The origin of February 8

February 8 comes from the traditional temple fair custom of Yi people.

The eighth day of the second lunar month is a traditional temple fair custom in some parts of Hunan. The temple fair began on February 8, Ming Dynasty. Spring Lake was dry for years, and the people were in dire straits. Lord ShouYe Fu, a fairy in the sky, cast a spell to rain and save people. In order to commemorate Fushou's achievements, people built temples and sang operas on Fushou's birthday on February 8, and vendors from all walks of life gathered together to carry out agricultural trade activities, which have been passed down to this day. February 8th in Spring Lake shows the diligence, kindness, gratitude, optimism and wisdom in the blood of the Spring Lakers. In the process of long-term inheritance and development, many unique customs have gradually formed: First, eating "thousands of meals". On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Yi people chose a big tree as the "tree king". The whole village came to the grass in Wang Qian to kill a black pig, hung the pig's head and forearm on the "tree king" as an important gift to the tree king, and other raw meat was equally distributed to all households. Every household pays a bowl of rice and cooks porridge in front of the tree king, which is called "eating thousands of rice", praying for the harmony of the whole village and the safety of the whole family; The second is the Dragon Boat Festival. At that time, the Yi people will play with dragons, sing and dance at the Longtan to entertain the gods and the people. The third is to sacrifice "dense withered"; The fourth is to offer sacrifices to Sinuluo, the Nanzhao landlord, and his descendants. Sacrificing ancestors is the most grand, solemn and core part of the activities on February 8. On that day, the Yi people met at Nanzhao Tuzhu Temple in Weibaoshan. After the ancestral worship teams in each village entered the main sacrificial site, the selected clan representatives swore an oath with Bimo (the priest of the Yi people's ancestral worship activities), and carried out the ancestral exorcism and decontamination ceremony, the ancestral spirit tablet registration and cleaning ceremony, and the ancestral spirit tube ceremony. In the meantime, big music, Chinese music and fine music were played, and Bimo recited "Pray for the Ancestors" to pray for everyone, to offer tea, toast and high fragrance; The fifth is to sing songs and revel. After the ancestor worship activities, Yi people from all directions gathered in Dage Square outside the Tuzhu Temple, lit bonfires and played music all night, which indicated that the life of Yi children was flourishing and the days were getting sweeter. The "February 8th" Festival of the Yi people is rich in ethnosociological value, and it is an important folk festival for the Yi people to remember the merits of their ancestors and strengthen their national identity. In order to inherit and carry forward this precious intangible cultural heritage, Weishan County has continuously strengthened its protection, conducted an in-depth field survey on February 8 of the Yi New Year Festival, and improved the database of the project and related representative inheritors. Constantly increase publicity. Every year, the government organizes a grand ancestor worship festival for the Yi people in China. Weishan County Intangible Heritage Protection Center, the protection unit of the project, also organized professionals to carry out the "28-day full record". Through the in-depth tracking and recording of images, pictures and words, this traditional folk festival system rooted in the Yi people is truly preserved and passed down.