Panwang Festival
The Panwang Festival is said to be the biggest festival of the Yao. This is a day for them to thank their ancestors. It is often referred to as Entertaining God of Panwang. The festival occurs around October 16th every three to five years. The date of the festival does depend on many factors including the harvest and health of villages and their livestock. The Yao use this day to honor their ancestors and give thanks to them for making their wishes come true. The folk master leads the ceremony and will sing and pray to the god Panwang. The villagers will perform the long drum dance. This dance calls upon Panwang asking for protection.
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Danu Festival
Danu is from the Yao language meaning never forget. The festival happens sometime on the 29th between May and July. This is the day the Yao take to worship their ancestor Zuniang. According to the Yao Zuniang asked her daughter to save the land in the mountains for the use of farming. Zuniang gave her daughter a bronze drum which was used to drive away birds so crops could grow. The daughter's hard work gave a good harvest and she then married a Yao man. The two of them reclaimed the land and lived in the mountains. On this day the Yao clean their houses and make many offerings consisting of rice wine, rice cakes, sheep and chicken. To celebrate they play a large drum that symbolizes the drum Zuniang gave her daughter. The Yao men and women pray for good harvest, health and a productive and prosperous life for man and livestock.
Taonianbai Festival
The name of the festival means a festival celebrated in the middle of the month. It is celebrated from March 15th to March 17thevery year. The Yao people are very excited through out the three days of this festival. Young girls dress up and wear embroidered blouses and straight skirts with different patterns. They also wear silver necklaces and are seen smiling under beautiful silk umbrellas. The young men wear checkered turbans and pants with their own ethnic features. There is a sad story that goes a long with this festival. It is said that Emperor Kangxi's Region in the Qing Dynasty , troops from the government were sent to conquer the regions the Yao were residing in, and pillaged the villages of many innocent local Yao. Because of this the Yao lived miserable lives and faced extinction. A girl of the name Fengjie was a smart and brave girl of the Yao's organized all the brave men and women from different Yao villages . They made strongholds from trees and guarded their homeland from invaders and were able to beat the invaders and chased them back to their base and the Yao then burned the base down to ashes. After this first defeat more and more troops were sent but were not able to defeat the Yao and win the war. This caused the government to devise a deceptive plan. They used a strong young solider to disguise himself as a vendor from the Yao ethnic group. He came to the Yao village with many necessities and went to Fengjie's house to sell her these goods. Fengjie opened the door for the man after seeing he was alone and welcomed him in. The man took out a sword and stabbed Fengjie while at the same time government troops ambushed the village. The Yao were outnumbered and all 600 of them were slaughtered by the government troops including Fengjie. Fengjie will always live in the hearts of the Yao and they wanted to remember her by having this festival and having Yao ethnic activities. These three days gave young men and women the opportunity to seek out their loves and dance and sing to express their respect to Fengjie.
Taoliaogui Festival
This festival the Yao celebrate means escaping from ferocious and sinister evils. To celebrate this festival there are two phases, first starting July 2nd. At this time the Yao begin to eat cucumbers and white melons because of the following legend. the Yao people that lived in the Tianlu area of Jian city and the Jiangxi Province were more often then not exploited by the two local magistrates Zhao and Wang. On July 2nd a pregnant women escaped and decided to hide in the cucumber and melon fields to avoid persecution from the government troops. This is how July 2nd became the day to eat cucumbers and white melon, otherwise doing so is considered taboo and bad luck. The second phase is July 8th to July 10th. It is said that six girls from four Yao families were bullied by a bad landlord causing a resistance. The landlord then lied to the government saying the girls wanted to start a rebellion and asked the government to arrest the girls. The girls went into hiding and the government was forced to make peace with the Yao. Nowadays the Yao people dress up for this festival and hold fun activities and the nearby Han ethnic group joins in. This is yet another good time for the young men and women to find their lovers because it is a happy event and full of joy.
Ox Festival
The Ox festival for the Yao has to do with agriculture. In the areas the Yao live ox is very important source of animal power for farming. The Tao have even used oxen to pull their carts when transporting goods. Because of the Yao's reliance on oxen for their labor needs it has become a cherished and loved symbol for the Yao. According to Yao legend April 8th is the birthday of the ox and the Yao make this day the Ox Festival and allow the oxen to rest. In today's Guanxi Zhuang Autonomous Region all the Yao families kill chickens and ducks and pick up mud-snails and catch loaches to prepare and sacrifice for worshipping byres. The ring is then taken off the ox's neck and put into a bamboo basket with three stones, three peaches and one scarecrow and then hang the bamboo basket on a byre. In Fuchuan Yao Autonomous county of Guangxi the Yao people do something a little different. They make fodders mixed with wines and eggs to feed the ox and they then take them to a place with abundant amounts of water and green grass. When night comes they wash the ox to make them look clean before they head home. Once the ox are put back into their byres the Yao burn incense and light fireworks to worship the God of Ox and pray for the ox's safety and peace. In the Guiping City of Guangxi, the Yao make colorful sticky rice wrapped with mango, they bring them to the byre and pray for peace and safety for all livestock and good harvest. The ox are then feed the delicious meal of the sticky rice.
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