What kind of poignant legend does the gourd festival of the Lahu people have?

The legend of the gourd festival: A long time ago, an unprecedented flood broke out on the land, the flood swallowed everything, the ancestors of mankind in order to preserve a little hope of human reproduction, put fifty pairs of men and women into fifty large gourds, and put the gourd into the water, let it drift with the waves, one of the gourds, with the current, to the place where the Lahu people live. So, to this day, the Lahu people call themselves "them.""A nation born in the gourd"From the various totems that they have passed down from generation to generation, as well as the legends that have been handed down to this day, we can see the Lahu people's pairs"Hulu"infinite gratitude and reverence.

In order to commemorate this birth day, the tenth day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar every year becomes the "Gourd Festival".

There is a poignant legend about the Lahu gourd festival that in ancient times there was a catastrophic flood that engulfed everything. In order to perfunctory offspring, humans hid fifty pairs of men and women in a gourd and put it into the water. Among them, a pair of gourds came to Yunnan, where the Lahu people lived, and split into two halves, and a pair of men and women came out of it to become their ancestors.

To commemorate this festival, local residents celebrate their own festival, the gourd festival, every year.

In order to preserve the hope of reproduction, the ancestors left 50 pairs of men and women in the big gourd and drifted with the tide, and one of them floated to this land. The men and women in this gourd became the ancestors of this people. The people set the tenth day of October as the gourd festival to commemorate their ancestors.

A long time ago, an unprecedented flood broke out on the earth, and the ancestors of mankind put fifty pairs of men and women into fifty large gourds in order to preserve a little hope for human reproduction, and put the gourd into the water and let it drift with the waves, one of which was divided into two halves, and a pair of men and women who came out of it became the ancestors of today's Lahu people

As one of the four ancient civilizations, culture is indispensable. China is home to 56 ethnic groups, each with a different culture. Each ethnic group has its own solemn festival, like the Spring Festival of the Han people, the most solemn day of the Lahu people is the gourd festival.

Let's take a look at Lahu culture.

According to the legends in the Lahu creation epic "Mu Pa Mipa" and "Shuo Dian Ludian", the ancestors of the Lahu people were cultivated with gourds on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month. Therefore, the Lahu people believe that they are the descendants of the gourd, and regard the gourd as the embodiment of their ancestors and the mascot of the whole nation. The belief in the gourd reflects the long-term close relationship between the Lahu people in the mountainous areas and their struggle for survival.

The gourd festival has strong national characteristics, rich and colorful activities, and is a festive occasion for the whole people to sing and dance carnival, containing rich historical and cultural content. Lancang County organizes various cultural and sports activities, science and technology and commercial material exchange activities every year, so as to combine traditional ethnic festivals with economic development, and further enhance the social influence and popularity of the Hulu Festival.

Every year on the fifteenth day of October of the lunar calendar, it is the "gourd festival" of the Lahu people, and the Lahu language is called "Apeng Aloni". On this day every year, the Lahu people, dressed in splendid national costumes, singing and dancing, carrying home-brewed wine and glutinous rice to make baba, slaughtering pigs and chickens, gather in the square of each village to start the annual celebration.

Later generations, the old people blow the reed sheng, the girls dance a cheerful group dance, the dance is full of expression in the four seasons, people from the beginning of the ploughing, sowing seeds, until the joy of the final harvest, thanks to the sunshine and rain given by God, thanks to the wind and rain, no disease and no disaster.

At night, the bonfire is lit, accompanied by the melodious **, low wooden drums, the old people put their life experience, from the mother's hard childbirth, the difficult journey of becoming a difficult person, until they get married, leave their parents, raise their children, to the youth is no longer, full of vicissitudes, one by one grievances, the poignant story with the old man's singing, slowly said in the moonlight, listening to the hoarse sound under the moonlight like water, the firelight jumps, the sound of wooden drums, as if the river of life is slowly flowing away, And that youth, which is gone, seems to have begun to flow and surround under this moonlight again.

In this way, for the next three days and three nights, the Lahu people kept dancing and singing. When they are thirsty, they stop to drink rice wine, when they are hungry, they eat a mouthful of poop, and then they continue to dance and sing, and when they are tired and sleepy, they take a rest, and others continue, singing the joys and sorrows of life with their voices or hoarse, and using their young or old bodies to express the Holy Spirit that brings life to the "gourd".

Faith is a kind of spiritual sustenance for people, just as Chinese believe in Buddhism and Westerners worship God. When people's wishes may not be fulfilled and they are unwilling to admit it, they need to ask the gods for instructions to satisfy their hearts, and every nation has its own beliefs. So, do you want to know the legend of the gourd of the Lahu people?

Just follow me to learn about Lahu culture!

The picture of the Kucong people, a branch of the Lahu people in China, is a gourd. They regarded the gourd as their ancestor and protector, and still regard the gourd as a symbol of feminine beauty, and the standards of the breasts, abdomen, and buttocks of women pursued by men are similar to those of the gourd. When they name their children, they all have to bring a gourd, hoping that when the children grow up and get married, they will also give birth to more grandboys and granddaughters like gourds; It is customary to nail gourd seeds to children's veils and collars, thinking that the demons will not be touched; Take the gourd as a sign of the family's wealth and poverty, place it in front of the door or hang it on the roof beam, and some of them pile up forty or fifty gourds in front of the door to show wealth; Gourds are used to make a variety of utensils, and they still like to use gourds to make utensils such as scoops, bowls, and spoons, as well as musical instruments such as reed sheng, and to make gourd-shaped utensils such as fish baskets, axes, and wood carvings that cannot be replaced by gourds.

The origin of this custom is: according to legend, a long time ago, the ants talked about the flood, people drowned, only two brothers and sisters hid in a big gourd in the ocean and drifted with the waves for 7 days and 7 nights, survived, and later they became husband and wife and had offspring. Legend has it that in ancient times, after the flood, there was only one orphan left in the world.

One day, while he was playing by the pond, a little red fish spat out a gourd seed for him. The orphan planted it outside his hut and soon produced many gourds. One night, with a loud bang and a golden light, a beautiful girl came out of the gourd, married the orphan, and from then on, mankind multiplied.

Therefore, the gourd became the totem of the Kucong people and was worshipped.

The gourd festival, known as "Apeng Aloni" in Lahu language, is the most solemn traditional festival of the Lahu people, which is held on the tenth day of the tenth lunar month every year.

Whenever the gourd festival comes, the Lahu people rejoice. Early in the morning, wearing unique national costumes, carrying home-brewed wine and glutinous rice baba, slaughtering pigs and chickens, gathering in the village square, all night long, singing and dancing, to start the annual celebration. The whole village or several villages dance together, dozens and hundreds of reeds are played at the same time, the momentum is magnificent, very spectacular.

After lunch, a wooden table was placed in the middle of the square, with a verdant pine branch inserted on the top of the table, and three green smoke curling incense sticks were inserted on the ground below the table. Several old men blew the gourd sheng in the center of the field, dancing while blowing, and soon entered the realm of selflessness. The innocent children couldn't help but follow the old man, and to the beat of the gourd sheng, with the pine branch as the center of the circle, they held hands and formed a circle and jumped up happily, forming a moving picture of joy for the old and the young; The men blew the asparagus, the girls danced merrily, and the women poured wine in large bowls, bowl by bowl for the asparagus hands and the dancers, both men and women, who took the wine and drank it all.

Dance expresses the joy of people's hard work and harvest throughout the year. They thanked God for the sunshine and rain in the form of dancing songs, thanked the wind and rain, thanked the growth of all things, and thanked the Holy Spirit who brought them life with the "gourd", and they believed that "life" was always worth thanking.

At night, the roaring bonfire, accompanied by the melodious ** of the gourd sheng and the low wooden drum, the old people sang the joy and difficulty of life. With the old man's song, the poignant and joyful stories jumped in the firelight, echoed in the sound of wooden drums, surrounded in the moonlight, and flowed in the river of life. In this way, for three days and three nights, people danced, sang, sang, and danced, enjoying themselves and intoxicated.

When you are thirsty, drink rice wine, when you are hungry, eat a mouthful of poop, and when you are tired and sleepy, you can take a break and then dance and sing again. This is the Lahu people who take the gourd as their mascot, and the indissoluble bond with the gourd has become a ritual that condenses more than 400,000 people of the whole nation.