Lantern Festival

Ⅹ-71Folk CustomsHeiheshiaihui, HeilongjiangBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Aihui Shangyuan Festival originated during the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty and is a major festival integrating the cultures of the Han, Manchu, Daur, Evenki, and Oroqen peoples. The grandeur of the Aihui Shangyuan Festival is recorded in "Bamboo-Branch Songs on the Yuanxiao Night on the Ai River" by Yang Xiheng, a drafter in the Grand Secretariat of the Qing dynasty.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Aihui Shangyuan Festival features traditional folk activities such as "appointing the Lantern Official," "yangge merrymaking," "smearing flower riddles," "arraying the procession," "rolling in the ice to sell off illness," and "welcoming the gods in communal sacrifice." It is said that around the New Year the authorities sealed the official seals and suspended government business, and during this period a "Lantern Official" was appointed to take charge of local affairs. Before taking office, the Lantern Official underwent an "arraying the procession" ceremony: at the very front of the line was a great banner, followed by a red placard inscribed with the Lantern Official's name and title; the Lantern Official then appeared seated in a sedan chair, flanked on either side by eight yamen runners in black and red uniforms, with the Lantern Official's wife following closely on horseback, and behind them a cat lantern, a tiger lantern, and a vase of the five grains; the vase of the five grains signified abundant harvests, and all the expressions in the procession related to farming affairs. Yangge merrymaking begins on the third day of the New Year and reaches its climax after dinner on the Shangyuan Festival; the yangge troupes perform through the streets and lanes for the authorities and merchant households, and every family sets off firecrackers to show its welcome, signifying good fortune in the new year. "Rolling in the ice to sell off illness" takes place after the yangge merrymaking: the people go to the bank of the Heilong River, sit on sleds, and slide down the riverbank, shouting "selling off illness," meaning to cast illness away with the old year. Inclusiveness: the project displays the essence of the cultures of the various peoples of the Aihui region, showing the connotations of traditional sacrificial culture, folk dance, and the like. Distinctiveness: the custom of "appointing the Lantern Official" demonstrates the important position of Aihui as a city of frontier defense. The Han, Manchu, Daur, and Oroqen peoples of Aihui have lived for generations on the banks of the Heilong River; their reverence for heaven, earth, people, and gods, together with their customs of daily life and production, have jointly forged the plural culture of Aihui, displaying the cultural charm of multi-ethnic integration in the north.

Installing the lantern officer

With the yamen sealed, a lantern officer governs the town until the festival ends.

Displaying the retinue

The officer rides in a sedan with his wife and a retinue of animal lanterns symbolising a full harvest.

The yangge parade

Yangge troupes begin on the third day and peak after dinner on the fifteenth.

Sliding on the ice to sell illness

People sled down the bank shouting that they are selling their sickness into the old year.

Welcoming the gods and racing the sheikh

Rituals honour heaven, earth, gods and ancestors with several ethnic communities joining together.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Aihui "Shangyuan Festival" folk activities are carried out mainly by the local common people; their chief characteristics are the folk nature of the participants, the inclusiveness of their forms, and the distinctiveness of their themes. Folk nature: this is a folk activity jointly carried out by all the peoples and common people of the Aihui region, with a broad audience and a large number of participants.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Aihui Shangyuan Festival originated and is transmitted in Aihui Town, Aihui District, Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province. The custom of appointing the Lantern Official best reveals the weight carried by Aihui as a city of frontier defense: the authorities sealed their seals and suspended the yamen, temporarily entrusting local affairs to the Lantern Official, who traveled by sedan chair with a great banner leading the way and the cat lantern, tiger lantern, and vase of the five grains behind, with every matter still returning to farming. Thus the Shangyuan Festival here is not pure amusement; it hands over, for a single night, both the order of a garrisoned town and the hopes of the farming year. After the festival, the Lantern Official steps down, the yamen reopens, and the year's authority returns to the authorities.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Lantern Festival (Heiheshiaihui, Heilongjiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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