Fengqing County Culture

The earliest people living in Fengqing county are called pu people(濮人), the ancestors of the Bulang(布朗族) and Wa(佤族), followed by Dai(傣族), Yi(彝族), Bai(白族), Hui(回族), Miao(苗族), Lisu(傈僳族), Lahu(拉祜族), etc. entering to settle. In Ming and Qing dynasties, a great number of Han people settled in Fengqing county. As of July 2012, the county had 24 ethnic groups and a population of 422,800.

The Torch Festival

The torch festival is an ancient traditional festival of the Yi(彝族), Bai(白族), Naxi(纳西), Jinuo(基诺族), Lahu(拉祜族),etc. other ethnic groups. It has profound folk culture connotation and is called "Oriental carnival". About the legends of torch festival in Yunnan, different ethnic groups have their own unique content and characteristics. 

The formation of Torch festival custom and legend is related to the primitive worship of all Yi dialect ethnic groups, especially has a more direct connection with the fire belief. The southwestern Yi dialect ethnic groups still keep the torch festival activities, for example, smoking field with fire, getting rid of epidemic with fire, controling pest with fire to protect rice seedling, and praying for good harvest.