Living in the mountainous area of southwestern China, the Miao minority group celebrate their various festivals and holidays all year round. During these holidays, women will dress up with their colorful ethnic costumes and glistening silver jewelry. The big Fishing Festival held in April is for people to go fishing and picnic.
The day before the festival, people go to pick up some special leaves and mash them. The mashed leaves can put fish in the river to sleep. Elderly people hold a small ceremony to worship their ancestors by burning incense. Young women get busy preparing food for the next day.
On the morning of the festival, men carry their long, big harpoons on their shoulders to go fishing. Women follow their men behind, with food and wine in a bamboo basket. Their beautiful costumes and silver jewelry are especially conspicuous. When getting to the river, women wait at the riverside with food and wine beside them.
Standing on both sides of the river, men hold their big harpoons in hands. One man in the group murmurs a prayer, and throws a handful of mashed leaves into the river. Following him, all men put their mashed leaves into the river. Right after this a huge black dragon appear on the surface, which is in fact the appearance of hundreds of fish that have been narcotized by the leaves.
Men cast their huge harpoons to the dragon, and lots of fishes are dead. People get more excited with their achievements. They laugh, shout, and chase after the dragon in the water.
A few hours past, every man is satisfied with their huge achievements. They take the fishes to the riverside, where women have prepared a cooker for picnic. They use the water from the river to cook the fish, which has a natural fragrance and tastes really good!
People eat, drink, and exchange toasts. Some young people even sing and dance to express their happiness.
Fishing Festival came from a ceremony of praying for rain. It's said that a god living in the heaven had a lovely daughter. One day the princess was ill seriously. She tried lots of medication, but none of them could work for her. In a dream, the god was informed that a soup cooked with one hundred different fishes from a river could heal the princess. So he immediately sent people to find these fishes and cook them in a soup. After drinking the soup, the princess got better soon. The god was grateful to the fishes, and he gave orders to protect the fishes. Nobody was allowed to kill the fish in the river. Moreover, he required all the rain to go to the river, but not to the soil.
Without rain, plants withered away, and people couldn't grow anything on their farmland. So they killed pigs, sheep, and oxen to hold a sacrificial ceremony to pray for rain. But still there was no rain at all. With all the livestock slaughtered, people at last had to kill chubs, carps, and salmon as sacrifices.
After the god learnt that his fishes were killed, he felt so sad and cried. He cried for 3 days. His tears became rain upon the earth, and irrigated the plants.
Since then, the Miao slaughtered fishes when they needed rain. Later this tradition became the Fishing Festival.
Every year lots of tourists go to the Miao area to discover the local people's interesting custom, and beautiful silver jewelry.
The day before the festival, people go to pick up some special leaves and mash them. The mashed leaves can put fish in the river to sleep. Elderly people hold a small ceremony to worship their ancestors by burning incense. Young women get busy preparing food for the next day.
On the morning of the festival, men carry their long, big harpoons on their shoulders to go fishing. Women follow their men behind, with food and wine in a bamboo basket. Their beautiful costumes and silver jewelry are especially conspicuous. When getting to the river, women wait at the riverside with food and wine beside them.
Standing on both sides of the river, men hold their big harpoons in hands. One man in the group murmurs a prayer, and throws a handful of mashed leaves into the river. Following him, all men put their mashed leaves into the river. Right after this a huge black dragon appear on the surface, which is in fact the appearance of hundreds of fish that have been narcotized by the leaves.
Men cast their huge harpoons to the dragon, and lots of fishes are dead. People get more excited with their achievements. They laugh, shout, and chase after the dragon in the water.
A few hours past, every man is satisfied with their huge achievements. They take the fishes to the riverside, where women have prepared a cooker for picnic. They use the water from the river to cook the fish, which has a natural fragrance and tastes really good!
People eat, drink, and exchange toasts. Some young people even sing and dance to express their happiness.
Fishing Festival came from a ceremony of praying for rain. It's said that a god living in the heaven had a lovely daughter. One day the princess was ill seriously. She tried lots of medication, but none of them could work for her. In a dream, the god was informed that a soup cooked with one hundred different fishes from a river could heal the princess. So he immediately sent people to find these fishes and cook them in a soup. After drinking the soup, the princess got better soon. The god was grateful to the fishes, and he gave orders to protect the fishes. Nobody was allowed to kill the fish in the river. Moreover, he required all the rain to go to the river, but not to the soil.
Without rain, plants withered away, and people couldn't grow anything on their farmland. So they killed pigs, sheep, and oxen to hold a sacrificial ceremony to pray for rain. But still there was no rain at all. With all the livestock slaughtered, people at last had to kill chubs, carps, and salmon as sacrifices.
After the god learnt that his fishes were killed, he felt so sad and cried. He cried for 3 days. His tears became rain upon the earth, and irrigated the plants.
Since then, the Miao slaughtered fishes when they needed rain. Later this tradition became the Fishing Festival.
Every year lots of tourists go to the Miao area to discover the local people's interesting custom, and beautiful silver jewelry.
About the Author:
C. Liu has been studying sterling silver jewelry, for years. Sometimes she supports the work of select Miao artisans. Click over to her website to view some excellent unique silver jewelry.
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