In the first lunar month of the new year, the Miao people in Xiangxi are most enthusiastic about the New Year Market. It is the first market opened in the new year. Usually lasting 5 days, the New Year Market kicks off on different dates in varies places.
When the New Year Market starts, the Miao people wear festive attire and invite each other to celebrate the festival. The market is bustling with people, singing, laughing and sounds of gongs, drums, suona as well as trombones. It is time not only for people to trade goods or participate in such activities as watching the lion dance and the dragon lantern dance, but also for young people to seek true love. The singers also show off their skills in some ways like talking about the past and the present or narrating traditional stories. Another highlight is the wizards’ parade, which is aimed at creating public opinion for the new wizard and praying for believers. It is said that as long as one follows the wizard team that day, he can be free from disasters and diseases, and his whole family will be happy and healthy.
March 3rd Festival
In the past, there were frequent knife fights for the boundary of forest land in Luxi, Guzhang and Jishou. Later, people in these three places agreed to negotiate and reconcile in the disputed place on March 3 of the lunar calendar, setting up monuments to demarcate the border. Therefore, villagers gathered at Bajiaoping to celebrate the unity of ethnic brotherhood with unique mountain songs on March 3. Since then, the March 3rd Festival has been passed down from generation to generation.
The characteristic wind and rain bridge is a good singing site, which has seen generations of singers grow from tyros into masters.
The young men are busy with shuttling through the crowd. They would catch up with the girls as soon as they see a girl in front of them. Without time to cultivate feelings, they go straight to the point on talking about love or breaking up. While some bashful boys will sneak up behind the girl who takes his fancy, running towards the hills with the girl’s headwear based on cloth winding. If the girl follows, the people next will laugh and say, “that’s good!”. If she doesn't, people will say with a sigh, “it's hopeless.”
Tomb-Sweeping Song Festival
On Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Miao people of Danqing in Jishou and neighboring areas in Guzhang as well as Luxi not only sweep the graves to pay tribute to their respective ancestors, but also hold a grand song festival to honor their common ancestors, Chen Youliang, Zhang Younian and Han Shizhong, a hero who died bravely for them.
It is said that a long time ago, there were two Miao ancestors in Danqing Village. One was called Chen Youliang and the other Zhang Younian. They were forced to flee their hometown and were taken in by Han Shizhong in Chen Zhou, then they fled together to a mountain called Qingming Mountain near Danqing Village. On Tomb-Sweeping Day, the soldiers surrounded the hill and Han Shizhong, drawing away soldiers, was caught and tortured by them, dying under a willow tree. To repay Han for saving their lives, Chen Youliang and Zhang Younian buried Han on Qingming Mountain and guarded his grave. They settled down here from then on.
The Miao people surnamed Chen and Zhang in this area all regard Chen Youliang and Zhang Younian as their ancestors. Every year on Tomb-Sweeping Day, the local Miao people gather on Qingming Mountain and put a green wicker on their headwear based on cloth winding and pouches to pay tribute to their ancestors and the benefactors who gave their lives bravely for them. Over time, the Tomb-Sweeping Song Festival has taken shape.
On Tomb-Sweeping Day, Qingming Mountain is bustling with noises and activities. At dawn, people gather on the mountain with festive attire after breakfast. It is filled with singing in the mountain, where people sing to each other in groups of three or five, with men singing and women answering or women singing and men answering. While the adults are still interested in singing, the young people sneak off to the bushes or streams to sing love songs.
On the same day, the Miao people of Lyudong Mountain converge on Wengbai Mountain to hold a song festival to commemorate a pair of lovers.
April 8th Festival
Legend has it that the birthday of the ox was on the 8th day of the fourth lunar month. A number of people will celebrate this day, which is also called the “Ox King Festival”, to show respect and gratitude by treating the ox with fine feed and a day of rest. However, compared with the forms of celebration held by other ethnic groups, the connotation and forms of that held by the Miao people are more colorful.
On April 8, the Miao people will hold a grand commemoration and celebration, which is known as “Tiao Hua Tiao Yue”, to worship ancestors and dead heroes, as well as to make friends. The event usually lasts for one day and one night, but sometimes for three days and three nights or even six days and six nights. People often hold the event on the picturesque and flat mountainside or sandy beach nestling near mountains and waters. For example, the Miao people in Guzhang celebrate the festival in Pingba Township.
There are many performances including playing such musical instruments as suona, and playing martial arts like the lion dance. When the night falls, people hold the torches, dance around the campfire and express their feeling through songs.
With the vicissitudes of times, new legends about the April 8th Festival have emerged. It’s said that a long time ago, the emperor was attracted by the beauties at the celebrations and then snatched them away. Thus, quite a few sweet couples were forced to be separated. Ya Yi, a young man from the Miao ethnic group, deplored this egregious behavior and then led the Miao people to fight with the emperor. Later, the war moved to Guizhou, where Ya Nu, a young man from the Miao ethnic group in Guiyang, joined Ya Yi in this fierce fight. However, on the 8th day of the fourth lunar month, Ya Yi and Ya Nu both died on the battle near fountain of Guiyang. Thus, the April 8th Festival is also held to commemorate heroes.
Huayuan Miao People celebrate the festival on April 8, or on the third day after the Beginning of Summer. It’s also called the “Cherry Festival” because it is time for cherries to ripen. For some Huayuan Miao People, it is also time to repel caterpillars. Each household sticks special couplets on the door to repel caterpillars.
Pan Hu Dragon Boat Festival
The Pan Hu Dragon Boat Festival kicks off on the first “Day of Chen” of the fifth lunar month every year, and there are many performances like dragon boat races.
June 6th Festival
On the June 6th Festival (the 6th day of the sixth lunar month), the objects and forms of sacrifices vary from place to place.
In Huayuan County and Guzhang County, people worship ancestors on June 6. Legend has it that a long time ago, a flood overturned the whole world, and everyone died except Nuo Gong and Nuo Mu. Then the two got married and gave birth to six boys and six girls. They married each other, and human beings reproduced from then on. People now celebrate the festival to worship the ancestors and hope that they can also have six boys and six girls, bringing prosperity to the family.
In Luxi County, people worship the god in charge of cereals on June 6. People living around Liangjiatan call it the Zhuqing Festival, when they will set off firecrackers, burn incense paper and beat drums and gongs to pray for abundant grains in the coming years. And then villages will cooperate to hold a song festival.
The Miao Song Festival kicks off in Gouliang Village of Fenghuang County on June 6, which is a large-scale Miao song party with early origin and far-reaching influence in Hunan-Guizhou Border Region. Singers from all walks of life gather in Gouliang Village to participate in the duet competition. The song festival attracts tens of thousands of audiences and tourists with its lively scene.
Chixin Festival
The Chixin Festival is a traditional festival among Miao people, as solemn as the Spring Festival. It falls on the “Day of Mao” of the sixth lunar month, which is to celebrate the ripeness of food.
Legend has it that a long time ago, the Miao people were defeated by other tribes in the Central Plains and then forced to flee south. In the process of moving south, there was a large river blocking the way. At last, they carried grain seeds and rode on the back of cattle across the river. From then on, the Miao people reclaimed the countryside and sowed seeds on the banks of the Dongting Lake in the Yangtze River Basin. It was a good year to have a harvest. To celebrate the harvest, people planned for a feast. It was proposed that the celebration should kick off on the “Day of Mao” of the sixth lunar month and people agreed. But all people cannot eat beef this day because it was the ox that helped carry the seeds across the river, and worked tirelessly to help plough the fields. There are also some legends that the dog made a great contribution to the river-crossing, so the dog cannot be eaten in some places on the Chixin Festival.
Ganqiu Festival
The Ganqiu Festival of the Miao People is a traditional celebration of good harvest and a mass dating event for young men and women of the Miao ethnic group. It displays the religious culture and traditional folk art of the Miao people. There are such festive activities with the characteristics unique to the Miao people as ancestor worship rituals, the Miao drum, the Miao folk songs, lion dances and sports competition. The Ganqiu Festival of the Miao People was included on the list of national intangible cultural heritage items in 2014.
Tiaoxiang Festival
The Tiaoxiang Festival is a grand traditional festival of the Miao people in the border area of Luxi, Guzhang, Jishou and Yuanling.
The Tiaoxiang Festival is held in autumn when wild chrysanthemums are in full bloom, for two days from the 15th day to 16th day of the tenth lunar month or even for half a month. The festival is an extremely grand and lively sacrificial activity. It is usually held by a village, but sometimes jointly organized by several villages. If the festival is planned to be held successively in all villages on both sides of a stream, the time will have to be extended accordingly.
The Tiaoxiang Festival usually kicks off in the “Tiaoxiang Hall”. Before the festival, all families raise money and rice to make the glutinous rice cake and tofu. The glutinous rice cake is made of white glutinous rice and yellow millet symbolizing silver and gold. In addition to round shape, the rice cake is made in the shape of dogs, sheep, snakes and turtles.
During the festival, every family will pick bunches of wild chrysanthemums (which are called “Tiaoxiang flowers”) and hang them on the door to repel evil. The girls also wear wild chrysanthemums at their temples, which can add a bit of rustic style.
The festival is mainly designed to worship such gods as Nuo Gong, Nuo Mu and the God of Cereals. On the scene, there are activities like setting up the altar, opening the gate of the hall and inviting gods. The sacrificial activities are often presided over by a priest.
During the festival, villagers keep quiet and solemn to wait for the sound of iron cannons and bull horns, which is the signal of the arrival of the priest.
As the iron cannons and bull horns sound, the priest enters the village. All the villagers are elated and cheerful.
The festive activities are launched at night when the bright moon is hanging high in the sky. The flickering candlelight lights in the Tiaoxiang Hall are immersed in the silver moonlight. The red campfire outside the hall is shining on the face of the pious people who cannot hide their inner joy.
Miao New Year
The Miao people have their own calendar. According to the ancient calendar of the Miao ethnic group, the Miao people had the custom of celebrating the Miao New Year around Winter Solstice in the past. After the period of the reign of Emperor Qianlong and Emperor Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, due to various reasons, the Miao people in most areas of Xiangxi no longer celebrated this festival. In recent years, the Miao people in Huayuan County have spontaneously resumed the traditional custom of celebrating the Miao New Year.
At the festival, the Miao people will sing and dance in their traditional costumes to worship their earliest ancestor Chiyou, worship other ancestors and gods, and celebrate bumper harvest. During the Miao New Year, every family will clean the house, and kill pigs as well as sheep to prepare abundant food. The glutinous rice plays an important role in the New Year’s food. There is not only the glutinous rice wine, but also the glutinous rice cake. On the night before the festival, the family will have New Year’s Eve dinner, stay up until midnight, open the door and set off firecrackers to welcome the dragon in.
