Hongjiang homes about 10,000 Yao people who live in Longchuantang, Dachong and other towns or villages. Their language, culture and customs are similar to Yao people living in neighboring Dongkou and Suining counties.
Year of the Rat: Yao people celebrate Year of the Rat (Yao Little New Year) on the 11th day of the 11th month in the lunar calendar. According to local customs, Han people are not welcomed on this day, and locals believe that Han people staying overnight at their houses on the festival will bring bad luck. Guests should first be arranged to sleep without participating in the festival celebration, and cooking should be undertaken by males. In the celebration, people only speak the Yao language, and serve a plate of rat meat as a sacrifice to ancestors. According to legend, the ancestors of local Yao people used to live in a rich village in the upstream of the Yuanjiang River. A rich man surnamed Xiang wanted to dominate the village and spread a rumor that the Taiping army was marching towards the village. Yao people’s ancestors surnamed Lei and Lan believed in the rumor and abandoned their houses in a rush, and hid in a cave in the middle of nowhere. When they were hungry, they happened to catch a large mountain rat and then cooked and ate it. From then on, they settled down and raised their families. Their descendants celebrate Year of the Rat to remember this special day.
Bajia Festival: The festival falls on the second day of the first lunar month. “Bajia” means that crops have been harvested and stored, and the winter plowing and planting have ended. Yao people celebrate harvest on this day. Each household prepares abundant provisions, including chicken, duck, pork and glutinous rice cakes and enjoy a reunion feast. Some Yao people also hold activities to offer sacrifice to temple kings to pray for good weather and a good harvest.
Panwang Festival: Every year on the 16th day of the tenth month of the traditional Chinese calendar, Yao people gather to worship their ancestor – King Pan – through song and dance. This day marks the Panwang Festival, a grand celebration that symbolizes the essence and continuation of Yao traditional culture. Before the founding of New China, Yao people in the Longchuantang Village did not have the tradition of celebrating the Panwang Festival. In 1984, the National Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People’s Republic of China proclaimed the 16th day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar the Panwang Festival. In 1985, the first National Panwang Festival was held in Nanning.
(Translated by Yang Hong)