The Carnivals of Life — An Introduction to the Festivals of the Yiche People (1986)

Overview

This early Chinese ethnographic film documents festivals of the Yiche people of the Hani ethnic group -- their folklore and cultural phenomena, such as reproductive worship dance; their collective socializing on festival nights and marriage customs; and the "haruzhe," which has both characteristics of blood sacrifice and prayer, a ritual to offering for a good harvest. The directorial debut of documentarian Hao Yuejun, the film uses the language of documentary but with a specifically ethnographic focus on history and customs, and is recognized as an important historical work in its own right for 'restarting' ethnographic filmmaking after the end of the Cultural Revolution; in fact, this particular method of had never been used in China before.