[Custom] Buffalo Sacrifice of Miao Ethnic Group

Name: Buffalo Sacrifice of Miao Ethnic Group

No.:Ⅷ-4

Type: Custom

Year of Applicant: 2006

Applicant: Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture

Level: Provincial

On a patch of flat land and under the colorful sacred pillars, a bunch of killers dart violently to a running buffalo. The buffalo falls down and the beef is shared by the killers’uncles. Hundreds of villagers sing and drum dance all night. This is the Buffalo Sacrifice of Miao ethnic group. It is called "Nongye" in Miao's language, which means eating a buffalo.

The procedures of the ceremony include worshiping the god of thunder, the emperor Chiyou (mythological warrior engaged in fighting with the Yellow Emperor) and the ancestors of the host family, toasting the elder uncle and the younger uncle, sacrificing to the heaven with a chicken, presenting nine cups of wine and nine bowls of meat to Dog Father Magou, performing drum dancing; worshiping the Panhu (Miao's ancestor), and praying for fortune.

There is a legend of Miao group goes like "Goddess Mother and Dog Father". Magou is the chief of a paternal clan with dog as their totem. He had seven sons with the goddess who named Naikui. When his sons grew up, they wanted to find their biological father. A buffalo told them the truth that their father was Magou who abandoned his own sons. The sons hated their father and killed him. Their mother Naikui got angry and she wanted all her seven sons died for the sin of killing their father. Meanwhile, she asked her sons' uncles and aunts to be witnesses on the spot. The uncles and antes persuaded her to kill seven buffalos instead of her own sons and she finally agreed. Hence, the origin of the grand "Buffalo Sacrifice" came to existence.