What festivals do the Xibe people have?

The Xibe people are a minority in our country. Like other ethnic groups, the Xibe people also have many festivals. Among these festivals are traditional festivals of the Chinese nation, such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, etc., as well as traditional festivals of the nation, such as the Western Migration Festival (commonly known as the "April 18th Festival") and the Smuggling Festival. If you want to learn more about Xibe culture, first follow the editor of World Customs Network to learn about their festival activities!

Western Migration Festival (also known as the "April 18th Festival") Xinjiang Xibe compatriots called "Duyin Baizhuanzhagun". It is the commemorative day of the Xibe nation's westward migration to guard the border. Because it is the 18th of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, it is called the "April and 18th Festival." This is a traditional festival for the Xibe people for more than 200 years. It commemorates the heroic achievements of some Sibe people who migrated westward to the Ili area on the northwest border of the motherland and stationed and guarded the border. There is also a desire to miss relatives. In 2006, the Xibo "Westward Migration Festival" was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.

On April 18, 1764, a total of 3275 Xibo officers and soldiers and relatives from Shenyang and other places were dispatched by the court to Xinjiang to cultivate land and guard the border. It took a long journey for a year and a half to build a new home along the Ili River. The day before the officers and soldiers who migrated westward set out for their expedition, the officers and soldiers and their families, together with their brothers, sisters, relatives and old friends, gathered at the "Xibo Family Temple" of Taiping Temple to have a farewell meal and drink farewell wine to the compatriots whose military uniforms migrated westward. From then on, on the 18th day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar every year, in Xibo Village, stoves would be built in temples, pigs would be killed, and sorghum rice would be eaten. Every household would go to their families for dinner to commemorate the historical feat of the Xibo people's migration westward., recounting the achievements of defending the northwest border of the motherland, and remembering the memory of our separated compatriots.

The Western Migration Festival is an unforgettable national festival for the Xibe people. On the 18th of the fourth lunar month, Xibo compatriots gather from all directions to visit temple fairs, sing folk songs, and hold various cultural and sports activities. On this day, all men, women and children of the Xibe ethnic group wear their costumes, gather together happily, play "Dongbu", blow the "Moke tune", and dance vigorously and with a bright beat "Belain" to their heart's content. The girls '"shoulders shaking" and the boys'"duck steps" are vivid to express their longing for their hometown and their longing for a better life in the future.

February Festival, the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, is commonly known as "the dragon rises up". On this day, I took back "Mom Hilly". In order to send "Mama Haili" back to her place, she used buckwheat noodles to make dough and then used a knife to cut it into irregular shaped dough sheets, called "buckwheat noodles Tehele". After boiling, mix with brown sugar and eat. Men, women and children from all households in the nearby ethnic group all went to kowtow and eat buckwheat noodles. Every household uses the ash from the stove pond to scatter it from the well platform to the house, forming a wider ash road called the "Linglong"(or "Yinlong").

Scourge Festival is another interesting and unique traditional festival for the Xibe people. Legend has it that on the 16th day of the first lunar month every year, the "God of Grain" will descend to the earth to inspect. People smear each other's faces in order to pray that Grain will not spread smut to the world, so that a bumper wheat harvest will be achieved and the people will be safe. So on this day, people get up very early, take the smearing cloth (wiping the black dust from the bottom of the pot) or felt prepared in the evening, and walk to the street to wait for the opportunity to smear the target.

Young people who couldn't stay idle formed groups from house to house to smear the rumors. He will not let go of the elderly when he meets them, but he will kneel down and pay his respects, and then wipe a small black dot on the old man's forehead to show respect. Especially girls, few people can escape without being smeared. At this time, the girls are not afraid and use the same method to smear the young man's face.

According to legend, the Xibe people's "Smelter Festival" evolved this unique festival due to the suffering of wheat smut. Every year, before the sun rises on the 16th of the first month, the Xibe people have to apply black ash at the bottom of the pot prepared in advance to their faces.

Relatives and neighbors do not visit each other. The sons and nephews first kneel down to the old man, put a dot of ash on his forehead, and then scribble on each other until they all turn into black faces. Only young women do not advocate smearing faces. The purpose of this custom is to pray for God's mercy not to let wheat contract smut.

Filling Festival The 25th day of the first lunar month is the "Filling Festival". On this day, farmers 'families burned incense in the granary to worship, planted incense in the grain store, and sprinkled gray rings around it to ward off evil spirits and seek a bumper harvest.

Land Sacrifice Festival is a traditional festival of the Xibe people. It is held on a day before the start of spring plowing every year. On this day of the festival, each family selects a fat pig and first douses the pig with clear water on the altar set up in their backyard. The parents burn incense and shake the pig three times, recite a congratulatory message, and kneel down to the west, praying to the earth gods and gods to bless both humans and livestock and have a bumper harvest.

Then slaughter the pig, sprinkle the pig's blood on the mane and bury it in the soil. Boil the pig's head into a semi-cooked product and serve it on the sacrifice table. If the day or the next day of the festival falls, then this year is a good omen for a bumper harvest. If a strong wind blows on the day or next day of the festival, then this year may be a bad omen for a disaster year. We must go to the praying tree to worship the earth gods and gods and pray for disaster elimination.

Grab thousands of candles, grab thousands of candles, a traditional festival of the Xibo people. It is held every year on the 23rd of the October lunar month. Before that, each household began to prepare to make candles. Candles are special ones made of flour and clear oil. After being prepared, they are sent to the designated temple. There is no limit to the number of candles, and then a lama arranges the candles. The temple makes an extra large candle and places it in the middle facing the moon. It is surrounded by small candles sent by various families to symbolize the stars.

The Xibo people call the October Festival "Zhuan Baiyi Che", which is the first day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, and is also known as the "Xiayuan Festival". In order to remember our ancestors, we also go to the grave on this day every year to burn clothes and trousers made of paper, which is called "sending cold clothes."

Xibe Spring Festival The Xibe Spring Festival is roughly similar to the Han Spring Festival. Generally, the New Year is celebrated on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and the Kitchen King is sent to heaven at night to announce the good fortune in the world. It is called "Sacrifice to the Kitchen". On New Year's Eve, a new statue of Kitchen King is replaced with a new statue called "Welcome the Kitchen". On New Year's Eve, that is, the 30th or 29th of the twelfth lunar month), Xibo families kill New Year pigs, fry fruits, brand New Year's Eve, steam rice buns, and make various delicacies. In the afternoon, various statues of gods and ancestors, such as "Mother Xili" and family trees, were invited to set up sacrificial offerings; the male parents brought their descendants to the cemetery with paper money and wooden mills, cleaned the snow on the tomb, and after returning, set up a dining table at the gate to sacrifice to the ancestors. The whole family kowtowed, and then entered the house to have a reunion dinner.

On this day, all relatives of the Xibo ethnic group living abroad must go home to celebrate the New Year; married girls are not allowed to celebrate the New Year's Eve. Lights are always lit on the evening of New Year's Eve. All rooms, stables, mills, rolling rooms, warehouses, etc. are lit with oil lamps, candles or lanterns to keep the indoor and outdoor lights bright. New Year greetings after dark to "bid farewell to the old year". From 11:00 to 1:00 in the middle of the night), commonly known as the "gods and new gods", every family places paper in the courtyard to paint the heaven and earth codes, inserts it into the incense bucket and fills it with sorghum, and puts red paper on the mouth), insert the whole fragrance in the middle. Sacrifice dried fruits, burn incense, burn candles, and sound firecrackers.

All the Xibe family, men and women, old and young, wore new clothes and bowed to the throne of the god, which was called "receiving the god." After "receiving the god", cook dumplings and eat them. The dumplings are called "Yuanbao", and the dumpling soup is called "Yuanbao Tang". After eating the dumplings, the man went to the village temple to burn incense and kowtow. It was called "Xing Xiang". After the "Xing Xiang" was over, he could go home to sleep. There were also people who stayed up all night, which was called "keeping the New Year". It is said that if you stay up all night, you will be energetic for a year. Dumplings are cooked before dawn on the first day of the day, and the whole family reunites to celebrate the New Year. After that, the younger generation saluted their elders, and the whole family bowed to each other, which is called "Welcome the New Year." From the first day to the fifth day of the first month, the Xibe people burned incense in front of the statue of the divine ancestor three times a day in the morning, noon and evening. The incense burner had to bow to the statue. The Xibe people eat dumplings in the morning on the first, third and fifth days of the New Year.

The Xibe people eat rice, stir-fried vegetables, white meat slices, blood sausage, etc. in the morning and evening on the second day and fourth day of the first month. When Xibo people eat "hot pot", they use not only pork, sheep, and beef, but also pheasant meat, mutton meat, venison meat, etc. The dishes also add a large amount of finely cut pickled cabbage and fine flour, and also use mushrooms to put them into the pot. In the past few days, the Xibe people have been reluctant to dump the dust and sewage inside the house outside.

On the fifth day of the first month, commonly known as the "broken fifth", relatives and friends do not visit each other. On the second, third and fourth days of the lunar new year, Xibo families eat more food prepared before the festival, such as dumplings, white flour bean buns, diamond flour bean buns, Bo flour dumplings, Bo cakes, etc. The sixth day of the first month is commonly known as the "Travel Day". Men and women of the Xibe ethnic families in rural areas rode horses and drove in the direction of divination and auspicious. When they arrived on the road with a cross road, the Xibe family got off their horses and dismounted, picked up soil and burned incense, set off firecrackers, bowed in all directions, and then returned. This is called "travel". Everyone can go out to do business, make a living, or visit relatives and friends after "traveling".

The seventh day of the first lunar month, commonly known as "People's Day", starts from the first day, and the order is: one chicken, two ducks, three cats, four dogs, five pigs, six sheep, seven people, eight horses, etc.). The weather is sunny on this day, and the Xibe people think that people are auspicious and happy throughout the year; the weather is cloudy, but the Xibe people think that the whole year is unfavorable and there are diseases and disasters. On this day, the Xibo people eat dumplings, rice cakes, and noodles, which means that they are old and have a long life.

The Qingming Festival is a traditional festival of the Xibe people. The Qingming Festival is generally celebrated once in the third month of the lunar calendar. However, the Xibe people in the Ili and Tacheng Prefecture of Xinjiang celebrate the Qingming Festival twice a year in the third and seventh months of the lunar calendar. During the festival, the Xibo people sacrifice fish and melons and fruits respectively, so they are called fish Qingming and melon Qingming respectively.