What are the etiquettes and taboos of the Wa people in festivals and sacrifices?

The Wa people are a hospitable people, and this national character is reflected in their etiquette, food customs, and taboo customs. The Wa love to drink. In the past, the Wa people mainly drank homemade water wine, but now they drink not only water wine, but also soju and rice wine.

Wine is the first and least etiquette of the Wa people's hospitality. The Wa people pay attention to their age, first to the elderly, and then to the young. When the toaster hands the glass to the guest, the guest usually takes the glass with both hands and then politely returns the toast.

If the toaster can't refuse, he can take a sip first, then fill up the glass and toast the guest. Guests generally cannot refuse a toast, and refusing to toast is considered rude. Whether the guest can drink or not, he must politely take the glass, take a sip before giving it to the elder, and then be responsible for handing the glass to the toaster when the elder has finished drinking.

This way, people will see you as a polite person.

When the Wa people make water wine, they generally avoid outsiders entering the house, or avoid bringing some sour fruits, fish, crabs and other aquatic animals into the house. It is said that if you bring the above sour fruits and water animals into your home, the water and wine you make will become sour, have a fishy smell, and are not good to drink.

When a guest arrives at a Wa home, if the host invites him to eat rice wine (or honey), it is taboo to hand the wine bowl directly to the guest, generally put the bowl next to the guest's seat, and say "please", otherwise it will be regarded as impolite, and the guest may not come often in the future.

In the dishes of the Wa people, chicken is precious, and various dishes made with chicken are good for entertaining guests. The chickens that entertain guests should not be white feathers, otherwise it will be regarded as impolite to the guests, and the relationship between the host and the guest will gradually fade in the future, and the guests will not come again. The chicken head should also be eaten by the elderly, and the juniors should not rush to eat it.

The folk customs of the Wa people are: Wa men wear collarless short blouses, with short and fat trousers, and use red or black cloth to wrap their heads, while Wa women wear black collarless short clothes, straight folded skirts around the bottom, silver hoops or hoops, silver collars and multiple strings of beads as chest ornaments, several rattan rings around the waist and neck, and also like to wear multiple silver bracelets and large earrings.

The Wa people, one of the ethnic minorities in China and Myanmar, the national language is Wa, which belongs to the Wa German branch of the Mon-Khmer language family of the Austroasiatic language family.

The Wa people mainly live in Cangyuan, Ximeng, Menglian, Gengma, Lancang, Shuangjiang, Zhenkang, Yongde and other counties in southwestern Yunnan Province and Wa State and Shan State in Myanmar.

The traditional men's clothing of the Wa people in Ximeng is a collarless short blouse, short and fat trousers, wrapped with black or red cloth around the head, and the neck of young men is mostly decorated with bamboo or rattan rings. Women wear black collarless shorts, straight folded skirts around the bottom, silver hoops or hoops on their heads, silver collars and multiple strings of beads as chest ornaments, several rattan rings around the waist and neck, and multiple silver bracelets and large earrings.

The Wa people of the New Rice Festival are an agricultural people who used to have low levels of productivity and weak ability to resist natural disasters. Therefore, many sacrificial activities have been formed around agricultural production, and some have gradually become customized and developed into festivals. The "New Rice Festival" is one of them.

The "New Rice Festival" is a day when the rice is ripe, the harvest is celebrated, and the new rice is tasted. Due to the difference in climate, the time of grain ripening is different in different places, so the time of the festival is different in different regions, villages, and even each household, but in the past, it was generally carried out in July and August of the lunar calendar (between September and October of the Wa calendar). The first is to choose an auspicious day according to the maturity of their respective grains.

Second, it is best to take the date of the death of a parent or grandparent. It is intended to invite the souls of the ancestors to come back and share the joy of tasting new rice with their families. And ask them to bless their children and grandchildren with family happiness, good weather and abundant grain harvest in the spirit of heaven.

In order to allow Wa compatriots from all over the country to celebrate the "New Rice Festival" together, in 1991, Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County and Ximeng Wa Autonomous County jointly decided to designate the 14th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar as the "New Rice Festival" of the Wa people.

The traditional Shin-Rice Festival is often held by each family alone. On the day of the festival, the host gets up early and prepares the wine and meat delicacies for the festival. Then he went to the fields and harvested the new grain.

A bunch of cut grain is hung on the door, indicating that the soul of the valley is invited into the house. The rest of the grains are rubbed and dried in an iron pot over a slight heat, and new rice is scooped out to make rice. Then the family sacrifice ceremony is held:

Serve a bowl of new rice, place it on the altar with various dishes, and ask the shaman to recite a mantra, worship the god of grains, and pay homage to the ancestors. After the ceremony, the whole family, led by the shaman and the elderly, enjoyed the new rice. After that, the owner opened the door of the house and told the neighbors the news of the holiday.

So people came to congratulate them with various gifts. The host slaughtered chickens, slaughtered pigs, and even slaughtered cattle to entertain guests, and everyone sang and laughed and enjoyed the joy of the harvest.