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Festival-Related Wine Customs of Ethnic Minorities

Participants in the pageant must carry a long knife and a bamboo canister
containing wine, which is the grand feature on this occasion. The Jingpo people
believe that wine is a gift loved by both gods and ghosts, not just humans.
During the festival, which centers on offering sacrifices to ghosts, much wine
is needed to treat the gods and ghosts; the wine is usually supplied by the
participants. On the eve of the pageant, each household brews wine with washed
rice as simple wine songs resound across the region's bamboo forests; the strong
fragrance of wine also permeates almost every corner.
The deification of wine is first displayed in the management of wine usage
and the selection of emcees at the ceremony. According to a Jingpo epic tale,
wine comes from the latex of the creator, who is the breeder of everything.
Therefore, the Jingpo people are convinced of the divine power of wine and hold
it in very high esteem. Whenever there is an important activity, someone is
assigned to preside over wine-associated practices.
During the Munao Singing Party, the deification of wine is
mainly expressed via the numerous sacrificial activities made to ghosts. In the
1980s, Jingpo society still believed in primitive religion and had not formed
the concept of "god" in a strict sense; they only accepted the concept of the
ghost, who either protects or destroys human beings. The festival banquet is
actually set up to treat ghosts and, in essence, the event is actually a
festival for ghosts.
Besides the Munao Singing Party many peculiar customs of wine use are also
featured, such as "Looking for the 'Niu'". The so-called "niu" is actually a
Chinese watermelon, which is placed on an altar as a sacrifice to
the ancestors and later hidden by one of the participants. Designated by the
koradji (an aboriginal medicine man), two people pretend to look for the melon,
carrying bamboo canisters on their backs. Whoever crosses their path,
they ask: "Have you seen the 'niu'?" After locating the "niu", the men must
carry it around as they eat and drink without disturbing the other guests.
When they come across a person they ask whether he or she would like a drink; if
the answer is "yes", they pour lees into his or her mouth; if the answer is
"no", they must drink it themselves. The activity is over after a round trip is
complete.
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