The origin of Axi dancing on the moon
Axi dancing on the moon has a long history. In ancient times, human beings did not know how to use fire and lived a life of eating raw materials and drinking blood. One day, lightning struck a dead tree and caused a fire. Many wild animals were burned to death. People ate it and found it delicious. From then on, people would use fire to cook meat to satisfy their hunger and light fires to keep warm. But in that primitive life where there was no shelter due to wind and rain, it was indeed very difficult to preserve a little fire. When the heavy rain came, the fire was extinguished. Without fire, people would have to endure the cold, eat raw meat and drink cold water, which would bring a lot of difficulties to their lives. One day, when people were hunting in the mountains, they were cold and hungry. They couldn't stand it anymore, so they leaned on the trees to rest. There was a young man named "Mu Deng" who was riding on a rotten tree. While resting, he picked up a thin stick and drilled hard into the rotten tree. Drilling and drilling, fire suddenly emerged from the rotten wood. The reappearance of fire made people ecstatic. Everyone gathered firewood and started a fire. The raging flames illuminated the earth and made the human body smoke. So we gathered around the bonfire, roasting and dancing. This is the original origin of Axi jumping on the moon. People call it "Woodenby", which means "jumping on the bonfire".
As for why the Axi people always keep jumping in the "Three Steps" dance, there is still a legend. According to legend, a long time ago, people in the Axi area had been living a slave life of slash-and-burn farming. Every sowing season, in order to gain time to burn the fields and sow seeds as quickly as possible for the slave owners, people would start digging and working on the hot fields with bare feet before the sparks of burning fields were extinguished. In order to protect his feet from being burned by the remaining fire in the field, he kept jumping while working. Later, on the basis of this non-stop jumping dynamic, people added kicking the feet, swinging the upper limbs left and right, and clapping, gradually forming the "Axi Jumping to the Moon" that is loved by people today.
The historical development of Axi Dance on the Moon
The ancestors of Axi originally lived in "Tongdeng Lairuo" by the Jinsha River. Unable to bear the burden and oppression of the slave owners, they rose up to resist under the leadership of A Zhen. Starting from the 23rd day of the sixth lunar month, the attack on the slave owner's home began. However, the slave owner had guns, knives, crossbows and arrows, and was guarded by many soldiers. Even after a whole day of attack, they could not break through. The wise Azhen ordered the slaves to put torches on the horns of each sheep during the dark night. Let the sheep rush in front, and the slaves followed the sheep with sticks and sickles, rushing towards the slave owners' homes, breaking through the slave owners' siege, killing the slave owners, and burning the slave owners' homes. Victory was achieved and freedom was gained in life. After the slaves were liberated, they gathered at "Lengyihei" (a seaside called Lengyi), singing to their heart's content, celebrating victory and welcoming freedom. Jumping to the sounds of sanxian, flute and knife and fork. It dances until the moon sets on the west slope, until the red sun comes from the east, and until the end of June. The "dance dance" at this time had a new content of "celebrating liberation" and "welcoming freedom", so it was called "Lirabi", which means "celebrating liberation and welcoming freedom" dance.
After the founding of New China, the Axi people became the masters of the country and nation. "Happy dancing" has got rid of various taboos and has become an indispensable mass folk entertainment activity during festivals or festivals.
The current situation of Axi dancing to the moon
Nowadays, Axi dancing to the moon is divided into two types: young people dance and old people dance. The elderly dance is slow and easy. Following the rhythm of the flute, the men play the small sanxian, yueqin, and erhu calmly and elegantly, dancing happily without showing off. The women dance with their hands on their hips, raising their feet, and follow the sound of the flute. The strings clapped their hands, rotated and swung their legs, sometimes dancing together in a circle, sometimes dancing opposite each other, maintaining a group dance lineup that was elegant, free, and fun. The youth dance is developed on the basis of the old people's dance. When dancing, first tune the big three-stringed string and the flute. Then the young men take the lead in dancing with the big three-stringed string on their backs. The young women then form a team and join in the dance with high-fives. Young men and women form a line and dance towards each other. The formation moves back and forth, left and right according to the melody of the music. Youth dance has a lively rhythm, is rough and bold, and is joyful and exciting. It fully embodies the heroic and bold spirit of the Axi people and the strong national folk art customs.
The related Torch Festival
Due to the exchanges between ethnic cultures after liberation, many people know that the summer "Torch Festival" is a traditional ethnic festival of the Yi people, and even I know that on festival nights, the Yi people dance the "Big Sanxian Dance" around a bonfire. But why do the Yi people dance the "Big Sanxian Dance" on the "Torch Festival"? Probably not many people know about it.
To understand this, you must first know the origin of the "Torch Festival" and the Yi calendar related to it.
As early as the 13th century, the Yi people created their own "October Solar Calendar", which is now known as the "Yi Xia Solar Calendar" in astronomy. In ancient times, the Yi people divided the 365.25 days in a year into 10 months, with 36 days in each month. The extra 5 days were used as the "New Year" days every year. The New Year of the Yi people is closely related to the "Torch Festival" because the "October Solar Calendar" is measured and calculated based on the position changes of the sun, moon and stars. Each rotation of the handle of the Big Dipper is one year, and when the handle points upward, it coincides with the "Great Heat" solar term in summer. Another half week later, it is the "Great Cold" solar term in winter, and the Yi people collectively call these two solar terms the "Xinghui Festival". At the same time, the "Xinghui Festival" in winter is designated as the New Year of the Yi people; while the "Xinghui Festival" in summer is the "Torch Festival" that we are all familiar with.
All nations in the world welcome the coming of each New Year with the greatest enthusiasm and the most solemn celebrations. "New Year" has become a unique and joyful festival for all mankind. However, among the Yi people, there are no celebration activities during the "New Year". All people's enthusiasm is put on making delicious food, making the Winter Xinghui Festival commonly known as the "Eating Festival". The "Xinghui Festival" during the "Great Heat" solar term around June 24 of the lunar calendar every year is a traditional "Torch Festival" celebrated grandly and lively by the Yi people in various places, commonly known as the "Wan Festival". What’s even more interesting is that people in some Yi areas set aside 3 of the 6 days of the “New Year’s Day” for the “Torch Festival” in summer, so that people can have more fun and enjoy the “Torch Festival” during the festival. Enjoyable and unforgettable. Although Yi compatriots in various regions celebrate the "Torch Festival" in different ways, currently each man plays the big three-stringed instrument and carries it on his shoulders with colorful silk, and dances the "big three-stringed dance" together, which has become a common practice among the Yi people. One of the forms of entertainment.
The Axi people who live in Lunan, Maitreya, Qiubei and other counties in Yunnan Province and belong to the Yi ethnic group hold high torches and go around the fields at dusk during the Xinghui Festival in summer to wish for a good harvest in the coming year. , they gathered in the village open space to hold traditional celebration activities. At that time, groups of unmarried men and women would dance frequently around the crackling bonfire. Dressed girls wearing ring headdresses, hand-embroidered blouses, pleated skirts, and embroidered bags across their bodies were led by a handsome flute player wearing white clothes, black trousers, and a red ribbon around his waist. The three-stringed instrument dances opposite the man, conveying infinite affection between the eyebrows and expressing heartfelt joy and joy. The dance is occasionally mixed with shouts of "Ah tut tut!" and screaming whistles, adding to the joy and enthusiasm of the festival atmosphere. Although the dance performed by the Axi people is also a "big three-stringed dance", seriously speaking, with the accompaniment of various large, medium and small three-stringed strings plucked by men and high, medium and low bamboo flutes of different tones, the dance always remains the same. In the jumping state, while swinging the arms left and right, clapping according to the beat, changing feet and jumping three steps, kicking two feet in the air, this "three-step string" composed of five beats is what the Axi people do during the "Torch Festival" Unique self-entertainment dance. Since the dance was mostly performed under the moonlight, it was later called "Axi Dances on the Moon".
Fangmasange is a Han folk song.
It is a famous folk song popular in Yunnan. The lyrics are very simple, consisting of seven sentences or two sentences, reflecting the life of a shepherd boy. The music structure is also very concise, consisting of two phrases, the upper and lower phrases. The melody of the lower phrase is developed based on the musical material of the upper phrase, and the technique is refined. It is interspersed with "oh lulu" and other idioms, as well as the sounds of driving animals, which is full of life, lively and cheerful. It is the repertoire of singer Huang Hong.