Drive sheep to a well-off society
Every autumn, the Yi people in Liangshan hold the annual "Shearing Festival", and at the junction of Zhaotong, Yunnan and Liangshan, Sichuan, Jinyang County, which belongs to one of the core areas of Yi culture in history, will also usher in a grand festival-Nimu Yosazi (Nimu is a Yi area; Yo, Shaz.
There are two grand "shepherd conferences" every year.
The ancestors of Yi people in Jinyang generally lived in high-altitude areas above 2000 meters above sea level. Following the principle of "there is a mountain behind the house and a dam in front of the house to plant rice". They often live near mountains, villages and camps, and the main mode of production is grazing.
With the continuous development of the Yi people, there are gradually Yi people living in Dishanheba area, but they are good at raising sheep. The Yi people who regard cattle and sheep as a symbol of wealth continue to raise sheep in Dishanheba area. It is found that the high temperature, rainy and humid every summer are likely to lead to the occurrence and prevalence of sheep infectious pustulosis and bluetongue disease. Therefore, every summer, sheep farmers have to
Relatives and friends in high mountain areas adopt the method of foster care for the summer, and drive the sheep to the high mountain areas rich in pasture, where the water plants are abundant and the climate is cool, which is suitable for grazing sheep. The local Yi people call it "Yo Huo Dou" (herding sheep out of the pen), also known as "Shepherd's Association".
To "drive" the sheep to the high mountain area with rich pasture, that is, "yo-ho-ho"
Every year in the long summer, sheep farmers at the foot of Erban Mountain will
Relatives or friends in good mountainous areas, or entrust neighbors to find foster families, bring rice, corn, sea pepper and other specialties in low mountainous areas, and shout for sheep to rush to the mountains for foster care.
Throughout the summer, alpine people entrusted with raising sheep graze their flocks in the mountains during the day, drive them back to the fields where crops are planted at night, fence them with bamboo baskets, leave sheep manure everywhere, change places the next day and surround a place every night. In this way, the fertility of the land where the sheepfold has been used has been greatly increased, and there is no need to grow crops. The sheep raised by the people in the low mountains are well-nourished and healthy by rich aquatic plants under the careful management and protection of grazing farmers.
Bad luck to pick up sheep with wine and specialties.
When it gets cold in autumn, farmers who raise sheep will ask Bimo to choose a good day to take his sheep home. In order to thank relatives or friends who help raise sheep in the mountains, farmers will take wine and specialties to the entrusted farmers' homes to pick up the sheep.
Taking the sheep home is "yo-ho-ho"
After taking the sheep home, richer families will kill pigs to celebrate, and poor families will kill at least one chicken. Drinking home-brewed mash wine and eating cooked food, the whole stockade is full of festive atmosphere, and every household is as happy as the New Year. Locals call it "yo-ho-chi" (driving sheep back to the dam), also known as "shepherd's club".
In fact, the Yi people herded sheep for the summer is to herd sheep twice, that is, to drive the sheep out of the sheepfold for the summer and then back to the sheepfold to avoid the cold. Therefore, more people call this sheep-raising custom of Yi people "herding sheep". Because this kind of "shepherd's club" is beneficial to both the trustee and the trustee, it has continued to this day and has become the traditional sheep raising custom of Yi compatriots in Jinyang area.
From "Shepherd's Club" to "Shearing Festival"
According to the road guide of Yi people, Jinyang is one of the main roads for Yi ancestors to cross the river from Zhaotong, Yunnan to Liangshan. According to the second and third national cultural relics survey in Jinyang County, the bronze swords and sabres of Yelang State in the Warring States Period were unearthed in Munagou, and the bronzes of Han Dynasty were unearthed in Sid, such as kettles, pots, retort, bronze birds and ring-headed iron knives. This shows that Jinyang has a long history. As early as more than 2000 years ago, human beings thrived here.
Jinyang in history belonged to Du Qiong before the Western Han Dynasty, Yuebi County in the early Tang Dynasty, and Nanzhao in the third year of Tang Yining's Xian Tong (AD 862), where Jianchang House was located. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was the territory of Jianchang Prefecture and Rollos Propaganda Department, and later changed to Baisha County. The Ming Dynasty belongs to the litigation place of Lei Wavelength in Mahu Prefecture. Gan Long Chen Wunian (A.D. 1748) in the Qing Dynasty (recorded in the tombstone of Shuanglongba in Xide Township, Jinyang was under the jurisdiction of Xichang, Ningyuan Prefecture, Jianchang). In the second year of Xuantong (A.D. 19 10), Zhaojue County was established and Jinyang County was established in 1952.
Shearing wool, happy!
Due to geographical location, terrain and environment, Jinyang has preserved its original ecology and traditional folk customs for thousands of years, and the "Shepherd's Club" has been passed down and continued. In the later "Shepherd's Club" custom, people celebrated the harvest by entertainment in the "Yo-ho-ho" activity, thanking the entrusted farmers for raising sheep on their behalf and thanking them for their kindness to Mu Zhi. Later, in the constant evolution, an annual grand gathering was formed to celebrate the harvest through specific cultural and recreational activities, and to pray for the smooth growth of cattle and sheep in the coming year, which was continued and passed down, forming a grand celebration of joy and peace for the Yi people. In this grand festival, because shearing wool has become the theme, everyone simply calls this festival "shearing wool festival", so "shearing wool festival" has become a traditional festival for Yi people to graze.
"Yi Scissors Festival" is a provincial intangible cultural heritage protection list in Sichuan Province. There is a riddle in China's ancient book "Beauty is still flowing in the Book of Changes": "Women carry baskets, which is not real; A sheep, no blood. " It means: the woman is carrying a basket as if she has no actual weight; The man stabbed the sheep, but there was no blood. The answer is that men are shearing wool and women are picking wool with baskets. This riddle records the scene of people shearing wool at the beginning of last week more than 3 100 years ago.
Yi people originated from the ancient Qiang people. They are "shepherds in Xirong, and sheep are also heard from people." In 384 BC, Wu Qiang's grandson Yi was afraid of Qin's attack and led the Qiang people to move south. Some of them were called Southwest Yi after moving south. "Geography of the Tang Dynasty" also describes that "men and women were wearing cattle and sheep skins" in Southwest Yi at that time. Cattle and sheep not only provide meat for the Yi people, but also provide leather goods for production and life, which keep out the cold. Therefore, Yi people like Qiang people to shepherd sheep and sheep. In Yi language, "cattle and sheep" is synonymous with "money" and "property". Therefore, the Yi people regard cattle and sheep as a symbol of wealth, which has also formed a cultural tradition of animal husbandry based on sheep.
Production and life are inseparable from sheep.
Production and life can not be separated from sheep, and ceremonies can not be separated from sheep. In spring and autumn, sheep should be sacrificed and prayed for blessing. In the ceremony, men should tie a knot made of hemp and wool around their necks; For the ceremony of the deceased, the ancestor gods made of bamboo roots should tie wool on the bamboo roots with hemp and dress the ancestors. It can be said that the relationship between Yi people and sheep is closer than that of other ethnic groups, and because of this, shearing sheep has become a god, forming the traditional culture of "sheep shearing festival" that has been passed down to this day.
The "shearing festival" bears the animal husbandry culture of Liangshan Yi people.
In Jinyang area, there is a
The origin of "Scissors Festival" is ancient;
A long time ago, the mountains and jungles where Yi ancestors lived were lush. People often drive hundreds of cattle and sheep down the mountain in exchange for cloth and salt.
Soon, an evil spirit came to Wulayi from outside the mountain, and people donated cattle, sheep, fur, wood and delicacies.
Daowu's mouth is deeper than the valley, so Yi Jia can't fill his stomach anyway. Later, a hero named Chilujie emerged from the Yi people. He has been herding cattle since he was a child, and he is skilled in martial arts and brilliant. Seeing all this, his heart was filled with infinite dissatisfaction. So, he asked someone to tell him that he would have an easy wrestling match with him, and he would be fined three times if he lost. If he wins, Taulai will never be allowed to cause trouble. The insatiable Oulai has really come, and it thinks it is extremely powerful. As a result, I was repeatedly knocked down by naked dew in the game.
Oulai, who was finally defeated, actually rolled down the unfathomable Lion Mountain in the struggle. A few months later, Oulai's bones were covered with insects and snakes. Chilujie told everyone that this is all because of the evil in Wula, which will definitely hurt the cattle, sheep, crops and forests of the Yi family in the future. So, under the leadership of Chilujie, everyone drove the sheep to the lee grassland, where they watched the sick animals and sheared the wool. Over time, it evolved into today's "shearing festival".
Make a blanket
The Yi people in Jinyang Alian area all live on relatively high mountains. Therefore, the "shearing festival" of the Yi people in Alian area is as grand as the torch festival of the Yi people in Adu area. This festival is usually decided by the local famous Bimo people or elders according to the climate and crop growth after the beginning of autumn, and usually lasts for three days.
"Shearing Festival" is a traditional festival of Liangshan Yi people's animal husbandry culture. In Jinyang area, high-quality alpine pastures such as Baicaopo have nurtured countless cattle, sheep and livestock for thousands of years. At the same time, the local Yi people have inherited the traditional folk culture with a long history, while the "shearing festivals" in Jijue Township in Nanwa District, Xiaoyinmu Township in Duiping District and Gao Feng Township in Luojue District are very representative, and the techniques, methods and skills of shearing wool are still in the traditional state.
Heitu Ri, the inheritor of Jinyang Scissors Festival, was born in Liezu, Niuhuo Street, Tapu Village, Jijue Township, this county in June, 1973. Because his ancestors were inherited from Bimo, he was influenced by the traditional culture of "Scissors Festival" from his ancestors at an early age, and held three large-scale "Scissors Festival" activities in Rencun during 15, which further promoted the development of production and life.
Tourists experience shearing wool for themselves.
The "shearing festival" has been passed down from generation to generation and continues to this day. It has become an ancient festival, and it has also formed an animal husbandry cultural tradition dominated by sheep. The "Wool Shearing Festival" has been held in Kou Village, Xiaoyinmu Township, the county for more than 60 years, and it has never stopped. The annual event scene is grand and spectacular, which embodies rich regional cultural connotations and is full of romance.
Vicissitudes can't wash away the imprint of history. The "Shearing Festival" has always inherited the healthy, bold, optimistic and positive spirit of the Yi people, recording their development process and endless yearning and pursuit for a better life.
Nowadays, the "Nimu Joshaz" folk activity held in this county not only enriches people's spiritual and cultural life, but also provides people with a traditional folk cultural skill.
The "shearing festival" usually lasts for three days.
Today, there is still a relatively complete tradition of "cutting the sun" in the United Arab League, such as Jijue Township, Jinyang County. Every year, the "shearing festival" is held, and Yi wrestling and other activities are held. In the competition, people can not only see the free and chic performances of Yi men on horseback, but also feel the rich Yi customs in Yi wrestling and other activities with Yi characteristics. The "shearing festival" usually lasts for three days.
"Oh, I see", commonly known as "wool washing"
On the first day of the activity, every household should feed the sheep and rush to the lake, stream or mountain spring, which is stronger and fatter than any other sheep to celebrate the bumper harvest of crops and the prosperity of livestock. Then, the sheep are driven to lakes and streams to wash their wool, which is called "about the day" in Yi language, commonly known as "wool washing". The first sheep in the water is called "about my teacher", which means "bold leader" Which one has such a leader, which indicates that this family will be safe and auspicious in the coming year, and the six animals will prosper. Therefore, the leader became the owner's favorite pet.
Concentrate on shearing wool together.
On the second day of the festival, people will cut wool (called Yo Shazi in Yi language). Generally, shearing wool is done by the family, so please ask the experts to help. Shearing wool is not to cut all the sheep's hair, but to do it in different categories. The ram only cuts the waist and back, the castrated sheep only keeps the tail, and the ewe only keeps some neck hair and all hair. When shearing wool, after the famous "Bimo" prayed for blessings, the shearers usually sprayed wine on the sheep, saying, "Thank you for the sheep exhibition this year, the wool is white, and pray for peace and good luck in the coming year, with cattle and sheep all over the hillside and wool like clouds", and then began to shear wool. Because of the special relationship between Yi people and sheep for thousands of years, they regard sheep as a symbol of wealth, so they regard wool as a gift and shearing wool as labor, so the shearing place is also clean. For example, women are forbidden to walk around and behind their elders who shear sheep.
bullfight
Fight for the "king of cattle"
On the third day of the activity, it was a celebration (called Zige in Yi language, which means celebration). This day is the busiest. Every village, every family, men, women and children, lead cattle, sheep and horses to carry out traditional bullfighting, sheep shooting, wrestling and folk songs on the wide grassland. On this day, girls will wear Yi costumes and get together to sing folk songs to celebrate the harvest of the people and the prosperity of livestock.
wrestling
Fighting sheep
Fighting sheep-a fierce attack
At the event site, young boys and beautiful girls wore costumes with regional characteristics, forming a beautiful landscape, adding festive and romantic colors to the event. The event site was crowded with vendors, spectators and contestants, presenting a spectacular picture of a sea of people. Exciting competitions such as bullfighting, sheep fighting, cockfighting and wrestling feast the eyes of the audience and attract shouts and cheers.
The "shearing festival" is not only the joy of labor and harvest, but also the display of skills, and it is also a place for young men and women to fall in love freely. Now it is also integrated into the content of commercial transactions, which has its inheritance and protection value.
Protection and Inheritance of Traditional Folk Festivals
Since 1990s, China's economic and cultural development has entered a new development period. The rapid development of economy and the invasion of foreign strong culture have affected the inheritance and development of many traditional cultures. However, people in Jijue Township, Jinyang County are still full of their own folk festivals as in the past, actively participating in and supporting the custom activities of the "Shearing Festival", so that the "Shearing Festival" shows the elements of Yi history and culture everywhere, and also preserves and develops excellent traditional culture.
However, in recent years, due to the lack of skills inheritance, the neglect of festivals and the erosion of business ideas and concepts, many young Yi people are unwilling to inherit and learn these traditional skills. More and more young Yi people go out to work, and the development of animal husbandry can only rely on the elderly. People with shearing skills are generally older, and shearing skills lack heirs. The content of folk festivals has been simplified and changed, and the "Scissors Festival" has gradually lost its original style, scale and charm, as well as its external form and internal thought. At the same time, because the shearing festival is generally located in high mountain towns, it lacks media publicity and public participation, so it lacks popularity and strength support. Due to the above reasons, the traditional culture "Scissors Festival" in Jinyang area was on the verge of collapse.
In order to better protect and inherit this intangible cultural heritage project, the county party committee and county established the Jinyang Cultural Protection Working Group in 2004. In 2007, when attending the second meeting of the Ninth Liangshan Prefecture, all counties in the county jointly put forward the proposal of "strengthening the protection of intangible cultural heritage in Liangshan Prefecture", and invited relevant experts such as intangible cultural heritage protection experts to hold corresponding special lectures, set up expert protection meetings and hold related meetings.
, to promote publicity work.
Every year, the sheep shearing festival, the celebration scene is crowded and very lively.
In the protection of intangible cultural heritage, the county has set up a special working group for the protection of cultural heritage, including the collection group of "Scissors Festival", to carry out the collection, arrangement, publicity and protection of Jinyang Scissors Festival. Jinyang county cultural bureau, Jinyang county cultural center and other relevant departments personally grasp the protection of intangible cultural heritage and the declaration of intangible cultural heritage.
Send cultural programs to the "shearing festival"
Jinyang County also introduced the contents of Jinyang Scissors Festival in detail in Jinyang County Cultural Album and Jinyang County Tourism Brochure edited and published by Jinyang County.
Dedicate a song to the "Festival"
With the support of our company and the efforts of relevant departments, we conducted a three-month investigation and data collection on the "Shearing Festival", and took relevant videos, edited and dubbed them, and applied for the project.
In 2022, the county's "Scissors Festival" was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage protection in Sichuan Province.
Adding Cultural Programs to the "Shearing Festival"
In order to protect and inherit the tradition of "Scissors Festival", the local Party committee in Jinyang attached great importance to it. Before the festival comes, local people are encouraged to hold a "shearing festival" once a year by actively investing money, and various competitions that young people like are held at the same time, so that young people can love and inherit the "shearing festival".
: Propaganda Department of Jinyang County Committee/Bailixia