Hui festival customs

Traditional festivals of the Hui nationality are inseparable from Islam. After the liberation of the country, the People's Government stipulated Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Holy Righteous Day as national festivals common to all ethnic minorities who believe in Islam, and stipulated that the holidays should be closed for one to three days. The Hui people are accustomed to celebrating the annual traditional festivals such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Holy Order Day, as well as festivals such as Ashura, Fatumai, and Dengxiao Festival. However, in recent years, it is only the lunar year-the Spring Festival. The festivals are calculated according to the Islamic lunar calendar. If calculated according to the calendar, they change year by year, and generally they are advanced by about one month every three years.

Islam called Mohammed's move from Mecca to Medina in September 622 AD "Hijilai." After Mohammed's death, in order to commemorate this significant historical event,"Hijilai" was designated as the Islamic era, and the first day of the first month of the religious calendar of that year (the second day when Mohammed entered Medina) was the beginning of the year. That is, New Year's Day of the first year. Nowadays, Hui people generally only remember their own ethnic festivals and pay little attention to the Islamic New Year's Day, which only happens to be New Year's Day.

Moreover, the Hui people are not only festivals for the Han and other ethnic groups, such as the Dragon Boat Festival, which worships Qu Yuan, the Mid-Autumn Festival, which mainly focuses on paying the moon, as well as the Qingming Festival, Laba Festival, etc.; the Hui people living in Yi areas are only "Torch Festival"; the Hui people living in Guangxi, Guilin, Liuzhou, Nanning, Lingchuan, Yongfu, Pingluo and other places are only "March 3rd" of the Zhuang people, Miao Year of the Miao people, Pan Five Festival of the Yao people, etc.

However, after the founding of New China, with the development and change of society, some Hui people living in cities or Hui people living in mixed areas of Hui and Han nationality, due to the influence of Han nationality, some also celebrate Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. Although there is nothing particular about the Spring Festival, dumplings are also eaten on the morning of the first day of the New Year, and some Han comrades are also given New Year greetings. Some also eat halal rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, although mooncakes are not used as offerings to worship the moon, they also buy halal mooncakes to eat for themselves, give them to relatives and friends, and wish the whole family reunion.

Eid al-Fitr. Hui Muslims in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Yunnan and other places in my country also call Eid al-Fitr "" and are popular among the ten ethnic groups who believe in Islam across the country. However, Muslims of the ten ethnic groups who believe in Islam have many ethnic characteristics and customs during the festival. Ramadan for Hui Muslims is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar (Ramadan). Why do Hui Muslims fast? According to the Koran, when the Islamic Prophet Mohammed was 40 years old (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar), Allah began to reveal the revelation of the Koran to him. Therefore, the Hui people regard Ramadan as the most noble, auspicious and happiest month. In order to commemorate, we fast for one month in September every year in Islam. The starting and ending dates of Ramadan mainly depend on the date when the new moon appears. During Ramadan, the living arrangements of Hui Muslims are much more abundant than usual. Generally, nutritious foods such as beef and mutton, white rice, white flour, Camellia oleifera, white sugar, tea, and fruits are prepared. People who fast must have enough food before the east turns white. After dawn breaks in the east and before the sun sets, sexual intercourse must be prohibited and all food and drink must be cut off. The purpose of fasting is to let people experience the pain of hunger and thirst, and to let rich people truly help the poor. Through fasting, Hui Muslims gradually developed the virtues of perseverance, strength and integrity.

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When people fast for a day and it is approaching the beginning of the fast, most of the men fasting have to wait in the mosque. After hearing the sound of the clattering of the opening of fasting in the mosque, I ate the "opening of fasting" in the temple. During the break of fasting, if it is summer, eat fruit first if conditions permit, drink a bowl of water or cover a bowl of tea if conditions permit, and then eat. This is mainly because the fasting Muslim people first felt thirst rather than hunger in summer. In winter, some people pay attention to eating a few dates before eating. It is said that Mohammed loved to eat red dates when breaking the fast, so the Hui people now also have this habit. After the fasting period, it is Eid al-Fitr, one of the most solemn annual festivals of the Hui people. Eid al-Fitr lasts three days, and the first day becomes lively from dawn. Every household must get up early and clean the courtyards and alleys to give people a clean, comfortable and happy feeling. Men, women and children all changed into their favorite new clothes. The mosque, where the Hui people gather and carry out activities, is also cleaned cleanly during the festival, with huge slogans and colorful lights hanging "Celebrating Eid Al-Fitr". During the festival, every household deep-fried traditional food with ethnic flavor such as rice dumplings and oily aroma. At the same time, they also slaughtered chickens and sheep, made jelly, stewed vegetables, etc., and sent each other to relatives and friends and neighbors, and paid greetings to each other. Hui Muslims in Xinjiang must sweep dust and paint houses before the festival. Men need haircuts, and both men and women need to take a bath and change new clothes. The whole family eats "powder soup". This custom is broadly the same across the country. Many Hui Muslim youth hold weddings on Eid al-Fitr, making the festival more lively and showing off gorgeous and charming colors.

The Gourbin Festival "Gourbin" is a transliteration of "De Gourbin" in Arabic, which means "sacrifice" and "dedication", so it is also known as "Eid Adha Festival" and "Loyalty and Filial Piety Festival." The Hui people in most areas are called "Xiaorde", which is one of the three major Islamic festivals and is generally held seventy days after Eid al-Fitr. Why do the Hui people slaughter animals to celebrate the Gurbang Festival? Ibrahim, one of mankind's ancient prophets, was inspired by Allah at night to sacrifice his beloved son Ismaili to test his faith. Ibrahim sharpened the knife until it was shiny and very sharp. He asked his son,"Son, Dad really can't bear to do it! You can go." However, his son Ismayi said: "There is no God but God! Dad, we are servants of God, and we came to this world only to worship the Almighty and Most Powerful God." When Ismaili lay on his side, Ibrahim put the knife on his son's throat. At this time, he cried bitterly, tears like streams. At this time, Allah sent the fairy angel Jibreyil to carry a black-headed antelope as a sacrifice instead of Ismaili. At this time, Ibrahim picked up a knife, pressed the sheep's throat, and slaughtered it, and the sheep fell. This is the origin of "Gulbang". Among them, the kind of loyalty to the Lord and the determination to honor their parents are something that future generations must learn from. It is a model for all mankind to learn from.

the Gurbang Festival, a grand animal slaughter ceremony will be held. This is the festival. In addition to frying oil, dumplings, and ceremony ceremonies, cattle, sheep, and camels are also slaughtered. In general, for those with better economic conditions, each person has to slaughter a sheep, and seven people together have to slaughter a cow or a camel. There are also many particular points when slaughtering animals. Lambs under two years old, calves and camels under three years old are not allowed to be slaughtered. Animals with blind eyes, lame legs, missing ears, and few tails are not allowed. Strong and healthy ones must be selected. The meat slaughtered should be divided into three parts: one for self-consumption, one for relatives and neighbors, and one for charity for the poor. After the slaughter ceremony was held, every household became lively again. While the old people were cooking the meat, they instructed the children: After eating the meat, the bones should not be thrown to dogs to chew, but should be covered with loess. This is a kind of emphasis at the Eid Adha Festival. After the meat is cooked, it should be sliced into slices and made into slices; the sheep water should be stewed into vegetables. Then they visited relatives and friends, presented oil fragrance and vegetables, and visited each other to celebrate the festival. Some even invite imam to come home to recite scriptures and eat fragrant oil. At the same time, they also go to visit graves to remember their ancestors. There are many forms of celebration festivals, with differences and differences in various places. In addition to participating in gatherings and visiting relatives and friends, some places also organize various cultural and sports activities. During the Gurbang Festival, Hui people in Xinjiang, regardless of men and women, like to organize various recreational activities. They are very happy and lively.

Holy Day is a commemorative day commemorating the birth and death of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. Since Mohammed's birth and death happened to be on the 12th day of the third month of the Islamic calendar, the Hui people are generally called "Holy Records". On the day of the festival, they first went to the mosque to chant scriptures, praise the Holy See, and tell the life stories of Mohammed. After that, Muslims voluntarily donated grain, oil, meat and money, and invited several people to be specifically responsible for grinding noodles, purchasing things, frying oil, boiling meat, etc., all the odd tasks are voluntarily done by the Hui people. The Hui people regard voluntary labor on Holy Order Day as doing good deeds, so they are eager to compete and enjoy it. After the ceremony, the meal began. Some places have better economic conditions and spacious places. There are more than a dozen or even dozens of tables of food, and everyone has a meal together happily; in some places, they eat their own meals, and the Hui people call it "Fenbowl", which means one for each person. For those who have scattered the "Mitiao" and donated things before the festival but have not come to eat, they must ask relatives, friends and neighbors to bring a "oily aroma" to taste.