Song Festival (April 8, Ruiyun)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Song Festival (Ruiyun April 8)

Applicant: Fuding City, Fujian Province

Project No.: 1209

Project No.: Ⅹ - 134

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Fujian Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Fuding City, Fujian Province

Protection unit: Fuding she Culture Promotion Association

About the Song Festival (April 8, Ruiyun)

Applicant: Fuding City, Fujian Province

Ruiyun April 8 Song Festival is one of the important festivals of She people in Ruiyun she village, Xiamen she Township, Fuding City, Fujian Province. Ruiyun is home to the She people with the surnames of LAN, Lei, Zhong, Li and so on. Every year on the eighth of April of the lunar calendar, she singers show the traditional singing customs of the local she people through "Song Contest", "huotouwang" and other unique ethnic activities.

The venue is getting bigger and bigger, and the competition is all night long. During the festival, there were singers singing in the "wild", that is, in the green bamboo forest, tea fields, streams, small rivers and fields, and also at their own door. There were three or five or six or seven group singers. Most of Ruiyun's songs are improvised on the spot. They are composed and sung with profound meaning. They are called "San Tiao". Ruiyun she's songs are rich in content and various in forms, mainly including love songs, Life songs, labor songs, political songs and miscellaneous songs. In the continuous singing and creation, the connotation of she songs has been further explored and developed. In addition, the new way of life has also been brought into the singing competition. She singers can also use mobile phones to sing to each other, shortening the distance between time and space.

Ruiyun she people's "fire head prosperous" is like their "Carnival", bonfire burning in the wilderness, young men and women singing and dancing, full of enthusiasm and joy.

After a long period of life practice, Ruiyun she people's "April 8" has been given new content. For example, she farmers cherish and protect their cattle. On "April 8", the cattle are no longer allowed to go to the fields, and no whipping is allowed. They should have a good rest, and prepare "cow wine" for cattle food, which is called "love cattle day", also known as "cow rest day", and there is a proverb "cow rest April 8, people rest may day". On this day, she's family will cook she's meals and set up a banquet for their relatives and friends, which is called "April 8". Among them, "Niujiao zongzi" is the most distinctive food of She nationality. It is steamed with glutinous rice wrapped in green leaves of she mountain. It is fragrant and thick, and is named after Niujiao.

Ruiyun "April 8" Song Festival is an important part of she traditional culture. Through oral transmission from generation to generation, some folk songs are handed down by hand in the way of recording she language in Chinese characters. The music of she songs is beautiful and moving, and its literary value and artistic value are very high, which is also of great significance to the study of local she history.