The Hawk-Honour Festival is an important traditional festival of the Gelao ethnic group in County Yaoshang, Guizhou Province which has been over 1,300 years. It is said that County Yaoshang had suffered from a serious pestilence once up a time, and it was very urgent then. There were many Gelao people had lost their lives in this pestilence. In the most urgent moment, there was a hawk flew down and brought a glossy ganoderma for the county and saved the Gelao people from dangerous. Since then Gelao people viewed the hawk as their totem and sacrificed it in the 1st day of the February every year.

During the festival, a huge statue of a hawk stands on a calabash which is on the stage, and the Gelao people will prepare various kinds of food as sacrifice. All kinds of food will be save a part for birds during the festival. The Hawk-Honour Festival is a chance to show the traditional culture of the Gelao ethnic group now. The Gelao people cherish peace and harmony. They believe that the family life should be harmonious and they live with the environment with harmony too. The Hawk-Honour Festival shows world-views of the Gelao people.

Time：2017-02-27

Source: Farmers' Daily