| How Do The Chinese Miao Worship Their Ancestors? |
| Written by Clare Liu | |
| Sunday, 12 July 2009 | |
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The GuZang festival is celebrated once every 13 years by the Miao minority in southern China. The local people dress up themselves with their spectacular silver jewelry that weights 30 pounds, and attend all activities held during the festival.
The GuZang festival is celebrated once every 13 years by the Miao minority in southern China. The local people dress up themselves with their spectacular silver jewelry that weights 30 pounds, and attend all activities held during the festival. During the festival, the Miao always use propitious words and avoid any taboo subject. For slaughtering a pig, they say kiss the big official; for fetching a butcher knife, and they say bring the leaf ; for heating the stove with some straw to cook the pork, they say cover the official with the quilt. When they finish eating and feel full, they will say full of the storehouse . On the 5th day of the GuZang festival, the sacred bulls are shown up around the village, with firecrackers exploding loudly. The bulls are decorated with beautiful ornaments. The bulls are slaughtered just before dawn the next day. Their heads are put together facing east, which suggests the ancestors of the Miao come from east China. A ceremony is then held to release souls of these bulls from purgatory. At last people sing the old sacrificial songs together. When the ceremony is over, the Miao divide the meat of bulls into different pieces and distribute them to each family. In the next few days, the Miao continue to enjoy the happiness of their intoxicating festival. They sing and dance with the beautiful Lusheng and drum music played as the background. Bullfighting is an exciting game held during the festival. Bullfighting means two bulls fighting with each other. The bull killed in the game is considered a hero and will be buried with a big funeral. On the gravestone, his battle story is recorded. There is a very interesting story about the origin of the GuZang festival, but to learn about it, visit my website below! The Article Author: C. Liu has been studying handmade silver jewelry, for years. Sometimes she endorses certain Miao artisans. Click over to her website to see great examples of Miao silver jewelry. |
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