We experienced the "Hungry Ghost Festival" of the Bai people in Dali, and felt the "grand sense" of the festival that has long been lost in the Central Plains.
The sixteenth day of the seventh lunar month (August 23) is the first day when the ancestors return. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the originally gloomy sky in the ancient city of Jianchuan became even darker. The rain in August was inherently unpredictable, with strong winds and showers coming from a short period of time.
Some arty boy holding a paper fan strode home, standing on tiptoes from time to time for fear of getting his white shoes dirty. Outside the window, the rain was getting more and more uncontrollable. Raindrops hit the Galan Stone Bridge. The originally empty bridge deck was even more dusty, as if the noise of the world had nothing to do with it.
In the rain, the unburned incense and paper money on the bridge were all mottled and changed beyond recognition. Most of the ashes were carried by the water flow, carrying the blessings of the burners to another unknown world.
▲The Jialan Bridge before the rain [Photography: Youfen]
▲The Jialan Bridge after the rain [Photography: Youfen]
The boy talks to himself Said: "This Hungry Ghost Festival is really good at timing!"
Yes, it is the rainy season. Before the Hungry Ghost Festival, Jianchuan has been raining for 12 consecutive days, from the 13th to the 15th. It has been sunny for three days in a row, which did not give any chance to our children and grandchildren who "catch a rainy day and want to cry when they catch a cloudy day". Before that, in this pure land where the gods looked around, people had long sincerely welcomed the arrival of the spirits of their ancestors.
Waiting for Ancestors
In Jianchuan in the past, the days from the first to the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month in autumn were the days of the dead, and reached a small climax on the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month. July 14th is called the Ghost Festival, or the Ghost Festival. Friends in Jianchuan have repeatedly warned us not to travel far and go home early before dark. This is a holiday taboo that the people of Jianchuan have observed devoutly for hundreds of years.
▲The streets on July 14th were sparsely populated [Photography: Youfen]
But God was not as good as God, and Jean and I were locked out until the day. It was only after half the pay that I could return home. Relying on the company of Buddhist scriptures, we walked on the deserted streets of Jianchuan Liao in the middle of the night, just like "strangers at the gate" of Jianchuan. The two of them walked towards a crowded place, but fortunately they didn't encounter any uninvited guests.
▲The locked door [Photography: Youfen]
▲Mike waiting for his return [Photography: Youfen]
▲"Not mine "Buddhist Sutra" [Photography: Youfen]
A hundred years ago, the people of Jianchuan "sacrifice their ancestors, recommend seasonal food, and compete for fresh fruits and vegetables for fear of not getting them." A frugal home will also strive for abundance.
The Bai ethnic group in Jianchuan has a high proportion, accounting for more than 70%. There is a strong trend of folk belief in the local area, and it has no trend of declining today. Those who participate in folk activities are mainly middle-aged and elderly people, but young people also participate under the influence of this trend.
Today, "July 14th is as important a festival as the Torch Festival, or even more grand," said a friend of the Bai ethnic group in Jianchuan.
For ordinary people, this is the slack season before the autumn harvest of the year. Everyone has plenty of time and abundant crops to prepare for the grand event. The corn, green edamame, pears, and pomegranates that appear on the offering table are all seasonal fruits and vegetables of this season.
▲A sumptuous “offering” of pastries and fruit plates [Photography: Jean.G]
Jianchuan’s “July 14th”, known locally as qiwaxzilxi, is a short festival that includes July 14th and 15th.
Normally, on a market day before July 14th (the market is once a week, fixed on Sunday), white boys and girls will meet to go out and buy paper money, incense candles, baggage, gold and silver paper , ingots, cold clothes, fruits, sacrifices and other festival supplies. This lively scene will continue until the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival.
At the same time, every household these days uses paper money and baggage to make a ghost wealth baggage for each ancestor according to the number of ancestors in the three generations. After the paste is made, specific information such as the relationship between the person who burns the buns (usually the male host) and the deceased, and the name of the deceased must be written.
▲Shaobao [Photography: Youfen]
Usually, in addition to the man’s direct ancestors, people also prepare some for deceased relatives and give them to each other two or three days before the festival. If the distance between the two parties is too far, the deceased relative's ghost financial burden can also be burned at home.
In the early morning of the Ghost Festival, housewives (generally, men in Jianchuan do not cook) start busy preparing the "eight bowls" and sacrificial matters, while the men consciously abide by the rule of "not traveling far" Taboo, start at home.
From the beginning of welcoming the gods, the people in the small town gradually entered the sacred state of welcoming the gods from their ordinary secular life. In Jianchuan, devout people begin to welcome the gods on the second day of July, and they have completed it by the 12th of July at the latest (the wedding takes place on even days).
After welcoming the god home, three meals a day are served, and dinner is a rich one. After the sacrifice at home, people will still "put a little of each dish, light incense, and pour it on the roadside." At the same time, people enshrine the ghost wealth baggage and folded ingots in the main room or bright hall. At this time, people's hearts have entered a pious and "extraordinary" state.
▲"Eat the fruit for you" [Photography: Youfen]
Have a meal of "eight bowls" with our ancestors
During the festival, every family Protective gods and ancestors will come back. They usually protect their descendants in secret and should be treated with courtesy.
Normally, housewives start working after breakfast. "Today is the day when our ancestors return home, and we want to make 'eight bowls' for them."
It will take several hours to prepare the "eight bowls", but they will all be served around three or four in the afternoon at the latest. The "eight bowls" are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and require a lot of effort, but "regardless of whether they suit your appetite or whether you can finish them, these eight bowls must be made, and this is true in all parts of Jianchuan." Some families have as many as ten bowls.
▲The "Eight Big Bowls" were upgraded to the Top Ten Bowls [Photography: Youfen]
In the past, the "Eight Big Bowls" at least included red rice noodles, pork ribs, vermicelli, steamed fish with rice flour, Crispy meat, beans (kidney beans or green edamame), others such as fungus tofu are free to use. As times change, nothing else is necessary except fans and beans.
According to the old man of the Bai ethnic group: "When our ancestors went back, they would use vermicelli fans as ropes to tie gold, silver, and clothing to the horses, and the beans were used to feed the horses." This is a reflection of the soul's life. A conception of the world and a symbolic restoration of the Ancient Tea Horse Road. In connection with the statement that the Bai people in Jianchuan may be descendants of the Qiang people, it is difficult not to think of the migration stories of the ancestors of the Naxi and Mosuo people.
The Mosuo ethnic group retains the memory of their ancestors’ migration from north to south, passing through the Tibetan-Yi Corridor to Yongning Bazi. Therefore, after the death of a tribesman, Daba holds a soul-sending ceremony for the deceased - Han Pai Dance, and acts as a vanguard to lead the way for the deceased. Perforated cloth shoes for traveling had been prepared for the deceased.
▲The leather armor worn by Daba during the Korean pendulum dance [Photography: Youfen]
▲Perforated cloth shoes [Photography: Youfen]
Soul sending ceremony After the end, a "horse washing ceremony" is held symbolically, and the praise is said: "You are one of the best horses in a hundred. You can run faster than thunder, faster than swallows, and even tigers and leopards cannot compare with you. You have to carry a lot of horses." Take xx and run to Sbranava."
As far as the author has seen, the sacrifices on July 14th can be held in the main room, in the bright hall, or in the courtyard facing the "patio" instead of the gate. held somewhere. Generally, there is no requirement for location, but the location remains unchanged.
The Bai people usually set up the ancestral altar in the Mingjian Hall on the second floor of the house. On this day, they also burn incense and offer offerings, including a plate of corn sprouts and malt. Usually, a small hole is dug among the buds to place candles on the Bon festival. "If you start making corn sprouts this year, you can't interrupt it in the second year, and you will do it every year in the future."
▲Malt sprouts [Photography: Youfen]
The sacrificial offerings are offered in A square table usually contains at least: a glass of wine, a cup of tea, a plate of cakes, two plates of fruit, three bowls of rice, three pairs of chopsticks, and "eight bowls." The prepared baggage, clothes, gold and silver ingots are also taken out and placed next to the offering table (be careful to put them on the right side).
▲The standard format of a cup of tea, a cup of wine, a plate of cakes, and two plates of fruits [Photography: Youfen]
How to worship ancestors? ——Take it with you when you are full
After the sacrifice began, the men, women, and children in the family began to kowtow and pray.
After the round of kowtows, the most important parent in the family begins to read each letter in a certain order:
(front) Baoben Zhuiyuan/xxx (title and name of the worshiper) Gongfeng/Zhongyuan Order Festival A package of gold, silver and underworld wealth prepared sincerely/xxxxx (the worshiper gives the title and name of the deceased) under the soul/Fuwei/Jianna/Kowting instrument on July 14, XXXX year
(reverse side) Sincerely sealed
▲The baggage [Photography: Youfen]
The recited baggage was handed into the brazier and burned, and the clothes, shoes, and ingots were also bathed in the fire for the first time until they were all reduced to ashes. Cover with a melon leaf or two to prevent sparks from flying. At this point, the ceremony came to an end.
▲Paper clothes [Photography: Youfen]
▲Paper shoes [Photography: Youfen]
▲Gold and silver ingots [Photography: Youfen]< /p>
▲Pumpkin leaves on the ashes [Photography: Youfen]
During the whole process, the children at home were prohibited from playing or joking and could only watch quietly.
▲A solemn family during the sacrifice [Photo: Jean.G]
In the process of burning buns, the new and deceased are the most important.
In fact, when the deceased suffered a death blow, he also gained a new characteristic. His body, which originally lived in an ordinary world, suddenly became extraordinary and became something frightening and frightening. People did not dare to touch it in case it would bring danger to themselves.
After worshiping the ancestors, some gold and silver ingots, incense, paper, clothes, etc. will be burned at the main entrance, and a bowl of water and rice will be poured on the roadside. This is a road sacrifice. Because some families have extinct heirs, their ancestors have become lonely ghosts wandering around the village. In order to minimize the harm caused by ghosts, road sacrifices are necessary for villagers.
▲Road Festival [Photography: Youfen]
▲Road Festival [Photography: Jean.G]
Most of the offerings to ghosts and gods are food and money , whose purpose is to avoid them harming others through bribery. "The Bai folk believe that ghosts like rice as much as people. If you scatter rice around when walking at night or sleeping in the open, ghosts will not be haunted. Therefore, rice is both food and a good 'protective object'."
Even when housewives are too far away and can only burn the bags of ancestors at their husband's house, rice also plays an important role as a "protector". Housewives often separate their mother's family's bags from those of their husband's family and make a circle with rice to avoid being bullied and disturbed by other ghosts.
▲Rice to ward off evil spirits [Photography: Jean.G]
Whether it is the city of Jianchuan or the surrounding villages, there are customary requirements for dumping ashes. Usually, they put the ashes from last night's burning in a bag and dump it into the nearest river (people in the village prefer to dump it into the river outside the village). The ashes follow the rivers, carrying gold, silver, ingots, clothes and other offerings to the places where the ghosts live.
▲The river outside the village [Photography: Jean.G]
A river lantern: a lonely soul
July 15th is Bon Bon Festival, there is also a lively river lantern setting activity in Jianchuan. As Zhou Xing said, "The beauty of the lamp is closely related to its symbol of light and warmth, its ornamental value, and the festive and prosperous atmosphere it renders. From the perspective of Chinese folk customs, It seems there should be a deeper reason."
▲Releasing lanterns [Photography: Youfen]
During Obon Festival, people release river lanterns to redeem the souls of the dead. A lantern represents a lonely soul. In Buddhist scriptures, the story of Maud Lian rescuing his mother affirms the ideal that China strives for in mainstream life: filial piety.
On this day, while watching the lanterns, people comfort the deceased to show their filial piety; at the same time, they also instruct future generations and promote filial piety.
▲Children playing with lanterns [Photography: Jean.G]
As a set of homophonic symbols and metaphors, "Lamp" and "Ding" are inevitably also used during the Bon Festival. Applicable. Obon Festival is a day for ancestors to return home. On this day, admiring lanterns is actually observing people, that is, people watching people; and the excitement of the lantern festival is largely based on this. “When people boast to each other about their good lamps and their abundance, they are actually boasting about their good lamps and their abundance.”
▲Soul river lanterns with the words "hard work" and "come on" [Photography: Jean.G]
The river lanterns are often decorated with corn sprouts used for ancestor worship the day before yesterday, which can be seen River lanterns also have the meaning of sending ancestors away and illuminating the future. In Bai dialect (also commonly known as folk dialect), Ya'er is pronounced as zanga, which is similar to the pronunciation of "leave, leave" in Bai dialect.
Therefore, they also believe that the corn sprouts are actually urging their ancestors to leave quickly, "The time has come, everything that should be eaten, drank, and seen has been done, so hurry up and hit the road."
▲Corn sprouts [Photography: Youfen]
For the children in the ancient city, the river lantern releasing activity is full of joy from beginning to end. Each child brings a lamp, and they compete with each other to see whose lamp is bigger, brighter, with a strange shape or with exquisite decoration.
"If death is a process that takes time, then the evil power it brings cannot disappear in a short time." What Herz said is true. In Jianchuan, when the family members of a newly deceased person bake buns for them, the new buns are often larger, and the word "新死" is written on the wrapper.
While people offer sacrifices to the deceased, they also offer sacrifices to the gods of folk beliefs. In addition to praying for "folk gods to protect and cherish the new deceased," fear also plays a considerable role. The longer the death lasts and the deceased gradually adapts to the environment of the new world, the less dangerous it becomes. When people burn buns, they are most concerned about the deceased within three generations, and they should also have such considerations.
After the deceased dies for a period of time, people gradually adapt to the absence of the deceased in this world. After that, people’s attitude towards the deceased is no longer dominated by the element of disgust, but is replaced by a combination of trust and awe. attitude.
The deceased has passed away, but they still miss this caring world; the living naturally want to take a look at them. The reason why the separation between life and death is terrible is that "I am afraid that I will never see you again." With fear of the mysterious power, he still looks forward to meeting the dead again. On the human side, this is probably the highest expectation of the living for the undead.
▲The world is not far away [Photography: Jean.G]