Cultural China Tour | Langli Drum and Tibetan Festival: A Profound Ceremony of National Culture

2024-05-04

The Guzang Festival, also known as "nongx niel" in Miao language, literally translates to "eating drums" and literally translates to "Guzang Festival". It is a grand and grand traditional festival of the Miao ethnic group. The Guzang Festival takes thirteen years as its cycle, with a period of thirteen years. After three years, it is known as the "Year of Starting the Drum", "Year of Jumping the Drum", and "Year of Sending the Drum", which are the most grand. The starting year of reincarnation during the Guzang Festival varies among different Miao villages. This festival originated from the worship of Miao ancestors and agricultural culture, and has a profound historical background. It has gradually evolved from branch worship activities to a cultural carrier of unity and exchange among various ethnic groups. In 2006, the Guzang Festival was listed as one of the first national intangible cultural heritage sites. From April 30th to May 1st, a grand Guzang celebration was held in Langli Miao Village, 19 kilometers away from Kaili City. The legend of the Butterfly Mother is one of the widely circulated and accepted versions of the origin of the Guzang Festival in the past and present. The "Twelve Eggs" in the "Miao Ancient Song" records the story of the Miao ancestor Jiang Yang holding the Guzang Festival to worship the butterfly mother. In ancient times, the Miao people used the "drum society" as the basic unit of society. The drum symbolizes ancestors, and is a symbol of a clan. Each drum represents a branch and serves as a bond to maintain kinship and blood ties. The rituals and activities of the Guzang Festival are centered around the drum. The Guzang Festival is an important time for the Miao people to worship their ancestors. The worship and respect of ancestors is to fulfill the Miao people's practical wishes for good weather, abundant grain, and prosperous population. On the early morning of the first day of the sacred drum raising ceremony of the Langli Guzang Festival, organized by 11 members of the Guzang group and priests, more than 200 village men were led to climb to the selected mountain slope with sacrificial offerings, wearing ethnic costumes made of earth cloth and cloth shoes, and without any iron, aluminum or other decorations on their clothes. Except for reciting relevant sacrificial words during the ceremony, everyone is required to remain silent throughout the entire process, and no one is allowed to carry any modern devices such as mobile phones, cameras, watches, computers, etc. The mountain is high and the road is steep. The team entering the mountain has to trek all the way through the mountains and water. Even if they accidentally fall, they cannot be helped and can only stand up on their own. Subsequently, everyone returned to the village along the prescribed route, planted white paper flags on the slopes along the way, and brought back the soil on the slopes along the way. After returning to the village's sacrificial altar, they conducted a series of rituals here, and then brought their offerings to their own ancestral altar for another worship. This represents the successful completion of the entire ceremony. The completion of the ceremony represents the official start of this year's Guzang Festival. The Guzang Group and the Guzang Head Guzang Group are a special group in the Guzang Festival. The members of the Langli Guzang Group are 11 men who have been living together for three generations, with grandparents, healthy children, happy families, and certain organizational and financial abilities. They are mainly responsible for managing ancestor worship and social affairs, as well as various activities of the Guzang Festival. The most authoritative organizer of the Guzang Group is known as the Guzang Head. In the Copper Drum and Lusheng Dance section of the Drum and Garrison Festival, the lover, daughter, or daughter-in-law of the Drum and Garrison Head will have a "leader" task. The "leader" refers to the dance section of the Copper Drum and Lusheng Dance, where they will lead all members to dance in front of the team. Each day's Copper Drum and Lusheng Dance section must be completed after they have performed three or more rounds alone,

Edit:Lubaikang    Responsible editor:Chenze

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