| The Kazaks are mostly distributed in Yili in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Province. They have their own language and a lot of old poesies, stories, proverbs and dicta.
The Kazaks are mainly engaged in stockbreeding. Most of the herdsmen move around according to the season and lead a nomadic life in pursuit of water and grass. Only a few that live on agriculture have settled down. In the past, the Kazaks believed in Shamanism. After the 11thcentury, they converted to the Islam. Their major festivals are the Corban Festival, Rouzi Festival and Noroz Festival.
During the Noroz Festival, every family will cook conjee mixed with pork, rice, wheat, barley and cheese. They also scatter the Baoershake candy. It is the custom of the Kazaks to celebrate happy events.
The Noroz Festival came into being before that they converted to the Islam. It is a festival that has something to do with the Kazak's calendar. The calendar inherited from the Kazaks' ancestors includes 12 animals, which counts the day of the vernal equinox of the lunar calendar (around March 22 of the solar calendar) the New Year's Day. On the day, the time of day and night is equal and considered to be the transition of the year, which, therefore, is referred to as the Noroz. It is the Kazak language, which means to send off the old year and celebrate the new one.
The origin of the Noroz Festival has close relation with the 12 Earthly Branches.
The 12 Earthly Branches refer to twelve years, each of which corresponds to an animal. Legend has it that many animals gathered together and wished to predict whether the coming year was good or unlucky. It turned out that they were interested at the beginning of every New Year. They discussed and decided to hold a contest to see who could meet the advent of the New Year. The camel was tall and was expected to see it first; the others managed to look around. At this time, the rat stealthy climbed on the camel's ear. He got the chance to be the first viewer. The camel got angry and quitted. Since then, the denomination has been made according to the order, which is: Rat; Ox; Tiger; Hare; Snail; Snake; Horse; Sheep; Monkey; Chook; Dog and Swine, etc. There is an adage among the Kazaks that There is no camel in 12 animals, though it is tall.
The Noroz Festival stands for the beginning of a year. To celebrate the festival, every family will tidy up the rooms and courtyard, repair the sheepfold and prepare the festal foods, which mostly include the Noroz porridge made of rice, millet, wheat, flour, cheese, salt and meat, stored frozen meat such as horse intestines, horse neck, horse rib sausage, horse meat sausage and horse pelvic meat, etc.
On the festival day, people put on new folk costumes, pay New Year calls on each other. The host and guests embrace, they have the Noroz-style dinner and sing Noroz songs.
The tone of the song is fixed. The lyric is made by improvisation, which involves the lucky blessing to the safety for the old and young, the bumper harvest and livestock prosperity.
The Kazaks uphold the virtues of respecting the eldership. On the festival day, the sheep head is to be offered to the elders, who, before accepting, should deliver greeting and bless the whole family with the safety, ample livestock and abundant dairy products.
During the festival, people gather together and carry out the various entertainments such as singing, wrestling, tongue twister, guessing game, dream's reading, etc, while children kick shuttlecock, fly kites and play hide-and-seek. |
