Guyu Festival is one of the most representative festivals of Dong culture in Zhaoxing Dong Village, Liping County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Every year in the middle and late April, the Dong Village is bustling with festive atmosphere no less than the Spring Festival of the Han nationality. That day is also the most romantic day in Zhaoxing Dong Village.

he Guyu Festival is one of the most significant festivals in Zhaoxing Dong Village, Liping County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Each year, in mid to late April, the village comes alive with activities, and its festive atmosphere rivals that of the Chinese New Year. This day is also considered the most romantic day in the village.

The young men who had been "smeared" looked a little "embarrassed".

The betrothed man's family in Zhaoxing Dong Village will carry black rice, pork, glutinous rice wine, etc. to the woman's house as a wedding gift on the Guyu Festival, and the woman's family will send black rice, etc. to relatives and friends to show that her daughter is getting married soon. In the evening, other young men in the stockade will take advantage of the darkness to quietly come to the girl's house, risk being "smeared", throw candy into the girl's house, and silently send her blessings. Girls will take advantage of their non standby "pot ash" to wipe on the faces of young men, so that they can recognize who has been attached to themselves.

Therefore, black rice, at the Grain Rain Festival in Zhaoxing Dong Village, is regarded as "sugar" for entertaining visitors, and "smearing black face" is a different expression of love. This traditional custom has lasted for more than 500 years.

A pair of young men and women in the Guyu Festival of the Dong nationality.  

Zhaoxing, the first village in Dong Township

If you want to know about the Grain Rain Festival in Zhaoxing Dong Village, you must first know Zhaoxing Dong Village.

There are more than 1200 households and more than 7000 people in Zhaoxing Dong Village, 99% of whom are surnamed Lu. Since it is the Dong village with the largest population of Dong nationality in China and the largest number of drum towers, Zhaoxing Dong village is known as "the first village in Dong village".

It is said that hundreds of years ago, the Zhaoxing Dong Village was built by the Lu brothers. There are five magnificent drum towers in the village with different styles, namely "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and faith" towers. Compared with one or two other drum towers in the Dong village, they not only last for a long time, but also are unique in number, appearance, height, size, and style. Therefore, they have been recorded in the Guinness World Records and are known as the "hometown of drum tower culture and art". In addition to the Drum Tower, Zhaoxing also has five flower bridges and five ancient stages.

Zhaoxing Dong Village is surrounded by mountains and built in a basin in the mountains. Two streams converge into a river that runs through the village. The whole village is surrounded by towering ancient trees and lush forests and bamboos. The environment is beautiful. Diaojiao buildings, private houses, straw drying racks (wooden racks for drying rice and grass), fish ponds and wind and rain bridges are orderly and well arranged. The houses in the village are stilted buildings, all of which are made of Chinese fir. The roofs are covered with small green tiles. They are arranged in rows and are simple and practical. In 2005, Zhaoxing Dong Village was selected as one of the "six most beautiful ancient rural towns in China", and in 2007, it was selected as one of the "33 most attractive tourist destinations in the world".

As one of the branch venues of the 2018 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Zhaoxing Dong Village has now become the most important Dong Village for investigation and research on the development of Dong culture, ethnic tourism and ethnic history.  

    A long table banquet of the Dong nationality with rich ethnic characteristics.

Lu Xingtao, a native Dong girl

Lu Xingtao is a 23-year-old Dong girl who was born and raised in Zhaoxing Dong Village. Two years ago, when she was working in other places, she met Lu Yingqiang, a senior high school classmate from Zhaoxing.

Knowing that Lu Xingtao still has no boyfriend, Lu Yingqiang launched a passionate pursuit of Lu Xingtao. Lu Yingqiang has a good character, is hardworking and smart, and knows each other well. Soon the two decided to have a love relationship, and then the two families signed an engagement.

Seeing that the Grain Rain Festival is coming, the two plan to go home for the festival. Lu Yingqiang will formally propose to Lu Xingtao's parents to renew their marriage on the day of the Grain Rain Festival.

The Guyu Festival is not only a good day for young Dong men and women who love each other to propose and make an engagement, but also a day for men and women who have no relationship to express their love and blessings. There is a meaning of "once loved, but I still bless you even though there is no relationship" in it.

Lu Hongsheng is the senior high school student of Lu Xingtao, a young man who had a crush on her. Lu Xingtao said that Lu Hongsheng is also a very excellent person. He can not only make pipa, but also play Lusheng. He is also a top student in the class. Unfortunately, he has no fate.

On the day of Guyu Festival, Lu Hongsheng will use the customs of the Dong family to express his once love for Lu Xingtao and send his blessing to her upcoming marriage.

Drink a bowl of Dong Family's Gate Wine

The Grain Rain Festival came as scheduled. At 9:00 am that day, many tourists had come to the gate of Dong Village. Lu Xingtao, who returned to his hometown a week ago, got up early, washed and dressed up, put on the beautiful Dong costumes, and came to the gate of the village with many sisters. At this time, many young men, such as Lu Yingqiang and Lu Hongsheng, also gathered here in their best clothes with Lusheng.

It is necessary for the Dong family to hold a grand welcome ceremony at the gate of the village every year on the Grain Rain Festival. The young men and women of the Dong family came out in full dress, the younger generation sounded the Lusheng, and the girls sang the big song of the Dong nationality and danced with the rhythm from time to time. The tourists were so drunk and applauded. Finally, along with the toast song, the girls' bar wine has been handed to the guests.

The wine at the gate is the most solemn ceremony for the Dong family to greet the distinguished guests. The Dong family believes that only after drinking the rice wine admired by the Dong girls can they enter the village, which represents a safe, smooth and good luck for the guests! This kind of hospitality is really hard to resist. The sour and sweet rice wine goes straight into the throat of the guests and intoxicates everyone's heart.

Of course, guests who are unable to drink can have a symbolic taste, and Dong girls will not be too difficult for guests.

Dong male youth blowing Lusheng to celebrate the festival.

Enter Dong Village

After entering the street of Zhaoxing Dong Village, under the oblique light of the rising sun, you can see golden folk houses, some of which are scattered and distinctive. A wooden waterwheel makes a babbling sound under the impact of the river, which makes people feel that the stockade is not noisy, but rather quiet.

Further ahead, the Drum Tower, a tall and symbolic building of the Dong nationality, stands out. Every Dong village must have a drum tower. The Drum Tower is the main place for Dong people to gather, discuss affairs, celebrate, entertain and worship. It is built by the people of the whole village. The Dong people believe that if there is no drum tower in a Dong stockade, there will be no sign of the Dong nationality, and this stockade will have no cohesion and soul, which is unimaginable. Today, the Drum Tower has become an important place to inherit the traditional culture of the Dong nationality in the Dong village.

After returning home, Lu Xingtao put on simple clothes and began to do housework quickly. In the afternoon, fiance Lu Yingqiang and his family will come to renew their marriage. Everything needs to be ready.

The busiest people on the day of Guyu Festival are the mothers of the girls to be married or the mother-in-law to be, because they have to keep busy for their married daughters or the daughter-in-law to be married back. In fact, a few days before the festival, they are already busy with some preparations.

Steamed Black Rice

"On the day of grain rain, many people in Zhaoxing have to cook black rice." Lu Xingtao's mother said:

At lunchtime, eight barrels of "black rice" were steamed. After each barrel of steamed black rice comes out of the cage, the whole yard smells delicious and unique.

Why must we eat black rice on the Grain Rain Festival? This is closely related to the marriage customs of the Dong family.

In the past, every family in Zhaoxing Dong Village with a girl to be married would steam a hundred jin of black rice on the day of Grain Rain Festival. If any family is cooking black rice, people in the stockade will know that there is a happy event in this family, and relatives, friends and even strangers will come to "beg" for black rice as a blessing. If there are many people coming to "beg" for black rice, it means that the girl in this family has good character, popularity, beauty and popularity, and her family will feel very proud.

It turns out that the specially made black rice is just like the "sugar" of the Han people. On the day of Guyu, it has become an indispensable custom of the Dong family to have a dinner or entertain relatives and friends with black rice.

In addition to eating black rice, what other specific details of marriage customs? Lu Xingtao said that the "Grain Rain Festival" is called "gradually tender and falling" in Dong language, which means "eating black rice and planting rice seeds". "The details of the activities will be known at night." After saying that, Lu Xingtao revealed a mysterious face.

On the Grain Rain Festival, Dong nationality boy Lu Yingqiang's family continued their marriage.

Vast succession team        

After lunch, Lu Xingtao said that her engaged young man Lu Yingqiang, along with his sister-in-law and sisters, had set out from their home. Now he was walking around the Dong village, and then he would come to his home.

Soon, a huge team appeared. It seemed that there were about forty or fifty people, each with a variety of gifts on his shoulder. At the front is Lu Yingqiang's sister. This lively scene quickly attracted the attention of countless tourists, and many people in the village also stopped their work to watch.

Lu Yingqiang was dressed in the same attire as in the morning, and his face was full of smiles

The continuation team soon arrived at Lu Xingtao's house. At this time, firecrackers were all blaring. The two families gathered in the yard to greet each other warmly. Some sent gifts, some brought tea and water, and some offered cigarettes and chairs. The scene was very lively.

Lu Xingtao's mother said that among these gifts, the women's family should keep some for their own use, and the rest should be given to all relatives and friends attending tonight's event to inform everyone that a woman is going to get married, so that everyone can feel happy at home and bless the new couple.

        Lu Xingtao (who wears silver ornaments on his head) and her two friends are "smearing the black face" on Lu Hongsheng.      

Only by smearing his face can we know who secretly loved him

According to the Records of Liping Mansion, the "Grain Rain" activity custom of Zhaoxing originated in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and has a history of more than 500 years. It is a dual moral expression of farming culture and marriage customs. In this special festival, in addition to eating black rice, "Diyou You (y ǒ u) "" Smashing the Black Face "and other traditional activities with great passion are an important part of the social interaction of local Dong young men and women, and also the highlight of the Guyu Festival.

According to Lu Xingtao's mother, on Guyu's night in the past, young men of the Dong nationality would go to the door of a woman who had once been in love but had been engaged to other young men, with his face covered. Put some candies in You You and throw them into the woman's home to bless her. At the same time, they also express their love for the woman and regret that they can't be combined with her. This is the origin of the Guyu Festival.

After dinner, the sky began to darken, and the Zhaoxing Dong Village gradually became lively. This family set off firecrackers, and that family set off fireworks. The activity of "Smashing the Dark Face" will also be launched soon. Lu Xingtao and some of her "friends" have prepared all the black rice and the "pot ash" for smearing the black face.

In the darkness, Lu Xingtao opened the door. As soon as the light was turned off, the door was pushed open. A dark shadow threw a You You with candy into the room, but no one came in. Lu Xingtao pours out the sweets in You You, puts them in black rice, beer and other things, and then quietly puts them back into the hall, then hides in the dark corner and waits quietly.

Suddenly, a masked man outside the door rushed into the room, picked up You You and ran out. Lu Xingtao ran out of the darkness with quick eyes and quick hands, and immediately wiped the man's face with his hands covered with soot. The sister hiding behind the gate closed the door. The young man took You You in his hand, dodged and "fought back". He rushed to the door, but he was still met with "black hands". Lu Xingtao tore off his face and painted it black. In the struggle, the young men finally ran out of the gate. The girls did not go out to catch up, but closed the gate again. The young men who ran out then gave the rice and beer in You You to the waiting brothers. Seeing the young men's "black" face, the brothers burst into laughter.

From the dim light outside the door, Lu Xingtao found that it was Lu Hongsheng who had been "blackened" by her.

The smoke on his face brought an end to Lu Hongsheng's unrequited love for Lu Xingtao. After Lu Hongsheng left, another young man came to Lu Xingtao's house with candy and his friends, and the "black face" activity was staged again. This is the oldest Guyu Festival in Dong Village, which conveys warm blessings, pure love, admiration and regret of not being a life partner.

Today, the "Grain Rain" activity in Zhaoxing has evolved into a national entertainment activity. Diu You is no longer limited to young men who have a crush on women. All people can participate in it.

That night, the whole Zhaoxing Dong Village had a sleepless night.

Terminology

You (y ǒ u) : The daily necessities of the Dong family are woven into various patterns with bamboo strips as thin as paper and bamboo strips as thin as brown silk, coated with tung oil, similar to bamboo baskets, which are the containers for the Dong family to work in the mountains for fashion and food.

Text/Picture | Ning Jian

Edit | Xu Jieyu

Second instance | Zhang Fen

Third instance | Zhao Lin