Miao Gucang Festival
01 · Historical Records
Leishan County lies in the southwestern part of the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, and is one of the main gathering places of the Miao people after their successive great migrations. According to the "Ancient Songs of the Miao", the Guzang Festival already existed in the ancient Sanmiao state during the Xia dynasty period, before the pre-Qin era. The Sanmiao state disintegrated in its wars with the Xia dynasty, and the Miao continued to observe the Guzang Festival during their migration southwest. The Guzang Festival was held once every twelve years, each observance lasting as long as four years; it is now held over three years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
After the Miao migrated to settle in the Leigong Mountain area, the Guzang Festival became even more prevalent. The Guzang Festival is called "Gunongjianglue" in the Miao language, meaning the drum-society festival, that is, a drum-worship rite carried out by blood-lineage clan units. The origin of the Guzang Festival is recorded in the classic Miao text "Ancient Songs of the Miao", which says that the human ancestor Jiang Yang held the Guzang Festival in order to worship Butterfly Mother, the creator of the world. Legend has it that Butterfly Mother was born from the maple tree, which is why the Miao worship maple trees. Since the ancestral home lay in the heart of the maple tree, a wooden drum made of maple wood became the place where the ancestors rested, and so worshipping the ancestors became worshipping the drum. The highest deity of the Miao is the ancestor: the maple tree of life and Butterfly Mother. The Guzang Festival is the worship of the sacred maple tree and Butterfly Mother. The Miao live in concentrated clan settlements, and the Leishan Miao sustain their survival and development through the territorial organization of the "drum society" formed by blood lineage. The "drum" is the symbol of the ancestral spirits, so all the ritual activities of the Guzang Festival are carried out with the drum at their core. The rites of the Guzang Festival are run by the leader of the drum-society organization, the "Guzang head", who is chosen by popular election. In the second month, on the shen day of the first year, the "Dragon Summoning" ceremony is held. All the men and women, old and young, of the drum society gather beneath the sacred maple tree at the dragon-welcoming ground, where the Guzang head presides over the "Dragon Summoning" ceremony beneath the five-colored sacred palanquin. In the seventh month, on the yin day of the first year, the "Drum Awakening" ceremony is held. In the tenth month, on the mao day of the second year, the "Drum Welcoming" ceremony is held. On an auspicious day of the fourth month of the third year, the "Ox Review" ceremony is held. On the chou day of the tenth month of the fourth year, a pig-sacrifice drum-worship ceremony is held, called the "White Drum Festival"; it is the closing rite of the Guzang Festival.
Inviting the dragon
The opening rite of the first year, held beneath a sacred sweet-leaf tree at the dragon-welcoming ground.
Waking the drum
Held in the seventh month of the first year, when the wooden drum long kept in its house is beaten to wake the ancestral spirits.
Welcoming the drum
Held in the tenth month of the second year, when the drum is brought out of its house and installed at the centre of the community.
Inspecting the ox
Held in the fourth month of the third year, when the oxen destined for sacrifice are inspected and set apart from all other work.
Killing the pig and the White Drum festival
The final rite of the cycle: a pig is killed to the drum and the drum house is sealed until the next cycle is due.
The drum keeper and the drum society
A kin-based society looks after its own affairs, with an elected keeper organizing every stage of the drum festival.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Leishan is the place where the Guzang Festival is most concentrated. The Miao place the drum society above the village as an organization: each drum society has its own dragon-welcoming ground, sacred maple tree, drum shed, and Guzang head; once the festival season arrives, work proceeds on the old twelve-year cycle. Villages along the Leigong Mountain line can visit one another to observe the rites, and whoever knows the procedures best stands by and strikes the drum beat for others. The old schedule is divided into three years and twelve festivals, each with its set day and set rite. Today the festival runs for three years, and the Dragon Summoning, Drum Awakening, Drum Welcoming, and Ox Review festivals are pressed closer together; the Guzang head is still chosen by popular election, one term at a time, with a new election when the term ends.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miao Gucang Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Miao Guzang Festival has a distinct traditional ethnic cultural content and is an expression of the Miao outlook on life and values. Remembering the ancestors, respecting the old and caring for the young, living in harmony, being industrious and frugal, and enjoying prosperity and well-being are the prayer themes of the Guzang Festival. The Miao Guzang Festival is an encyclopedia for the study of Miao history and culture, and is of important value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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