The Jings mostly reside on the three small
islands of Wuwei, Wutou and Shanxin in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
which are known as Three Islands of the Jings.
Originally called as the Yue
ethnic minority, the Jing officially got its present name in 1958. The Jings have
their own language, but no letters. Their main industry is fishery.
Besides the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat
Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, which are similar to those of Hans, the
most ceremonious and animated festival of Jings is the Changha
Festival.
Spring Festival
During the festival, every family will
make a kind of sticky rice cake with sugar fillings. On the morning of
the first day of the New Year, no fish, meat or wine should be taken except
sweet porridge, Zongba cake and the sticky rice cake.
During the Spring Festival, all
villagers gather in the Hating (public place for entertainment) in the village and worship
the gods with the offerings such as swine, chook and fish. After getting home,
people will worship their ancestors. While staying up late on the New Year's
eve, people must place the sticky rice cake on the altar of the ancestors
before they go to sleep.
Changha Festival
The Changha Festival is the largest
traditional festival of the Jings. The word Ha means to sing or to invite gods
to enjoy the song in the Jing language. The word Ha or to sing Ha, means to sing
a song. The Changha Festival is the singing festival of the Jings.
Legend has it that a singing immortal came
to the region where the Jings lived hundreds of years ago. When she saw that the
local people were exploited and oppressed by landlords and suffered from extreme
misery, she mobilized and organized, in the name of singing, the local mass to
resist the oppression of the landlords. The resounding and dulcet songs of the
immortal encouraged people to pursue freedom and happy life and were well
appreciated by and moved many of them. In order to memorize her, the descendants
of the Huis built up the Hating and regularly held traditional singing party,
which gradually became the custom.
According to another legend,
in the remote time there was a cave on the White Dragon Hill at the seashore of
the South Sea, where lived a big chilopod spirit. Every time when a ship passed
by the cave, someone had to be sacrificed for her as food. Otherwise, it would
raise waves to overturn ships. One day, the King of Sea made up to look like an
old beggar, and burned the chilopod spirit by a scalding pumpkin, which later
on turned into three islands--Wanwei, Wutou and Shanxin. People constructed a
folk-style Hating made of wood in superior quality in order to express their
thanksgiving. They worshiped the spirit tablets of the King of Sea as well as the
ancestors of different local families, and held the Changha Festival to worship the
King of Sea.
The date of the Changha festival varies
according to different regions. It is held on June 10 of the lunar calendar on
Liwei and Wutou Islands but on August 10 on the Shanxin Island. The Hating of
each village is the center of the festal entertainments. The construction is
made of curved girders and painted pillars, and the roof is high with protruding
eaves. The inner pagoda is divided into two side halls and a main hall. In the
main hall, there are spirit tablets of gods worshipped by the Jings; and in the
side halls, seats are provided for people to sit according to their ages while
attending the singing party and having a feast.
The festival lasts three days.
People dance and sing day and night. People from various ethnic groups will come to
celebrate too. The songs performed during the Changha Festival are named Ha Songs,
which have written lyrics and are sung by three appointed persons. A male singer
named Brother Ha takes charge of playing the music instrument and two other women
singers are called Sister Ha; one of whom takes a pair of bamboo clappers and
the other a bamboo tube for tempo accompaniment. They sing in turn. Their
singing sounds gracious, rich in tune and beat. The lyrics are about folk
legends, parables, much-told stories, love stories, etc. Accompanied by the
beating of gongs and drums, there is often a young girl dancing on the stage.
The most featured program is the dance of Light on Head. The dancing girl has a
bowl on her head, a plate on the bowls and lighted candles right up in the
plate. She holds cups in both hands where a candle is also lighted. While the
girl is dancing, the three candles keep flashing in the dark and it will be even
more wonderful if many dancers attend the game together.
Young men and girls would like to express
their affection in the moonlight, either coming across the first encounter, or fixing
on the engagement, or exchanging inner feeling. They will take the chance of this
nice night of perfect conjugal bliss to speak out their aspirations. People will
be indulged in singing and dancing for several days. Near the end of the Changha
Festival, people will send off the gods, announcing the end of the festival.