Jizhaishenlin
01 · Historical Records
On the second and third days, a long-street banquet is laid out, and the ancient haba (ancient songs) are sung through the night; the elders recount to their children and grandchildren the history of the ancestors' migrations, teach the ethics by which one settles down and makes one's way in life and the techniques of terrace cultivation, and pass judgment on the conduct of every villager over the past year. The worship of the village sacred forest displays the traditional culture of the Hani people, especially cultural elements such as its solar calendar and phenological calendar, its creation and migration epics and narrative long poems, and its music and dance; secondly, it fully embodies the Hani worldview of observing the will of heaven, conforming to nature, and pursuing harmony between heaven and humanity; thirdly, it is the prelude to spring plowing preparations, comprehensively displaying the Hani knowledge system of the rites, techniques, and taboos of terrace cultivation in the mountain regions.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The worship of the village sacred forest is a sacrificial activity held by the Hani people before spring plowing begins each year (generally in mid-January), praying for favorable weather, abundant harvests of all grains, and the safety of people and livestock in the coming year. It is widely practiced in Hani villages throughout Yunnan Province. The worship of the village sacred forest in the townships of Yuanyang County is the most grandly celebrated festival of all Hani villages. The worship of the village sacred forest has a long history, but the dates of the festival differ slightly from place to place. The worship of the village sacred forest in the Habo village area of Yuanyang County begins on the first chen (dragon) day of the twelfth lunar month and continues until the wu (horse) day, with a festival period of three days. On the first day of the festival, the village is cleaned, chickens are killed, glutinous rice cakes are pounded, and three-colored duck eggs are dyed. Led by a highly esteemed village elder, several men from prosperous families and of upright conduct slaughter sacrificial animals to worship the village sacred forest. The sacrificial meat is distributed equally among the households of the whole village; every family member and every domestic fowl and animal must taste a mouthful, and it must also be mixed into the seeds of the five grains. The Hani people have a saying: "If the haba is not sung, the village is not at peace; if the palm-fan dance is not danced, the people are not healthy; if the manggu drum dance is not danced, the grain ears are not full; if the lezuo dance is not danced, the domestic animals do not thrive." During the festival the mountain villages present a scene of song, dance, peace, and plenty.
Choosing the day and sweeping the village
Beginning on the first dragon day of the twelfth month, the first day is given to clearing the village, killing a chicken, pounding sticky rice cake and dyeing duck eggs.
The village elder officiates
A respected elder leads a few upstanding men in killing the sacrifice at the sacred grove; the choice of participants is deliberate.
Distributing the sacrifice and mixing the seed
The sacrifice is divided equally among households, every person and animal tasting a share, and part is mixed into the grain seed for sowing.
The long street banquet and the ancient songs
For two more days the village eats at a long table and sings the old ha-ba songs through the night while elders recount migrations and teach the ways of the terrace.
Palm-fan dance and the zha-gu drum
Four proverbs tie each dance to its blessing: without the ha-ba songs no peace, without the fan dance no offspring, without the drum dance no full grain.
The migu officiant and the full protocol
From choosing the date to dividing the sacrifice and judging conduct at the banquet, the migu officiant carries the whole protocol from generation to generation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The worship of the village sacred forest is widely practiced in Hani villages in Yunnan, and the ceremonies in the townships of Yuanyang County are especially elaborate; every village takes the sacred forest as its emblem, and before spring plowing goes first to speak before the forest. The dates of the festival vary slightly from place to place: in the Habo area the practice is to begin on the first chen (dragon) day of the twelfth lunar month and end on the wu (horse) day, three days in all. On the first day the village is cleaned, chickens are killed, glutinous rice cakes are pounded, and three-colored duck eggs are dyed; afterward a highly esteemed village elder leads several men of prosperous families and upright conduct to slaughter sacrificial animals and worship the sacred forest. The sacrificial meat is distributed equally among the households of the whole village; both the people and the domestic fowl and animals of each home taste a mouthful, and it is also mixed into the seeds of the five grains. At the end of the ceremony a long-street banquet is laid out, the ancient haba are sung through the night, and the elders recount the history of the ancestors' migrations and the ethics of settling down and making one's way in life. This whole set of rites forms a visible gradient in Yuanyang: the sacred forest is above the village, the banquet is on the slope, and the spring water is in the terraced fields, waiting to be let down a month later.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
With the development of the times, the worship of the village sacred forest shows a trend toward ever larger scale and ever wider influence, but the transmission of its traditional epics, knowledge, techniques, and values is fading day by day, and it urgently needs protection. Lu Wenxue (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Hani ethnicity, born in March 1953, from Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province. He fully masters the whole set of rules, procedures, and rites covering the selection of auspicious days, the preparation of sacrifices, the worship of the village sacred forest, the distribution of the sacrificial meat, the holding of the long-street banquet, and the judgment of ethical conduct, and has been elected by the local people as the "migu" who presides over the worship of the village sacred forest. He is a representative inheritor of the worship of the village sacred forest, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the fifth national-level batch. For many years he has taken part in and presided over the ceremonies of the worship of the village sacred forest every year, leading his apprentices in activities transmitting the traditional culture of the Hani people.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lu Wenxue 05-3057
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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