Ewenki Sebin Festival
01 · Historical Records
In the 16th century, shamanic belief entered the Evenki tribes, and the 'Sbin' festival, characterized by totemism, went into decline and was on the verge of being lost. In the mid-Qing dynasty, as the Evenki migrated south from the Outer Khingan Range and the Shilka River basin and settled after wandering in the Nen River basin and its tributary regions, the Sbin festival once again entered Evenki memory, evolving from mountain-god sacrifice into folk carnival activities such as song and dance, competitive sports and entertainment (horse racing, archery, etc.), picnic feasts, and bonfire parties; through these folk activities, people pray for blessings.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Sbin festival is the most important traditional festival of the Evenki people. 'Sbin' is an Evenki word meaning 'joy and auspiciousness'; it is the carnival of the Evenki people. Each year, in the middle or latter part of the fifth lunar month, an auspicious day is chosen for the celebration, when all the men and women, old and young of the tribe dress in festive attire and gather on the river-valley meadows by the Nen River to spend the happy festival together. Traditional Sbin festival folk activities include: sacrificing to the mountain god (or ovoo), ethnic song-and-dance performances, traditional athletics, games, picnic feasts, and bonfire parties. Its customary form is primitive and simple, and uniquely distinctive. The place where the Sbin festival is transmitted, Xingwang Evenki Ethnic Township in Nehe City, Heilongjiang Province, is the only Evenki settlement area in the three northeastern provinces and the only agricultural Evenki area in the country. It is located at the southeastern foot of the Greater Khingan Range, the northern end of the Songnen Plain, and the east bank of the middle reaches of the Nen River. Here rivers crisscross, the soil is fertile and the waters fine, suitable for both herding and farming. The Sbin festival originates from the ancient sacrificial rites of the Evenki people, having passed through a history of primitive bear worship and mountain-god worship. The Sbin festival within Nehe has undergone a developmental course from forest primitive hunting tribes toward fishing, hunting, and agricultural civilization in the lowlands, and bears fairly distinct characteristics of agricultural civilization.
Choosing the day
The festival falls in the latter half of the fifth lunar month on an auspicious day, and the whole people gathers on the meadow along the river.
Offering to the mountain spirit and the ovoo
Worship at the mountain spirit or ovoo comes first as the rite's ancient root, and only after it is done does the celebration begin.
The song ground on the river meadow
Sebin means joy and tranquillity in the Ewenki tongue; on the meadow, dressers of both sexes surround the ground and dance.
Horse racing and archery
With the shift from forest hunting to farming, the sports turned to open-ground contests such as horse racing and archery.
Picnic feast and bonfire
After the meat and drink are shared, bonfires are lit and the singing and games run deep into the night with blessings spoken aloud.
From spirit worship to agrarian revelry
When shamanism entered the tribe in the sixteenth century the totem-centred form faded; after the southward migration it revived, with singing and sport inside the shell of worship.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The center of the Sbin festival's transmission in Heilongjiang is Xingwang Evenki Ethnic Township in Nehe City; this region on the east bank of the middle reaches of the Nen River, the northern end of the Songnen Plain, and the southeastern foot of the Greater Khingan Range is the only surviving Evenki settlement area in the three northeastern provinces and the only Evenki area in the country that is primarily agricultural. The totemic era of the mountain forests waned for a time as the tribes migrated, but after the mid-Qing migration of the Evenki south from the Outer Khingan Range and Shilka River basin to settle along the Nen River, the festival reconnected with collective memory: although the objects and forms of sacrifice changed, the gatherings on the river-valley meadows were preserved, and activities better suited to the agricultural rhythm such as horse racing and archery, picnic feasts, and bonfire parties were folded in; the environment of crisscrossing rivers, fertile soil, and fine waters also makes the coexistence of herding and farming possible.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The most valuable aspect of this festival is that it places traces of two civilizations within the same day: on one side, the sacrificial core inherited from bear worship and mountain-god worship; on the other, the athletics, feasts, and song gatherings familiar to an agricultural people. Its survival depends heavily on settlement density — once the population disperses elsewhere, the scene of a whole tribe jointly choosing the day, jointly preparing, and jointly reveling can never be reassembled. The focus of protection therefore lies not in preserving a few programs but in holding on to this one time and space of communal celebration at Xingwang Evenki Ethnic Township.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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