The festival inheritance of Wangguo Festival

The Wangguo Festival was first popular in Shannan agricultural areas and has a history of more than 1,500 years. The meaning of the Wangguo Festival in Tibetan is "turning around the field", which is a wish for a good agricultural harvest and the return of grains to the warehouse. There is no fixed date for the Wangguo Festival, but it is usually held when the grains are ripe. During the festival, men, women and children dressed in costumes, men holding "Lasang Dajue", women carrying scriptures and holding "Dada" (a colorful cloth wrapped around a wooden bar), lined up to go around the crop fields, and then performed horse racing and Tibetan opera. Waiting for performances, or visiting relatives or visiting Linka. It was very lively.

In rural Tibet, apart from the Tibetan New Year, the Wangguo Festival is the most lively festival. In Shannan at the end of July, the highland barley and winter wheat have turned golden. Before the holiday, every village and township celebrates the Wangguo Festival: performing Tibetan operas, visiting relatives, and everywhere is a busy scene of the festival. Even the boatmen on the river take the initiative to take a holiday to go to the Wangguo Festival.

On the highway, men and women wore new clothes and dressed up like the New Year, walking towards the county seat in groups of five and seven. The elderly and children are sitting on the four-wheeled carriages, happily; girls and young men like to walk together, some of them are carrying highland barley wine, some are carrying butter tea, and some are carrying vegetable boxes. It was prepared for a sumptuous picnic at noon that day.

In the large playground of Gonggar County Middle School, the Tibetan opera stage was set up two days ago. A large white tent covering an area of ??100 square meters was propped up high in the center of the field. This was obviously In order to protect the actors from rain and sun. The audience consciously gathered around the outer circle of the tent, and those in front sat on the ground in an orderly manner. In order to have a happy holiday, everyone consciously abides by the discipline of the square. Those who arrived late and couldn't see clearly climbed onto tree branches and walls to get a comfortable view from a high position.

For farmers who are busy all year round, the Fruit Festival is a good opportunity to have a good time during the holiday. There are also people who are unwilling to spend all their time on eating, drinking, playing, and having fun, so they use holidays to visit relatives, collect firewood, engage in side jobs, or do whatever they want to do.

In Tibet, whose economy is mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry, during the Wangguo Festival, the government agencies are on holiday, and the cadres are busy preparing and organizing villagers’ activities; the students in the school also prepared some Entertainment programs entertain the masses during festivals. It is rare for them to have such a large audience watching their performances, so of course they have to show off their skills. And for workers in township enterprises who have just emerged from the ranks of farmers, seven out of ten families are farmers, and the organizational leaders of the enterprises Also giving workers a holiday at this time, not doing so seems to go against public opinion. Therefore, in agricultural areas, although the Wangguo Festival is a festival for farmers, it is also a festival for the whole people. "Wangguo Festival" is a festival for Tibetan people to wish for a good agricultural harvest. "Wang" means "field" and "Guo" means "circle". "Wangguo" literally means "turning around".

"Wangguo Festival" is popular in agricultural areas. There is no fixed day, but it is usually held when the grain is ripe. The convention is to celebrate the festival before the arrival of the season when the "King of Birds" - the wild geese fly south. Different places have different festival dates according to their farming arrangements. For example, in Lhasa, the festival starts from the solar calendar and lasts for three to five days. Gyantse, Shigatse and other places fall in the middle of July in the Gregorian calendar. After the Fruit Festival, the intense autumn harvest and autumn planting begins. "Wangguo Festival" has a long history. It was first popular in the Yalong Xiangbu area (today's middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River Valley). According to records such as the "Benjiao Calendar", as early as the end of the 5th century AD, during the Budgongji period, water canals had been built in the Yalong area, wooden plows were used to cultivate the land, and agricultural production was relatively developed. At this time, in order to ensure a good harvest of food, Zampu Budgunje asked the teacher for a teaching. According to the teachings of the teaching, the teacher taught the farmers to circle the fields and pray to "Heaven" for a good harvest. This is "Wang Guo". Festival". But during this period, "Wangguo" was not a formal festival, but an activity to worship gods and pray for blessings before harvesting.

The earliest "Wangguo" activity in Tibet was roughly as follows: all villagers started to go out in villages as a unit and parade around the village land. At the front of the procession, people holding incense sticks and flag poles led the way, followed by wizards from the religion holding "dada" (wooden sticks around hada) and the right leg of the sheep, which means "harvesting the earth's energy" and praying for a good harvest. . Followed by the villagers holding highland barley and wheat ears.

After circling, the ears of grain are inserted into the barn or offered on the sacrificial altar to pray for a good harvest. Afterwards, entertainment activities were carried out, including wrestling, sword fighting, and shuttlecock playing. These competitive competitions are mainly participated by strong men, and the winners receive prizes. At the end, the crowd sang and danced, having a fun day.

The "Wangguo" activity guided by the teachings of this religion continued until the middle of the 8th century, that is, the period of Trisong Detsen. In the late 8th century, the Nyingma sect, headed by the leader of the Lotus Church, Ugyen Pema, flourished, and the "Wangguo" activities also took on the color of the Nyingma sect. Using talismans and reciting mantras is a characteristic of the Nyingma sect. At this time, the fruit-seeking activities must be led by a mantra master to recite mantras to bless the harvest. After the 14th century, the Gelug religion became the main sect in Tibet and occupied a dominant position. At this time, the "Wangguo" activities incorporated more Gelug sect colors. For example, in front of the parade, Buddha statues were held and scriptures were recited. At this time, the "Wangguo" activity has become a traditional festival, and the content of entertainment activities has also developed compared with the past, including horse racing, archery, singing Tibetan opera, etc. After the peaceful liberation, with the continuous improvement of the cultural and scientific level of the people, millions of serfs were politically transformed and their economic status changed, and the content of the "Wangguo Festival" also underwent fundamental changes. For example, they all held up highland barley ears with flags of various colors, and the content of the activities became more colorful. Men, women and children in new clothes carried "harvest towers" made of highland barley and wheat ears, held slogans, beat gongs and drums, and sang songs around the fields. On this day, people not only race horses, shoot arrows, sing operas, and dance. , and also held a sumptuous suburban banquet. At this time, farmers in various townships will invite relatives of workers in cities and towns as guests, and also invite county and township cadres to join in the fun. The Wangguo Festival is not only a festival for rural areas to wish for a good harvest, but also a festival to strengthen national unity, enhance exchanges between urban and rural areas, and close relations between workers and farmers.