Jiaobao
01 · Historical Records
The origin of Woqibei lies in a migration: in the 28th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1763), a group of Daur officers and soldiers living in Heilongjiang were ordered to campaign west and garrison the frontier; they settled in the area of Axir Township, Tacheng, bringing with them to their new pastures the sacrificial rites of their homeland that prayed for abundant harvests and favorable weather. The craft of obo worship could be carried along, but the calendar could not: the date of the Woqibei festival was not fixed in history, and only nowadays is it generally set on the eighth day of the sixth lunar month. The Daur, having settled in one place, thereby gained a shared festival day, and the sacrifice changed from a mobile ritual system accompanying the army into an annual village festival.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
"Woqibei" means obo worship in the Daur language; it is also called the "Wobao Festival" and is the most important traditional festival activity of the Daur people in Tacheng City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In the 28th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1763), a group of Daur officers and soldiers living in Heilongjiang were ordered to campaign west and garrison the frontier; they settled in the area of Axir Township, Tacheng, and passed down the Woqibei sacrificial rites praying for abundant harvests and favorable weather, which became a festival identified with by the local Daur people. Historically, the date of the "Woqibei" festival was not fixed; it is now generally determined to be held on the eighth day of the sixth lunar month. On the occasion, the Daur people dress in festive costumes and converge from all directions at the obo at Sanyan Spring in the Axir Daur Ethnic Township, Tacheng City, to sacrifice to the spirits and ancestors and to hold various traditional artistic performances and athletic competitions. Finally, they form a circle and dance the traditional "Hankenbai" dance together. This project is of great significance for strengthening the cohesion of the ethnic group and community members, respecting cultural diversity, and enhancing ethnic unity.
The sixth month's eighth day
Once movable, the festival is now generally kept on the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, a date only a settled community can hold.
The ovoo at the Three-Eye Spring
In festival dress the people converge on the ovoo at the Three-Eye Spring from four directions, surrounding it themselves as they arrive.
Hankenbai dance in a ring
The day ends with the whole gathering joining hands in the traditional Hankenbai dance, closing the rite as an act of common kinship.
A cult brought west by a garrison
In 1763 Daur troops sent west from Heilongjiang settled at Axil and left their rites of prayer behind them, turning a military cult into a local festival.
Two names, one festival
Woqibei means the sacrificing to the ovoo and is also called the Obote festival, one name from the act and one from the object.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The center of activity for Woqibei is the obo at Sanyan Spring in the Axir Daur Ethnic Township, Tacheng City; on this day the people of the surrounding villages converge from all directions, first sacrificing to the spirits and ancestors, then holding traditional artistic performances and athletic competitions, and finally forming a circle to dance the Hankenbai dance together. The site at Sanyan Spring was chosen with care: a spring is gathered around by a pile of stones — a place where herders and their livestock can rest and drink water, and also where the paths from across the township converge. Holding the sacrifice at a place of coming and going draws a crowd more directly than a secluded mountain peak.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Jiaobao.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Woqibei combines sacrifice and athletic meet: the ceremony before the obo is short and solemn, while the performances and competitions that follow are long and lively; sacrifice and festivity hand over to one another within the same day. For a people that migrated to a distant land, such a festival in fact solved two problems: it kept their shared spirits worshipped, and gave descendants scattered across the villages of Axir Township a reason to gather in one place. The prayers for abundant harvests and favorable weather are, in the end, about more than farming: they are about taking root in this new land.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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