The origin of Flower Festival Flower Festival

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the flower picking festival in Tibetan areas, also known as "Daughter's Day", is a traditional Tibetan festival in Nanping County, Apollo.

Flower picking festival

Held for two days. Flower picking festival is a festival with national characteristics. It can be roughly divided into three parts: "grabbing water", "picking flowers" and "praying for blessings", among which "picking flowers" and "praying for blessings" are combined with national songs and dances. The festival kicked off with the activity of "grabbing water". On the first day of the festival, people rushed to the nearby mountains to grab the spring water. After grabbing the water, some hold it and some carry it home to wash their hair and clean themselves. Then, the parents of each family dressed up their children, met other girls accompanied by their brothers, and walked to Huadu, dozens of miles away, singing songs all the way. When they came to the flower picking point, they put in new wooden knives, arrows, axes and so on. When cooking in a pot. This is to protect their revered flower god, so that he can always bless his hometown with good weather and safe people and animals. After picking flowers, girls and boys walked hand in hand, singing folk songs to see the beautiful mountain scenery and picking all kinds of gorgeous flowers until the girls were full of flowers. At night, everyone sang and danced around the bonfire and stayed up all night.

At dawn the next day, the flower picking girls and boys arranged the garlands on their heads, sang "Farewell Song", left Huacaiping and headed for the village. When they arrived at Apollo Bridge not far from the village, the villagers who had been waiting there greeted them with bamboo. Three middle-aged female singers selected by the villagers held a little dragon bowl full of wine and presented it to the flower pickers while singing. Flower girl holding wine, singing wine songs. According to the custom, three toasting women will ask the girls some questions about picking flowers on the mountain in the form of singing at the bridge. After the flower picking girls answer one by one, they will let the flower picking girls cross the bridge and return to the village. People crowded the flower picking girls into the threshing floor, and everyone held hands and formed a big circle. With the heroine ringing the bell and dancing in a circle with national style, the blessing activity began. People are singing and dancing, hoping for good luck. In this festival, flower picking girls are regarded as messengers of good luck and happiness. So people always like to invite them to their homes on this day, and girls dance and sing in these people's homes, wishing their owners good luck and happiness.

One legend is that ...

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Traditional Tibetan festivals in Apollo, Nanping County. It is held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year for two days. Legend has it that long ago, Apollo was a remote valley. People gather and hunt for a living, and make clothes out of leaves and skins. One day, a girl named Lian Zhi came from far away. She is beautiful, kind and intelligent. She taught the local people to farm, weave, sew clothes, and collect lilies to treat others. One year, on the fifth day of May, Lianzhi went up the mountain to collect flowers and was swept down the cliff by the nickel wind and died. People are very sad, so they go up the mountain to pick flowers on this day to commemorate her. Over time, the flower picking festival was formed.

Flower picking festival

Legend has it that a long time ago, there were six girls in a poor family in Apollo Shanzhai. One year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the little girl was injured when she went up the mountain to collect medicine. A girl named Dama saved her and took her home. Aunt is good at singing and dancing, ingenious and noble in quality. She led her six sisters all over the mountains and rivers in Apollo, collecting medicines for treating folk injuries. After Dama's death, the six sisters followed her example and continued to alleviate the suffering of the local villagers. After her death, the six sisters and Dama were buried together in a nearby mountain full of flowers. In memory of my aunt and her six sisters, the local people call the seven mountains in Apollo "Seven Sisters Mountain". In order to commemorate them, young people will go up the mountain to sweep Seven Sisters's grave together on the auspicious Dragon Boat Festival and bring auspicious flowers home. Slowly, "Flower Festival" has become a unique way for Apollo people to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

It is said that a long time ago, there lived an old couple in a Zhuangzi in Bo Valley. They have six daughters, their families are poor and their lives are difficult. One day in early summer, according to the rules, the youngest six sisters went up the mountain to collect flowers and herbs to treat their families. Because she accidentally fell from the mountain and hurt her legs and feet, Sixth Sister was in unbearable pain and cried sadly. At this time, a fairy-like girl came down from the hillside, took out herbs from the basket and applied them to the wounds of six girls, which soon stopped the pain. In order to thank the girl, the old couple accepted the girl named "Aunt" who had no parents and recognized her as their seventh daughter.

Flower picking festival

Aunt and girl are good at singing and dancing, ingenious and noble in quality. Serve parents every day, spin and weave, and sow in the fields. She is diligent and quick, and her "Tajiu" ribbons are colorful and unparalleled. Aunt led six sisters to travel all over the mountains and rivers in Apollo, picking flowers and planting grass, prescribing prescriptions, and cured many diseases. People in the rural areas love this aunt and girl infinitely. One day, Qi Mei went up the mountain to collect herbs. Suddenly, there was a strong wind, dark clouds rolled, thunderstorm and heavy rain poured down, and the earth was frightened. Seven Sisters was swept up by the strong wind and hit rolling in the deep hard. ...

In order to always remember this aunt and girl who has the courage to heal the wounded and rescue the dying for the villagers, the people of Apollo climbed cliffs and waded, picked flowers and grass, planted trees and collected herbs, and greeted Seven Sisters's auspicious soul with songs and dances in the summer when the mountains and flowers were blooming. With the passage of time, it has become a custom festival for the people of Apollo.

Legends are legends after all. As far as the current flower picking festival is concerned, it is more about the romantic feelings of the Tibetan people and their incomparable love for life. Flower picking festival is a festival with national characteristics. It can be roughly divided into three parts: "grabbing water", "picking flowers" and "praying for blessings", among which "picking flowers" and "praying for blessings" are combined with national songs and dances. The festival kicked off with the activity of "grabbing water".

national costume

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Apollo is a township in Zhouqu County, gannan county City, Gansu Province. Located in Qinling Mountains, Minshan Mountain runs through the whole territory in a southeast-northwest direction. The terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. The Bailong River Valley is more than1.200m above sea level, and the peaks on the north and south sides can reach more than 4000m, of which Yangbuguo is 4213m above sea level and Qingshan Liang is 4504m above sea level. The first impression is that the mountains overlap and the mountains are high and the valleys are deep. The terrain here is complex, the height difference is wide, and the climate is changeable. Known as "one mountain with four seasons, ten miles of different days". There are more than 300 kinds of wild plants/kloc-0, more than 50 kinds of rare tree species, and more than 30 kinds of national first-class protected animals such as giant panda, golden monkey and Sumen antelope. This is really a treasure house. On the fifth day of May, girls dressed in their own national costumes and dressed as fairies filled the streets and lanes of Apollo Village overnight, which was dazzling and dazzling.

Flower picking festival

The terrain here is complex, the height difference is wide, and the climate is changeable. Known as "one mountain with four seasons, ten miles of different days". There are more than 300 kinds of wild plants/kloc-0, more than 50 kinds of rare tree species, and more than 30 kinds of national first-class protected animals such as giant panda, golden monkey and Sumen antelope. This is really a treasure house. On the fifth day of May, girls dressed in their own national costumes and dressed as fairies filled the streets and lanes of Apollo Village overnight, which was dazzling and dazzling.

Er Yu is the landlord's baby daughter, 18 years old, and looks as beautiful as aunt Hua. Today, she will pick flowers with Lizi's sisters. Mother prepared clothes for this day long ago and has put them in the cupboard for many years. After getting up, her mother and relatives and friends dressed her. Fortunately, I witnessed and recorded the whole process: First of all, I put a square black cloth handkerchief layered with ribbons on Miss Er Yu's head and named it "Xiqin". It is 3 meters long and 70 centimeters wide, folded into a nine-layer square cloth block with a size of about 35×36 centimeters, and wrapped and pressed from the head with a white woven ribbon, which looks like a tile and has a unique style. The headdress is a "broken braid" hairstyle. Long hair is combed into dozens of fine braids, followed by more than 300 braids made of pure black cattle wool, which is 4 meters long. Then twist the braid into the shape of "yak tail" and insert the tip in the waist belt, so that the waist will rise, but it looks good. This dress is unique and beautiful. She is wearing a white shirt, with a square pocket with a side length of 60 cm on her chest, and a black cloth around her neck in the upper corner, decorated with red beads with a width of 22 cm. Outside is a collarless blue long-sleeved double-breasted robe. The cuffs are wide, about 30 cm, and the edges are inlaid with peony, peony and other flower patterns. The robe is covered with a scarlet or blue lace satin waistcoat, with a red ribbon and a plaid ribbon on the white cloth, and a bunch of 30cm-long red tassels with jade beads on each crotch. Wear a silver plate with a diameter of 26 cm on the chest, named "Oudou", with auspicious patterns of eight treasures on it. Wearing red or purple trousers and red cloth shoes. Finally, wear white leggings below the knee, even if you are wearing holiday clothes.

The most intoxicating thing is Judy's big braid composed of 300 braids. It is 4 meters long, dark and thick, just like a black waterfall, which is particularly charming. According to the survey, I'm sure this black waterfall hairstyle is very rare in China and even in the world.

Festival custom

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The festival began on the morning of the fourth day of May. On this day, young men and women in fifteen villages in the town, carrying backpacks filled with rich food and highland barley wine, went into the depths of the jungle to pick the blooming loquat flowers (Du Juanhua). This is of course the time for young men and women kisses and hugs to indulge in love. In the evening, the flower pickers who came home happily came back from the winding forest path with a car full of flowers on their heads, flowers in their hands and all kinds of flowers in their backpacks. At this time, the entrance of the village was crowded with people, scrambling to take the flower pickers home to sing. It is said that whoever receives the flowers picked today will receive happiness and good luck.

Flower picking festival

The real festival is on the fifth day of May. On this day, Tibetan girls from eight neighboring villages dressed up for a trip. They wear colorful hand-woven embroidered skirts, shiny silver plates hanging on their chests, and flowers on their heads, dressed more beautifully than flowers; Boys also put on holiday clothes and flocked to the square by the Apollo River in groups. Old people respect Hada and toast each other; The boys and aunts danced and danced to their hearts' content, and the children chased and played happily. The whole Po River is full of fragrance until sunset, and sometimes a bonfire is lit to enjoy the next morning.

In this festival, flower picking girls are regarded as messengers of good luck and happiness. Therefore, people always like to invite them to their homes on this day, and girls dance and sing in these people's homes, wishing their owners good luck and happiness.

Every year, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, a grand and cheerful flower-picking festival is held in the Tibetan area of Apollo in the Bailong River valley at the southern end of Gansu. The flower picking festival in Tibetan areas of Apollo has a history of hundreds of years. This is also a traditional folk festival dedicated to nature and offering sacrifices to mountain gods.

The flower picking festival kicked off with "grabbing water". Before sunrise on the first day of the festival, people ran to the nearby mountain spring to grab the spring water. Some of them drink water by hand, and some go home with water to wash their hair and body. According to legend, drinking mountain springs before sunrise on this day can eliminate disasters and diseases, and bathing can bring good luck to people.

Flower picking festival

After the "water grab", parents dressed their daughter perfectly. Apollo Tibetan area is called "Xishuangbanna" in Gansu, with beautiful scenery. Most collectors' daughters are beautiful and all dressed beautifully. On the festival day, they folded several layers of new blue headscarves on their heads and wrapped them with colorful ribbons; Wide-sleeved floral skirts, layered and exposed, up to seven layers; Wearing a corset made of red coral on the chest and an agate silver plate as big as a soup box; She wears silver earrings on her ears, combs her hair into dozens of thin braids, wears red silk trousers, and wraps white "foot-binding cloth" and embroidered shoes on her legs.

When the sun rose, the villagers dressed up and came to Zhaikou to see off the girls who went up the mountain. During the festival, young wives who have married far away will go back to their parents' home, accompanied by brothers and sisters to pick flowers in the mountains, and girls without brothers can be accompanied by cousins. At Zhaikou, the girls who went up the mountain first sang "Farewell Song" to the effect that "Flower God" was calling, so we went to Huashan to collect flowers and offer our relatives. The masses also sang songs, blew suona, set off firecrackers and sent them out of the village ... On the way, when crossing the small bridge to Huashan, the girls also sang a question and answer about mountain flowers and sang "Folk Songs". Generally speaking, the place where flowers are picked is on the highest and most famous "Cierkan" mountain in this area. After crossing the mountains and entering Huashan Mountain, where flowers are in full bloom, the girls cook in pots. The boys come to the place where the mountain peaks worship the "Flower God" and insert new wooden knives, axes and arrows symbolizing the protection of the "Flower God" to pray for the "Flower God" to bless the good weather, the prosperity of people and animals and the bumper harvest of crops. In Tibetan areas of Apollo, where the climate is warm and humid, "Flower God" acts as the "protector" of villages and tribes.

Flower picking festival

After the sacrifice, flowers were picked. Girls and boys walked hand in hand, singing the songs of the goddess of flowers and walking to the flowers all over the mountains, picking white loquat flowers, red azaleas, pink Malanhua flowers and red peony flowers … until these beautiful flowers were full of girls' braids. At this time, the boys drank and sang, climbed the cliff, broke off cedar branches, wild vegetables and herbs, and filled their backpacks ... At night, people ate, danced and sang around the bonfire, often all night.

The next day, when the East turned white, the young people who had played all night ate their last meal, arranged garlands on their heads, picked up tents, herbs and cedar branches, and sang "Farewell Song" to the mountain gods. People went down the mountain with the songs. When the downhill team passes the bridge in the village, they will meet the villagers who have been waiting here for a long time. On the bridge, three middle-aged women with outstanding singing voices selected from the village, holding dragon bowls, toasted the flower picking girl while singing and raised their glasses to welcome them.

Flower picking festival

The flower picker took the wine, drank it, and answered it with "thanks for drinking", and also answered various philosophical questions raised by three women with songs.

After the villagers gathered the flower-picking girls on the threshing floor, everyone joined hands and formed a circle, and danced the local unique "Lolo Dance". At the front of the circle, the girl who leads the dance is guided by a string of bells, and the dancing crowd is changing the formation and dance steps according to the different rhythm of her string of bells ... The flower picking festival is a festival for the flower god and a grand event for her daughter. People pray for happiness and good luck in the sea of flowers and songs. [ 1]

Flower picking festival

Tibetan "Flower-picking Festival"

Every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Tibetan people living in Apollo Shanzhai, a mountainous area in Longnan, Northwest Plateau, celebrate their own traditional festival-the "Flower-picking Festival" which has been circulating in the local area for more than 500 years. According to the old man, a long time ago, Apollo was poor and people's lives were very difficult. One day, a young man named Zhahai came. His wisdom is as bright and clear as a spring, and his moral character is as lofty as a snowy mountain. He enthusiastically teaches local people to cultivate the land and often forecasts the observed meteorological changes to people. With his help, people lived a well-fed and happy life.

When the king knew it, he asked him to go to the palace to serve the king, but the young man refused. The king will kill him. In an emergency, a girl named Dama came up with a clever plan: let Zhahai change into the girl's clothes, and under the cover of girls singing and picking flowers on the mountain, she escaped the investigation and fled into the deep mountains. Later, Aunt and Zhahai became happy partners. However, it didn't last long and was finally killed by the king. Because the day they were killed was the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. So every day, girls and boys come here to pick flowers, dance, sing and hold grand commemorative activities, which are passed down from generation to generation.

Flower picking festival

On this day, people will wash their faces, wash their hair and dress up with the spring water before sunrise. Accompanied by the young man, they will walk along the narrow path, cross-examine each other and sing "folk songs". When they came to the "flower sea" of various colors and offered sacrifices to the "flower god", they began to pick flowers everywhere and sang "flower picking songs" happily. The girls also put white loquat flowers all over their bodies. At dusk, they sat around the campfire, ate a delicious picnic, sang and danced heartily, and spent a happy night with the moon.

At dawn the next day, loaded with flowers and cedar branches symbolizing happiness and joy, they began to set foot on their way home. Several venerable elders have been waiting at the foot of the mountain. The old people prepared a bowl of highland barley wine for each flower picking team, wishing them a safe return. The happy crowd welcomed the flower girl into the village. In the sound of gongs and drums and firecrackers, the girls stepped on the bells, danced a "circle dance" with rich national characteristics, and began a blessing activity. Finally, the flower picking girl will distribute the flowers to the married families and wish the newlyweds a happy life; May their children be as hardworking and brave as Zhahai and as smart and beautiful as their aunts.

Flower picking festival

On the first morning of the cave flower-picking festival, my father announced to the whole family: "Today we are going to the flower-picking cave in Pu 'an to attend the flower-picking festival! "After driving for nearly three hours, we arrived at Qingshan Town, Pu 'an County. An acquaintance of my father took us to a winding path beside the highway. People in the same trade told us that the ethnic minorities in this area usually celebrate the Flower Festival in a place called Shiqiaohe, where there are several caves called flower-picking caves, and the Flower-picking Festival is also called flower-picking slope. It turned out to be an annual festival for Miao people in Pu 'an and Qinglong. Every year from the first day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, local young people will come from all directions with musical instruments such as Lusheng and Xiao Di, and gather at the junction of Pu 'an and Panxian to pick flowers.

After nearly half an hour of turbulence, there is a big cave on the nearest mountainside, which is the largest flower-picking cave nearby, so it is also the most lively cave in the annual flower-picking festival. At most, nearly a thousand people came to "travel".

By about 1 in the afternoon, hundreds of people had gathered in the flower-picking cave. The girls put on their best clothes and whispered to their partners about their young men who stole a look at them in the distance. The young man over there, egged on by other students, bought snacks from vendors and invited the girl in the picture to dinner with a red face. As long as the girl took it, the crowd cheered. There are also people who like singing and dancing, and they don't miss this opportunity to show. As long as someone starts, whether it is a folk song or a popular song at the moment, people will sing and dance in response ... At four or five o'clock in the afternoon, girls and boys are reluctant to go. Every young person attending the rally must have colorful and sweet dreams.

Flower picking festival

Apollo Township, Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture held the Baima Tibetan Flower Picking Festival. Every year from the fourth day to the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Baima Tibetans living here will hold a "flower picking festival" to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. This custom has been handed down from generation to generation and still retains its original style. Apollo Township is located at the junction of Gansu and Sichuan, just across a mountain from Jiuzhaigou, a famous tourist resort.

The "Flower Festival" lasts for two days at a time. In the early morning of the fourth day, the boys in the seven shanzhai in Apollo Township were all dressed up neatly with beautiful broadswords. The girls wore heavy make-up and gorgeous clothes, carrying pot pulp. After praying for the "Seven Sisters Mountain" in the north, they started singing and dancing and headed for this mountain.

Song and dance "recess" will be held every once in a while along the way, which is a good opportunity for girls and boys to show their voices and sing songs of blessing for relatives, friends and lovers. Singing all the way, when we reached the "Seven Sisters Mountain", it was near evening, people lit bonfires on the mountain, and girls and boys danced hand in hand until dawn. At noon the next day, the girls dressed themselves up with flowers on their heads, braids, arms and backs, and then began to go down the mountain. On the way down the mountain, the song and dance "Rest" was held as usual. At the entrance of the village, the waiting old man stopped the flower girl from singing and toasting, and then the whole village came to the village open space to dance, sing and toast with the whole village, wishing each other a bumper harvest and prosperity.

Baima Tibetan, formerly known as Baima Fanren, is a descendant of Gudi nationality. After the founding of New China, they were regarded as a branch of Tibetans and called "White Horse Tibetans", but their culture, religion and customs were different from those of Tibetans: they had their own language, but they used Chinese characters; Men, women and children can sing and dance and farm for generations; Men and women wear braids, long felt hats with white domes, white tails and double-breasted robes, and their costumes are very different from those of other ethnic groups. Apollo Township in Zhouqu County is an important inhabited area of Baima Tibetans, and more than 4,000 people in the township are Baima Tibetans.

After Dama's death, the six sisters followed her example and continued to alleviate the suffering of the local villagers. After the death of Sixth Sister, the "Flower Party" with Dama was a grand gathering of Baima Tibetans in Apollo. There is a beautiful legend about the origin of this custom: a long time ago, there were six girls in a poor family in Boshan Village. One year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the little girl was injured when she went up the mountain to collect medicine. She was rescued by a girl named Aunt and took her home.

Flower picking festival

After Dama's death, the six sisters followed her example and continued to alleviate the suffering of the local villagers. After her death, the six sisters and Dama were buried together in a nearby mountain full of flowers. In memory of my aunt and six sisters, the local people call the seven mountains in Apollo "Seven Sisters Mountain". In order to commemorate them, young people will go up the mountain to sweep Seven Sisters's grave together on the auspicious Dragon Boat Festival and bring auspicious flowers home. Slowly, "Flower Festival" has become a unique way for Apollo people to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. As a unique folk custom, the "Flower Festival" has gradually attracted a lot of attention, and many scholars and tourists come to watch the Dragon Boat Festival every year. The original "Flower-picking Festival" was spontaneously organized by the villagers in each village. Every three years, the township government comes forward to unite the villages and organize a large-scale "flower picking festival". Nowadays, "Flower-picking Festival" has become a folk activity integrating culture, economy, tourism, sports, religion and folk customs.

Grab water: On the first day of the flower picking festival, people go to the nearby mountain springs to drink water with their hands, or fetch water to wash their hair and bodies. Legend has it that on the day of the festival, the water in the mountain spring can eliminate disasters and diseases and bring good luck to people.

Flower picking festival

After the water grab, people began to prepare to go up the mountain to pick flowers the next day. Parents dress up their daughters carefully, and the beautiful Tibetan girl is as beautiful as a fairy. When the sun rose the next day, people saw off the girls who went up the mountain. The girls sang "Farewell Song" and headed for the mountain under the leadership of the team leader. The atmosphere on the road was lively, and everyone asked questions in the form of singing or singing "Song of the Mountain". On the ridge of thorns, the girls cook in pots, and the men put wooden knives, axes and arrows in the place where they worship the flower god, praying that the flower god will bless the good weather and abundant crops. After the sacrifice, flowers were picked. The girl and the boy walked to the flowers together, collected them and put them in the girl's braid. The next day, people on the mountain sang "Parting Song". After going down the mountain, the villagers in the village have been waiting there. The welcoming women are singing "A toast" while toasting, and welcome the girls who go up the mountain to pick flowers. The girls sang the Song of Toast. People dance the local rollo dance together to celebrate the festival.

Engels said: The production of human society "on the one hand is the means of subsistence, that is, food, clothing, housing and labor necessary for this."

Furniture production; On the other hand, it is human production, that is, the reproduction of species. "The reproduction of human race, on the one hand, is to strengthen the development of individual life, so that it can be protected and continued, on the other hand, it is the reproduction and strength of the group. Ancient humans not only relied on worshipping some natural forces to protect individual lives, but also relied on worshipping some natural forces to seek racial reproduction. Tibetans have been living on the plateau between the peaks of lack of oxygen and snow. The harsh natural environment forces them to have a strong demand for the increase of reproductive population, which is reflected in the ideological field, such as the worship of white stone, sacred lake, sacred mountain and sacred arrow, all of which are examples of reproductive culture. Among them, the flower picking festival and flower viewing festival in Tibetan festival culture are the living history of reproductive cultural beliefs with flowers as metaphors.

In literature, especially in folk literature, "flower" is closely related to women, not only in Tibetans, but also in all ethnic groups in the world. In some folk argot, it often refers to female sex organs, which was later absorbed by literati and found in popular literature.

Festivals focusing on "flowers"

Flower picking festival

Flower-picking Festival is a traditional festival for Tibetans in Apollo. Tibetans in Apollo live in the area where Deng Qiang lived in ancient times. Apollo, Chagang, Tieba, Arch Dam and Baleng have always been called the five arch dams, each with its own surplus staff, and they are typical forest tribes who do not intermarry with the outside world. After the Jin Dynasty, these five departments belonged to Yanchang State and were the most basic backbone members of the Tangut Group. In the Yuan Dynasty, it belonged to thousands of soldiers and civilians in Xigu, Wei Minzhou, and it was under the jurisdiction of Zhuoniyang Tusi in the Qing Dynasty. They were designated as a branch of Tibetans in the early days of liberation.

Five Tibetans in Apollo have preserved their traditional language and customs, and the biggest festival is the flower picking festival to commemorate the "top of Homa" (monkey picking flowers) on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

The Flower-picking Festival starts from April 14, and all 15-year-old and under 30-year-old women must participate in song and dance training. On the morning of May 4th, each family sent at least one man and one woman to worship the holy mountain. School-age women who do not attend school must be severely punished. Every woman must be accompanied by a man who is a close relative, such as a brother, a cousin, a mother uncle, etc. The men gathered up the mountain with swords and guns and dry food. No flirting when going up the mountain. There are rocks, springs and people with gods everywhere. They kowtow and burn cedarwood incense and shoot guns to worship God. Girls get together to dance and sing praises to God.

At the top of the sacred mountain, women get together to sing and dance, and men get together to burn cedars. At this time, it is necessary to sacrifice their two biggest gods, the shepherd god and the mountain god who is both the ancestor god and the god of war. One of the most important songs in the lyrics is to praise how Homa (the monkey), the ancestor of this tribe, became human. At the beginning of the world, people were monkeys, just like other wild animals. But monkeys are smarter than wild animals. They can wear bark and stone deer before they become human. Who first killed deer for a living? At that time, there was no food. At first, it was hit with stones, then with wooden sticks, and then with arrows ... where did the food come from? Grain used to be grass seeds and wild fruits, but it was collected by Homa (a monkey) and turned into grain.

When offering sacrifices to the gods, feasting, singing and dancing, it is essential to sing this sacrificial theme song. Because of this, they held the most solemn ceremony to commemorate "the bottom of Homa". During the flower picking festival in Zhagang and Tieba of five Tibetans in Bo, people dressed as monkeys and dressed in bark went to every village and household to give their blessings, and people greeted them with respect and generous returns.

After the people who went up the mountain to worship the Great God in the May 4th Movement, the men and women who were related by blood were separated. All the staff spent the night on the mountain, which is not only a memory of ancient life, but also a memorial to their ancestors with practical actions. The second day is the fifth day. People get up in the morning and go down the mountain, picking flowers, singing and dancing along the way. Young men and women choose and look for lovers, and women decorate themselves with flowers they pick. At that time, the song was full of green, and the feeling overflowed the mountain spring.

When I returned to the village, the home without children "collected flowers". The flower pickers closed the door first and invited the people who stayed in the village to sing with the boys and girls who came back from picking flowers through the door. First, the flower pickers sang outside the door: "A thousand flowers are given to your family. May you have many children." People inside the door will ask some questions, such as "What's under the door?" "How is the door made?" Wait a minute. After opening the door, flower pickers will reward them with wine and food.

Then, everyone came to Zhaiba with flowers, and female dancers and male singers began to "match flowers". For example, ask which one, where bloom is, what it looks like, what color it is, and so on. At this time, men and women laughed heartily, and Tibetans in Apollo presented flowers to childless families, begging for happiness, begging for children, and praying for prosperity. This is not only because these flowers were collected by the ancestor totem Homa, but also because these flowers bear seeds and fruits, which are symbols of fertility and reproduction.

The origin of the flower picking festival

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There is also a legend about the origin of the Flower Festival.

Legend has it that a long time ago, Apollo was a remote and poor mountain village. People fill their hunger with wild vegetables and make clothes with leaves and bark. One day, a smart and beautiful girl named Lian Zhi came to the villa. She teaches people to farm, spin and weave, and pick flowers to entertain the villagers. One year in May, she went to pick flowers in Duanyang. Unfortunately, she was caught in a storm and died under a snowy flower tree. People set this day as the Flower Festival to commemorate her. From now on, on the fourth day of May every year, Tibetan girls, accompanied by their brothers, put on festive costumes and go to the mountains to pick flowers with delicious food. When the girls set out, all the men, women and children in the village sent them to the village entrance with farewell songs, wishing them a safe journey and a smooth return. The flower picking girls also expressed their determination to overcome thousands of difficulties and dangers and pick flowers for their loved ones with songs.

On the way of picking flowers, the girls questioned each other in the form of duets, which was very interesting. They walked all the way to Luge, where they picked flowers, and there was a moving scene of mountain flowers full of slopes. In the evening, people gathered around the burning bonfire and began to sing all night. At dawn the next day, the girls put flowers neatly on their heads to form a beautiful wreath. On the way back, they bid farewell to Miss Lian Zhi with a nostalgic song:

I collected hundreds of flowers and left Miss Lian Zhi behind. Bloom, we'll come back then. Green grass slopes are left to you, and bright flowers accompany you. Leave you in tears, see you today next year.

When the flower picking team entered the village, people waiting at the head of the village immediately fired their guns. Parents with novel headgear clothes, children with dry food, to meet. The flower picking team sang while walking and was sent to a hall by the whole village. People brought highland barley wine to welcome, and the girls sang and danced hand in hand to show their nostalgia for Miss Lian Zhi.

After the song and dance, the girl who went up the mountain to pick flowers began to give holiday gifts to the families in the village, and the families who received the gifts took out the best food in their own homes to entertain the girl. In the evening, the whole village invited the girl and the young man who picked flowers together to toast each other and wish them good health and good luck.