Working and Living by the Sun

Ganfen Festival in Anren County

The vernal equinox is one of the 24 solar terms when grass burgeons and animals awake. In Anren County of Hunan Province, people celebrate the day by offering sacrifices to Shennong, opening the herbal medicine market and preparing for farm work, which is called Ganfen (literally, catch up with the vernal equinox) Festival.

The festival starts three days prior to the vernal equinox and lasts six days. All people spontaneously go to the county seat to offer sacrifices to Emperor Yandi and Shennong, two legendary figures locals regard as the Gods of the land. They also meet with friends and acquaintances, and trade seeds, farm tools, and herbal medicines in the market.

The festival, with a 1,000 year-long history, originated in the worshipping of Emperor Yandi and Shennong.

As the legend goes, Emperor Yandi and Shennong used to live in Anren. They taught local people to farm, making the place one of the earliest farming areas.

The vernal equinox means the coming of the busiest time of year. Farmers need to prepare tools, seeds, and herbal medicines for the upcoming spring plough, as well as offer sacrifices to Shennong, who will bless people with a good harvest. All of these activities constitute the Ganfen Festival.

 

The herbal medicine market, with over 10,000 loads of herbs, is a magnet for about 100 counties in neighboring provinces and even far away autonomous regions such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. People like to buy herbs according to traditional prescriptions, and simmer them with pigs’ feet. The medicine-cuisine is believed to be good for health and to nurture strength, and it is usually taken before the farming season starts.

In 2014, the Anren Ganfen Festival was listed as a national intangible heritage.

(Compiled by China Today)