Beijing News (reporter Yang Yijing) Today is the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, and "March 3 of the Zhuang nationality" is one of the festivals of ethnic minorities in Guangxi. Recently, in Jianxin Village, Jiangdi Township, Longsheng County, Guilin, Guangxi, villagers picked plant raw materials, dyed glutinous rice, and made five-color glutinous rice to celebrate traditional festivals.
It is understood that the "March 3rd of the Zhuang Nationality" is not only an important traditional festival of the Zhuang nationality in Guangxi, but also an important traditional festival of the Han, Yao, Miao, Dong, Mulao, Maonan and other ethnic groups. Every year near the third day of the third lunar month, most parts of Guangxi have the custom of making five-color glutinous rice, there is a saying that "no rice is not a seat", and five-color glutinous rice is also the intangible cultural heritage of Guangxi. According to the staff of the Propaganda Department of Longsheng County, five-color sticky rice, also known as Qingjing rice or flower rice, is generally black, red, yellow, purple, white 5 colors, in addition to the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and other traditional festivals, the local will make five-color sticky rice, which not only expresses the meaning of wind and rain, grain abundance, but also a symbol of unity and friendship.
In Jiangdi Township, Longsheng Autonomous County, Guangxi Province, a new village is built, and villagers make five-colored sticky rice. Photo by Wu Shengbin
On March 24, villagers in Jianxin Village, Jiangdi Township, Longsheng Autonomous County, began to prepare for the production of five-color rice, and the villagers went to the nearby mountains to pick "plant dyes". According to the villagers, the glutinous rice is dyed black, red, yellow and purple, and it is necessary to pick maple leaves, red and blue grass, yellow rice flowers and purple vines respectively. Among these several colors of glutinous rice, black is the most difficult to make, you need to break the maple leaves, add some water, repeatedly rub and soak overnight, the next day the plant residue in the water is filtered, and then put in the glutinous rice for soaking. The other three colors do not require soaking, but the method is also to pour glutinous rice into the plant "dye" to color it. After that, the five colors of glutinous rice are steamed together and can be enjoyed, which is a must-have for entertaining guests at the festival.
In Jianxin Village, Jiangdi Township, Longsheng Autonomous County, Guangxi, villagers are picking plant raw materials for making five-colored sticky rice. Photo by Wu Shengbin
The third day of march is an important festival for Guangxi, in addition to eating five-colored sticky rice, as the hometown of Liu Sanjie, a Zhuang song immortal, Guangxi also has the tradition of holding a "song wei" on march 3, and men and women and children who love to sing gather at the customary "song point" to sing together and express the joy of the festival. In the villages near the "Song Wei Dian", the villagers will welcome everyone by steaming five-colored sticky rice, making rice noodles, and preparing dishes.
Since 2014, during the "March 3" festival, all citizens of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have taken a two-day holiday, but this year, due to the impact of the epidemic, the holiday has been cancelled, and most of the traditional gathering activities have been changed to online, through "cloud tour", "cloud look" and other ways, to participate in the activities of March 3 and enjoy the beauty of spring.
Beijing News reporter Yang Yijing
Edited by Mu Xiangtong Proofreader Wei Zhuo