Holidays of the Gejia

Holiday of treading on the family

Between some peoples of the provinces of Guangxi and Guizhou, there exists the habit of showing the interest in a girl treading on it when it is danced. Between the Gejia this custom is the protagonist of this holiday.
In the Huangping county there are celebrated meetings of the lusheng (a typical musical instrument of the peoples of the south of China) the second or the 15th of the first month of the lunar year. The holiday lasts three, five seven days, organizing it every year, for shifts, each of six villages. The Gejia of the surroundings come, taking part between 2.000 and 10.000 persons. The principal activities are antiphonal songs, to touch lusheng, to dance lusheng, to tread girls, horse racings and fights of birds.

All the Gejia dress new clothes, invite relatives and friends. The young people does groups to sing. After the ceremony of opening of the teacher of lusheng, the young people touches this musical instrument and by means of intermediaries they invite the girls, who accept or not. The boys try during the steps of the dances to tread on the girls, who if they are trodden correspond to the boy giving him a click in the shoulder. The guests come from background buy little meal and remain in the village. Sometimes the girls lick the bowl of rice of the boy, like sign of his love. The guests sing the songs of the wine and those of courteousness.

They say that in his origin it was a dance to look for the hero capable of beating to the tiger. And in fact, during the dance of the lusheng, there is chosen a young man capable of beating to the tiger, which will marry the girl who chooses during the dance.

Holiday of the lanterns of the lion

It is the most adorable and special holiday of some villages Gejia, like Ganzhucao. Lunar second of January is celebrated.

Dance of the hidden drum

A dance to venerate the ancestors, and to ask them to help the later generations so that there are no disasters and everything is fortunate. According to the beliefs of the Gejia if there is drought or floods, the cattle falls ill or another misfortune, it is enough to say the ancestors, who quite remedy it. That's why they say them when misfortunes appear, sometimes sacrificing an ox to them.

The first day receives the ancestors with sunshades of role and a car of bamboo that strong young people carries. The ambience is very serious. An elder touches the drum. They read every name of the family accompanied by a touch of drum. Then they drink wine and eat meat and glutinous rice. The strangers also can take part. The second and third day they are more festive, he eats up, drinks, dances and one speaks about love.

To know more: Guizhou shaoshu minzu jieri daguan (Panorama of the holidays of the minorities of Guizhou). Publishing house of the Nationalities of Guizhou. Guiyang. 1991

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