On the Loong Boat Festival every year, Yao people hang a piece of kudzu vine at their door to pray for exorcism and to ensure the safety of their families. This ancient custom has been passed down to this day, and behind it lies a touching legend.
According to legend, a branch of the Yao ethnic group originally lived on the plains and coexisted harmoniously with other ethnic groups. However, one year, due to the failure of the poor people’s resistance, the officers and soldiers pursued them relentlessly, the village was looted, and the people fled one after another.
Among the fleeing crowd, there is a Yao woman who is carrying a five-year-old Zhuang child on her back and leading her three-year-old biological son, struggling to run. When she arrived at a mountain covered in vines, she found that there was no way out ahead, and there were pursuers approaching her, making the situation critical.
At this critical moment, an elderly man with white hair and silver whiskers descended from the mountain along the vine and landed in front of her. The old man asked her why she carried the older child while holding the younger one, and the woman explained that she was carrying a child from the Zhuang ethnic group and holding her own biological child. When she revealed the reason why she sacrificed herself to save others, the old man was deeply moved.
In order to rescue the Yao woman and her children, the old man guided her to climb up the mountain along the thickest and longest vine. He gently tugged at Ge Teng, and a mountain road miraculously appeared in front of the woman. She carried a Zhuang child on her back and quickly climbed along the mountain road. As soon as she reached the top of the mountain, the officers and soldiers chased after her to the foot of the mountain.
The woman turned around and found that the mountain road had disappeared without a trace, leaving only the vines covering the mountain. She couldn’t bear to see the soldiers harm her own child, so she turned around and fled to the opposite mountain. The officers and soldiers saw the situation and had nowhere to go due to the abundance of vines on the mountain, so they eventually withdrew and left.
When the woman descended to the foot of the mountain, she was surprised to find her child safely drinking mountain spring water there. The child told her that it was the old man with white hair and silver whiskers who flew over on his back. However, when they searched everywhere for the old man, they couldn’t find his trace no matter what.
Afterwards, the woman and her family continued on their journey and arrived at a village in a mountainous area. Here, they encountered many refugees. The three-year-old child recognized his father at a glance, and the family was able to reunite.
When a woman told her husband about her experience of encountering a white haired old man on the road, her husband was also surprised to say that they were also rescued by this old man. The elderly let their young and strong men walk behind, dragging Ge Teng to clean up the footprints on the road and cover everyone’s retreat. When the officers and soldiers chased after, they were afraid to retreat because they stepped on the road swept by Ge Teng.
People all sighed about the old man’s help. One of the elders suggested that in order to commemorate the old man with white hair and silver whiskers, every family in Yaozhai should hang kudzu vine every Loong Boat Festival. This proposal was approved by everyone, and since then, this custom has been passed down from generation to generation.
Hanging Ge Teng has not only become a symbol for the Yao people to ward off evil and pray for peace, but also allows them to always remember the immortal’s life-saving grace, and let the descendants of the Yao family forever commemorate him.
