Mulao New Year is an important traditional ethnic festival of the Mulao people in Majiang County. The Majiang Mulao people are mainly distributed in Jidong Village, Wengpao Village, Wengchang Village, Langya Village, Zhongzhai Village, etc. in Majiang County. Most of the villages where the Mulao people live have the custom of celebrating the Mulao New Year. Majiang County is located in the hinterland of Qianzhong, the eastern part of Guizhou, and the upper reaches of Qingshui River. The terrain of the county is high in the southwest and low in the northeast. It is located in the slope area where the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau transitions to the Hunan-Guangxi hills. Low mountains, low-middle mountains, hills and river valley basins account for 78.4% of the total area of the county. The county has a subtropical monsoon humid climate, with no extreme heat in summer, no severe cold in winter, and abundant rainfall. Majiang Mulao was originally called "Mulao" and was approved by the Provincial People's Government in February 1992 to be recognized as Mulao. The name of Mulao was first recorded in the "New History of Yuan Dynasty" by the Mulou Miao. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, historical books often referred to them as "Mulao", "Mulao Miao" and "Mulao". The Mulao New Year is set on the first rabbit day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar every year. According to legend, there are two meanings: first, the Mulao people admire the purity of rabbits. Their ancestors used rabbits as engagement gifts. The wedding day happened to be the first rabbit day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar. Therefore, celebrating the New Year on this day means paying tribute to ancestors and inheriting traditions; second, the autumn harvest ends in September, and celebrating the New Year in October means celebrating the harvest and thanking ancestors for their blessings. The Mulao people also regard the "Mulao New Year" as an auspicious day. Many Mulao weddings are held on this day without asking a fortune teller to choose a date. During the New Year, the Mulao people make glutinous rice cakes, brew wine, kill chickens and ducks, open fields and catch fish. Several villages hold some traditional sports competitions together, such as horse racing, singing, and bird fighting. In ancient times, almost every household would kill a pig. It was equivalent to the Spring Festival of the Han nationality. Men, women, old and young wore new clothes, set off firecrackers, and cleaned up the front and back of the house. The village would organize the washing of wells, etc. "Bao Zhai" is also called "Sweeping the Village". It is an important activity in the middle of the year for the Mulao people. Since most of the Mulao people live in wooden houses, the firewood will dry in winter, which is easy to cause fires. Fire safety is particularly important, so "Bao Zhai" is not only an activity to drive away evil spirits, but also a fire safety education for people. Therefore, on the night before the Mulao Festival, every household must put out all the fires in their homes, and then take fire after the "Bao Zhai". "Bao Zhai" is carried out by a ghost master and five apprentices. First, a colorful flag with a divine symbol painted on it is inserted at each entrance of the village, which means to prevent evil spirits from entering. Then, outside the gate of a house in the village, chickens are killed to sacrifice to the gods, incense is burned and candles are lit, and the exorcism of ghosts is chanted. Then, the ghost master and his party brought a boat made of reed grass with a duck tied on it, as well as gongs and cymbals, to drive away evil spirits from house to house and check the fire prevention situation. A bowl of water had been placed in front of each house. After the ghost master finished sweeping the house, he would pour the bowl of water on the ground, and the bowl would be turned upside down on the ground, which meant that the evil fire had been extinguished. Finally, the ghost master and his party came to a three-way intersection next to the village, burned incense and candles, burned the straw boat, and killed the duck. At this time, all households in the village came here to get new fire. The ghost master and his party cooked duck porridge here and ate it. The village protection ended. As a traditional ethnic festival of the Mulao people, the Mulao New Year is basically held spontaneously in all villages where the Mulao people live. Each village has several recognized organizers, most of whom are respected elders and ghost masters in the village, with 56 people in each village. As a traditional festival of the Mulao people, the Mulao New Year carries a lot of historical and cultural information of the ethnic group. From all the activities related to the festival, we can see the typical characteristics of the Mulao people as a farming ethnic group in the southern mountainous area. The most important ceremony of the Mulao New Year is "beating the village to protect the village", and the purpose of "beating the village to protect the village" is not only to drive away evil spirits, but also to promote fire prevention and improve people's fire awareness. At the same time, due to historical reasons, there are few historical texts in this area. In the long-term development of the Mulao New Year, the activities it contains have formed their own unique fixed pattern. The Mulao people are also an indigenous ethnic group that lived in this area earlier, so studying the Mulao history and culture plays an irreplaceable and important role in studying the history and culture of this area. Due to the migration of the Han people in the late Ming Dynasty and the influence of Han culture, the Mulao people began to celebrate the Spring Festival as a festival, but at the beginning, they just celebrated it casually without killing pigs or making cakes. In the Qing Dynasty, as Han culture rose in status in the Mulao society, the atmosphere of celebrating the Spring Festival became stronger and stronger among the Mulao people. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a trend to make the Spring Festival the most important festival. Rich families slaughtered two pigs a year (one each for the Mulao New Year and the Spring Festival), while families with less conditions or who thought it was unnecessary to slaughter two pigs began to save the New Year pig for the Spring Festival, and only bought meat for the Mulao New Year. In the 20th century, the Mulao New Year was still celebrated as a traditional festival, but the atmosphere in some villages became weaker and weaker, and even completely gave way to the Spring Festival. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)