Menba traditional festivals

Menba is what Tibetans call them, meaning people who live in corner areas. Some also call themselves "pork chops" because the place where they live is called "pig's feet".

Menba people mainly live in Menjiao area, which is close to Barrow people, another ethnic minority in Tibet. In addition, in neighboring counties such as Medog, Linzhi and Cuona, some Menba people live. As of 2000, the population of Menba ethnic group was 8923.

The traditional festival of the Menba nationality is held on the first day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar every year for about five days. Before the festival, Menba people generally brew white wine, corn wine, chicken feet rice wine and highland barley wine. We should also prepare enough pork, beef and mutton, fried rice fruit and baked buckwheat cakes. Two days before New Year's Eve, every family of the Menba nationality carries out general cleaning, and it is dark before they can take out the garbage at the fork in the road, which means to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and it is auspicious all the year round. Then, draw "auspicious emblem" on the wall of the house. The first morning, I recited Auspicious Water, and the whole family put on new clothes and had a reunion dinner. Menba people generally don't go out as guests on the first day of the month. It is absolutely forbidden to sweep the floor, and don't say anything unlucky. Since the second day of junior high school, relatives and friends have officially exchanged visits. At night, bonfires were lit around the Menba village, and young men, women and children of the Menba nationality sang and danced around the bonfires until dawn. During the festival, we will get together to sing a cheerful "Sama" wine song, or bless each other, or praise the main house, livestock, farm tools and so on. There is also a masked religious dance, in which actors put on various animal masks and skins and dance with the accompaniment of gongs and drums.

Menbachake Festival is a folk agricultural festival for Menba people in Cuona County, Xizang Autonomous Region. The Tibetan calendar is held in July and August every year for three to five days. The purpose is to wish agriculture a bumper harvest.

On holidays, every Menba village will invite one or two Red Sect monks to chant Buddhist scriptures. All the Menba people in the village, men and women, old and young, will follow the lamas around the crops, and everyone will pray for good weather and no pests on the crops. During the Lama's prayer in the village, a person from the village will be sent to work in the Lama's house as a reward for his service to the villagers. Although the Menba people mainly believe in Tibetan Buddhism, there are still strong remnants of primitive religious beliefs, and Queke Festival is the manifestation of polytheism.

In the off-year of the Menba nationality, the traditional festivals of the Menba nationality in Xizang Autonomous Region, such as the disconnection between Mexico and, the Maiqiaoji Festival, the Sakvilakur Festival, the Bagasiren Festival and the Gengren Festival, are held on the Tibetan calendar 1 1 month/day every year. Because it is the off-season, it usually takes about fifteen days.

Before the festival, every family in the Menba ethnic group prepared enough roasted white wine, corn wine, chicken feet rice wine, green tree wine and pork, beef and mutton. At the same time, we should also prepare good rice, stir-fried glutinous rice flour and fruits, and bake buckwheat cakes with slate. On the first night of off-year, I clean the house inside and outside, and when the sun goes down, I dump the garbage at the fork in the road. Other customs are the same as Chinese New Year. Since the second day of junior high school, Menba people have congratulated each other on the New Year. According to the traditional custom, the Menba people should invite all the families in the village to their own homes and treat them to two drinks at noon and evening. In the evening, a fire was lit around the village, and everyone danced around it.

Menba language belongs to the Tibetan branch of Tibeto-Burman family of Sino-Tibetan language family, which actually includes two languages. One is called Medog Menba, which is popular in Medog County, Xizang Autonomous Region. The other is called Cuona Menba, which is popular in Cuona County and other areas of Xizang Autonomous Region. Monba people have no mother tongue and often use Tibetan.

Although the cultural customs of the Menba nationality are deeply influenced by Tibetan culture, they have also formed their own unique cultural traditions and customs, and the Menba nationality has its own cultural connotation in clothing.

In terms of clothing, both men and women of the Menba nationality in the border areas wear Tibetan red robes with a Chu-colored belt around their waists. Women wear fat shorts to their thighs, and a white apron is tied outside the red robe. The corners and cuffs of the coat are inlaid with blue cloth edges.

In Medog area, because of the hot weather, Menba men and women generally wear self-woven cotton and linen white jackets, and women like to wear colorful skirts, with braided hair lined with yellow, green and red lines and worn on their heads or hats. Menba men have long hair and wear earrings made of loose otolith, while women like to wear bracelets, necklaces and silver earrings made of red coral, turquoise and white glass, with "Gawu" hanging on their chests.

Menba architecture Menba villages are scattered, and dozens of villages are often divided into several settlements. The building structure is slightly different due to climate differences. The house at the corner of the door is made of stone, and the herringbone roof is covered with wooden boards and pressurized slate. Houses are generally divided into three floors: the upper floor is grass and straw; The lower level closes livestock; The middle floor is the home of this family. The houses of Menba nationality in Medog area are mainly dry fence structure, and the houses are about one meter from the ground. The herringbone roof is covered with banana leaves or wooden boards, and then covered with slate. All the doors face east, because they think the sun shines into the house when it comes out, which is a symbol of good luck.

Menba's Dietary Customs Menba's diet has distinct national characteristics. Due to geographical restrictions, the Menba people take some food made of cold-resistant crops as their staple food, and like to eat food made of chicken feet and cereal. Menba people love drinking and smoking snuff.

Buttered tea is essential every day, and a cup of homemade yogurt is also drunk in summer. Men, women and children of Menba people generally like drinking. Homemade green trees and rice wine are mostly packed in gourds and bamboo tubes. When the guests arrive, the man cooks with them, and the woman respects them. Guests have a drink, and the hostess will replenish it at any time. When a guest is drunk, it is regarded as respect for the host, and the host will be happy.

The marriage custom of the Monba nationality is monogamy, and the wedding of the Monba nationality is very interesting. That morning, the bride wore a collarless and sleeveless robe and a white scarf around her head, and was surrounded by her parents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts and other relatives to her husband's house. With bracelets, rings, headdresses, belts, making tools, etc. By this time, the man had asked the matchmaker to wait on the road with a few clever people.

They took some bamboo wine and let the bride drink it three times on the way. As soon as the bride entered the village, her in-laws immediately welcomed her into the house and sat down, placing white wine, yellow wine, pork and oil bottles to entertain her daughter-in-law and relatives. Wine and meat are first placed in front of the bride's uncle, who is the woman's spokesperson and the most distinguished guest. At this time, my uncle looked at the wine and meat and deliberately provoked the question: "This wine is not easy to brew, and the meat is cut unevenly. You look down on us. Isn't my daughter ugly with a nose and eyes? " He beats the table every time he says a word, and he is very angry. This time, the man's family is very busy. They quickly offered Hada, apologized and ordered more wine and meat. It was not until my uncle nodded and turned joy into joy that the guests enjoyed themselves. The purpose of uncle's big banquet performance is to "test each other's sincerity." When the wine was half finished, people sang and danced impromptu to bless the couple. Weddings usually last for three days, all the fun and all the nights. After only three days of marriage, the bride went back to her family for a short stay accompanied by the groom.

Memba people are very hospitable. Whenever guests come, the whole family brings wine to the entrance of the village to welcome them, and treats them with rice and stew. When entertaining guests, housewives should stand aside and pour wine for them, ensuring that their glasses are always full. If the guest is drunk, the host will be very happy and think that his sincerity has been accepted by the guest. When the guests leave, the host family will take the wine out of the village.

The funeral customs of Menba people mostly adopt water burial and burial after death, as well as cremation and celestial burial.

Memba culture and art Memba people can sing and dance well and create many beautiful tunes. Among the folk songs called "Sama" and "Dongsanba", there are rich and touching folklore, and the dance is simple and rough, with a four-hole flute.

Monba people believe in Tibetan Buddhism, and the people believe in primitive religious concepts. Worship animism and divide the universe into heaven, earth and earth. Menba people call "La" heaven, "Praise" earth and "Anger" underground.