Cao Mingkuan – Presider of Sacrificial Activities of Achang Ethnic Minority in Lianghe County, Dehong
Profile
Cao Mingkuan(曹明宽,1943-),male, Achang nationality(阿昌族), born in 1943, is the presider of Sacrificial Activities of Achang Ethnic Minority(阿昌族宗教祭祀活动) in Lianghe County(梁河县), Dehong(德宏). He is also the inheritor of Zhe Pama and Zhe Mima– Ethnic Progenitor Myths of the Achang Ethnic Minority(阿昌族创世史诗遮帕麻和遮咪麻) which is the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in Yunnan.
Personal Experience
The Achang Nationalities call the person who presides over the sacrificial activities as Huopao(活袍). The Huopao is the main representative inheritor and disseminator of Zhe Pama and Zhe Mima. It is the incarnation of the Achang ethnic people‘s religion, etiquette and morality, and has a high position among the Achang ethnic groups.
Nowadays, with the rapid weakening and disappearance of the Achang ethnic language, the Huopao has become a living carrier for the study of the ancient language of the Achang ethnic people.
Cao Mingkuan has been presiding over various sacrificial activities since he was 30 years old. He is the most famous of the three remaining Huopao of the Achang nationality in Lianghe County.He can recite Zhe Pama and Zhe Mima in a complete way. He is proficient in various sacrificial rituals, taboos and customs of Achang ethnic culture. He can speak Chinese, Dai ethnic language(傣语), Achang ethnic language(阿昌语) and Jingpo languages(景颇语).
Chinese Version:http://www.ynich.cn/view-ml-13110-802.html
Translated by Olive/张银芳
