金秀瑶族度戒节

JINXIU YAO PEOPLE'S ADULT DAY

大瑶山环抱的金秀瑶族自治县位于广西中部。这里千峰竞秀,杜鹃成林,瑶族风情异彩纷呈:古朴的祭祖仪式、欢乐的丰收舞蹈、缠绵的香哩歌(求爱歌)、华美精细的服饰以及种种神奇独特的习俗,以其巨大的诱惑力吸引着我们。在一个春光明媚的日子,我们来到向往已久的大瑶山,观赏了独具特色的度戒节。度戒节是瑶族男子的成人礼,也是瑶族的盛大节日瑶族是我国历史悠久的少数民族,由古代“长沙武陵蛮”的一部分发展而来。由于瑶族过去没有文字,民族传统只能靠长辈言传身教,代代相传。因此,其多姿多彩的民族文化和民俗礼仪,具有浓厚的民间宗教的神秘色彩。金秀的瑶族,因其源流、信仰、习俗。

The Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, located in the Dayaoshan Mountains in central Guangxi, is the world' s Yao studies centre. Every year, the Jinxiu Yao people observe their traditional adult ceremony on March 16 by the Chinese lunar calendar, an occasion for big celebrations. On this day, the young lads of the Yaos have to go through mountains of knife edges (shang dooshan ), dive into a pan full of boiling oil( xia youguo ), sit and fall off a clay platform high enough to reach the cloud (fan yuntai), swallow chopsticks and other trials of dangers and pains. It is believed that young lads have to overcome all these difficulties before they could win the confidence and respect of the public, get married and are able to rise up to the heaven when they die. Trials of this kind requires courage, confidence and well-built constitution. The Yao people have long lived in deep mountains where they endure the primitive means of farming, the dangers of cliffs, separations of mountains and the attacks of vicious animals.The ceremony marking the grown-up of the Yaos is to reduce their life' s dangers and difficulties to various severe trials, which transmit the older generation's kind wamings and symbolize the maturity of the young: the boy is an adult now; hewill bravely carry over the burden of life, fearless of any hardships.