Violet Winona Bear

Brief introduction: Yi nationality is one of the six ethnic minorities in China, with a long history and numerous folk cultures. Among them, the most famous traditional festival is Torch Festival. Torch Festival has three days. During this period, people will hold torches in the streets at night to celebrate the harvest. There are many stories behind the Yi Torch Festival. Now let's reveal the origin and legend of the Yi Torch Festival.

The Origin and Legend of the Yi Torch Festival

A long time ago, in the Yi stockade at the foot of Hongshan Mountain in Zhaojiadian, Dayao County, there was a smart, beautiful, virtuous and kind girl, Nona, who fell in love with Acha, a handsome and brave young man in Daju Base. This year, the sinister mountain official Hammer chose a woman to be the princess of Nuwa, hoping to have Nona as beautiful as camellia as his concubine. Under the arrogance of Hammer, the heroic Aga defeated the insidious Master Hammer with his weak strength and superb skills. Hammer became angry from embarrassment and blew up the pig with witchcraft. Aha was unfortunate for rolling in the deep.

It was not until the villagers saved him that he was out of danger. After Acha was killed, Miss Nona narrowly escaped Hammer's clutches. Hammer led soldiers to surround Laura's home and tried to rob Laura to get married. In order to avoid stepping on the cliff, Nona ran away from home to look for Acha. On the red cliff, she was exhausted because of lack of physical strength, and Laura's figure was always reflected on the cliff, so it was called "White Cliff".

Acha was rescued from the mountain by the villagers and went straight to Laura's house knowingly; I saw Laura's parents killed by Hammer. Aha buried her parents-in-law with grief, climbed mountains and mountains, and finally found the white figure left on the red cliff with Nona. Acha was in pain and wanted to jump off the cliff and go back with Laura. The villagers went to dissuade Acha from jumping off the cliff and discussed with him ways of revenge. The next day (June 25th), Aha and four mountains and eight villages, villagers in three villages and five villages, holding thousands of torches, went straight to Hammer's house and burned Hammer Palace and the evil Hammer. Revenge for Laura and remove hatred for all villagers.

In order to commemorate this unforgettable day, every year on the afternoon of June 25th, people in Yi villages will light Song and Ming torches and use them to shine on the walls and burn mosquitoes. Exorcise evil spirits to show good luck and happiness; Travellers exchange torches and burn "Zhu Chong" to show cleanliness and safety. Then he went to the field with a torch and waved it to attract moths and put out pests.

After the parade, the torch was inserted in a corner of the venue. In the open space in front of the village, young men and women danced around the torch with cheerful "left feet", and the old people sat around the fireplace, opened mellow fire wine, toasted each other and wished each other good luck. People also bring their married daughters home early. On the day of the festival, pigs and sheep are slaughtered and eaten together to show family reunion. This ancient custom has been handed down to this day. Although it is similar to other legends, it embodies the customs of the local Yi people. Torch Festival is supposed to be June 24th in the lunar calendar, but it is June 25th here. Because it is to commemorate this day, the hero Aha and the villagers in four mountains and eight villages avenge themselves.

On the Torch Festival, the villagers in Yuanmou, Yongren and Longjie took their own mountain products and local products and drove their mules and horses to Zhaojiadian. They set up tents and cookstoves, and a string of mountain products and bowls of fragrant beef and mutton soup pots made people in the past linger. At noon, on the hillside of the mountain, the Yi people set up Moqiu, only to see pairs of young men and women at both ends of Moqiu, and laughter came from the crowd. At night, on the slightly flat hillside, piles of bonfires were lit, the Yi boys fiddled with the three-stringed Qin Yue, and the girls jumped around the fire hand in hand, making strings. The fierce flames shot high, and the young man's face turned red.