Temaoke Festival
01 · Historical Records
The origin of the Temoke Festival is tied to iron. In Jino, “temoke” means “the grand iron-forging festival.” Because the appearance of iron tools greatly improved the Jino people's mode of production and life, the Jino gradually developed this festival in memory of the creation and use of iron, enshrining as a deity Zheli'enie, the blacksmith god who in legend forged iron farm tools, and passing this on from generation to generation. From the old days of gathering stone tools and hunting beasts to the new days of iron plows breaking the soil, the dividing line is this very day; the festival is therefore not merely a celebration but a profound living memory of Jino farming history and culture.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Temoke Festival, in Jino, means “the grand iron-forging festival.” Because the appearance of iron tools greatly improved the Jino people's mode of production and life, the Jino gradually developed the Temoke Festival to commemorate the creation and use of iron. The Temoke Festival is the most grand festival of the Jino people, with the offering to the great drum, the offering to the blacksmith god, and the plowing-preparation rite as its core contents. The festival's date is set by the village “zhuoba” (meaning “the most prestigious elder”) according to the seasons — early spring, when the white flowers and azaleas bloom — so the dates differ from village to village, spanning as much as a month in total. On the first day, the great drum is offered to, and the Great Drum Dance and the “Temeniu” Dance are performed; the village collectively slaughters a buffalo and divides it equally among the households, and the zhuoba presides over the great-drum rite, giving thanks to the Jino ancestors Mahei and Maniu for protecting the Jino people. On the second day, the blacksmith's shop and the blacksmith god are offered to; the blacksmith lights the fire and opens the furnace to forge iron tools, in gratitude for the iron farm tools the blacksmith brought, which raised production efficiency and improved living standards. On the third day, a plowing-preparation rite is held, with the zhuoba and the other elders each laying offerings and reciting sacrificial words outside the village gate, giving thanks to heaven, earth, and nature, and praying for favorable weather, abundant harvests, and a flourishing population, while promoting the traditional virtues of diligence and kindness. Its area borders Menglun Town and Xiangming Township of Mengla County to the east, Menghan Town of Jinghong City to the south, Mengyang Town to the west, and Puwen Town and Jiangcheng County of Pu'er City to the north, covering about 600 square kilometers. The Jino Temoke Festival, transmitted for several hundred years, is now a statutory traditional minority festival of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Today the Temoke Festival is no longer solely a Jino ethnic festival but has evolved into a common festival of the people of all local ethnic groups. The prefectural and municipal governments allocate funds each year to hold the Temoke Festival and sincerely invite guests to participate widely. At that time, there are both grand festival celebrations organized by governments at all levels and traditional sacrificial rites and celebrations spontaneously organized by the villages. During the Temoke Festival, “all who come are guests”: participants, whether acquainted or not, join in the carnival world of the Jino, feeling their sincerity and warmth and sharing their wishes and joy. The Temoke Festival enshrines as a deity Zheli'enie, the blacksmith god who in legend forged iron farm tools, commemorating him and passing this on from generation to generation; it is a profound living memory of Jino farming history and culture. It integrates ancestral sacrifice, the sacrifice to the blacksmith god, farming customs, and traditional ethnic song and dance, with a unique ethnic character and a distinct regional character; the festival is closely tied to the seasons, and once it ends the real plowing-preparation stage immediately begins.
The great drum sacrifice
The first day is given to the great drum, with the drum dance and the young men’s dance, a bull killed and divided among the households, and the oldest man presiding in thanks to the ancestors.
Drum dance and young men’s dance
The great drum is beaten while the drum dance and the young men’s dance are performed, the village moving together on one shared beat.
The forge and the lighting of the fire
On the second day the forge is lit and tools are made in honour of the smith, re-creating the iron tools that transformed the work of the fields.
The rite for the coming season
On the third day the eldest and the other elders set offerings outside the gate and recite prayers for rain, harvests and people, praising diligence and kindness.
The village head fixes the date
The village head fixes the date by phenology, at the first blossoming in early spring; neighbouring villages keep it up to a month apart.
How the villages keep it
The custom is kept in the villages around the Jino mountain township and those of the neighbouring township, and is now concentrated into three days.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The traditional customs of the Temoke Festival are mainly distributed among 46 villages around Bayao, Luote, Situ, Yano, Bapo, Balai, Basa, and Biapiao in Jino Mountain Jino Ethnic Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, southern Yunnan, and 32 Jino villages around Kelian and Buyuan in Mengwang Township, Jinghong City; the traditional Temoke customs of the two townships are broadly similar.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
With the development of the times, the festival is now concentrated into three days (February 6 to 8 of the Gregorian calendar). The Temoke Festival contains folk knowledge of the agricultural seasons and has distinct symbolic imagery, vividly reflecting the Jino transition from gathering and hunting in the primitive stone-tool age to farming in the iron age; it is full of reverence for ancestors and gratitude to the blacksmith, a vivid embodiment of Jino beliefs and values, and plays an irreplaceable role in displaying ethnic spirit and strengthening ethnic cohesion.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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