Shankang Tea Primogenitor Festival in Jingmai Tea Mountain, Puer

Overview and Introdutcion

• Chinese Name:景迈布朗山康茶祖节
• English Name: Shankang Tea Primogenitor Festival in Jingmai Tea Mountain, Puer

“Blang Sang Kang Tea Ancestor Festival” is called “Hao Gou Long” by the Blang people and is similar to the Chinese Spring Festival, symbolizing the removal of the old and the welcoming of the new. The festival typically takes place from the 27th day of the second lunar month to the first day of the third lunar month. At the start of the new year, the Blang people express their remembrance and worship of their ancestors, praying for their blessings. The festival originates from the activities of the Blang ancestors in Mangjing Village, Huimin Town, Lancang County, who discovered, domesticated, cultivated, and used tea. Over centuries, this festival gradually evolved and became a customary practice.

Origins of the Festival

The festival is believed to have originated around the Buddhist calendar year 800 (899 AD), with the formal tea soul worship ceremony starting 100 years after tea cultivation began on Jingmai Mountain. According to legend, the tea soul is the embodiment of the tea ancestor Pa Ya Leng, and the tea soul tree is the first tea tree planted. During the worship ceremonies, Blang tea farmers visit specific locations in the ancient tea mountain forest to pay homage to the tea ancestor and summon the tea soul. This is done to commemorate the tea ancestor, remember the forebears, and express reverence and worship. The Blang people, known for their gratitude, sincerely pray to the ancestors who cultivated the tea mountains and left them for their descendants. It is believed that the tea soul tree possesses both human and divine spirituality, and by summoning the tea soul and worshipping the tea ancestor, they devoutly pray for the well-being, happiness, favorable weather, and prosperity of their descendants.

Festival Activities

• Day One (New Year’s Eve): Every household engages in thorough cleaning, slaughters pigs and cattle, and prepares “Er Nuo Suo,” also known as yellow sticky rice cake, an essential gift for offering to the Buddha and presenting to relatives and friends during the festival. On the morning of this day, the youngest family members present the best dishes prepared at home to the elders, kneeling as they invite them to eat, wishing them a happy festival, good health, and long life. They also extend their hands, palms up, to receive the elders’ blessings.
• Day Two (New Year’s Day): This is the most lively day, with each village holding grand Buddha offerings, song and dance competitions, and water splashing festivities. Three cannon shots announce the start of the new water collection, with 5-7 representatives from each village going to the mountains to fetch the new water. The collected water is used to prepare medicinal water for washing Buddha statues. The water used for washing is then eagerly taken home by villagers for washing the faces of the elderly and children for good fortune. This is followed by offerings of food, sand mounds, water drops, and tree supports, all part of ancestor and deity worship activities.
• Day Three: People go into the mountains to worship the mountain gods and ancestors. The entire village, men, women, and children, drums in hand, bring offerings to the dense forest behind Mangjing for a worship ceremony. Finally, everyone gathers at the old site of the Dragon Pool, singing and dancing, bringing the previously quiet forest to life.
• Day Four (“Tea Ancestor Day”): Men, women, and children dressed in their finest attire head to the ancient tea mountains to worship the tea soul and honor their ancestors.

Forms of Worship

The Blang Sang Kang Tea Ancestor Festival features both major and minor worship ceremonies, held in a three-year cycle. The first and second years involve minor ceremonies, where villagers bring some offerings to the tea soul altar. The third year is marked by a major ceremony, including a grand bull sacrifice, where the bull’s head is taken to the tea soul altar as an offering to the tea ancestor.

Significance of the Festival

The festival retains a simple ecological philosophy and life pursuit, reflecting the Blang people’s primitive ecological development views. It embodies the spirit, beliefs, and values of the Blang, showcasing the ancient religious culture of the Blang people and carrying significant historical and primitive memories. The Blang region’s long agricultural history and relatively stable cultural environment have preserved many original agricultural cultures and traditional customs in the activities of the “Blang Sang Kang Tea Ancestor Festival.” Some religious rituals performed during the festival provide valuable insights into the history and culture of the Blang people.

Cultural Heritage

As society rapidly develops, the traditional production and lifestyle of the Blang people are gradually disappearing. With the passing of the older generation of inheritors, fewer people are knowledgeable about Blang customs and rituals. The Sang Kang Tea Ancestor Festival lacks an organizational mechanism, and the participation of the community has been declining under the influence of external cultures.

Recognition and Honors

In 2017, the Blang Sang Kang Tea Ancestor Festival was included in the fourth batch of provincial-level intangible cultural heritage representative projects in Yunnan Province. The representative inheritors of the project are Kang Langbing and Su Guowen.

Cultural Customs

At dawn, villagers bring prepared river sand and rice wrapped in banana leaves, sticky rice cakes, tobacco, tea, and other offerings to the communal house. Surrounding a bamboo altar about one square meter in size, they hold lit candles and chant, circling the altar and placing a pinch of rice into baskets on the bamboo rack. They also hang yellow sticky rice cakes, tobacco, tea, fruits, and flowers on the bamboo frame as offerings to the Buddha and ancestors. The sand is formed into small mounds, placed under the altar, each representing a family or individual, praying for the protection and blessings of the gods and ancestors. After three cannon shots, the entire village beats drums, sings, dances, and gathers in the communal house, where the elderly have already been chanting scriptures and praying before the Buddha statue. The Buddha statue is washed with medicinal water prepared from the new water.

The final activity is “supporting the tree.” Each village’s communal house has a sacred tree, and during the Sang Kang Festival, each family brings a tree branch to support the sacred tree, symbolizing the belief that if the tree does not fall, neither will the family, ensuring health and happiness.

After lunch, another event begins: a song and dance competition and water splashing celebration. People, dressed in their festive best, flock to the dance venue, where bystanders splash them with homemade herbal water or clean water as a blessing. In the lower village of Mangjing, a meticulously crafted elephant figurine is also pushed to the center of the dance floor as a symbol of good fortune.

The most eye-catching and amusing part of the dance are the two lead dancers, called “Da Bie,” who are wrapped from head to toe in black cloth, with only holes for their eyes, nose, and mouth. According to legend, they are two gods sent by the Heavenly Emperor, disguised as the poorest people to observe the sincerity and moral character of those devoted to the Buddha, while also playing the roles of entertainers and protectors. Each carries a bag around their neck and, when they dance, they ask people for alms to test their generosity, and people are always willing to give. After the dance, the young men and women begin the water-splashing revelry.

Next comes the communal meal, also called a reunion meal. Each family brings the dishes they prepared, wrapped in banana leaves, to share. The food is placed on tables, and each person selects a packet of rice and two packets of dishes. The rice is partially glutinous, and the dishes are diverse. The mix of food and the fragrance of banana leaves give the meal a unique flavor. People eat, drink, chat, and laugh together, enjoying the festive atmosphere.

At night, the festivities continue with fireworks and high-rise lanterns under a canopy of sparkling lights, as people continue to sing and dance.