Tujia and Miao Lantern Festival custom

Lantern Festival is another grand traditional festival of Tujia people. During the day, every household has to chop off half a pig's head to worship the "keeper" and take its belly to "burn the keeper's paper, and grandpa's baby collects pig excrement", which means that from the 16th day of the first month, it will be busy with agricultural production activities such as accumulating fertilizer. In the evening, I began to play with lanterns and called them Lantern Festival. At this time, Tujia young men and women meet and get together, which is very lively.

In the evening, drums and music are playing in unison in the village, strings are playing in unison, walking on stilts, dancing with hands, holding cloud lanterns, fish and insect sand lanterns, turtle cicada lanterns and flowerpot lanterns to clear the way, followed by clam shell lanterns, lion lanterns, dragon lanterns and lanterns. Visiting residents in the alley is called "sending lanterns" every day. Lights, to which one, which one is prosperous and auspicious. Wine and fruit are placed at the door of every household, and incense and wax are burned for sacrifice. The name of this day is "Welcome Lights". After each family sends out the lights, they gather at Zhaikou or Pingba in Zhaizhong to "burn the lights" in the middle of the night. The so-called "burning lamps" means that these lamps are not burned with fire, but fireworks are set off at the lion dance with flower tubes. Dragon lantern spraying and cleaning. Lion and dragon dancers, shirtless, face the fireworks of the flower tube, roll around and jump, shouting "burn!" " "The more it burns, the more prosperous it is!" The fireworks in the flower tube make the whole sky silver, and there are sparks flying all over the sky, which are very spectacular. The lion dragon lantern will burn to pieces, leaving only a bamboo shelf, and then it will stop! According to the custom of Tujia nationality, when the lion dragon lantern was burned into meat paste, the year number of that year was stabbed in the sand. Specially carved coins, dragon lanterns, lanterns, clam shell lamps, etc. Play until the Lantern Festival, when lanterns and gods ascend to heaven and return to their places to exercise their duties of blessing the harvest. So it can only be burned, not preserved, and then re-ligated when playing with lights next year. Tea lamp and clam shell lamp can't be burned, but worshipped.

In short, I played the Lantern Festival all night. On the Lantern Festival, Diao and the girls of Tujia nationality lead them to wake up and sing with them wherever they play, but never leave.

Tujia lanterns are performed by shouldered feet and clowns. Dan Jiao is called "Sister", and most of them are disguised as men, wearing fake braids, headscarves, short bibs, flowered skirts, a flower folding fan in her right hand and a colorful towel in her left hand. The clown is called "brother, wearing a fur coat or jacket, a belt, a hat and trousers, and holding a big cattail leaf fan in his right hand." They are placed on a large table or in the courtyard dam of the hall, accompanied by musical instruments. Dandan's dance steps are dignified, dexterous and graceful, while the clown's dance steps are simple, free and easy and humorous. Musical instruments include flute and erhu, and percussion instruments include drums, gongs, plucked strings and Dongzi. Tujia lanterns are performed in the form of songs and dances, which are deeply loved by Tujia, Miao and Han people.

The singing content of Tujia Lantern is very rich, and the lyrics are vast, fresh and beautiful, mainly including the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, playing small lanterns at the beginning, playing lanterns to welcome the new year, Happy New Year, Lantern Festival, bachelor, embroidered pocket, collecting lang and looking at the moon.

Every time a person who plays with lanterns arrives, the host will entertain him with rock tea and set off firecrackers to thank him. In the middle of the night, we went to that one, and that one held a "midnight snack" to entertain people playing with lanterns.

In this way, lanterns often play late into the night. The fifteenth day of the first month is the Lantern Festival, which ends. Playing until dawn is called "Lantern Festival in the first month"!

Tujia people play lanterns to celebrate the Spring Festival, celebrate the smooth end of the year, and wish the new year a bumper harvest of grain, prosperity of six livestock, prosperity of the country and the people, and health all the year round. Therefore, Tujia cottages and lanterns are popular, and everywhere presents a lively scene of bright lanterns, singing and dancing, and beaming.