Fire was as crucial to the development of ancient civilizations as electricity has been to modern times, and the ancient peoples of both Eastern and Western cultures worshipped those who brought fire as heroes. In China many ethnic groups still mark the day on which their god of fire lit up their lives, and the Axi people is one of them.

The Axi ethnic minority group is an offshoot of the Yi people that lives mainly in Yunnan's Mile County, 143 kilometers from the provincial capital of Kunming. On a recent trip to Yunnan, I heard an ancient Axi legend about the origin of man-made fire.

It describes how the Axi tribe had been using natural fire in primitive times until a terrible flood extinguished it all. The flood occurred in early springtime, when the weather was freezing cold. The Axi stamped their feet, rubbed their hands and hugged each other to keep warm. A villager named Mudeng noticed from their actions that heat was produced by friction. He cleverly rubbed a wooden rod against a log until it finally caught a flame. The Axi people had fire and warmth once again, and from that day to this, they have referred to fire as mudeng.

The Axi practice polytheism, and believe that divinity manifests itself in every object in the universe in one form or another. They consider themselves descended from the tiger, and worship tiger-shaped totems. They respect the phallus with calabashes and stones. They worship everything: ancestors, heroes, demons, and divine objects, and of course, natural gods such as those of fire and water. As their god of fire is also an ancestor, the celebration for Mudeng is probably their most fascinating.

The ceremony takes place on the third day of the second month according to the Chinese lunar calendar (around mid March), the day when Mudeng was said to have created fire. By reenacting the legendary event, the Axi people pay homage to the great ancestor who brought them out of the cold and dark, and they beg his spirit to protect their safety, happiness and prosperity.

Nowhere is this ceremony better experienced than in Hongwan Village in the Axi-inhabited Xiyi Township. I arrived at Hongwan a day before the ceremony was due to take place. I was elated to learn that a mountain worshipping ritual preludes Mudeng's big day.

I followed the village priest on a two-kilometer hike to the Mizhi Mountain. The Axi people call him "bimo," or "the one who reads scriptures." The bimo communicates on behalf of the villagers with ancient ancestors and deities, and is therefore the most respected man in the village. I attempted a chat with the venerated sage, but his dialect was quite difficult to comprehend. I did manage to learn that he was a 65-year-old named He Yuzhong, that the village had 1,300 residents in over 300 households, and that the fire worshiping ceremony had been held for years.

The mountain worshiping ceremony was actually very simple -- certainly compared to the following day's event. The bimo led the villagers -- and a pig -- to a wooded area. When they reached the Divine Tree of Mizhi Mountain, the bimo said some prayers and several men jumped out from behind the trees. They were as naked as the day they were born, wearing only some kind of ceremonial paint. Screaming and wielding sharp daggers in their hands, they jumped on the pig and butchered it alive. When the job was almost done, they severed the pig's head and placed it and some rice on an altar under the Divine Tree. The bimo then recited a long prayer to the clanging of a bronze bell that he shook in his hand. An air of solemnity shrouded the entire process, and no woman was allowed to approach the Divine Tree. As soon as the ritual had come to an end, the mountain side erupted into song, dance and feasting.

The following day began bright and early as the families prepared the food for the main event. When the cooking was completed, all of the villagers cleaned out their stoves and fireplaces as part of a ritual that "saw off the old fire to welcome the new." As fire has the potential to both destroy and create, the Axi people believe that there is a difference between old and new fire -- and cleaning out the ashes is their way of making sure they see only the benefits of fire.

The villages then gathered at the village gates to greet guests from nearby villages as well as visitors from other places. At noon, the families brought out the grub and booze, and arranged it into what they called a "dragon banquet." People from different villages toasted each other -- but instead of uttering half-hearted pleasantries, they sang salubrious salutations to the beat of drums and gongs.

When lunch was over, performance teams from different villages sang and danced in honor of the God of Fire. The most impressive of these, I thought, was the Axi Moon Dance, a complicated set performed by scores of people. Then, at around the three o'clock in the afternoon, the event reached its climax.

Naturally enough, it was the bimo who presided over the reenactment of creating fire from wood. The villagers gathered around the God of Fire Tree while a young man placed the pointed end of a wooden rod into a bowl-shaped hole in a log. A local plant called "fire grass" was added to the bowl, and the young man began to rub. As he quickened the pace, smoke began to rise out of the bowl, and soon the grass caught fire. Then, the people gathered around the new fire and danced in praise of Mudeng.

Soon they formed an impressive parade and passed the seed of fire around in an iron basin. The parade was made up of primitively decorated men, women and children who followed a statue of the God of Fire around the village as they danced and chanted the words "Mudeng sailulai," or "Mudeng fire." Again, most of the men were stark naked, with their skin covered in mud or paint. Some wore calabashes or wooden rods over their privates as a phallic tribute. The parade continued until it reached a clearing where a bonfire was set up. The seed of fire was used to light the bonfire, and the people danced and sang into the night.

In 2004, the Xiyi township government decided to promote Hongwan Village's fire worshipping ceremony. It contributed 200,000 yuan and invited folk dance troupes from all over the township to perform. The ceremony's reputation soared, and it now attracts more and more curious visitors every year. It is now a visible dot on the tourist map, and this year for the first time a number of tourist groups arrived in Hongwan to witness their annual celebration of fire. Fire is vital to this fascinating tribe for material as well as spiritual needs. The Hongwan villagers earn most of their income by selling cured tobacco. Almost every household has a tobacco-curing hut, the operation of which is dependent on fire. It seems, therefore, that Mudeng's glowing legacy will never be extinguished.

Traveling Tips:

Mile County in the northern part of Honghe Prefecture lies 143 kilometers from Kunming, the provincial capital. Shuttle buses costing 49 yuan per person run from the Passenger Terminal near the Kunming Railway Station to Mile. It is 22 kilometers over an asphalt mountain road from the county seat of Mile to Xiyi Township, where Hongwan Village is located. There are daily minibuses from Mile to Xiyi at the cost of 8 yuan per person, but they run at infrequent intervals. Renting a taxi at 40 yuan is an alternative. It is then a five-kilometer journey over a cement road from Xiyi to Hongwan Village. Three-wheeled motors are available at 3 yuan per person, or 15 yuan to hire.

Tourists to Hongwan Village stay and eat at family-run inns. During the fire worshiping festival, each tourist pays 100 yuan (including the "dragon" feast, a guest-of-honor card and a hat) for a two-day stay with a local family arranged by the local government. Alternatively, tourists can stay in Xiyi Township with the family of the township head at the cost of 10 yuan per person. Xiyi has eateries where a pair of travelers can have a hearty meal at the cost of 15 yuan. A small bowl of the local specialty, "cross bridge rice noodle," costs 1 yuan, and a big portion costs 2 yuan. Lodging conditions are poor in both Hongwan and Xiyi, and sleeping bags are recommended.

Individual tourists can stay the night in Mile County, which has a range of hotels and inns that cost between 40 yuan and 200 yuan per person.
 
(China Today July 21, 2006)