Festivals of Chinese Ethnic Groups·Ewenki: The God of Fire Festival
by Yan Xiangjun, Zha Xuan
This book mainly describes the origin of the Ewenki ethnic group's god of fire sacrificial custom. According to legend, a poor hunter went hunting a long time ago, but he ran for a whole day without catching any prey. When he was tired and hungry, a cave appeared in front of his eyes. He walked into the cave in a daze and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found two completely different houses, one was owned by the rich and the other was by the poor. The hunter went to the rich's house for help, but was expelled by the rich with disgust. The hunter then went to the poor's house and was warmly welcomed. At this time, the hunter heard someone talking on the roof: "Let me punish the greedy rich!" Then the hunter realized that the man on the roof was the god of fire, whom everyone feared. The Ewenki people regard the 23rd of December every year as the God of Fire Festival.