Nuoruzi Festival
01 · Historical Records
Nauryz was formed before the Kazakh people adopted Islam and has been transmitted to the present day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
It is said to have a history of more than a thousand years. The Kazakhs call the first month of the year 'Nauryz.' The first month of the Kazakh calendar corresponds to March of the Gregorian calendar; March 21 or 22 is the spring equinox, when day and night are equal, and the Kazakhs take this day as the beginning of the new year, calling it the 'Nauryz Festival.' The traditional way of observing Nauryz lasts two weeks. To bid farewell to the old and welcome the new and to presage a good harvest, every household makes 'Nauryz' food from seven ingredients — wheat, millet, rice, meat, dried milk curd, salt, and water — and also eats horse sausage smoked for the winter and other preserved smoked meats. On this day, people travel in groups from one aul (herding village) to another, going house to house, eating 'nawrouz' food, singing 'nawrouz' songs, embracing one another, and congratulating each other on the new year, and they present the sheep heads kept from the winter livestock slaughter to the elders. The elders recite blessings (bata) wishing 'peace for the family, pens full of livestock, and abundant dairy foods.' During the festival, herders gather together to carry out various cultural, recreational, and sports activities in many forms, mainly in three categories: the first is performance-based recreation, such as Tilemai, singing, dancing, aytysh, and epic singing; the second is athletic exercise, such as horse racing, wrestling, the girls' chase, and goat-baiting; the third is amusement games, such as tongue twisters, riddles, and dream interpretation. With the intensification of modernization, herders have settled down, making some of the original festival activities hard to sustain, while the traditional festival procedures and etiquette are gradually being lost.
The new year at the vernal equinox
The Kazakhs call the first month of the year Noruz, and place its beginning at the equinox, fixing the festival to the moment of equal day and night.
The seven-ingredient noruz meal
Wheat, millet, rice, meat, dried curd, salt and water are cooked into one pot, served with smoked horse sausage and meat to mark both farewell and hope.
Visiting from camp to camp
Groups move from camp to camp to eat, sing and congratulate one another, usually one representative from each household, each round taking half a day.
Offering a sheep's head and the bata blessing
The sheep's head left from winter slaughter is given to the elders, who bless the family with safety, full stock and plentiful dairy.
Kyz kuu, kokpar and racing
The sporting side rests on racing, wrestling, kyz kuu and kokpar, whose hoofbeats and cheers keep the pastoral body's habits alive all year.
Tongue twisters, riddles and dream games
Riddles, tongue twisters and dream games occupy the seated hours, where verbal wit pleases the young more than physical trials.
Aitys and epic singing
Among the performative items, iron-rod games, singing, dancing, aitys duels and epic recitation showcase the oral literature of the Kazakhs.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In the Kazakh herding areas around Tacheng and Ili, Nauryz is observed aul by aul (herding village): herders travel in groups from one aul to another, visiting households, eating nawrouz food, singing nawrouz songs, embracing one another, and presenting the sheep heads left from the winter slaughter to the elders, who recite bata blessings. This house-to-house circuit relies on fixed and intimate relations of exchange among steppe settlements; the festival lasts as long as two weeks, and the new year's courtesies are complete only after every household has been called on. Precisely for this reason, once herders settle down, the rhythm and scene of household-by-household invitation become hard to sustain.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Nauryz is a reflection of Kazakh history and culture in spiritual life, a 'living' reproduction of history and culture, and holds research value for cultural history and ethnic history. Some folk art forms (such as hesar, tilemai, kunele, and dastan) lack successors and are on the verge of being lost; they urgently need rescue and protection.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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