April 8 girls' day of Miao Nationality

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: April 8 girls' day of Miao Nationality

Applicant: Suining County, Hunan Province

Project No.: 984

Project No.: Ⅹ - 77

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Hunan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Suining County, Hunan Province

Protection unit: Suining Cultural Center

April 8 girls' day of Miao Nationality

Applicant: Suining County, Hunan Province

Miao April 8 girls' Day is also known as "black rice Festival" and "flower and Moon Festival". Every year on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, women in Suining County of Hunan Province and the surrounding Miao areas celebrate "April eighth girls' Day". April 8 girls' day has a long history and various forms. It integrates sacrificial activities, food customs, song and dance performances, love and marriage customs, and clothing display, showing strong national customs. The main activities during the festival include taking married women back to their mother's home, carrying brothers and sisters into the hall, offering sacrifices to ancestors, dogs and cows, eating black rice, driving vegetables, Chung Ciba, playing Dragon and lion dance, singing folk songs, blowing wood leaves, climbing vines, teasing spring cows, carrying stories, Nuo dance, dancing flowers and moon, etc. the main contents of the festival are eating black rice and offering sacrifices to female ancestors, which shows the unique customs of Miao people advocating women. The main content of singing is to praise the merits of ancestors, the love between men and women, the divine power of nature and the legend of Yang Jinhua. The gongs, cowhide drums, snake skin Qin, Lusheng, suona, tupipa, bamboo flute and Dong Xiao used in the activities are mostly made from local materials by the Miao people themselves. In addition, paper flowers, colorful lions, coir raincoats, cattle, Nuo masks, Nuo knives and other items will be used in the girls' Day activities.

April 8 girls' Day preserves a large number of Miao ancient sacrificial rites, folk customs and oral culture, showing the wisdom of the Miao people. It can play a positive role in stimulating national spirit, promoting cultural identity, enhancing national cohesion and maintaining national unity.