Yi traditional "sacrifice to heaven and earth"

At the foot of Wei Wei's Stone Monument Mountain in the southwest of Shuangbai, the secret realm of central Yunnan, there is an ancient and mysterious village, and she lives in the mangy mountains. The village is surrounded by greenery, trees, birds and flowers, quaint adobe houses, beautiful Tianshan scenery and industrious and kind people are integrated, full of mystery, beauty, harmony and happiness. This village is the village of Xiamo and fa in Damaidi Town, which is 100 kilometers away from the county seat of Shuangbai.

In 2012, the Bimo Fang Guisheng Family in The Village of Lower Mojifa was listed as the Inheritance Site of National Intangible Cultural Heritage, and is one of the birthplaces of the creation epic "Cham". Fang Guisheng was a relatively influential Bimo. When I interviewed Fang Guisheng, I read a large number of Yi materials about "Cham". According to Fang Guisheng, "'Cham' is a transliteration of Yi, and the Yi people call the origin of narrating a thing 'Cha', and 'Cha' means the type or category; 'Cham' is the same as the mother, to the effect that it is the foundation or source. Another meaning is the truth of being a human being. 'Cham' is the basic doctrine of the Yi ancestors to know and explain the material world, so it is called the root spectrum of the Yi people. Bimo was an elder who was proficient in the Yi language, reciting the scriptures, and performing various sacrifices for others, and the 'sacrifice of heaven and earth' was only part of the Yi text of Cham."

In this ancient small mountain village, the industrious and simple villagers have never given up their yearning and pursuit of a better life, and they have to organize the whole village to carry out a "sacrifice to heaven and earth" activity every year, praying for a bumper harvest of grains, the prosperity of the six animals, and the happiness and health of the people.

According to Yi historical records, "The birthday of the 'heaven' is rat day, and the day of the rat day of the first month of the first lunar month or the rat day of the first month of the first lunar month is set as the day of sacrifice to the heavens; the birthday of the 'earth' is the day of the ox, and the eighth day of the first month of the second month of the lunar calendar every year must be "sacrificed to the ground". 'Heaven' is the gong (or father), 'earth' is the mother, and the Yi custom records also believe that the sand old tree is the male and the pine tree is the mother." There are two towering trees behind the village of Lower Mojifa, one is designated as the "Sacrifice to the Heavens" and the other is designated as the "Sacrifice to the Earth" Sacred Tree.

Bimo Sacrifice

On the second day of the first lunar month, Xia Mo And Fa Village first tied the living sand old branches to the sacred tree of the sacrifice of heaven with a red cloth, the whole tree became brilliant, the whole scene was full of festive atmosphere, and then Bi Mo wore a bucket hat and dressed in Bi Mo clothes, a solemn, profound, and sacred image was displayed in front of the people, and then Bi Mo led the whole village to visit the sacred tree, and used Yi to recite the sutra to ask the gods to bless the country and the people, and the people were happy and healthy. After the chanting, Bi Mo threw the yin and yang gua seal carved from two pine branches into the air, and after the gua seal fell to the ground, if the gua face is yang and the other is yin, it indicates that it is a request to the gods to bless everything, otherwise the sutra will be recited again until the gua face appears yin and yang.

After the end of the worship of the sacred tree, the whole village put the raw food taken under the tree in turn, Bi Mo recited the sutra in Yi to express the sincerity of the people of the whole village to the gods, and then the mature boys of the Yi people were busy slaughtering pigs and sheep, killing chickens and ducks, and other people took out their cooking skills to prepare the feast of the whole village.

When all the dinner parties were ready, they began to sacrifice cooked food, and Bimo recited the scriptures again, praying to the gods to bless the country and the people, and in the coming year, the grain would be abundant, the six animals would prosper, and the whole village would be happy and healthy.

The most lively scene is still to count the whole village to dinner together, in the open space sprinkled with pine leaves, accompanied by the shadow of green trees and the fragrance of mountain flowers wafting in the distance of the mountain, more than a hundred people in the village sat on the ground, stopping between cups and throwing, men, women and children put the most delicious food in each other's bowls, talking and laughing, the sound of staggering and the fragrance of wildflowers in the Tianshan Mountains, the whole scene is full of joy, harmony and happiness.

At the end of the dinner, the Yi family will receive the blessings and blessings that Bi Mo asked the gods to give. BiMo put the red charcoal in a bowl filled with vinegar water, men, women and children held up dustpans over their heads, And Bimo sprinkled vinegar water dipped in pine branches into people's dustpans while chanting in Yi, and people brought home the harvest and happiness of the day. A round of sunset slowly descended, and the Yi family looked forward to a better life tomorrow.

According to Fang Guisheng Bimo, after the end of the festival on the second day of the first lunar month, immediately after the eighth day of the second month of the lunar calendar, the "sacrifice of the land" activity will be held, and the scene and customs of the activity are similar to those of the "sacrifice to the heavens", except that the sacred tree of the sacrifice is a pine tree, and only pigs, chickens, and ducks can be slaughtered, and cattle and sheep and other large livestock cannot be slaughtered. The author speculates that the change in the etiquette of "sacrificial land" is related to the feudal ideology and culture of preferring sons to daughters. Fang Guisheng also introduced that before the reform and opening up, women were not allowed to participate in the "sacrifice land" activities, and it was not until the early 1980s that the "sacrifice land" activities were changed to activities that both men and women, old and young could participate in.

The deep mountains bloom with the charm of "Cham" culture. Through the annual "sacrifice to heaven and earth" activities, the people in the village have gradually formed the values of "hard work, kindness, civilization, mutual assistance and harmony". Now the people of Xiamo and Fa Village are closely following the pace of poverty alleviation by the Party Central Committee, and with their diligence and kindness, they are writing a new chapter of their happiness and well-off.

Source: Zheng Chun