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Běn zhǔ Festival in an Yi village  by Xiao Kang
A string of ear-splitting explosions rendered the air as we clasped
our hands to our ears. The loud cracks were intended to scare
off the evil spirits that might want to disrupt the occasion. The village women then brought out bowls of water and soap and started scrubbing down the newly-painted, wooden effigies that sat lined up in front of the temple entrance.

“This one is the Great Lord of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and this one is the god of the rain,” explained one of the women, as she pointed to each of the images in turn. “This one over here, he’s the one that punishes wrongdoers.” The idol grimaced at us, brandishing a sword. “And this one in the centre is the Běn zhǔ (本主), the lord of our village, with his family.” Běn zhǔ stared austerely, his bushy eyebrows protruding from his forehead. His wife and children, on the other hand, smiled benevolently, apparently unperturbed.

It was the thirteenth day of the third month of the lunar year, when the local deities are given their annual clean-up and welcomed back to watch over the village for another twelve months. Known as the Běn zhǔ Festival in Chinese, it is the chief annual festival of the Bai minority Běn zhǔ religion. According to Benzhu belief, each village has its own god, or Běn zhǔ，who protects the villagers, brings prosperity and averts illness.

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Sonaga women revive the Běn zhǔ Festival tradition.

Actually, though, these people are not Bai at all. They call themselves the Sonaga, or the “People of the Black Speech,” and they belong to the Yi nationality. Although they speak the Sonaga language, they have adopted the dress and the customs of the Bai minority who live around them in the mountains and valleys of Jianchuan （剑川）and Heqing （鹤庆） counties. Indeed, they have been living among the Bai for centuries and their customs and religions are deeply intertwined.

As the women set out offerings of sweetmeats, dumplings, fruit and liquor in front of each god, some of the men sitting to one side started beating drums and gongs. The doxi, or shamaness, moved her arms rhythmically in front of the Běn zhǔ. The other women put their hands together and murmured prayers to their protectors.

Interestingly, it was only the women that were taking part in this ritual. “We had not observed this festival since the 1950s,” a young man informed us. “Then, last year, we carved new effigies and started observing it again. Today is just the second time we have celebrated this festival in over fifty years. But now it’s only the women who care about it. We men don’t believe in such things any more.” And, having observed the men sitting around playing cards and mahjong in the temple courtyard, we could well believe it.

Our friend from the Heqing County Cultural Bureau is proud that this festival has been reintroduced. “We want to do all we can to protect and preserve the language and culture of our minority people,” he told me. A local Bai artist with a startling knowledge of English literature and European art, he is passionate about documenting and promoting the intangible cultural heritage of the minority people of Heqing.

Although the Běn zhǔ festival has been revived, the prospects for preserving the traditions of the Sonaga do not look promising. With increased access to education and migration to urban areas, proficiency in Bai and Mandarin is improving and interest in the local language and culture is dwindling. The Sonaga stopped wearing their traditional dress back in the 1970s, they now sing their folk songs solely in Bai or Mandarin. Their only traditional theatre that remains is performed in Mandarin. Although the Sonaga language is still being spoken, no one knows how long this will last.

On this Běn zhǔ Festival day, however, these things were forgotten as the Sonaga continued the traditions of their ancestors. With their obeisances completed, the women picked up the statues and marched them back into the temple, hugging them to their chests, led by the doxi. The effigies were first returned to their places amidst the sound of more firecrackers, and then the celebrations commenced. Dancing, singing, and, of course, plenty of food for everyone to enjoy!