On the 25th of the first lunar month, the Manchus celebrate the Fill-up-the –Storehouse Festival. According to the Manchu, at this time of the yea, the storehouses went empty. In order to fill up the storehouses, people have to go to the fields and work. On this day, every family is cooking broomcorn which will be put in a bowl and symbolically placed in the storehouse.
Meanwhile, a toy horse made of broomcorn straws is stuck into the broomcorn. The horse, traditional carrier of corns for the Manchu, is meant to pray for a good harvest in the coming years. Some family will instead make two hoes at the occasion. These rituals are still kept in some villages in Northeastern China.
