Longshan County kicks off 9th 'Sheba Day' event

The 9th “Sheba Day” event opened in Longshan County of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture on the evening of April 23. Tens of thousands of tourists from Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, and Guizhou enjoyed the festival together.

“Sheba Day” is a traditional festival of the Tujia ethnic group to worship ancestors, celebrate harvest and pray for blessings. It has become a brand to promote Tujia culture. In June 2007, the “Sheba Day” of the Tujia ethnic group in Longshan County won the title of “China’s Most Distinctive Ethnic Festival Event”. The opening ceremony kicked off with the “Tujia Welcome Song”. Tian Longxin, an inheritor of Daliuzi, an ancient Tujia ethnic folk music form, led the performance, with over a hundred Tujia people dressed in ethnic costume singing and dancing, to welcome guests from afar.

At the opening ceremony, a platform for showcasing the intangible cultural heritage of the Tujia ethnic group, national intangible cultural heritage (ICH) projects such as Waving Hand Dance, Maogusi, Daliuzi, and Tujia Brocade, and provincial-level ICH projects such as Waving Hand Song, Crying Wedding Song, Tujia Wedding Customs, and Labor Chants were staged in the form of drama. Zhang Mingguang, an inheritor of the Tujia hand waving dance, led a team to performed the hand waving dance for worship and blessings.

Peng Jilong, an inheritor of the Tujia Tima Song, with a wufu (five blessings) crown and an eight-gore skirt, sang the Tima Song and danced the copper-bell dance, praying for blessings for the people.

Peng Nanjing, an inheritor of the Tujia Maogusi dance, together with a group of Tujia people, dressed in grass skirts and holding wooden sticks, performed the Maogusi dance, depicting the scenes of ancestors farming, fishing, and hunting, as well as the magnificent national history. Longshan County is the birthplace of the Tujia ethnic group and boasts six national ICH projects including Tujia brocade and hand waving dance, as well as more than 40 national brands, like “Hometown of Tujia Hand waving Dance in China” and “Hometown of Tujia Brocade in China”.

The Tujia-style songs and dances showcase the wisdom of the Tujia people, who create a happy life with their diligent hands and produce the most beautiful music with the simplest instruments.

Tujia wedding customs, a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage project, present a unique audio-visual feast for guests.