Bouyei Chabaige Festival
01 · Historical Records
It originates in the Buyi oral folk tale "Chabang and Baimei".
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Buyi mainly live in Guizhou Province. The Chabai Song Festival is held on the twenty-first day of the sixth lunar month each year in Chabai Village, Dingxiao Town, Guizhou. Legend tells that in ancient times Chabang of Chabai Field (originally called Tiger Field Flatland) saved Baimei's life, and the two became devoted companions. Yeshanmao, the headman of Baiyan Stockade, killed Chabang in order to seize Baimei. Baimei set a fire that burned Yeshanmao to death and threw herself into the flames to die with her love. Together with Chabang she was transformed into a pair of white immortal cranes, flying wing to wing up into the ninth heaven, becoming the song immortals of the purple clouds. To commemorate this devoted couple, people joined the surnames of Chabang and Baimei, renamed Tiger Field Flatland "Chabai Field", and set the twenty-first day of the sixth month as the "Chabai Song Festival". During the Chabai Song Festival, people of all ages gather at Chabai Field, sharing dog-meat hotpot, five-colored glutinous rice, and "yuanwang tuo" dumplings, mourning Chabang and Baimei beneath the Chabai tree, drawing water from the Chabai well to purify the heart, and burning incense at the Chabai temple. On this day the villagers surnamed Cha invite ritual masters to preside over the sacrificial rites; middle-aged and elderly people sing of Chabai and sacrifice to Chabai in ancient Buyi songs beneath the Chabai tree, thereby passing on the Chabai story. Young Buyi men and women, in festival finery, go to such scenic spots as Chabai Bridge, the Chabai River, Pine Forest Slope, the Chabai Cave, and the Chabai Well to play mulberry-leaf whistles, throw embroidered balls, and court and make friends. At night, every farmhouse is filled with relatives and friends drinking and singing through the night. On the twenty-second, the young men and women exchange keepsakes and part reluctantly. The Chabai Song Festival is not only a commemorative festival but also a unique occasion for young Buyi people to court, propose, and choose a spouse.
Singing of Chaba beneath the sacred tree
Elder singers chant the Chaba legend in Buyi beneath the sacred tree while youths play leaf whistles and flutes around it.
The Mo and Duan masters presiding
The ritual masters invited by the Chaba households preside over the sacrifices before the gathering disperses to the well and temple.
The well and the temple
The gathering draws water from the sacred well for purification and burns incense at the temple through the day.
Leaf whistles, flower balls and loud calls
Young people in festival dress signal to each other with leaf whistles, flower balls and loud calls across the scenic spots.
Dog meat pot and yuanwangtuo cakes
All ages share dog meat pot, five-coloured sticky rice and yuanwangtuo cakes from one common pot, telling the Chaba legend as they eat.
Night-long singing and the parting
Guests sit up all night drinking and singing, and on the twenty-second the young exchange tokens before parting.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Chabai Song Festival is most flourishing only in the area of Chabai Village, Dingxiao Town; the fairground is Chabai Field (formerly Tiger Field Flatland), with the old landmarks of the Chabai tree, the Chabai well, and the Chabai temple as its axis. Households surnamed Cha and neighboring villages hold it on the same day; the guests who come do not disperse that day, but sit in the main halls of each house all night drinking and singing the ancient songs. The day's schedule falls in two parts: by day the emphasis is on sacrifice, with the Cha families inviting ritual masters to preside over the rites and the elders singing of Chabai in ancient Buyi songs, while the men and women scatter to the Chabai Bridge, the Chabai River, and Pine Forest Slope to play mulberry-leaf whistles, throw embroidered balls, and court. By the twenty-second the young men and women exchange keepsakes and disperse, and only then is the festival over. Compared with other Buyi festival dates, Chabai's memory rests entirely on place names and physical things: the tree, the well, the temple, the bridge, the river, the cave, and the slope, each tied to a passage of the story, and no one can walk away from them. The dog-meat hotpot, five-colored glutinous rice, and "yuanwang tuo" dumplings are laid out beneath the Chabai tree, and guests and hosts eat from the same pot with no distinction between strangers and kin; this too is an old rule of hospitality in this area.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Chabai Song Festival is a distinctive space for the expression of Buyi traditional culture and is of important value for transmitting the fine traditional culture of the Buyi people.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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