Traditional culture of the Yi people (Axi) in Hongwan Village
Hongwan Village, Qifei Village Committee, Xiyi Town, Mile County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, is located 15 kilometers south of Xiyi Town, Mile County. The Hongwan Villager Group consists of Dazhai and Xiaozhai, with 313 households. The per capita cultivated land area is 1.73 mu. The per capita economic income in 2004 was 1,128 yuan. The existing residential buildings in Dazhai and Xiaozhai of Hongwan Village include three types: traditional residential buildings with civil structures, traditional residential buildings with brick and wood structures, and non-traditional residential buildings with brick and concrete structures. Among them, traditional residential buildings with civil structures are warm in winter and cool in summer. The traditional house-building customs that are preserved include the process of selecting foundations, selecting directions and sites, selecting materials, sawing logs, erecting pillars, and moving into new houses. Hongwan Village has convenient transportation, a long history, and profound cultural heritage. It still retains traditional folk sacrificial activities such as fire sacrifice, dense branch sacrifice, dragon sacrifice, mountain sacrifice, and rain sacrifice. The sacrifice to the dense branch god is called "Mijilaibuxian" in the Axi language. The dense branch god is worshipped on the second day of the second lunar month every year. On the third day of the second lunar month, the fire god is worshipped, which is called "Mudeng Sailu" in the Axi language. The entire sacrificial process is preserved intact, and activities such as drilling wood to make fire, sending new fire, and jumping over fire are used to pray for a good harvest, prosperity of livestock, and peace in the village. In addition, there are folk activities such as worshiping dragons, wrestling gods, mountain gods, rain gods, and torch gods, as well as traditional festivals such as the Torch Festival and the Fire Festival. The customs of the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival are the same as those of the Han people. The women of Hongwan Village are good at embroidery. Flowers, plants, mountains, rivers, forests, birds and animals are all their selected patterns. The embroidered patterns are mainly used to decorate back blankets, waists, collars, head wraps, shoulder bags, cuffs and other objects. The village still retains traditional customs in clothing. Men wear linen jackets and dark pants. Now they basically wear Han costumes. Women's tops are in the shape of long robes, which are slightly shorter in the front and longer in the back. Various patterns are embroidered on the sleeves, collars and chest. The length of the clothes is above the knee. The colors are mainly black, gray and white. They wear a white-based black-striped linen waistband. The belt is overlapped with red and green cloth and embroidered with patterns. The embroidered shoulder bag is carried on the shoulder. Axi women especially like to wear silver jewelry, such as bracelets, rings, earrings, etc. Women's headdresses are extremely delicate and beautiful. They braid their hair, wrap their hair around their heads with yellow grass, red wool, beads, shells, etc., and wrap them in a baotou. The baotou is made of blue and black cloth, embroidered with patterns, 5 feet long and 4 inches wide, with patterns embroidered on both sides. When wearing it, wrap the baotou around the hair 4 times, fold it into 4 layers, and pin a ribbon flower in front, which is unique. Folk literature plays an important role in the Axi culture of Hongwan Village. The existing folk literature in Hongwan Village is rich and colorful. Myths, ballads, proverbs, etc. are mainly spread orally, and the dissemination methods are diverse and flexible. According to incomplete statistics, the myths and legends in Hongwan Village include "The Story of Pegasus", "The Story of Acai", "The Origin of Sacrificial Fire", "The Legend of Axi Moon Dance", "The Red and Green Belt of Axi Girl", "Flood", "Brother and Sister Getting Married", etc. Axi folk songs are diverse in form and rich in content, including "Axi Xianji", "Xishan Ballad", "Axi People's Songs", "Axi Folk Songs", "Sacrificial Songs", etc. Among them, "Axi Xianji" is a general term for Axi poems and tunes, which is mainly circulated among the Axi people in the Xishan of Mile. It is a complete narrative poem that records the origin and development of the Axi people. Folk music includes flute music, four-string music, suona tune, bamboo tune, leaf tune, big three-string tune, small three-string tune, three-string tune, opera music tune, drum music tune, etc. The Axi people in Hongwan Village are good at singing and dancing. Their collective improvisational dance "Axi Moon Dance" is light and graceful, with cheerful and jumping movements. There are also Axi folk dances such as the Overlord Whip Dance, Knife and Fork Dance, Chain Dance, and Lion Dance. Traditional sports activities include wrestling, swings, grinding, kicking shuttlecocks (leaf shuttlecocks), spinning tops, and ball games, among which wrestling is particularly popular. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)