Dragon Boat Festival
01 · Historical Records
The origins of the Medicinal Spring Gathering cannot be separated from the frontier history of multi-ethnic settlement in the locality. More than two hundred years ago a Daur hunter discovered the medicinal spring; the water could cure illness and strengthen the body, so he named the place after it, and a town formed through settlement; thereafter the Han, Manchu, Mongol and Oroqen peoples moved in successively, and contacts with the people across the Russian border were also close, forming a pattern of coexistence among many ethnic groups. At every Duanwu, people of all ethnic groups unanimously offer sacrifice to the spring god, both to pray for blessings and to use the gathering to renew neighborly ties. In the latter half of the twentieth century this custom was for a time little known. In recent years, through local collation and excavation, it has been revived in sacrifice under the name of the Holy Water Festival, and the old practices of drumming noisily on the sacrificial day and drinking from the spring to cure illness have reappeared by the springs. Since the name of the medicinal spring arose from a hunter's chance discovery, the place became a healing site recognized by all the ethnic groups. North and south of Medicinal Spring Town there are spring eyes, the water of some fit for drinking and of others for washing the eyes, each spring's name continuing in use unchanged; people from other places who come to draw water must first have locals tell them which eye cures what illness; around Duanwu each year those coming to draw water for healing come in an unbroken stream, and under the willows by the springs households often set up stoves to cook meals for guests. This daily interchange of using the spring as medicine and as a bond among neighbors is precisely the social foundation on which the Holy Water Festival has continued to the present.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
More than two hundred years ago, a Daur hunter discovered beneath Medicinal Spring Mountain at Wudalianchi a medicinal spring whose water could cure illness and strengthen the body, from which place names such as "Medicinal Spring" arose. The center of the gathering is the South and North Medicinal Springs, Medicinal Spring Mountain and Medicinal Spring River in Wudalianchi Town (Medicinal Spring Town). The main folk activities include: sacrificing at the oboo (the Mongolian stone cairn shrine) in the early morning of the fourth day of the fifth lunar month; at dusk lighting bonfires beside the medicinal springs and singing and dancing; and at the midnight of the fourth and in the early hours of the fifth, scrambling for the "midnight water." In the early hours of the fifth: making spring outings, breaking willow and gathering artemisia, and washing the face with dew; "blackening the face to pray for blessings"; folk skill performances; a symbolic ceremony of "hunting and drinking at the spring"; and in the evening the "Spring Lake Lantern Festival" held beside the Medicinal Spring Lake. On the morning of the sixth, the people "wash their eyes to clear their sight" beside the Two Dragon Eyes Spring; in the morning the blessing-praying "Zhongling Temple Fair" is held; on the south bank of Sanchizi (the Third Pond) the "Black Dragon Temple Fair" is held; and there is the practice of "casting away stones to cure illness" in prayer for safety. It is also of major significance for strengthening ethnic unity and safeguarding the stability of the nation's frontier.
Ovoo sacrifice and campfire
An ovoo is honoured at dawn on the fourth and by evening campfires burn on the spring bank, with singing carried over the water.
Rushing for the midnight water
From midnight on the fourth, people crowd for the cleanest water, then wash their faces with dew from willow and herbs.
The archery rite and lantern night
An archery rite reenacts the old hunt, and lanterns on the spring lake light up the festival’s busiest night.
Washing the eyes and the temple fair
On the sixth, eyes are washed at the Two Dragon Eyes spring, a temple fair is held, and stones are burned and cast away for healing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Wudalianchi Medicinal Spring Gathering, also called the "Holy Water Festival," is a Dragon Boat Festival folk activity of strong local character held at the medicinal springs by the Daur, Oroqen, Mongol, Manchu, Han and other peoples of the Wudalianchi region of Heilongjiang Province.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Thereafter, each year around the Dragon Boat Festival, people of the various ethnic groups gathered at the medicinal springs to worship the gods and pray for blessings; the practice was followed on as custom and has been passed down to the present. The Wudalianchi Medicinal Spring Gathering (Holy Water Festival) preserves the fine tradition of the various ethnic groups of the Heilongjiang frontier region living in harmony and celebrating Duanwu together, and it has important value for ethnology, folklore and sociology.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tan Guozheng 05-2970
- Liu Guisheng 05-2971
- Xiang Fuchang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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