There are 56 ethnic groups in China
– over 20 just in Yunnan – and this article will be about our visit to a group called Wa in Ximeng. There are about 400,000 of them in China, and the ones I'll describe live about 113 kilometers from Simao.
The
group expresses their lives with song and dance, and they’re very good at both of them.
When one of the men says that he’ll treat you to a drink, he wants to be repaid by your singing a song, and
when they finish their work every day, they all want to dance.
They
adore the sun and feel that it is alive.
They’re also very fond of wooden drums,
as they regard them as holy. The head of a
buffalo is regarded as good fortune.
It’s a very mysterious ethnic
group.
When
they plant rice every year, they beat a wooden drum and cut off the head of an ox to invoke the deity’s help
The
wood that the drum is made of must come from a tree that has been carefully chosen, and the choice is confirmed by
a ceremonious ritual. Usually selected is
a lofty chestnut, and after
killing a cock to please the gods, a hunter fires two shots into the tree. It is felled, a prayer is said, and the
women carrying bamboo containers provide drinks and porridge with rice and chicken.
Then everyone drinks, eats, sings, and
dances to express their joy.
After everyone has had a good time, the tree
is dragged to a special room in the village where the drum will be made. Following another ceremony, work starts on
creating it out of the trunk that has been gouged deeply and when hit with a mallet, resounds with a deep, rich sound.
We
took part in this year’s feast days of the wooden drum. It lasted from April 10th to the 13th. It was the planting season and the Wa people began the celebration by
killing an ox and some chickens. They
welcomed all the guests with drink,
meat, and song. The wine was palatable, but very strong. A friend
told me that if you drink too much,
you won’t wake up for three days. They
labored, danced and sang all day,
and we had a wonderful time.