Kaquewa Festival of Drung Minority

Gongshan Drung and Nu Autonomous County of Yunnan Province

The Drungs mostly reside in the Drung River valley along the Gongshan Mountain in Yunnan Province. The local people mainly live on agriculture and hunting.

The word Kaquewa is a transliteration of the Drung language, which means, to gather the clan people for the worship, or the New Year Festival. This is the only traditional festival of the Drungs. In the past, the celebration was held in December of the lunar

calendar and lasted 3 to 9 days. Each family was free to choose a fine day to hold the celebration, and the celebrations in the whole area lasted about one month. In 1991, the 10th day of the 1st month of the Gregorian calendar was decided as the official date for the Kaquewa Festival.

The ceremonies for the Drung festivals in each village are somewhat similar, and the programs of the festival are arranged in a special order. The Drungs never forget to worship the Mountain God for happy events. They offer offerings such as various animal figures made of buckwheat to pray for more grain in the next year. In the year of abundant foodstuff and clothing, they will double their efforts to slaughter cows for the god, for in their minds it is only with the god's blessing that the Drungs can have a better life.

The Kaquewa Festival has great value in terms of research on cultural development, calendric origin, and the history of the Drung ethnic group. Carved messages on wood are rare and important materials for research on the social organizations of minorities with no written language. The festival also reflects the Drungs' reverence of nature.

Ⅰ. Origin

In their primitive faith, the Drungs comply with the teachings of the ancestors. It is said that when human beings became friends with the god, it introduced animals to help people with cultivation. When the falling leaves announced the approach of autumn, the seeds planted by the human, the god and animals brought about a bumper harvest. The human and god became the couple who lived to old age in conjugal bliss. On their wedding day, the guests were animals and birds. The host and invitees enjoyed the feast to their heart's content. The couple was enlightened by the dancing of the animals and birds, and they too became good at singing and dancing. In the meantime, the date of the wedding of the human-god marriage was appointed to be that of the Drung festival, which, following the customs of generations, evolved into today's Kaquewa Festival.

Ⅱ. Activities

Once the date of the festival is confirmed, the host will notify friends and relatives by invitation. The invitations are made of carved wood, knots or are oral messages. The number of jags and knots represents how many days it will take to celebrate the festival. The notified family will prepare gifts and take part in the festival's entertainment.

On the early morning of the first day of the festival, women hang their well-woven flax fabric on a bamboo pole and plant it on the cleaned slope of the roof to show the beginning of the celebration. They invite their friends and relatives home, drinking wine, tasting delicious food and greeting each other. Men throw the wood bowl over the suspended rice cooker. If the upside of the bowl faces the air, it foresees good luck. They will hold celebrations late into the night.

The next morning, all villagers gather together on a large lawn in the village to hold the grandest ceremony, which includes archery and cattle stabbing contests. In the archery ceremony, a symbol of the animal god in the shape of cylinder is made of cooked wheat, with other wheaten animal figures setting around the animal god. The master of worship presides over the ritual. After the sacrifice, the master will throw the figures to people, and the archers will shoot at them. The Drungs believe that what they have hit is what they will get while hunting. Accompanied by great din of gongs and drums, people dance and sing in a circle.

Ⅲ. Cattle Sacrifice to Worship heaven

The most spectacular part of the festival is the cattle sacrifice to worship heaven. Only villages with good conditions carry out this activity. The cattle are offered in pairs. Sometimes one family supplies the cows and sometimes they are purchased with money collected from the villagers. When the ceremony of the cattle stabbing begins, all villagers assemble on the grassland with food and drink.

The clan head or ritual master who presides over the ceremony leads the cattle to the center of the ground and ties them to a post. Then, a woman hangs a string of pearls on their horns and puts a Drung-style carpet over the cattle's back. When the offering is well set, the ritual master lights the pine torch and pine tags. He kowtows facing the east and says, 'Mountain God, we offer you this year the cattle and pray to you to bless us with abundant quarries, a bumper harvest and a safe life.' When the recitation is finished, he takes away the carpet and pearls. Two brave hunters, holding a long bamboo lance and dancing, move to the center of the ground. People toast the cattle. They stand in a circle, beating gongs and drums, singing while performing the Cattle Stabbing Dance. Two hunters pierce the lance into the cattle and hold it until the cattle lie down. People cheer for their warriors. Afterwards, people cook the beef, one portion for each participant. People dance and sing to pray for a merry festival and safety for the coming year. The Kaquewa Festival begins the year with a lucky and festive atmosphere.

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