Knife Pole Festival

The Knife Pole Festival of the Lisu people is one of the most exciting of all the minority festivals of China. The Lisu people, with a population of about 600,000, live mostly in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, with a few living in Sichuan Province.

In ancient times the ancestors of the Lisu lived along the banks of Jinsha and Yalong rivers. Between the 15th and 19th century, they gradually migrated to the drainage areas of the Nu and Lancang rivers in Yunnan. The Lisu people have their own language, a branch of Tibeto-Burman language group. For subsistence they are primarily farmers and hunters. They are known for their hospitality.

The annual Knife-Pole Festival takes place on the eighth day of the second lunar month to commemorate a Han hero named Wang Ji, a minister of war during the Ming Dynasty. He was sent by the Ming government to drive away other ethnic people in the Lisu area. On February 8 of the Lunar Year, Wang Ji was killed by traitors on his way back to Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty at the time.

The Knife-Pole Festival is the exclusive traditional festival of the Lisu people. On that day people dress up to watch the activities, including "Climbing Knife Pole" and "Diving into Fire Sea."

Performers jump and dance barefoot and half-naked over burned coal. They brush coal over their bodies and rub coal balls on their hands in a ritual called the "fire wash," which is meant to fend off troubles in the coming year.

Some performers put on red clothes and turbans to climb up a 20 meter-long knife ladder tied with 36 knives. After kneeling down in front of a portrait of Wang Ji and drinking a bowl of wine prepared for them, they begin to climb the knife ladder. The first one to reach the top is hailed and applauded with firecrackers.

The memorial ceremony has been officially designated as the traditional festival for the Lisu people. It's one of the most thrilling events to attend while visiting China.