Tajik Yinshuijiehebozhong Festival
01 · Historical Records
The custom of completing the water-drawing and the sowing in a single day's festival arose from the practical difficulties of spring sowing on the Pamir Plateau: the frozen period is long and the farmland is scattered, so one or two households cannot break the ice and channel the water on their own; the whole village, men and women, old and young, must turn out together to make the sowing deadline. For this reason the festival date is set on the first day of spring sowing rather than on a fixed lunar day. What the custom really commemorates is not a date but the one act of cooperation in that year when the whole village brought the water into the fields together.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Xinjiang, the Water-Drawing Festival and the Sowing Festival are the agricultural festivals of the Tajik people. In the Tajik language the Sowing Festival is called 'Hamozziwaste' and the Water-Drawing Festival 'Ziwaer'; the festival falls on the first day of spring sowing each year. At that time the whole village gathers in the fields to congratulate the start of spring sowing. Each household brings a little wheat, it is all put together, and the public elects an elder respected by the entire village to scatter the seed. The elected elder beams with joy, muttering words of blessing, and scatters the seed handful by handful onto the crowd already waiting in the field. Everyone holds out the front of their clothing, laughing, and crowds toward where the seed falls, as an expression of congratulation on the spring plowing and sowing. After the seed is scattered, one person leads a sturdy, well-fed draught ox into the field to plow a few symbolic furrows and scatters a few handfuls of wheat seed to mark the opening of sowing. Then the ox is fed some dough foods shaped like plowshares and harness parts, in recognition of its labor. It is said that in the old society, during the Sowing Festival, those who were poor and short of seed had to turn out as whole families to beg for seed to meet the urgent need; today's seed-scattering and seed-seeking are merely a rite. The Tajik Sowing Festival also includes the custom of splashing water on guests. If a guest comes to a Tajik home on this day, the women, who have long been waiting outside the door with a basin of water, splash it over the guest as soon as he comes out at parting, as a sign of respect. Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County lies on the Pamir Plateau; the climate is cold, the population is sparse, and settlement is dispersed. Under such natural conditions, breaking the ice and channeling the water for spring and then sowing cannot be accomplished by one or two households alone; the whole village, men and women, old and young, must be mobilized and organized to bring the water in through solidarity and mutual aid. Once the water has been brought in, plowing and sowing begin the following day. In the course of this, people also help those short of seed, the aim being to organize everyone to do the spring plowing well. The rites are held to pray for auspiciousness and a good harvest, so that everyone in the village has enough to eat. The formation and development of the Water-Drawing Festival and the Sowing Festival have bound people together through the Tajik people's plain sentiment of mutual aid; the ethos of 'taking pride in helping others and shame in harming them' remains of practical significance for building a harmonious society.
Zhiwar: the village opens the channel
The festival opens with the whole village clearing the channel, and ploughing follows the next day, so festival and field work interlock.
Choosing the elder who sows
Each household contributes a handful of wheat and the village chooses a respected elder to sow, casting seed toward the crowd as blessing on the spring.
The plough and the bread for the ox
After sowing an ox is led into the field for a few symbolic furrows, then fed bread shaped like ploughshare and yoke as its thanks.
Splash-dashing the guest on departure
A basin of water waits at the door and the departing guest is drenched with it: respect expressed as a blessing in the cold of the plateau spring.
The ritual chain led by elders
Aidamait Jiaozike organises the canal work, the sowing and the door-to-door greetings, threading rite, field and visits into one conducted chain.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Although the Water-Drawing Festival and the Sowing Festival are closely related to agriculture, they are also inseparably linked to local natural conditions.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Aidemaiti Jiaozike (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Tajik ethnicity, born in July 1935, a native of Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. From childhood he farmed alongside his father and became thoroughly versed in plateau farming customs. In more than fifty years of productive practice he inherited the ethnic cultural knowledge passed down from his forebears, becoming a traditional festival host of high local prestige and strong organizational and coordinating ability. He is well versed in all kinds of Tajik folk culture and familiar with the procedures of various rites. When the Water-Drawing Festival and the Sowing Festival are held, he organizes villagers to clear the channels, draw the water and sow, and leads villagers to pay New Year visits from house to house. He is a representative inheritor of the Tajik Water-Drawing Festival and the Sowing Festival, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item from the fifth national-level batch. He is devoted to protecting, transmitting and developing the Tajik Water-Drawing Festival and the Sowing Festival, and to sustaining the traditional festival rites of his own people.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Aidemaiti Jiaozike 05-2980
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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