Luocheng Mulao Zoupo Festival

Guangxi
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Zoupo Festival is a traditional festival of the Mulao people. As early as the Qing Dynasty, people held it in the first and eighth months of the lunar calendar every year, and the festival lasted for three to five days. Whenever the festival comes, the Mulao people will go together, gather on the beautiful hillsides to sing folk songs, make friends with songs, express feelings with songs, and use songs as a medium to talk about love. There are dozens of people, hundreds of people, and thousands of people. Some are old lovers (old classmates); some are young people who have never met; there are also old people and children who come to watch the fun. At the foot of the mountain, on the slope, by the water, and by the road, groups of men and women sing folk songs to each other, and men and women sing and answer each other, which is very lively and fun. The elderly like to sing "Gu Tiao" with the elderly, and the middle-aged and young people like to sing love songs. As they sing, they get closer and closer, and the young people who are interested sing together, some shoulder to shoulder, and some back to back. So the man and woman would give each other tokens of love, usually a bracelet from the man and a handkerchief from the woman. At this time, the woman would secretly observe how long the young man's feet were, so that she could sew soft-soled cloth shoes that fit the young man's feet when she returned home. Whenever the sun was setting, the young man would send the woman to her village with her consent. If the young woman was unwilling to let the man send her off, it meant that the woman was not satisfied with the man and needed to get to know him better. After the establishment of Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County in January 1984, in order to respect the will of the ethnic group, it was decided to designate the Mid-Autumn Festival as the "Zoupo Festival" of the Mulao people. Since then, on this day every year, Mulao men and women not only sing on the slope according to traditional customs, but the relevant government departments also organized the masses, built a singing stage, and invited singers from all over the country to hold singing competitions, adding new activities to the Zoupo Festival. During the festival, there were also dragon and lion dances, art performances, cockfighting, and firecracker grabbing activities. Origin of Zou Po Festival The reason why the Mulao people call this festival "Zou Po Festival" is that it is not only held on the flat land beside Longtan, but also in the shade of the nearby hillsides, where groups of young people can be seen singing and expressing their feelings. Because it is the day for young people to find their lifelong partners, it is also called "Hou Sheng Festival" (young men). Beside the gurgling stream, beside the stones, and under the thick shade of the trees, the beautiful and moving singing of young men resounds through the mountains and valleys. The scenery is beautiful and the people are even more beautiful. This scene is refreshing and makes people linger. The Mulao people are very polite when singing and expressing their feelings on the slope, respect each other, and treat each other with sincerity, which shows the simple and kind spirit of the Mulao people. The main activity "Zou Po Festival" is mostly held during the slack seasons of spring and autumn. The spring Zou Po Festival is held during the period from the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, and the autumn Zou Po Festival is held during a market period before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival. There is a custom in ancient times for walking on the slope. There is no need to issue notices or announcements. The date and place of the slope meeting are already known to the masses. It is said that the largest slope field is Huayuan Cave at the junction of Dongmen, Qiaotou and Xiaochang'an Townships and Xinyin Slope beside Longtan in Siba Township. At that time, young men and women dressed in festive costumes, women were gorgeous and men were handsome and generous, and they gathered in groups from various villages and villages to the slope field. They sang songs to express their feelings, sang and answered each other, and there were invitation songs and questioning songs to enhance mutual understanding. If the man and woman are in love, they will sing "love songs" to express their love; if the feelings between the two deepen further, they will sing "initial song" to express their initial recognition of the other party as their ideal person. At the end of the singing competition, they sing "Farewell Song" and "Meeting Song" to express the young lovers' reluctance to part and their hope to meet again. They also give each other tokens of love. The man gives the woman mooncakes called "same year cakes", and the woman gives the man shoes of the same year, also called "mandarin duck shoes", which means to be in pairs and to be together. For example, man: On August 15th, the moon is reunited, and my brother gives me mooncakes to show our marriage; for us to be a couple, the gift is small but the love is heavy, so please don't mind it. Woman: My love is mine, and my heart is blooming when I receive the mooncakes; in August, the brother gives me mooncakes on Mid-Autumn Festival, and in September, the sister gives me shoes. This song not only expresses the wish of giving gifts to seal the relationship, but also stipulates the date of the next meeting. When walking on the slope again, the party that arrives first sings the "waiting song", followed by the "reunion song", the "twin song" to test the other party's sincerity and express eternal love, the "flower praise song" to praise each other, the "song of missing each other" to express the longing for marriage and the yearning for a happy life after separation, the "living together song" and the "counting day song" and "separation song" to express the desire for marriage and the yearning for a happy life after marriage. After many dates and meetings, the two sides convey their feelings through songs and get to know each other, but they still cannot get married privately, because according to the custom, they must get the consent of both parents and the matchmaking of the "old man under the moon" before they can become "good friends". Mulao girls start learning to make shoes for the same year when they are teenagers. When they grow up and are ready to "walk on the slope" to find their ideal person, they quietly make shoes behind closed doors, sewing their pure feelings, hard work, wisdom and exquisite craftsmanship on the shoes one stitch at a time. In the "Zoupo" field, if a girl likes a boy, she will first express her feelings through songs, and when both sides are in love, she will give him the same year shoes to show her deep affection for him. Therefore, the craftsmanship of the same year shoes is also one of the conditions for the boy to choose a partner.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

China tourist attractions related to the heritage