Miao Dumulongzhou Festival
01 · Historical Records
The dugout dragon boat is directly related to the timber conditions of the Qingshui River valley: the area produces abundant Chinese fir, and the Miao hollow out an entire tree trunk to make a boat, the difference in size between boats lying only in how much is cut away. The dragon boat festival originated in Miao shamanic belief: the selection of the dragon tree and the felling of the dragon tree must both be done on auspicious days, with sacrifices to the gods of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers. Things are honored before they are put to use, and this layer of taboo makes boat-building a ritualized occupation rather than mere shipbuilding craft. The racing system is closer still to a clan organization: at each festival a drum lord is chosen by democratic means to preside, while the drum chief, the child maiden, and the paddlers each perform their own duties, and command rests in the hands of an elderly person of high prestige. From the very beginning, then, this was a festival organized by the village community itself, with the clan chief at its core. Antiphonal singing on the boats accompanies the drumbeats: the people of one boat are at once contestants and singers, and victory and emotion merge in the same drum rhythm, which gives the races a triple character of sacrifice, entertainment, and social intercourse.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Taijiang Miao Dugout Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional festival of the Miao people of Guizhou, held each year from the twenty-fourth to the twenty-seventh of the fifth lunar month. In the Miao language it is called 'dabkiangvongx', transcribed into Chinese as 'Qianiangyong'; it is popular along both banks of the Qingshui River in Taijiang and Sibing counties of Guizhou Province and along both banks of the lower reaches of the Bala River in Taijiang County. During the festival, the Miao masses gather at the Tangba Village reach of the middle Qingshui River in Shidong Town to hold a three-day dragon boat race. The competition is grand in scale and fervent in atmosphere, its ceremonial protocol is unique, it is known far and wide, and every year it attracts tens of thousands of visitors. The dugout dragon boat festival reflects the polytheistic shamanic beliefs of the Miao. The Miao have lived in mountain areas for generations, believing in shamans and serving the spirits; when building dragon boats, they choose auspicious days for selecting the dragon tree and felling it, and pay homage to the gods of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers. The dragon boats used in the festival are between 24 and 27 meters long and weigh about three to four tons. The dragon body is hollowed from three large tree trunks with all branches stripped off; generally, large Chinese fir trees with a diameter of at least 1 meter and a height of more than 30 meters are required. The Miao use the drum as the emblem of a clan or tribe. The clan chief chosen at each festival by democratic election is called the 'drum lord'; he is generally an elderly person of organizational and managerial ability and high prestige, and every dragon boat race of the Shidong Miao must be conducted under the drum lord's presidency. When the dragon boat is rowed, the 'drum chief' wears a formal hat and ancient ceremonial dress and sits upright beating the drum. The 'child maiden', played by a boy in full new clothes and silver ornaments, sits opposite the drum chief beating the gong. The thirty-six paddlers are uniformly dressed in new ethnic costume and wear conical bamboo hats plaited from horsehair with swallow-tail silver ornaments hanging behind; they dip their paddles in turn and sing flying songs, swiftly driving the dragon boat forward. During the festival, Miao families in Taijiang and the surrounding area prepare chickens, ducks, geese, and several hundred jin of rice to entertain guests from all directions, displaying their simple, kind, and hospitable ways.
Choosing the dragon tree and hollowing the boat
A dragon tree is chosen, felled on an auspicious day and offered to gods before work; the boat is hollowed from three massive fir trunks rather than assembled from planks.
The drum master and the drum head
An elected drum master presides over the race; a drum head in formal dress beats the drum at the bow while a boy dressed as a girl keeps time on the gong.
Thirty-six oarsmen rowing and singing
Thirty-six oarsmen in matching dress and tasselled hats strike the water together and sing flying songs, the voices and the paddle beats driving the boat forward.
The races on the Tangba reach
The three-day race is held on the Tangba reach of the middle Qingshui River, where the most complete ritual and competitive protocol of the whole river is observed.
Hospitality along the villages
Families along the river prepare poultry and hundreds of jin of rice to host visitors from everywhere, extending the festival's welcome well beyond the racing itself.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The festival custom is concentrated along both banks of the Qingshui River in Taijiang and Sibing counties of Guizhou Province, extending to both banks of the lower Bala River in Taijiang County, forming a cross-county contiguous water festival zone. The focus of the races is the Tangba Village reach of the middle Qingshui River, where the three-day dragon boat contest is held; with both scale and ceremonial protocol in place, its fame spreads far. The participants and supporters form a layered arrangement: the drum lord presides from the center; the drum chief, in formal hat and ancient ceremonial dress, sits beating the drum; a boy made up as the child maiden, in new clothes and silver ornaments, sits opposite the drum chief beating the gong; the thirty-six paddlers in uniform new dress and horsehair-plaited hats with swallow-tail silver ornaments dip their paddles and sing flying songs in rhythm. On shore, each family prepares chickens, ducks, geese, and several hundred jin of rice to receive visitors; the racing on the water and the hospitality on land together sustain the liveliness of the event. The Miao name of the festival, Qianiangyong, is in common use among the neighboring counties and stockades, showing that it is a festival jointly claimed by the Miao branches of the middle and lower Qingshui River.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The dragon boat races and the various ceremonies of the Miao dugout dragon boat culture display a strong regional and ethnic character and are of important research value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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