Overview of Dongxiang Traditional Festivals
The Dongxiang people are an ethnic minority in China. They call themselves Sarta people. They mainly live in Dongxiang Autonomous County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province and Baoan Dongxiang Sala Autonomous County, Jishishan. A small number are distributed in Linxia County, Gansu Province, Hezheng County, Guanghe County, Kangle County, Linxia City, Lan 'Zhou City, Dingxi Prefecture and Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and a small number are scattered in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Dongxiang people have festivals every month. They rotate month by month every year, with 12 months a year, and each month cycles after 36 years. This is closely related to religious belief. The national festivals of the Dongxiang people are the same as other ethnic groups who believe in Islam. Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Holy Ji are three important festivals. Except for the Holy Day, which is one day, the other two festivals generally last for three days. Ramadan is the most noble month for Muslims. Adults generally have to "fast". During the fasting period, they must not have any evil thoughts and desires, not regard indecent acts, not smell foul air, and not have sex. After eating before dawn, you fast. As soon as you hear the sound of "bunk" in the mosque, you can no longer eat.
The ninth month of Eid al-Fitr in the Islamic calendar is the month of fasting, so September is called Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims do not drink or eat during the day, and are not allowed to speak foul language. Eating and drinking at night is called "fasting". The fast breaks out on October 1, Iraqi calendar, and a celebration is held, which is called Eid al-Fitr, or "Eid Festival". One day of Eid al-Fitr, in addition to going to the mosque to gather for services, men also chanted scriptures and prayed in the early morning to mourn the dead. Neighbors come to each other to do "salam" and say hello to each other. The women fried oil incense, oil nubs, and dumplings at home and distributed them to relatives and friends to pay greetings to each other. The three-day celebration was very grand.
Dongxiang people call the Gurbang Festival "Aye", and "Aye" in Dongxiang means the meaning of festival. This festival is generally held 72 days after Eid al-Fitr. Anyone who has the ability to slaughter animals and has economic conditions permit, every household must slaughter cattle or sheep to celebrate the Eid Adha Festival. The beef and mutton slaughtered are either invited to have meals at home with all the villagers, or given to the mosque and every neighbor, relatives and friends. The mutton slaughtered by Gurbani is not allowed to be enjoyed exclusively; even beggars who come to the door must be treated equally, allowing them to have enough vegetables and fragrant oil before bringing a portion of meat.
Sheep must be slaughtered on the Eid al-Adha Day, which comes from a story in the Koran: Prophet Ibrahim was old and had no children. He prayed bitterly for Allah to grant him a child. He did so and named him Ismaili. But Ibrahim dreamed that Allah signaled him to sacrifice in return. After he woke up, Ibrahim sacrificed his son. His loyalty moved Allah, so he gave sheep to his son. This is the origin of Eid al-Adha. Muslim believers celebrate this festival to show their respect and obedience to Allah, imitating Ibrahim and giving everything to the Lord at any time. On the Gur Day, the Dongxiang people, regardless of wealth, poverty and low, sit together for dinner, showing the harmony and unity of the nation.
Holy Day commemorates the birth and death of Mohammed and is held on March 12 or 13 (one day apart from his birth and death). The general way to commemorate Holy Communique Day is to hold various forms of home meetings and recite the Koran. According to the Bible, sheep and chickens are usually slaughtered and everyone eats together. Some gathered people to pass in mosques and Gongbei, while others held them at their own homes.
Ashoula Festival The Ashoula Festival is a traditional festival that the Dongxiang people attach great importance to. It is held on the 11th of the third month of the lunar calendar every year. "Ashoula" means "10" in Arabic. It is said that on the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic calendar, God created Adam and Aiwa, the ancestors of mankind. After being separated for several years, they met again on this day.
In Dongxiang, the Ashura Festival is mainly a festival for women and children to gather, and it is organized by housewives in turn every year. In one village, whoever was in charge of the family ate a chicken head, it was her turn to handle it. Other households only produced some wheat and clear oil. After reading the scriptures and praying rituals, the men simply ate and left. The women and children were left eating, talking and laughing. For Dongxiang women,"Ashoula" also has the meaning of a grain festival, which contains good wishes for a bumper harvest and a bumper harvest of grain that year. This has nothing to do with religion.
In addition, the Dongxiang people also have the custom of celebrating the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first month. On the night of the festival, young people ran out of the village with torches in hand and ran all over the mountains and fields. Large torches lined up in a long queue, billowing and flying in the vast night, which was extremely spectacular. The elderly and women stood at the head of the village and watched. According to folklore, the redder the fire, the better the harvest of wheat and flax will be. Most of the Dongxiang ethnic areas are arid hilly and mountainous areas with an altitude of about 2000 meters. They have long-term water shortages and serious soil and water erosion.