Different customs of various nationalities in the Lunar New Year

Ying SONG

In the freezing coldness of the winter， every family is busy preparing for the Spring festival in the last month of the lunar year. People go to the market to buy items for the Spring Festival， write couplets， prepare a variety of sacrificial offerings， sweep dust and clean the house， do away with the old and set up the new and make all kinds of sausage， bacon， or fried chicken， duck and fish， etc. Those who have been busy for a whole year gather in their homes to offer sacrifice to their ancestors and to pray for a favorable weather for the coming year. There are 56 nationalities in China， each of whom has their own traditional customs and unique ways to welcome the new year.How special are these customs？ Come and have a look！

Bai people -- paving dry pine needles

In daily life，Yunnan Bai peopleuse dried pine needlesto make cushion for the livestock， farmyard， orfire for cooking. A few days before the New Year's Eve， the family will clean the courtyard and take baskets to the surrounding mountains to gather fresh pine needles and pressure them tightly together， and then bring these needles home and scatter them in the courtyard and the living room. From the first day of the first month to the 15th， it is necessary to pave these fresh pine needles twice a day while having meals. People sit on the soft new loose needles， place dishes on the table and thenhave a meal together. If many relatives come to visit the family in the first month， pine needles could not only be paved on the table， chairs， but also on the bed tomake the best sheets to accommodate the guests. It is not until the 16th that people will clean the pine needles in the living room tobegin a new year.

In the past， the Bai people would also "set off firecrackers high in the sky" -- people would stuff the firecrackers into the big bamboo prepared before， andonce the lead is ignited， the momentum of gunpowder can send the whole bamboo several hundred meters high in the sky. After midnight on the New Year's Eve， young men and women would scramble to fetch "new water"， heralding good luck for the new year. Early in the morning， the whole family would drink syrup with rice flower in it in the hope that the new year would be sweeter than the honey. After breakfast， the children are led by adults to give the new years greetings to elders among friends and relatives. The Dragon dance， Lion dance and Bawangbian（a traditional dance played with sticks） is also an indispensable part of the new year activities

Tujia people -- hand-waving dance

During the Spring Festival， Tujia people will offersacrifices to their ancestors in the "hand-waving hall"， a public hall of the village， and hold a traditional "hand-waving dance" party. When dancing， people will first hang in the hall three curtains， within which are hung pig heads， pork， incense and wild boar heads and hoof and so on to sacrifice the ancestors. Led by a group of elders in red ritual clothes， with ritual crowns and instruments， all women and men can participate in the gathering， singing the “hand-waving song” and dancing.Lively and extraordinary， such gathering would often last from the first day to the 15th.

The Tujia people living in Sichuan， Hubei， Hunan and Guizhou province have been playing the ancient dance for many generations. Concise， vivid， fast-paced and graceful， the dance imitates dozens of movements in traditional hunting， war and agriculture， featuring distinctive national characteristics and strong regional atmosphere. In addition to the dance， Tujia people also celebrate the Spring Festival by playing Dragon Dance， Lion Dance， dramas and Martial Arts.

The Dong people – Lusheng party

The Dong people living in Guizhou and Hunan will celebrate the Spring Festivalby having "Da Dong Nian" （also called the party of Lusheng， which is a kind of traditional instrument）. People wearingnew clothes dyed and dried out of local plants gathered before the old building that has stood hundreds of years of vicissitudes， or in the field square before the village gate to hold the Lusheng contest， which is joyful and enthusiastic. The neighboring villages usually hold the activity in turn， and the villagers willenjoy themselves by dancing with the music.

The Hani nationality -- swinging

The village of the Hani nationality in Yunnan has already been busy before the Spring festival comes. Women are busy making Baba （a traditional glutinous rice cake that locals prefer）. Young men will go up the mountain to chop bamboo and prepare to build a swing， which is often more than 10 meters high. During the new year festival， people in the community， men or women， will wear beautiful holiday costumes to swing.

The Jino nationality --Temaoke

"Temaoke "， meaning "Grand Iron Festival" in the Jino language， is usually held in the last lunar month， now fixed on one day between February 6th to 8th. It is a grand festival held by the Jino people in Xishuangbanna， Yunnan at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. To commemorate the production of iron， people make new knives and axes to plough for the spring season. People will also gatherin the village， killing and sacrificing the cattle， sacrificing the big drum （God drum）， playing swing， playing gyro， playing the game of throwing bags， walking on stilts and so on. They will also visit friends and neighboring villagers and invite them to the feast to celebrate the festival.

The main drum in the Jino festival is the "sun Drum"， which looks like the sunrayswith a dozen of fine sticks on the two ends. When people are playing the drum song， they will also sing Jino songs， which have special tunes， such as "Temoami" （that is， New Year's tune）. In the early morning of the new year， elders in the village will first knock the village drum with great force.On hearing it， people will wear cleanly and go to the cattle farm. Afterall the people have arrived， the elders would utter words specially prepared for cattle sacrificing in front of the oxen. All theadult men，standing five or six meters away from cattle， each with a bamboo stick in hand， would throw the stick into the cattle in turn. Then the beef will be divided between the elders and the families.

The Jingpo ethnic minority – Mu nao zong ge

The Jingpo ethnic minorities living on the Chinese-Burmese border have migrated for a long time before reaching the present-day colonies. Legends have that their ancestors came from the source of the Lancang River andthe Nujiang Rivernear Gansu and Qinghai.

Home to “Munaozongge”（which means come to dance together in Jingpo language）， Longchuan County，Dehong autonomous prefecture， Yunnan province will hold the “Munaozongge” party during the spring festive. Each village has an open square for the dance， at the gate of which stands two eye-catching pillars engraved with vines and ferns. The top of the gate pillar is engraved with clouds and stars， symbolizing the sky. On the multi-layer stands in and out of the stadium are crowded with people coming from all directions.

On the early morning of the New Year， the whole family， young and old， will dressup and go out. The celebration will last several days with bazaars， singing and dancing and a large audience. Here the dance needs to be led by the "Naoshuang "，with partners and a dancing group. At the end of each dance， people would offer a bowl of rice wine for the dancers.

The music used for dancing is called "Ohrere" in Jingpo language，which has six beats， featuring strong sense of rhythm and enthusiasm. The melody also bears traces of the British missionaries activities here in early 20th century， who brought bagpipes， guitars and snare here， all of which were blended into the local Jingpo dance music.

With winter passing by and spring coming， the atmosphere of the spring festival grows ever stronger and people of every nationality are busy in singing and laughing， ready to welcome the new year.