The "Hejiazu Tomb" located in Madeng Village, Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province is the graveyard of the local Qiang people's He family. According to the records, the ancient burial custom of Qiang nationality is mainly cremation, which usually takes place after sunset. When cremated, relatives sat around crying, then sang mourning songs to express their grief, and then danced hand in hand to pray for the gods to bless the dead into another world. The singing and dancing continued until the next morning, when the ashes were buried underground. This kind of funeral custom is recorded in Lu Chunqiu Yishang, which can be left as evidence. Among the ethnic minorities, the "funeral dance" of the Qiang nationality and the traditional sacrificial dance held for ancestor worship are very distinctive.
when the sun shrinks the long shadow of the tall pine tree to the shortest, the men and women in the village and the wizards who came to pay homage to He's ancestors followed He's master to a cemetery surrounded by pine and cypress, and placed all kinds of sacrifices in front of the graves in the forest, then they waited for the "time" for the sacrifice.
Only the sound of the sheepskin drum was heard. A group of wizards headed by a "Krimiwazi" staff carved with fairy heads and wearing sacred hats opened the way, followed by a monkey hat with a golden monkey head called "Hugh Pier" in Qiang language, and a big wizard with an eagle claw and other exorcism "banling" beating the sheepskin drum called "Ribu" in Qiang language. They danced "Golden Monkey Dance" with the drumming of sheepskin drums and board bells. The wizard wearing the golden monkey head hat is also responsible for directing other wizards to perform various dances and the number of times they should do during the ceremony. Each of these wizards dances differently, and some bow and scrape in all directions while waving instruments; Some take turns to replace the left and right legs to jump back and forth, while others turn left and right in the same place ... It seems that they are performing their own "single dance". During the whole performance, the only thing that all wizards have in common is that every population uses incantations and scriptures that are constantly sung to accompany their dancing.
In the ancestor worship ceremony of the Qiang people, there is a special custom that the great wizard must wear a golden monkey scalp hat and beat the sheepskin and drum at the same time, and the origin of this custom is based on an interesting fairy tale.
It is said that a long time ago, the Qiang people had their own writing. At that time, the grandfather, who was very old at that time, spent a great deal of effort to record all kinds of scriptures and all the knowledge about human food, clothing, housing and transportation from the gods and save them on rolls of birch bark, ready to pass them on to the descendants of the Qiang nationality. In the spring of this year, the grandfather was afraid that the birch bark would get wet after being rolled, so he took it out and put it on the hillside outside to dry. Unexpectedly, I don't know when a goat came and chewed all the birch bark scrolls and fled. When the granddaddy came to collect the scriptures in the afternoon, he found that all the scriptures were lost and he was shocked. He couldn't find them everywhere, and he was so anxious that he beat his chest and stamped his feet and was heartbroken. At this time, a golden monkey climbed down from a tall tree and told his granddaddy that he had seen a goat eat the scrolls. From then on, Grandfather made up his mind to find this evil goat in his lifetime, no matter how hard he spent. Later, with the guidance and assistance of the golden monkey, the evil goat was finally found. In order to punish the goat, the ancestors made the slaughtered goatskin into a single drum "Ribu" for offering sacrifices to the gods, which made it suffer the whipping of the descendants of the Qiang nationality forever. From then on, whenever the ancestors beat the single drum, there would be scripture words written on birch bark in front of them. In order that these precious scriptures will never be lost again, the ancestors memorized all the scriptures and taught them to future generations of wizards by oral instruction, instead of using words. Therefore, the Qiang people have only their own language and no words. At the same time, in order to thank the golden monkey for guiding the way to find the goat and making the descendants of Qiang people blessed by the five gods through ancient scriptures, the golden monkey made its head and skin into a hat after its death, decorated with small bronze mirrors, conchs and other instruments that can exorcise evil spirits, as an indispensable worship object in the sacrifice.
In the future, when worshipping ancestors, the great wizard must wear a golden monkey head hat, which is arranged immediately behind the "Krimiwazi" staff to show people's reverence for the golden monkey and to guide the wizard to connect with the gods through it. Moreover, the dance performed by the wizards tells the story of how to find the evil goat with the help of the golden monkey.
Dancing on sheepskin drums is a "patent" for wizards. In addition to beating the sheepskin drum and dancing "Golden Monkey Looking for Evil Goat" when offering sacrifices to ancestors, we must appreciate the charm of "sheepskin inspiration", which belongs to "braz" in Muka Township, Lixian County in the upper reaches of Suomo River.
braz, a sheepskin inspiration in Muka Township, which is famous in Fiona Fang, also belongs to the category of "witch dance". It must be performed by a wizard who really masters sixteen volumes of scriptures and all French skills, has certain knowledge of medicine and astrology, and can preside over traditional sacrificial ceremonies. This kind of wizard is called "Shibi" by the local Qiang people.
If all the families in Qiangzhai want to "petition", "wish" or drive away ghosts and epidemics, they should hire "Shibi" to dance like sheep to inspire braz. The number and scale of wizards depend on the economic ability of each family. Among all kinds of rituals performed by Shibi, the sheepskin drumming is an indispensable instrument, and it is also the only accompaniment instrument when Shibi dances braz. The two most famous "Shibi" in Muka Township, Lixian County are not only brothers, but also the beautiful dance and elegant charm of braz, which is second to none in the local area.
I saw two people dressed in lake blue right-lapped robes, white linen pleated skirts around their waists, and "Shibi" wrapped around their heads, dancing lightly with the thumping of sheepskin and drums. During the whole dance process, they looked as if they were in no one's business, and their dances were light, elegant, vigorous and calm. When the two danced together, Zhang Chi was orderly, like flowing water; In the opposite dance, it is graceful, like a butterfly flying together. All the dances performed complex and changeable movements such as "holding the drum around the head", "bending the legs and turning left and right" and "swinging the hips" continuously with the knees constantly shaking. Their clean movements are accelerated with the rhythm of sheepskin drums without any discretion. The harmony and perfection of the dance, the accuracy of one stroke and one style, and the simple, unpretentious and inner charm that run through it can't help but make people admire their profound foundation, which is difficult for any professional dancer to achieve and embody.