Why do the Chinese need an honor guard for frogs (6 photos)

And not just in a small elegant bamboo coffin, but with all the honors and processions. This is the custom among the small Zhuang people in southern China. All because they tell fortunes by the frog, like in Groundhog Day.





Check out the festive banner with the frog and the frog worshipers!

Only the groundhog predicts how soon spring will come, and by the frog you can understand whether the next year will be fruitful or you will have to tighten your belts.

Frog Festival

Every year, the Zhuang villages hold the Maguai Festival, which literally means frog. In addition to singing and dancing, the main event is a very solemn burial of frogs.



My respects to the costumes

This is because, according to an old belief, the people believe that the frog goddess has the right to control the rain and wind and give people harvests. Once upon a time, there lived a young man (Chinese, of course), and he was so bothered by the croaking of a frog that he splashed hot water on them. But when the frogs fell silent, all rain stopped, and the villagers almost died of drought and hunger because of her.

Then the young man went to ask forgiveness from the frog goddess, he beat the drums to praise her. And in honor of the frogs who died from boiling water, he arranged a funeral for a thousand people, which became this festival.





Honoring the frog son-in-law, as I understand it

The touched goddess returned good weather to the village.

How to celebrate Frog Day

In fact, it lasts for a whole month, but the main actions occur on the last day.

And before that, in winter, people dig sleeping frogs out of the ground. The whole village goes and digs, and a special honor goes to the first person who finds a frog. He is called the "son-in-law of the goddess", he will also be praised for a whole month.



These are not sharks! This is a children's number of frog fry

And the main frog is placed in a mini-coffin with beautiful decorations and carried on a stretcher around the village before being sent under the roof of a special pavilion for ceremonies.

And near this coffin, for almost a month, the villagers take turns to stand guard of honor, singing memorable "frog" songs.

On the very last day of the festival, the fate of the village is decided: what will the weather be like in the harvest months, will everyone be well-fed?



Close up, this one's makeup is, of course, worth two kopecks...

Then the priest takes a frog from the coffin FROM THE LAST year to assess how it has been preserved. If the frog's body is gray or black, then this is a bad sign of bad weather, there will be no harvest, you need to pray for forgiveness to other gods, who will be more lenient.

If the frog's body is golden, then this is a promise of a good harvest. And then a big feast begins, everyone dances, and the men jump like frogs and beat the drums.

And last year's frog is finally buried in the ground in its coffin, thereby "sending it to heaven."



If the frog's color is lucky, everyone happily beats the drums

This ritual reminded me of the ritual of weddings between frogs from different ponds practiced in India. But there, no one is dug up and then buried, but on the contrary, they are released. Surprisingly, in India, the frog tradition turned out to be much more humane. Although the celebration with jumping like a frog is clearly more fun.

Which frog tradition is funnier?