Zhangjiajie's Qin Hou Sun-Drying His Skin
The sixth day of the sixth lunar month is the death anniversary of the Tujia hero Qin Hou. The Tujia people of Dayong widely tell the story of Qin Hou having his skin dried on the sixth of the sixth month, which became a grand ethnic festival. According to the Liu Clan Genealogy of Liangjiang: 'In the twenty-fifth year... Qin Hou of Maogang rebelled... the Taizu sent troops, pursued to Qizhai of Yongding, captured Qin Hou and had him flayed.' It is said that on this day...
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Every year on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month is the death anniversary of the Tujia hero Qin Hou. Among the Tujia people of Dayong, the story of Qin Hou's skin being sun-dried on the sixth of the sixth month is widely told, and from this a grand ethnic festival was formed. According to the Genealogy of the Liu Clan of Liangjiang: "In the twenty-fifth year... Qin Hou, the Maogang commissioner, rebelled... Taizu sent troops to punish him, pursued him to Qizhai in Yongding, captured Qin Hou, and flayed him." It is said that on this day, Zhu Yuanzhang, emperor of the Ming dynasty, had the Tujia rebel hero Qin Hou taken to the execution ground and subjected to the cruel punishment of flaying. When the skin was peeled open, the flesh clung to three golden dragons that turned into three beams of golden light and flew up and away. Instantly the sky turned black and the earth dark; for seven days and seven nights the sun and moon were unclear, and day and night could not be distinguished. Emperor Zhu realized that he had wrongly killed a true Son of Heaven, and that heaven and earth would not tolerate it. He hurriedly knelt down and prayed to heaven and earth, promising that every year on the sixth, sixteenth, and twenty-sixth days of the sixth month, Qin Hou would sit on the throne for three days, and that he himself would perform the ritual of three kneelings and nine prostrations. When the prayer was finished, indeed the clouds opened and the mist dispersed, and the sun and moon shone again. In order to obtain Qin Hou's true image, the emperor ordered Qin Hou's skin blown up and enshrined in the hall. To prevent insect damage and rot, every year on the sixth day of the sixth month, Qin Hou's skin had to be turned over and sun-dried, and so this day is also called "Qin Hou Drying His Skin." From then on, clan members carried on this custom. On this day every year, every household must turn out boxes and cabinets and expose clothing to the sun, as a memorial to Qin Hou.