Hani New Year's Festival: "MiSuoZha"

Hani people's New Year begins at the first "dragon day" in lunar October. With all their barns be fulfilled with the autumn harvest and fat pigs running happily in their pigpens, people are so freed from any means of farm working that they gratefully carry on their New Years Festival.

Every word includes the character "Zha" in its pronunciation in Hani language turns out to be indicating the events or objects connected with food or eating. For example, "AHeZha" means "having meals", while the "June Festival", which is in fact the "Foods Festival", is called "KuZhaZha". Thus, you won't be surprised on finding that Hani people call their New Years Festival "MiSuoZha".

"BeiXinShui" (fetching home the New Years water)
"BeiXinShui" is the most important event happening at the early morning on the New Years Day, that is, the first day of "MiSuoZha".

Hani people believe that if you are on hope of keeping your health fit all around the year, you must eat "TuanZi" (Chinese food, rice ball) made of the fresh water of the year on the New Years Day. Thus, at about 3am. that day, female and young villagers, whom are expected to fetch the fresh water, have already got up. With torches' lighting, they leave the village and head on the twisting and turning mountainous road to the bamboo forest, usually lying tens of miles away from the village. There, people hand out a bowl of rice and begin to pray to the direction where waters come from, hoping that in the blessing of gods, they will have their life advancing on well by getting good harvest and sound health in the following year. Then, they fill their bamboo containers with fresh waters and carry them back to home.

At home, when "Tuanzi" made with the fresh water are got ready, they are not immediately eaten by family members; instead, housewives would firstly sacrifice them to the gods of furnace, farming implements, livestock and barns. People eat "TuanZi" as their first meal of the whole year only after all the gods are sacrificed.

Sacrifice before killing: "ShaNianZhu" (Killing New Years hog for meat)
After the breakfast on New Year's Day, "ShaNianZhu" is brought onto the stage by the presbyter of the village. It's the traditional rule that no other family of the village should put on this show unless that of the presbyter's has finished. Then the presbyter would step out of his house and drum the other families that it's their time to kill the new year's hog.

Before killing the selected hog, rice, tea, and wine would be sacrificed to it and its body by family members, praying the words: "It's not our boldly decision, but our Hani tradition handing down from our ancestors of killing you as part of the celebration of the New Years Festival. Please don't blame on us. Wish you come to your second life soon." Then, after it is killed, again, rice, tea, and wine would be spread all over its body as a final condolence. Besides, Hani people use the hog's liver to foretell the family's fortune in the following year: if it is in good conditions, then the family would get good harvests and the family members all safe and lucky through the whole year; otherwise, the family must do more sacrifices to pray for gods' protection and blessing.
    
The killed hogs would be cooked for lunch later on that day. Hani people are of so great respects and compassions to olds that, even in their daily life, meals should be served to the elder ones in the family first; not to mention on such special days like the New Years Day. So, young villagers, male or female, would busy themselves at coming and going presenting the elder ones of the family their newly cooked meat as well as some good wines during the lunch time.

All this sacrifice thing before and after the hog's killing are indicating some great qualities of Hani people; but the basic one seems to be that they honor all creatures of the holy world.