Nadun is a traditional festival held by the

Monguor people The Monguor people ( Monguor: Mongghul), also known as Tu people (), White Mongol or Tsagaan Mongol, are a Mongolic people and one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China. According to the 2000 census, the total population was ...

(known as the ''Tu Zu'' in Chinese). The festival's name resembles the Nadam festival of the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

, but different in format and content.

Origins

The Monguor “Nadun” and the

Mongolian Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * ...

“ Nadam” are special nouns designated to an annual festival and reflect their shared origins from the northern nomadic people, such as the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

, who were recorded to have “one major gathering every spring for leisure and fun”. Whereas the Mongolian Nadam preserved the nomadic features of horse race, wrestling, and archery, the Monguor Nadun has encoded their history through masked dance performances and presents as an annual military drill combined with joyful celebrations of harvest. It is specifically held in the Sanchuan/ Guanting area in Minhe County, located on the north bank of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

, at the easternmost point of

Qinghai Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

, as the River flows eastward into

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

, which holds the most densely populated Monguor settlement today.

Format

Held by villages in turn along the

, the Nadun celebration circles through the entire Sanchuan/Guanting region in Minhe, the Nadun festival is inherently tied to agricultural work. It functions as the Monguor form of “

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

” in the

Western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...

and expresses gratitude for an abundance of harvest blessed by

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

referred to as “Tiangere.” The event lasts over two months, starting from the twelfth of the seventh month to the fifteenth of the ninth month by the Chinese

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...

, and spans for a total of 63 days, giving rise to its eponym as "the world’s longest festival.Ma, Daxue ��达学(2005). "Qinghai tu zu 'Nadun' wen hua xian xiang jie du n Interpretation of the cultural phenomenon of 'Nadun' of the Tu Nationality in Qinghai青海土族'纳顿'文化现象解读." Qinghai shi fan da xue xue bao ournal of Qinghai Normal University青海师范大学学报 108(1): 79-84. p. 79.

References

{{Reflist Festivals in Mongolia Festivals in China