three days: on the first day, we welcome our ancestors home for the New Year and offer sacrifices to them; on the second day, male adults go door-to-door to kill "New Year pigs", while women stay at home to cook various traditional festival food. The children are gathered by village elders to conduct a "collective food gathering" activity-intended to pray and bless the healthy growth of the children; on the third day, we send the ancestors back to the ancestral realm, where people pray for peace and happiness, prosperity of cattle and sheep, and a bumper harvest of grain. A Yi proverb goes: "There will be no mistake in eating three days after the Chinese New Year, and there will be no mistake in saying three days after the marriage." Therefore, people often say that "the Yi calendar year is a festival for the mouth." Below, we describe it according to the festival procedures.

"Kushimunise": Choose a day to celebrate the New Year. The Torch Festival in Liangshan often falls on June 24th of the lunar calendar, and in the Yi Year, a day must be chosen. Generally, the Rabbit Moon and Dragon Moon in the Yi calendar can be regarded as the "Kushishi" New Year season, and villages choose auspicious days to celebrate the New Year during this season. Choosing a day can be done by a wise village veteran, or it can be chosen by a "Muniseco" day selector who specializes in day selection activities. The Yi people divide the month into upper and lower halves. The second half of the month is an auspicious time for the New Year. However, as for which day, we must comprehensively consider the 28th star occupation, the demon "Zitabo" occupation, and the collapse of the day "Juemojuere" occupation. Method, and also refer to the year of last year. If the weather has been good, the grain has been abundant, the six animals have been prosperous, and the people have been safe, the day of the New Year in the first year will be generally used as the New Year; otherwise, choose another day. If the ancestors in the village have disputes or feud with their ancestors, the New Year days will have to be staggered. Otherwise, the ancestors will fight on their way back to celebrate the New Year and will not be able to live a good New Year. Whether the New Year is auspicious or not is related to whether the New Year can be enjoyed well and whether the coming year is smooth and safe. An Yi proverb says: "When you send your soul on an auspicious day, the population will prosper; when you marry on an auspicious day, the birth will be smooth; when the New Year is an auspicious day, the grains will flourish."

"Kushidoga": Preparing for the New Year before the New Year is the most solemn event of the year, and a lot of preparation work is required. The most important one is to urge the raising of New Year pigs. As the Yi proverb goes, Torch Festival is a festival for the eyes, and Yi Year is a festival for the mouth. One of the characteristics of Chinese New Year is eating. The main target for eating is New Year pigs during the New Year. New Year pigs have multiple functions. They can entertain neighbors and present pigs to relatives and friends. More importantly, they can entertain ancestors, please the dead, and pray for blessings and blessings. The Yi people believe that using fat New Year pigs to worship ancestors can bring joy to their ancestors, and the ancestors will bestow an auspicious harvest on their descendants in the coming year. Therefore, every household uses the best feed to encourage the raising of New Year pigs. Generally, about three months before the New Year, New Year pigs begin to be raised separately, and carefully fed with fried corn flour and cooked round-root potatoes to fatten them. Then they prepare food and wine sacrifices for the ancestors, make firewood for the New Year, pick pine trees for staying up late, sharpen kitchen knives, replace new cutting boards, weave new bamboo baskets and bamboo baskets for holding meat, grind tofu, and rush to make new clothes for the children., etc., it's a busy and happy scene.

"Kushidihei": On the first day of the Chinese New Year,"Flying the Holy Smoke": Welcoming the ancestors, the meaning of "Kushidihei" means the New Year's Day, similar to the 30th of the Chinese New Year. The main activities on this day include welcoming ancestors home for the New Year, slaughtering New Year pigs one by one, and offering sacrifices to ancestors. Early in the morning,"fireworks"(commonly known as "releasing magic smoke") were lit at the doorsteps of each household, and the slowly rising green smoke was used to inform ancestors to go home and spend the festival with future generations. Then, men, women and children in the village, except for the hostess who stayed at home, happily surrounded the expert pig butcher "Weng Sergu" to slaughter New Year pigs door by door. In addition to rich experience, superb skills, and quick movements, a pig killer must also have a good appearance, a strong body, no body odor and infectious diseases, and have never eaten fasted cat, dog and horse meat. He was responsible for slaughtering all the New Year pigs in the village. The order of slaughtering pigs depends on the seniority of the village. Every time the pig killing team reaches a household, young people help kill the pigs, old people drink and chat, and children call out chickens and dogs. To kill a pig, you must kill it with one knife, otherwise it means unlucky. After the pig died, pine wood was used to ignite clean fern base leaves to burn the pig hair. After processing the pig hair, the anatomy began. During the dissection process, divination activities were carried out using pig gallbladder, pig intestines and other internal organs. For example, gallbladder is seen by the Yi people as both a symbol of the ancestors 'will and a symbol of the blessings and blessings of future generations. Generally, boldness, full of bile, and yellow color are good luck, indicating that the ancestors received sacrifices and blessed future generations. After the divination, a ritual of "Suomu" sacrifice to ancestors was performed, that is, part of the liver and pork were taken and boiled, and the male owner took it to the ancestral shrine above the fire pond to worship the ancestors. Along with the roast meat, there were also buckwheat cakes and white wine. After the sacrifice, the people present shared the roast meat. Then, everyone flocked to another house to slaughter New Year pigs.

At dusk, the New Year pigs in all households in the village were slaughtered, and people returned home to catch up with New Year meals. At this time, the hostess who stayed at home had been busy all day, preparing Tuotuo meat, pickled cabbage soup, rice, buckwheat cake and other New Year meals. The male owner once again served the cooked meat and buckwheat cake on the sacrificial cabinet to sacrifice to his ancestors, praying for a bumper harvest and peace in the coming year. The male owner recited the sacrificial words: "Today is a good year, a good moon, and a good day. Please come quickly to enjoy the sacrifice and pray that there will be no diseases in the places where children play next year. No jackals will be found on the hillsides where sheep are sheep, and no eagles will hover in the sky where chickens are foraging. There will be no heavy rain and hail where the seedlings grow. Bless the harvest of grains, the prosperity of six livestock, and the safety of the people in the coming year." After the sacrifice, the whole family shared the delicious New Year's meal. After dinner, feed some leftovers to pigs, dogs, cats, and chickens, and feed cattle, sheep, and horses with the best feed to stabilize the six livestock god "Niseyosse" and pray for the prosperity of the six livestock in the coming year.

"Kushikug": On the second day of the Chinese New Year,"Kushikug" means playing New Year's Day. The activities for this day are mainly about play. When you get up early in the morning, the first thing you do is to worship your ancestors. The hostess heats the offerings placed on the sacrificial ark and puts them on the sacrificial ark to worship the ancestors. After breakfast,"Juezha Duo" offered sacrifices to the Eagle God. The male owner hung small bamboo vines containing tuotuo meat and buckwheat cakes on the branches and recited the sacrificial words: "Please enjoy the mountain god, please enjoy the grain god, please enjoy the earth god; If the mountain god does not speak, tigers and leopards will not eat sheep; if the grain god does not nod, the eagle will not hold my chicken; if the earth god does not agree, the mouse will not steal my food. Please keep my six animals safe."

"Onsiraguge": The most distinctive program for celebrating New Year's Day with children is the children's "Onsiraguge" activity, which means "playing with pig's feet". After breakfast, the parents tied the cooked New Year pig feet with ropes at both ends and slung them across the children's shoulders. Haizuo held a small bamboo basket containing buckwheat cake, rice, a wooden spoon and a knife., led by the village elders, they came to a place sheltered from the wind in the mountains. The children worked separately, some collecting firewood and some helping to support a large pot. Everything was ready, and the village elder announced the start of the event. The first is to pick the pig's feet and break the buckwheat cake. The children use a knife to pick the meat off the pig's feet, break the buckwheat cake into small pieces with their hands, and put it into the pot together with the rice. Then, the village old made a fire, flipped the food in the pot, and stir-fried chowder. After the food was stewed and stir-fried, he sacrificed himself to the mountain god "Mulmus". The village old man held a small bamboo basket with food in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. He read: "At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, on the occasion of the New Year's Eve of the 'Ku Shi', invite the mountain gods to enjoy the sacrifice and the grain gods to enjoy the sacrifice. Bless the children in the coming year to be lucky and bless the children in the coming year to be safe. Let the children who come to play with pig's feet today also come to play with pig's feet next year, and the year after next."While saying this, he scooped food with a wooden spoon and sprinkled it forward, sprinkled it three times in a row to show respect to the food. It shows that the purpose of this activity is to pray and bless the healthy growth of children. After the sacrifice, the eager children rushed to "destroy" the delicious food in the pot. When the stomach is full, the children start to play on the spot. The boys compete in wrestling, throwing stones, cross-legged and one-legged "cockfighting"; the girls pick stones and take care of their little brothers and sisters.

The male owner at home has to complete the only task of the day after breakfast, which is to chop the meat and cut the remaining meat into strips to make bacon. After cutting the meat, some went to visit, and some took older boys to go hunting. The hostess stayed at home, pickled bacon, made sausages, and cared for the livestock.

Around five or six o'clock, people returned home one after another. The hostess reheated the food on the shrine, paid homage to the shrine, and the whole family had dinner together. At night, the male owner stayed up late to add firewood and add pine trees, and the house was brightly lit all night long. According to the rules, family members are prohibited from staying out on this night, because the ancestors will be sent back to their ancestral land the next morning, the third day of the Chinese New Year. Legend has it that ancestors needed to count points before setting off, and members who were not at home would not be blessed by their ancestors in the coming year.

"Kushiboji": On the third day of the Chinese New Year,"Kushiboji" means the day of sending off ancestors. The most important activity on this day is to send our ancestors back to their ancestral land. The male owner who kept the night watchful stayed up all night. When he heard the first crowing of the cock in the morning, he hurriedly sent his ancestors off, lest if the delivery was too late, his ancestors would fall behind others and stay in the world, leaving behind disaster. The hostess warmed up the sacrificial food and made a ritual to the ancestors before sending them off. Families who adhere to tradition divide the sacrificial food into four portions. One portion is placed on the shrine to worship the ancestors; one portion is placed on the right side of the fire pond to comfort the soul of the owner's family; one portion is placed on the left side of the fire pond to worship the five grains gods; and one portion is placed under the fire pond to worship the six animal gods and the souls of slaves. Before the civil reform, some families had slaves, and slaves generally slept under the fire pond. The sacrifice to the ancestors is to give them away, and the human souls, the grain gods and the six animal gods are given food. The sacrifice is to calm the soul and calm the nerves so that they will not leave with their ancestors. Each family member should taste some of the sacrificial food, which also means to soothe the soul.

Then "Muzha Qie" fed the spirit horse, that is, poured oats into the manger outside the door to symbolically feed the ancestors 'spirit horse, and used broken pieces of wood as a bundle for the ancestors' journey. When the family sent the ancestors to the door, the male and female parents said something to the ancestors, to the effect: Let's hurry back to the ancestral land, otherwise there will be no companions on the road, please leave peace and auspicious. Bless the safety of the family, a bumper harvest of grain, and the development of six livestock in the coming year, and come back next year to enjoy the festival in the Year of Yi.

After sending off the ancestors, the whole family immediately inspected the pig bladder hanging on the pillar of the house. It turned out that after killing the Nian pig, his bladder was blown into a ball and hung on the pillar. According to local saying, the ancestors would hit this bladder when they left. If the mark left was large and deep, it would indicate that the pig of the coming year would be big and fat, which bodes well for the new year.

"Kushijuegu": Returning to her mother's home to pay New Year greetings In the Yi Year season, whether on the mountain path or on the bus, you can see women dressed in festive costumes carrying children, fathers carrying gifts such as wine and meat, and the family. The scene of people traveling happily. It turned out that after sending off the ancestors, the festival entered the link of New Year greetings. An important feature of the New Year's greetings activities is that the married daughters of the village and the married daughters-in-law bring their husbands and children back to their parents and relatives to pay New Year greetings. For many women who marry far away, New Year greetings are the happiest activity of the year. On weekdays, housework, children and husbands are busy, and they only have the opportunity to go home to visit their parents after the Year of the Yi Year. At this time, husbands generally behave particularly generously, preparing pig heads, pork, white wine, oatmeal noodles, noodles, and candies until their back pockets are full. In addition to making his wife happy, the most important thing is to win the praise of his father-in-law's family and gain a good reputation for hard work and generosity. Back at her mother's home, the recipients of New Year greetings are first parents, then elders and older brothers. In addition to visiting and greeting, gifts are also given during the New Year's greetings. Pig heads are naturally a respect for father. The rewards received were "Kushikaba", or Yi Year gifts, for the children. Some were livestock, silver ingots and other physical objects, and some were gifts ranging from a few yuan to tens of yuan. The relationship between in-laws and family branches was strengthened and continued during New Year greetings activities.

Whether it is Spring Festival or Yi New Year, it is a folk tradition about time. As a festival custom at the beginning of the year, the Yi Year has its three major characteristics: a festival of mouth, a festival of worshiping ancestors, and a festival of moving and communicating among in-laws. It has drawn people's life experience year after year in the cultural inheritance of local society., internalized into people's time experience inherited from generation to generation, accumulating the profound feelings of mankind on life and the world from generation to generation. The Yi New Year customs originated from the people and embodied the local society's concept of time, as well as local knowledge about time and collective memory of ancestors. They reflected people's observation and reflection on the original meaning of life and the course of life. Of course, they also deeply contained the local society's time philosophy, life philosophy and belief mentality. (Bamo Sisters Yi Studies Group/Wen Zhong Dakun/Photo)