On the Cultural Customs of Qiuci Sumu Festival

Among Qiuci music and dance, one kind of music and dance that combines many folk music and dance methods is Su Mu's, and Su Mu's is also translated as Samozhe or Borozhe. It is a large masked carnival song and dance of Qiuci people praying for the new year to eliminate disasters, also known as begging for cold dance or cold Hu opera. This song and dance originated in Persia, prevailed in Qiuci and Guo Kang, and was later introduced to the Central Plains. This is a kind of mass street dance, wearing a felt hat or mask, naked, splashing water on each other and praying for disaster. It is the oldest street dance and mask dance in the world. This play is held in Qiuci at the beginning of July every year. It lasts for seven days day and night, singing and dancing, drums and music, and it is even more exciting than the carnival in Europe and Rome. This is an oriental carnival. Wearing masks, participants performed the actions of various beasts, ghosts and gods, Luo Cha and demons. The main musical instruments used in their dance are drums, pipa, five strings, crickets and flutes. 1903, the Qiuci music and dance depicted in the mural outside the box of the national treasure relic taken away by the Japanese Otani Guangrui expedition from the Zhaoxunli Buddhist Temple is a part of the Su Mu drama. After Su Muzhe was introduced into the Central Plains in the Tang Dynasty, it caused a sensation in Beijing and had a great influence on the traditional culture of the Central Plains. It was loved by several emperors and eulogized by literati. According to records, Emperor Jing of the Northern Zhou Dynasty once watched Begging for Cold and Hu Opera in his palace. Zhong Zongji, the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, records that in November of the first year of Shenlong (705), "the south gate of Yuluocheng was filled with cold and Hu", and in December of the third year of Jinglong (709), "the leaders of various ministries were asked to watch the cold and Hu opera in the fairy square of Liquan". Both Wu Zetian and her son like to watch the Su family listen to politics. The poet Zhang said that in order to whitewash the peace, he also wrote four lyrics "Le" to recite the dance. "Su Mu people" spread all the way to Japan. Although it changed from group dance to duet, it still wears Hu clothes, masks, sticks, walks and draws water with water bags, and is still very popular in Japan. Qiuci music and dance is a feast of China classical culture, a wonderful flower of oriental folk dance, and a model of perfect combination of music and dance. Qiuci music and dance, rooted in nature, national culture and Buddhist art, has a soul and its life has lasting beauty.