What are the folk customs in Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi?

Most of the customs and legends of the Yao people in Fuchuan County are related to the production labor, living habits and cultural life of the local people, and are full of unique ethnic customs and regional characteristics. To sum up, the main ones are as follows: (1) Customs and legends related to festival songs and fairs. Fuchuan Yao Autonomous County has a long history. The ancestors of the hard-working, brave, and intelligent Fuchuan Yao and Han people thrived on this fertile land. , in the long-term production and labor process, unique national folk culture and art have been nurtured, and this culture and art has formed today's festival song fair, which is rich in content and diverse in form. 1. Panwang Festival. There are many festivals for the Yao people in Fuchuan. In addition to the festivals that are the same as those of the Han people, the most grand festival is "Repaying Panwang's Wish", also known as "Panwang Festival". Panwang (Panhu) has been recognized by the Yao people as the ancestor for a long time, and the legend about Panwang is almost a household name. Legend has it that in ancient times, there was King Ping who had a dragon dog with twenty-four patterns on its body, named "Panhu" (also known as "Colored Dog"). One year, the neighboring king Gao sent troops to conquer King Ping's territory. Panhu unveiled the list to recruit talents to fight against the enemy. Panhu led his troops to fight and killed King Gao. After the victory, King Ping named him King Pan and fulfilled his promise by marrying the most beautiful three princesses to him. On the wedding night, the colorful dog turned into a burly and strong man, and the princess was overjoyed. After marriage, the princess gave birth to six boys and six girls to King Pan. King Ping gave each of his grandchildren a surname (i.e. Pan, Feng, Bao, Shen, Tang, Huang, Li, Liao, Deng, Ren, Zhao, Zhou). These are the earliest twelve surnames of the Yao people. King Pan was not greedy for wealth and pleasure, and was content with farming, hunting, and hard work. He took his family into the mountains to cultivate and weave, and taught his children to be self-reliant. Later, during a hunting trip, King Pan was knocked off a cliff by an injured goat, and died together with the goat. The third princess ordered her children to peel off the sheep's skin, cover it on the drum, and beat it severely to avenge their father. Since then, every year on this day, the Yao people will gather together to play drums, play the sheng, sing and dance to commemorate King Pan. Over time, it has evolved into today's "King Pan's Wish". In order to honor King Pan, the Yao people repay their small vows every three years, their middle vows every six years, and their big vows every twelve years, which lasts as little as three days and nights, and as much as seven days and nights. The program includes a party and a whole village dinner, which is very lively; some Yao compatriots, such as the "minjia" in Lianshan Town, Fuchuan County, even carry out the statue of King Pan; some villages are also used to blowing up fireworks, playing reeds, and dancing reeds , long encouragement. For example, all villages in Xinhua Township, Fuchuan County have this custom. 2. Song fair. The Yao people's song fair in Fuchuan County is inseparable from celebrations such as Panwang Festival. Due to the influence of Chu culture, in some festival activities, young men and women of the Yao people like to sing and sing antiphonally. The main folk songs spread throughout the county include "The Sound of Passing the Mountain" and "Immortal Worship Song" by Guoshan Yao; "Yilalie" and "Crying Wedding Song" by Pingdi Yao; and the "Butterfly Song" of Wuzhou Yao people. The answer song matches, the lyrics are very rich, and the melody is beautiful and catchy. Its main forms: First, the singing hall. The Hui Ge Tang is usually a "party" held in a certain village or the night when men and women get married, eat flowers, and have bridal chambers. Everyone sits around singing, making oil tea, and singing to each other all night long. When the song reaches the point of being inseparable, men and women exchange gifts to express feelings and love. The second is to go to the song fair. Going to the song fair is a form of love between young men and women through singing. Singing during festivals or "meetings" is called singing hall. When the young men and women sing until they are in love with each other, they introduce each other and agree to meet each other next time at the song fair, and the rush to the song fair ends. The Yao people in Fuchuan County have a fine custom of singing songs for tea. Therefore, the "Getan Hall" and "Genge Fair" in Fuchuan are still popular. These legends fully reflect the traditional virtues of Fuchuan Yao people in respecting and worshiping their ancestors. They are also a tribute to young men and women's pursuit of freedom in marriage and yearning for beautiful love. (2) Legends related to daily customs Daily customs include activities such as food, clothing, weddings and funerals. Legends often explain their origins in details, especially food, clothing, and wedding customs. There is a moving legend among the Yao people in Fuchuan. 1. Diet. The Fuchuan Yao people especially like to drink camellia oleifera, especially the Guoshan Yao people in the Laoxi Mountain and Yangxi areas of Fuyang Town. They drink oil tea before three meals a day, because the Shan Yao people live in deep mountains and the climate is cold. Even in summer, they sleep at night. All must be covered with quilts, and the ingredients for making camellia oleifera include ginger, onion and other cold-repelling items, so the camellia oleifera can expel mountain miasma and moisture, invigorate the spirit, and dispel fatigue. Over time, the custom of drinking oil tea first has remained. If guests come, even if they are strangers, they will be warmly entertained with oil tea. It is customary to have three bowls of it in one drink. As the saying goes, "One bowl is sparse, two bowls are intimate, and three bowls are true." It reflects the traditional hospitality of Fuchuan Yao people.

Shanyao in Dayuan Mountain in Chengbei Town is inseparable from camellia oleifera in daily life. In addition to entertaining guests and drinking oil tea at home, they also bring oil tea as a drink when they go out to work. When inviting guests to your home for a meal, they don’t say they are going to eat, but they say “come to my house to drink oil tea.” If people who do not understand these customs really think that they are just going to drink oil tea, they often go there after they are full, and end up meeting the Yao people at their home. Only when the table was full of delicacies did we realize the whole story, and some of them made a lot of jokes because of it. This kind of thing often happens to some cadres and outsiders who go to the countryside. These customs also reflect the Yao people's love for Camellia oleifera. 2. Dress. The clothing of Fuchuan Yao people is mainly blue and black. Men's clothing has cloth buttons that open on the chest, and women's clothing has cloth buttons that open on the left side. Guoshan Yao from Xiling Mountain in Chengbei Town is used to wearing a kind of clothes called "dog tail shirt". The front part is as long as the knee, and the two ends are carefully sewn to look like dog tails. When worn, the two ends are crossed on the chest and tied behind the waist, so that the "dog tails" hang down naturally. This kind of clothing legend is related to the worship of "Panhu" by the Yao people. According to historical records, Panhu has "multicolored hair" and "a dog-headed body". In ancient times, the Southern Barbarians and their descendants imitated the shape and color of the panhu to make clothing. The Yao people still wear five-color clothes, dog-tail shirts, and dog-head hats to show that they do not forget their ancestors. 3. Marriage customs. In the development process of human marriage history, marriages between men and women who are related by blood have been excluded. However, the Fuchuan Yao people have two forms of marriage: one is "recruiting a man" and the other is "marrying a daughter". "Recruiting men" is a common custom among the Yao people in Fuchuan, especially Guoshan Yao on Xiling Mountain in Chengbei Town. It is said that Guoshan Yao people live in deep mountains, where there are many jackals, tigers and leopards, and strong young men Most of them have some simple skills in catching wild animals, so most Yao people in the mountains like to have girls. When they grow up, girls recruit men to increase the labor force at home. Guoshan Yao women have always enjoyed a higher status in their families. They generally do not get married, but recruit men from their own ethnic group. Pingdi Yao still maintains the custom of "recruiting men", usually in places where there are only girls but no boys. . The form of "marrying a girl" is similar to that of the Han people, so I won't go into details here. (3) Legends related to religious customs. Various fraternal ethnic groups in various regions of our country believe in different religions according to their own historical habits. Therefore, the Fuchuan Yao people also have different religious customs. In summary, there are two categories: one is primitive religion. Customs, one type are modern religious customs. Primitive religious customs refer to customs and legends with religious overtones. The Yao people in Fuchuan respect their ancestors very much. They are accustomed to reciting the names of their ancestors before eating, which means that the ancestors paid first and then the descendants can eat. In this way, the ancestors can protect the whole family from illness and disaster, happiness and health. Pork, chicken, duck and wine are necessary to worship ancestors during festivals. There is a custom of "drinking pig soup" in Chengbei Street, Chengbei Town. Legend has it that the ancestors of the Huang family on Chengbei Street were preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner one year. There was only a small amount of pork and chicken on the table, but the dogs took it away, leaving only a bowl of soup and a piece of chicken butt. In desperation, he had to let the old man eat the chicken butt, while the others drank the broth. Later, it evolved into the custom of "drinking pig soup" and worshiping old people's chicken butts, which is still passed down today. Of course, food is no longer just "soup". Nowadays, in the Chengbei Street area, whether it is a married daughter or a son who has separated and lived with another family, chicken butts must be sent home during the New Year to honor the elderly. This custom fully reflects the unique national color of the Yao people, and also reflects the Yao people's custom of respecting the elderly and being friendly and respectful to each other.