Occuring only once every 13 years, the secret Guzang Festival is an exciting time for the Chinese Miao people to worship their ancestors. In the Chinese language, the word "Gu" means a bull, and "Zang" means innards of an animal. During the festival, a series of ceremonies like slaughtering bulls, beating drum are held.
An indispensable part of this festival is beating drums. The Miao use maple wood to make their drums, and cover both ends of the drums with cowhide. They believe the soul of their ancestors lives in this big drum. So during the festival, people beat the drum very loudly to awake their ancestors, who come and attend their great worshiping ceremony.
Two different kinds of drums are used in the festival. One is the double drum, which includes two identical drums. All together they reach 170 cm in length and 30 cm in diameter. The double drums are usually put in a couple's home, who has been married for a long time but doesn't have a child. They worship the double drums to expect that the drums can give them children. On the day of festival, people take the double drums out for the ceremony.
For each Guzang Festival, the Miao have a new single drum. After the festival is over, they place the drum in a cave until it decays. The single drum is quite smaller than the double drums.
In the August before a Guzang festival drawing near, people carry the old single drum out of the cave and perform a praying ceremony. Then they are ready to craft a new single drum.
Two years before the festival, an elderly and respectable man is selected as the leader, who officiates at the worshiping ceremony. The man is in charge of picking up the sacred bulls. The sacred bulls are fed with good food until the ceremony, and nobody is allowed to use the bulls for farming.
During the festival the leader in a unique costume is most noticeable. He wears violet clothes, with a few dried fish tied up around his head. This reveals that their ancestors ever dwelt in along the Yangtze river in east China and made a living on fishing.
On the first few days of the festival, people sing, dance, and hold numerous banquets to feast friends, neighbors, and relatives. Anyone who visits their village is warmly welcomed! They have meat and bean curd, but they can't eat vegetables. The festival lasts 13 days.
There are a few more exciting things about the secret Miao GuZang festival, so visit my website below to learn it now!
An indispensable part of this festival is beating drums. The Miao use maple wood to make their drums, and cover both ends of the drums with cowhide. They believe the soul of their ancestors lives in this big drum. So during the festival, people beat the drum very loudly to awake their ancestors, who come and attend their great worshiping ceremony.
Two different kinds of drums are used in the festival. One is the double drum, which includes two identical drums. All together they reach 170 cm in length and 30 cm in diameter. The double drums are usually put in a couple's home, who has been married for a long time but doesn't have a child. They worship the double drums to expect that the drums can give them children. On the day of festival, people take the double drums out for the ceremony.
For each Guzang Festival, the Miao have a new single drum. After the festival is over, they place the drum in a cave until it decays. The single drum is quite smaller than the double drums.
In the August before a Guzang festival drawing near, people carry the old single drum out of the cave and perform a praying ceremony. Then they are ready to craft a new single drum.
Two years before the festival, an elderly and respectable man is selected as the leader, who officiates at the worshiping ceremony. The man is in charge of picking up the sacred bulls. The sacred bulls are fed with good food until the ceremony, and nobody is allowed to use the bulls for farming.
During the festival the leader in a unique costume is most noticeable. He wears violet clothes, with a few dried fish tied up around his head. This reveals that their ancestors ever dwelt in along the Yangtze river in east China and made a living on fishing.
On the first few days of the festival, people sing, dance, and hold numerous banquets to feast friends, neighbors, and relatives. Anyone who visits their village is warmly welcomed! They have meat and bean curd, but they can't eat vegetables. The festival lasts 13 days.
There are a few more exciting things about the secret Miao GuZang festival, so visit my website below to learn it now!
About the Author:
C. Liu has been writing about handmade silver jewelry, for years. Sometimes she endorses certain Miao silversmiths. Go to her website to view some excellent Miao silver jewelry.
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