Chinese Nation – Study in China

Chinese Nation – Dong nationality

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:36:01 +0000

Dong nationality is a minority nationality in China, whose language is Dong language. It belongs to the Dongshui branch of the Zhuang Dong language group in the Sino Tibetan language family and believes in many gods.

The ancestors of the Dong nationality are called “the head of Guizhou” in the literature before the pre-Qin period. It is generally believed that the Dong nationality developed from a branch of ancient Baiyue. The Dong people are mainly engaged in agriculture, and the agriculture is mainly rice planting. Rice planting has a long history, and they are also engaged in forestry. The production of agriculture and forestry has reached a very high level. There are many basins called “Bazi” in the Dong area.

Dong people are mainly distributed in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture and Tongren area of Guizhou Province, Xinhua Dong Autonomous County, Huitong County, Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Zhejiang Dong Autonomous County, and Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County of Hunan Province, Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, Longsheng Miao Autonomous County and Rongshui Miao Autonomous County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Enshi Tujia Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hubei Province, etc.

Diet

Dong people eat rice as their staple food, and they also eat millet, corn, wheat, sorghum, and potato, but they usually match it to adjust their taste. Meat is mainly domestic livestock, including pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, especially fish. There are many kinds of vegetables, among which vegetables, cabbage, radish, eggplant, cowpea, cucumber, pumpkin, wax gourd, white gourd, and pepper are the most common. Women often go to the mountains to collect wild bamboo shoots, fungi, ferns, and other food. Men hunt wild boars, bamboo mice, pheasants, and birds for food in their leisure time.

Wine plays a very important role in Dong People’s diet. Most of the wine is made of glutinous rice, and every family will brew and bake it by themselves. The Dong family is hospitable, with wine as a gift and wine as a pleasure, and usually uses wine to eliminate fatigue. Glutinous rice, Camellia Oleifera, pickled acid, and fish are the most popular traditional food of Dong people, which are closely related to national customs and are recognized as Dong flavor.

Most areas have three meals a day, and many places have Camellia Oleifera for breakfast, which is called breakfast. The table is low and the chopsticks are short. There are some special foods, such as beef, roast fish, plasma duck, red meat and so on.

“Camellia Oleifera”, “sour banquet” and “close meal” were used to treat the guests.

Clothes & Accessories

In the past, Dong clothing was mainly made of self spinning, self weaving, and self dyeing Dong cloth.

Since the 1980s, woven fine cloth has been widely used, and self-woven Dong cloth has become a gift for relatives and friends. There are many kinds of Dong costumes. Different ages and seasons have different decorations, such as left lapel, right lapel, and double Lapel; cloth buttons, copper buttons, and silver buttons; trousers and skirts; green, blue, black and white; headdress, neck ornament, chest ornament, waist ornament, hand ornament, foot ornament, etc.

Among them, there are more than 50 kinds of headwear, mainly silver ornaments, including silver corolla, silver hairpin, a silver comb, silver hair chain, silver earrings, tremella pendant, tremella thread, etc. When women dress up, they see nothing but silver. Women’s hairstyle is more special, divided into front, back, left and right bun or braid on the top of the head, there are obvious regional differences.

Dong Opera

Dong opera is a kind of opera with a unique style, which originated in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty.

Dong opera, with simple steps, simple movements, and various tunes, was first created by Wu Wencai (about 1798-1845) of lading, Liping, Guizhou, and has a history of more than 100 years. Up to now, there are nearly 500 folk troupes and nearly 1000 traditional and modern plays.

After the founding of the people’s Republic of China, traditional operas have been continuously excavated and refined, and become more perfect in terms of theme and artistic form. Modern operas reflecting the new face of the Dong people are also increasing, which are highly praised and loved by the audience. The accompanying musical instruments of Dong opera mainly include pipa, corbel, erhu, Bell, Gong, cymbal, drum, and so on.

Chinese Nation – Bouyei

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:35:45 +0000

Bouyei, a large minority in Southwest China, is spoken in the Bouyei language. The Sino Tibetan language belongs to the Zhuang Dai branch of the Zhuang Dong ethnic group. It is closely related to the Zhuang language and is commonly used in Chinese.

The Bouyei people evolved from the Liao people in ancient times, mainly in agriculture. The ancestors of the Buyi people began to grow rice very early, which is known as the “rice nation”.

Bouyei people are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, and other provinces, among which Guizhou Province has the largest Buyi population, accounting for 97% of the national Buyi population. They mainly live in Qiannan and Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefectures, as well as Anshun City, Guiyang city, and Liupanshui City. The rest of the cities, prefectures, and districts are scattered, and a small part of them live in Vietnam.

Language

Bouyei language belongs to the Zhuang Dong language family of the Sino Tibetan language family and has a close kinship with the Zhuang language.

The northern dialect of the Zhuang language is basically the same as the Buyi language in Wangmo, Cheng, Dushan, Pingtang, Anlong, and Xingyi counties of Guizhou. Due to the long-term cultural contact and exchange between Bouyei and Han, there are many Chinese Loanwords in the vocabulary system of the Buyi language.

Bouyei language has a complete phonetic system, rich vocabulary, and expressive grammatical structure. Buyi language is divided into Qiannan, Qianzhong, and Qianxi (traditionally called the first, second, and third local language areas).

In the past, the Bouyei people did not have their own characters and generally used Chinese. In Bouyei Mo scriptures, they used Chinese characters to record sounds or radicals to create some new characters according to the “six books” method to record scriptures. In 1956, the Central People’s government organized experts to create a Latin alphabet-based Buyi Pinyin program. The plan has been revised twice, and now it is mainly implemented in the Bouyei areas.

Diet

Bouyei people take rice as their staple food and eat corn, wheat, red barnyard grass, buckwheat, etc.

Bouyei people especially like glutinous food, and there are a variety of production methods, such as making glutinous rice cake, round sugar rice cake, earpiece rice cake, pillow rice dumpling, and triangle rice dumpling. Every new year, we must eat glutinous rice, and present glutinous rice cake to relatives and friends. Festival also like to eat flower juice and leaf juice dyed colored “glutinous rice”.

Nonstaple foods include vegetables, beans, and meat. Vegetable processing products are famous “Dushan hydrochloric acid”, “sour pepper” and so on. Meat processing includes smoked and cured meat and sausage; like to eat dog meat, different processing methods, unique flavor, more famous are “Huajiang dog meat”, “Duyun stewed dog meat”, “Cheng dog meat feast” and so on. Bean products mainly include Douchi, tofu, blood tofu, etc.

Pepper, pickled cabbage, and sour soup are indispensable in daily life.

Bouyei family can brew glutinous rice wine and rice, corn wine. Some places also produce glutinous rice cellar wine, Yanren rice wine, sugar wine, etc., which are quite characteristic. Some rice wine is brewed with wild Ceratoides fruit, which is rich in nutrition and is used to entertain distinguished guests. The brewing technology of Chenopodium album wine has a history of hundreds of years.

Clothes & Accessories

Bouyei people’s clothes are mostly blue and white.

Before the 1970s, men wore headscarves, blouses, and trousers. The old man has many long clothes.

After the 1970s, men’s clothing is no different from Han clothing. There are many styles of women’s costumes. At present, the Buyi Nationality’s older costumes are still preserved in Zhenning, Guanling, Pudding, and Liupanshui. They are big-bodied short clothes, neckline, pan shoulder, sleeve, and hem, all inlaid with brocade and batik geometric patterns. They wear pleated skirts, sewn with blue Batik cloth on a white background, and wear various silver jewelry. Women’s clothing of Buyi Nationality in Qianxinan Prefecture and Luodian County of Qiannan Prefecture are generally big breasted clothes with long trouser legs; the shoulders, cuffs, and lapels of the clothes are inlaid with blue trunks; the trouser legs are big frills, or the blue trouser legs are inlaid with blue cloth and blue trunks. The length of clothes and the size of trouser legs vary from region to region. Self-made brocade and batik are the main characteristics of Bouyei costumes.

Bouyei women pay attention to headwear. Before marriage, they wear braided hair and embroidered headscarves. After marriage, they need to use bamboo shoot shells as a special decoration for “skeleton”, which means to become a family. In Zhenning and Guanling areas, girls like to wear a high bun, which is shaped like an arch bridge. There is a silver hairpin about feet long on their hair. They wear short clothes, long skirts and embroidered cloth shoes. They walk with the elegant charm. In other areas, they often wear short clothes and trousers or wear batik or embroidery lace on the skirts, necklines, and trouser legs. Women in the Anlong and Xingren areas of Southwest Guizhou like to use white cloth as headscarves and wear embroidered waistbands of various colors. They are simple and elegant. Silver, jade bracelets, hairpins, rings, collars, and other accessories are popular among Buyi women, and their styles are unique.

Chinese Nation – Bourau

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:35:16 +0000

The Bourau nationality, formerly known as the Zhuang nationality, is a minority with the largest population in China. The national language is Zhuang, belonging to the Zhuang Dai branch of the Zhuang Dong language family of the Sino Tibetan language family.

The Zhuang nationality originated from “Xi’ou” and “Luo Yue” in the Lingnan area recorded in Han historical records in pre-Qin, Qin, and Han Dynasties. It is distributed in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government in China, mainly in the south, starting from Lianshan Zhuang and Yao Autonomous County in Guangdong Province in the East, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province in the west, and Congjiang County in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou Province in the north, South to Beibu Gulf. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is the main distribution area of Zhuang nationality.

Diet

The Zhuang people in most areas are used to eating three meals a day, while the Zhuang people in a few areas also eat four meals, that is, a small meal is added between lunch and dinner. Breakfast and Chinese food are relatively simple, generally eat porridge, dinner for dinner, eat dry rice, dishes are more abundant. Rice and corn are the main food of Bourau nationality. Zhuang people can’t help eating livestock meat, such as pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, goose, and so on. Some areas don’t eat dog meat, while others love dog meat. Pork is a whole piece of first cooked, then cut into square pieces, back to the pot with seasoning. Zhuang people are used to making fresh chicken, duck, fish, and vegetables into seven or eight mature dishes. The dishes are stir-fried in a hot pot and then out of the pot, which can maintain the freshness of the dishes.

Festival

March 3 is the most solemn festival of Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Dong, Mulao, Maonan, and other ethnic groups in Guangxi. In 2014, it was determined as a traditional festival in Guangxi and had two days off. among them, the “March 3” Song fair is popular in Zhuang areas, especially in the Hengshui River and Zuojiang river. The number of people in each fair ranges from a few hundred to thousands or even tens of thousands. In Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Dong, and other minority areas and some Han areas, on the third of March of the lunar calendar, every family makes five-color glutinous rice, dyes colored eggs, kill chickens, and ducks, drinks wine, and celebrates the festival in different ways. Some places are more prosperous than the Spring Festival. before the festival, every family prepares five-colored glutinous rice and colored eggs. Red orchid grass, yellow rice flower, maple leaf, and purple Fanteng are collected and soaked in the juice of these plants to make red, yellow, black, purple, and white glutinous rice. According to legend, this kind of food was passed down after being praised by the fairies, and some people said that it was offered to the singer Liu Sanjie. After eating this kind of food, people are prosperous and healthy. Zhuang family love five-color rice, as a symbol of happiness and auspiciousness. On happy days such as the children’s full moon and the completion of their new home, they also cook colorful meals and send them to their neighbors. Zhuang people also love maple leaf and think that maple leaf can “remove evil spirits” and bring good luck and peace to people.

Costume

In Buchanan, Daoxian county (the active area of the Cangwu tribe of the ancient Zhuang nationality), the weaving pattern of plant fiber, which was used to make “bedding cloth” for pottery 15000 years ago, was discovered. It is the first handmade textile created by human labor so far.

Zhuang clothing referred to as “Zhuang clothing”, mainly has three colors: blue, black, and brown. Zhuang women have the habit of planting cotton and spinning. Spinning, weaving, and dyeing have become a household handicraft industry. The cloth woven from self-planted and self-spun cotton yarn is called a “home machine”. It is fine, thick, solid, and wear-resistant, and then dyed blue, black, or brown. It can be dyed into the blue or cyan cloth with big green (a kind of herb), black cloth with fish pond deep, and brown cloth with Dioscorea Cirrhosa. There are different costumes of Zhuang nationality. Men’s and women’s costumes and men’s, women’s, and unmarried women’s headwear have their own characteristics. [15] There are two kinds of men’s clothing: right front and double front. The right front has no collar on the back. The buttons open from the right armpit to the waist and then turn to the center, and then open three or four inches. The skirt is inlaid with more than one-inch wide colored cloth edge, with copper buttons, and then put on a long belt. The double front is open, and the length is only up to the navel.

Women’s wear has no collar and right skirt, but the sleeves are larger than men’s wear. They are nearly one foot wide and knee long. They are inlaid with them. The hem is wide and thin, generally more than two or three. The inside of the shoulder is pasted with the cloth to set off the outside, and three stitches are sewed, which is called a “shirtless shirt”. The buttons of men’s and women’s shirts are copper buttons or cloth buttons. Men’s and women’s trousers are basically the same in style, with a hem at the bottom, commonly known as “croissants”. A married woman has a lace-bellied pocket. A spike-shaped tube is hung on the left side of her waist pants, which is connected with the key. When she walks around, it makes a “Sha La Sha La” sound. Men’s formal dress is used to wearing long robes with a short jacket on the outside, which is commonly known as “long gown with Chinese jacket”. At first, they wore a round hat and later changed to a top hat. Both men and women wear cloth shoes.

Both men and women wear cloth shoes. Middle-aged women like to wear their own cat’s ear cloth shoes when they go to work in the mountains. They are commonly known as shoe cats. They look like straw sandals with ears and heels. They use a flat ribbon to string the ears and heels together, and they can adjust the tightness at will. Children’s headdress: the children’s hat is made of two or three-inch wide embroidered cloth. In ancient books, it is recorded that Zhuang customs such as “bare top and bare feet” and “cloth and silk Le Er (tie ER)” are reappeared in children’s hats. This kind of hat can not only protect the head but also be a kind of decoration. The baby’s back belt is much larger than the common Han nationality’s, which is butterfly-shaped. The “butterfly body” is three feet long and two feet and four inches wide, and embroidered with patterns or eight trigrams. But rarely embroidered with words, the “butterfly wings” on both sides are nine feet long and one foot and two inches wide. This kind of back belt is called “lap” in the Zhuang language. After the founding of the people’s Republic of China, the size of the strap was gradually reduced. Some of the straps were embroidered with words such as “safe in and out” and “happy” instead of the original pattern.

Chinese Nation – Tibetan

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:35:06 +0000

Tibetan is one of 56 nationalities in China and the indigenous people of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. In China, it is mainly distributed in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, Western Sichuan Province, Diqing of Yunnan Province, Gannan of Gansu Province, and other regions. Besides, it is also distributed in India, Bhutan, the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and other regions. Lhasa is the holy land of the Tibetan people. At present, there are about 7.5 million Tibetans in the world, about 7 million in China (2016), and the conservative estimate of the Tibetan population is more than 10 million.

Tibetan history is an integral part of Chinese history and one of the oldest ethnic groups in China and South Asia. After the establishment of the Tubo government in the early 7th century, the contact between Tubo and Tang Dynasty became more and more frequent. From the 10th century to the 16th century, the ancient Tibetan culture flourished. In 1951, Tibet was peacefully liberated.

Tibetans have their own language and writing. Tibetan belongs to the Tibetan branch of Tibeto Burmese language family of Sino Tibetan language family, which is divided into three dialects: Wei Tibetan, Kang, and Ando.

Tibetans generally believe in Tibetan Buddhism. In the seventh century AD, Buddhism was introduced into Tubo from Tianzhu, with a history of more than 1400 years. The Tibetan people have created a splendid national culture and left a very rich cultural heritage in literature, music, dance, painting, sculpture, architectural art, etc. The Tibetan people have excellent carving skills. Besides, Tibetan Opera is unique, and Tibetan medicine is also an important heritage of mankind.

Clothes & Accessories

Tibetan costumes, both men and women, remain intact. Different regions have different costumes. Men’s wear is vigorous and unconstrained; women’s wear is elegant and natural, especially with jewelry and jade as accessories, forming the unique style of plateau women.

The basic characteristics of Tibetan clothing are long sleeves, a wide waist, a long skirt, and long boots. This largely depends on the ecological environment of the Tibetan people and the way of production and life formed on this basis. This kind of clothes with a large structure can be used as a quilt to resist the wind and cold at night; the sleeves of the robe are spacious, and the arms can stretch freely. When the temperature rises during the day, one arm can be pulled out, which is convenient for heat dissipation and temperature regulation. Therefore, take off a sleeve of the costume will form a unique style of Tibetan clothing.

Tibetan clothing is colorful, and its characteristics are also highlighted in the color matching and composition. Tibetan costumes with bright colors will become the focus of artistic performances and festival activities, while the daily costumes of Tibetan people are mainly blue and white, with gorgeous belts or lace. In pastoral areas, the lace of Tibetan clothing is commonly used in blue, green, purple, green, yellow, rice, and other color blocks to form colorful ribbons in turn. Women’s leather robes are often decorated with a cross pattern of flower collar robes, which give people the association of “charity” and “caress”. Besides, Tibetan costumes boldly use contrasting colors such as red and green, white and black, red and blue, yellow and purple, with bold and exquisite color matching.

Tibetan compatriots attach great importance to “Hada” and regard it as the most precious gift. “Hada” is a snow-white fabric, which is about 20-30 cm wide and 1-2 meters long. It is made of yarn or silk. Every time there is a happy event, or a distant guest coming, or a visit to an elder, or a long journey to see him off, you have to pay homage to Hada.

Women wear long-sleeve gowns in winter and sleeveless gowns in summer. They wear shirts of various colors and patterns inside and wear an apron with colorful patterns in front of their waist.

There are many styles and different textures of Tibetan hats. Tibetan boots are one of the important characteristics of Tibetan clothing. The common ones are “Songbalamu” flower boots, whose soles are made of cotton thread and leather.

Tibetan men and women pay special attention to ornaments. The texture of ornaments includes silver, gold, pearl, agate, jade, jadeite, coral, amber, and so on. They are widely used in headwear, hair ornaments, earrings, necklaces, waist ornaments, and rings.

Most of the ornaments are related to the production in ancient times, and they are inlaid with gold and silver jewelry. The headdress is made of copper, silver, gold, jade, coral, and pearl. It has a beautiful shape, mostly natural shape, which can be said to be the finishing touch of Tibetan clothing.

Custom

(1) Etiquette

Tibetans are very particular about etiquette. In their daily life, there are different ways of bowing to elders and peers. When you see an elder or a respected person, you should take off your hat, bend down 45 degrees, hold the hat in your hand, and get close to the ground. At this time, you can only bow your head in front of your chest. In some areas, palming and bowing are used at the same time. Close your hands to show respect. This kind of gift is mostly used to meet the elderly or respected people.

Xianhada is a kind of etiquette with the highest standard of Tibetan hospitality, which expresses warm welcome and sincere respect to the guests. Hada is the Tibetan language, which means Shajin or silk scarf. They are mainly white, but also light blue or light yellow. Generally, they are about 1.5m to 2m long and about 20cm wide. The best are blue, yellow, white, green and red. Colorful Hadas is used in the highest and most solemn ceremonies, such as Buddhist ceremonies.

Tibetans kowtow when making a pilgrimage to Buddha statues, pagodas, living Buddhas, and paying homage to the elders. Kowtow is usually carried out in temples with religious activities. Hold your hands together and hold your head high. Bow to your head, forehead, and chest three times. Then crouch on the ground, stretch your hands and draw the ground as a sign. Kowtow is also carried out in temples. He closed his palms and arched three times, then arched his waist to the foot of the Buddha statue, and gently raised his head to express his sincere repentance. To pay homage to the elderly, we should kowtow our heads to show respect and blessing.

In Tibetan, “Pang” means “filth”, while “Se” means “clearing”. Pang Se refers to an activity of clearing bad luck. On the third or fourth day of a child’s birth, relatives and friends will bring highland barley wine, butter tea, clothes, and hats for the child to celebrate. First of all, ha Zan Da gives a toast to the baby’s mother and then gives a toast to the baby’s mother.

（2） Marriage customs

The marriage customs of Tibetan are different, but the basic steps are similar. For example, when a young man and woman are interested in each other, they have to ask the living Buddha to see if their future marriage is auspicious and their family is happy. If it is “lucky”, then the man or woman will invite his relatives or matchmaker to propose with Hada and gifts to the other party’s home. If the other party agrees with the marriage, he will accept Hada and gifts, and immediately present a Hada to the person, and return it as a gift. Then, the two sides negotiated the date of the engagement ceremony. At the engagement ceremony, the man or woman presents gifts and money to the other person’s home, makes an engagement, holds a banquet to celebrate, and finally asks the living Buddha to make divination and propose to sign, to choose the best wedding day.

On the day of marriage, either the bride goes to the man’s home or the groom goes to the woman’s home. Relatives lead horses to the other party’s home to meet the new couple, and the party who is welcomed takes his dowry with him and goes to the other party’s home to get married. After welcoming the new person, we arranged to take a seat on the special cushion and began to offer Hada and wine to them. In the evening, the new couple enters the bridal chamber. At this time, the relatives toast to them again and sing a song of blessing. May they grow old together and have good luck. Within half a year after marriage, the couple will return to the other’s home for a few days. So far, the whole wedding is over.

（3） Diet

Tibetan people have their own unique food structure and eating habits, among which butter, tea, Zanba, beef, and mutton are known as the “four treasures” of the Tibetan diet. Besides, there are highland barley wine and all kinds of dairy products.

Chinese Nation – Mongols

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:34:56 +0000

Mongols, a traditionally nomadic people mainly distributed in East Asia, is one of the ethnic minorities in China, and also the main ethnic group in Mongolia. In addition, it is also considered to be a branch of Mongols in Russia.

The Mongols originated from the East Bank of Wangjian River in ancient times. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongolians headed by Genghis Khan unified all the Mongolians and gradually formed a new ethnic community.

Mongolian people live in grassland for a long time and live by animal husbandry. Living a nomadic life of “living by water and grass”, although this way of life has been weakened in modern society, it is still regarded as the symbol of Mongolian.

Mongolian people are more developed in science and culture, and music and dance also occupy a relatively prominent position in art.

Development history

There are about 10 million Mongolians in the world. The language is Mongolian. Half of them live in the territory of the people’s Republic of China. In 1271, the name of the Mongol Khanate was changed to Yuan state, or “Tuolei Khanate”, which is the official beginning of the Yuan Empire. Kublai Khan became the emperor, and later the Mongols respected the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols achieved the largest range of unification in the history of Asia and Europe and became the largest and most powerful military country in the world at that time. The Yuan Empire created by the Mongols created the system of “province”, which has been used since 800 years ago, and the name of “province” has also been used now. At present, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and other ethnic areas are under the jurisdiction of the autonomous region. Yunnan, Sichuan, North China, and Northeast China were brought under the powerful jurisdiction of the central government of the Mongol Yuan Empire. Xuanzhengyuan was set up to directly manage Tibet, the Penghu inspection department was set up to manage Penghu and Taiwan, and the chieftain system was set up in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Kang, and other ethnic areas, which strengthened the control of the Mongolian Khan over the border areas. The unification of the Yuan Empire established by the Mongols is of far-reaching significance in world history. At the same time, it put an end to the political situation of separatist regimes and the coexistence of several regimes since the end of the Tang Dynasty and established the political situation of the unification of the yuan and Qing empires. In particular, Mongolia achieved the greatest range of unification in the Yuan Empire and brought Tubo into the territory. The formation of the multi-ethnic unified Yuan Empire is of vital importance in world history.

During the Qing Dynasty, Monan Mongolia (Inner Mongolia), most of Mobei Mongolia (Outer Mongolia), and Moxi Mongolia were included in the territory of the Qing Empire. Kharka in Outer Mongolia was attacked by the Zhungeer tribe of Moxi Mongolia, and the three tribes of Outer Mongolia were defeated. Zebulon Zunba living Buddha (Tibetan Buddhism, the same belief as to the Qing Empire) in Outer Mongolia belonged to the Qing Empire, not to tsarist Russia. He said, “Russia doesn’t believe in Buddhism and its clothes are weird. The Manchu Qing Empire was prosperous, and they believed in Buddhism. They had endless treasures, such as silk, silk, and satin. Depending on them, they would have a happy life. “. In 1696, German was defeated by the three armies of the Qing army and killed himself the next year. Since then, more than 1.8 million square kilometers of Mobei have been included in the territory of the Qing Empire. After the mid-18th century, Mongolian Turkut broke through the obstruction of tsarist Russia and returned to the Qing Dynasty.

Half of the Mongolians in the world live in China. The national policy of the people’s Republic of China has made the social, cultural, and economic development of the Mongolians. China’s multi-ethnic family and all ethnic groups prosper together, reflecting the enlightened ethnic relations.

Clothes & Accessories

Mongolian costumes include robes, belts, boots, jewelry, etc. However, there are differences in styles due to different regions. Taking women’s robes as an example, the Mongols in Horqin and kara in regions have Manchu characteristics. They usually wear wide and straight robes to the heel, with split ends on both sides, and the neckline and cuffs are often covered with various colors of lace; the Mongols in Xilinguole grassland wear large and narrow sleeves with no split edges; the Buryat women wear waist skirt style long robes; the Ordos women’s robes are divided into three pieces, The first one is a close-fitting garment with the sleeve length reaching to the wrist, the second one is a coat with the sleeve length reaching to the elbow, and the third one is a collarless, double-breasted shoulder with straight rows of flashing buttons.

The robes worn by the Mongols in Qinghai are similar to those of the Tibetans. Except for Qinghai, men’s clothing varies little from place to place. In spring and autumn, they wear Jiabao, in summer they wear a single robe, and in winter they wear cotton or leather robes. Mongolians usually like to wear cloth clothes, and they usually wear silk clothes with a tapestry edge on New Year’s day or festival. Men’s clothes are mostly blue and brown, while women’s clothes like red, pink, green and sky blue. The belt is an important part of Mongolian clothing, which is made of silk or cotton cloth with a length of three or four meters. Men’s belt hanging knife, sickle, snuff box, and other accessories. Mongolian boots are divided into leather boots and cloth boots. Mongolian boots are exquisitely made with exquisite patterns on the upper. Wearing jewelry and hats is a Mongolian custom. Hats in different regions also have local characteristics. Mongolian hats in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, and other places have high tops and flat edges. The inside is made of white felt, and the outside is decorated with leather or dyed purple green felt for decoration. It is thick in winter and thin in summer. The top of the hat is decorated with Tassels and the ribbon is silk, which can be worn by both men and women. Blue and Buryat Mongols in Hulunbeier, with shawls for men and flipped eaves for women. Agate, jadeite, coral, pearl, silver, and other precious raw materials make Mongolian jewelry rich. Men’s colors are mostly blue, dark brown, and some are wrapped with silk. Women usually wrap their heads with red and blue handkerchiefs and wear conical hats like men in winter.

Mongolian men wear long gowns and aprons. Women’s sleeves are embroidered with lace patterns, and their tops are high necked, which seems to be similar to the ethnic group. Women like to wear three pieces of clothing of different lengths. The first one is a close-fitting garment with a sleeve length to the wrist, the second one is a coat with the sleeve length to the elbow, and the third one is a collarless cardigan with straight flashing buttons, which is particularly eye-catching.

Men’s belt hanging knife, sickle, snuff box, and other accessories. Like to wear soft leather boots, long to the knee. Most of the farmers wear cloth clothes, such as slit robes and cotton-padded clothes. In winter, they often wear felt boots, while high boots are rare. Men wear blue and black-brown hats, and some use silk to wrap their heads. Women usually wrap their heads with red and blue handkerchiefs and wear conical hats like men in winter. The unmarried woman separated her hair from the front and middle, tied up two hair roots with two big beads on them, and her hair was slightly drooping, decorated with agate, coral, Jasper, etc. There are more distinctive is the Mongolian wrestling clothes.

Mongolian wrestling costume is a kind of Mongolian costume craft. Wrestling costumes include shoulders, trousers, panties, and colored silk belts. The shoulders are bare. The trousers are wide. There are many patterns on the trousers, such as cloud pattern, plant pattern, and longevity pattern. The pattern is rough and powerful with strong color contrast. The underpants are made of 10-meter cloth. It is also suitable for wrestling, which makes it difficult for opponents to use leg wrapping. The trousers are sewn with a tough and strong cloth or flannel. The knee is stitched with various colored cloth blocks to make patterns. The patterns are generous and solemn, indicating good luck. Each part of the clothing is matched properly and integrated, which has the national characteristics of bravery.

Cultural customs

（1） Etiquette

Singing: the Mongolian People’s persuasion to drink is often expressed through sincere singing. Singing and persuasion are carried out at the same time. After one person is the lead singer, everyone raises a glass to sing a chorus, and then everyone cheers together. After several times of this, the wine is hearty. There are ceremonial singing, impromptu singing, and chorus singing. Their singing is often full of joy, all night long. Hospitality: the Mongolian people have the traditional virtue of hospitality, which has been handed down from ancient times to the present. The development of Mongolian traditional music is closely related to the development of its history and literature. Poetry is accompanied by music, songs contain poetry, and poetry coexists. Mongolian folk songs are rich in content, wide in subject matter, and vast in quantity. They can be divided into Eastern Mongolian folk songs and Simon folk songs by region, and long tune, short tune, Chaori, narrative song, Jiuling, children’s song, lullaby, religious song “Bo”, song and dance song “Andai” and “haodugeqin” by song type.

Hunting dogs: Mongolian people have the custom of hunting dogs. Therefore, they attached great importance to the selection and retention of a good hunting dog – “tiger”, that is, the castrated short-haired dog. We should pay attention to the good breed of hounds, that is to say, we should choose the dogs with long waist, long and symmetrical tail, sensitive hearing, keen eyesight, quick movement, and fast running from the improved breeds.

Greetings: the Mongolians are hospitable. When they meet, they should greet each other, even strangers. When they meet with their peers and acquaintances, they usually ask “Saibeinu”. If they meet the elders for the first time, they should ask “Taisaibeinu”. Entertaining passers-by is the traditional virtue of the Mongols, but to be a guest in the Mongolian home, we must respect the host. After entering the yurt, you should cross-legged around the stove and sit on the carpet, but the west side of the stove is the host’s residence, so you can’t sit casually when the host doesn’t sit. The host’s milk tea, the guests usually want to drink, do not drink impolite; the host please eat dairy products, the guests do not refuse, otherwise, it will hurt the host’s heart. If it’s inconvenient to eat more, a little will do.

（2） Naming

The characteristics of men’s naming are as follows:

1、 It is named after the culture of Han nationality. Such as Timur, user, Barthel, etc;

2、 They are named according to the expectations of their elders, such as gaseous (good luck), Bayar (joy), silver (wealth), etc;

3、 According to the age of the elder when the baby was born, such as Tabin (50), Ji rental (60), daring (70), etc;

4、 They are named after brave animals, such as shabu (bird), Bala (tiger), red wolf (Wolf), but Shilang (lion), Burigude (Eagle), etc;

5、 According to the name of natural things, such as Charlie (stone), agile (mountain), Muren (River), Tala (field), etc;

6、 At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, people without education could only add up their parents’ dates as their names, such as Zhu Yuanzhang.

The characteristics of women’s naming are as follows:

1、 In the name of bright stars, such as nare (the sun), Saren (the moon), Aodun (the stars), Hasegawa (as beautiful as the sun), Sarengova (as beautiful as the moon), etc;

2、 In the name of beautiful plants and trees, such as sailing flower (Shandan flower), Qiqige (flower), Mabuchi (leaf), Begonia, etc;

3、 In the name of jewelry and jade, such as Haas (jade), Tana (Pearl), Alatangova (beautiful as gold), etc;

4、 In the name of an ideal, such as Siqin (intelligent), Wuyun (intelligent), Gaowa (beautiful), Siqin Gaowa (beautiful and intelligent), etc.

According to this method, the names of Mongolian women can be divided into many kinds. The most important feature of modern Mongolian names is that they do not have a prefix. Therefore, they are only names and should not be understood as names. There are very few names with a prefix, which is only an individual phenomenon.

（3） Marriage customs

Young men and women in Mongolia should choose an auspicious day when they get married, and the man should send betrothal gifts to the woman’s home.

Betrothal gifts include cash, clothes, cloth, jewelry, rice, etc. There are cabinets, bedding, clothes, jewelry, electrical appliances, bicycles, rice, melon seeds, etc. The key is sent by the bride’s family to keep. When the bride arrives at the man’s home, the groom’s mother will take money to redeem the key and give it to the bride. On the day before marriage, the man should send the red paper sheep’s back (shuts or such) and wine to the woman’s home, which can be used as gifts and entertaining guests.

On the wedding day, the bridegroom will accompany her husband to the bride’s home, and at the same time choose some vegetables to send to the bride’s home. According to the custom, the bridegroom can’t speak during the process of the wedding, all by accompanying Lang social intercourse and circle, until marrying the bride home. After arriving at the woman’s home, the bridegroom was arranged to have dinner alone. He could not do it. He could only feed the bridegroom with food. When the man comes to pick up the dowry and carry it out, the bridegroom can welcome the bride and go out.

The bride combs her young woman’s hair and wears brand-new clothes from top to bottom and from inside to outside. The dress is still green and black. The lace pattern of the skirt and the high collar of the coat are similar to those of the Mongols in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A jacket worn by the bride is kept by a child in the bridal procession. The bride is carried into the sedan chair by her uncle and escorted to the man’s home by her younger brother. When the bride gets on the sedan chair, she has to cry, which means she can’t bear to leave home, and she has to cry all the way to the bridal chamber.

（4） Grand ceremony

Nadam convention is a traditional activity of Mongolian people with distinct national characteristics, and it is also a form of traditional sports activities loved by Mongolian people. Nadam in Xilingol League is the most representative.

“Nadam” is a Mongolian translation, meaning “entertainment, games”, to express the joy of harvest. Nadam, which starts on the fourth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar (mostly in the seventh and eighth months of the Gregorian calendar when the grass is green and flowers are red and horses are strong and sheep are fat), is an annual traditional festival on the grassland.

Nadam is held in Gacha (Village), Sumu (District), or Qi county. People of all nationalities and religious beliefs can sign up to participate.

Nadam’s predecessor is the Mongolian People’s “sacrifice Oboe”, which is a unique national competitive event, entertainment, and sports created and handed down by the Mongolian people in their long-term nomadic life.

Nadam has a long history. According to the stone inscription of Genghis Khan engraved on the stone cliff, Nadam originated in the early days of the establishment of the Mongolian Khanate. As early as 1206, when Genghis Khan was elected as the Mongolian Khan, he held a “Dahuligetai” (grand gathering) every July to August to inspect his troops, maintain and distribute the grassland and gathered the leaders of various tribes together to express his wish Nadam is held for unity, friendship and harvest. In the beginning, there was only one event of archery, horse racing, or wrestling. In the yuan and Ming Dynasties, archery, horse racing, and wrestling became a fixed form. Later, Mongolian people also referred to the three sports as Nadam.

Chinese Nation – Yi nationality

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:34:41 +0000

The Yi nationality is the sixth-largest ethnic minority in China. Its national language is Yi language. It belongs to the Yi branch of Tibeto Burmese language family of Sino Tibetan language family. There are six dialects in North, East, South, Southeast, West, and central China, including five sub-dialects and 25 local dialects.

The Yi people are mainly distributed in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangxi provinces (regions) between the plateau and coastal hills, mainly gathered in Chuxiong, Honghe, Liangshan, Bijie, Liupanshui, and Anshun, etc. Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture is the largest Yi nationality inhabited area in China.

Before the founding of new China, due to different regions and dialects, there were many branches of the Yi nationality. There were many different other names and self names, including “Yi”, “Heidi”, “Baiyi”, “Hongyi”, “many”, “Huayao”, “Micha” and so on.

Among the main self names, the Yi people in Zhaotong, Wuding, Luquan, Maitreya and Shiping of Yunnan Province, and the Yi people in Daliang and Xiaoliangshan of Sichuan Province call themselves “Nuosu”, “Nasu” and “niece”, which account for about half of the total population. The Yi people in Ailao Mountain, Wuliang Mountain, Kaiyuan, Wenshan, and Magan in Yunnan call themselves “Misha (PO)”, “last (PO)”, “pulao”, “Nipu” and so on. The Yi people in Guizhou call themselves “Nuosu”, “Na”, “Nuo” and “Nie”.

After the founding of new China, after ethnic identification, according to the common will of the majority of the Yi people, Dingyi “Yi” as a unified national name.

Clothes & Accessories

Yi nationality has many branches, scattered residence, complex natural environment, and unbalanced social and economic development. Its clothing has formed obvious regional characteristics in texture, style, and pattern. It can be divided into six types according to Liangshan, Wumengshan, Honghe, Southeast Yunnan, West Yunnan, and Chuxiong.

（1） Liangshan

Liangshan Yi traditional costumes, men and women are wearing right Lapel big Lapel clothes, wearing rub Erwa, felt, wrapped leggings, usually barefoot, winter wear hemp shoes.

The man’s head is wrapped in a bun with different styles in different sub-dialect areas, and his left ear is decorated with honeydew beads, tremella rings, and other accessories. According to different sub-dialects, men’s trousers in the northern dialect area are divided into “big trouser legs”, “middle trouser legs” and “small trouser legs”.

Women wear pleated skirts and handkerchiefs. After giving birth, they can wear hats or handkerchiefs. They like to wear earrings and handkerchiefs, and silver collars. The traditional materials are mainly self-woven and self-dyed wool and linen fabrics, and the traditional colors are black, red, and yellow. Patterns and ornaments are mostly cockscomb, sheep horn, fire sickle, fern, pane, and other animals and plants and living objects.

（2） Wumeng Mountain

Both men and women of the Yi nationality in Wumeng Mountain wear long or short shirts with big blue lapels and right lapels, long trousers, black or white handkerchiefs, white belts and embroidered “kite shoes” or “Eagle shoes”.

The men’s dress has no pattern and is covered with wool and felt. The neckline, cuff, skirt, and hem of women’s dress are decorated with color pattern combination pattern.

（3） Red River

Most of the Yi men’s clothes in the Honghe area are double-breasted, short clothes and trousers. There are many styles of women’s clothing, including long clothes, medium and long clothes, and short clothes. Most of them are jackets, shawls, aprons, and headdresses. They especially like to use silver foam and wool as decorations. Most of the patterns are natural patterns, followed by geometric patterns.

（4） Southeast Yunnan

In Southeast Yunnan, Yi women’s clothing styles are right or double-breasted tops and trousers, and skirts are worn in some areas. Men’s wear is a pair of cardigans, jackets, shoulders, and wide pants. The clothing technology includes cross-stitch, embroidery, patching, batik, etc.

（5） Western Yunnan

Most of the Yi women in western Yunnan are short at the front and long at the back, with long trousers at the bottom, an apron, and a shawl. Women in Weishan and Midu counties wore sheep felt to wrap their backs.

The man was wearing a right cardigan, a sheepskin jacket, wide trouser legs, and a green handkerchief on his head.

（6） Chuxiong

In the Chuxiong area, the Yi women’s clothes are right big breasted short clothes and trousers, while in a few areas, they are wearing a pair of breasted clothes and floral skirts. The craft is mainly patching and flat embroidery and the patterns are mostly flowers.

Luquan, XUNDIAN, and other places of women’s dress are the ancient Guan TouYi, which is short in front and long in the back, wide and sleeveless.

Men’s clothing is a pair of the lapel, sheepskin jacket, and trousers, and the custom of burning grasscloth and hemp cloth clothes is still retained.

Diet

The staple food of Yi people is potato, corn, buckwheat, rice, and so on. Nonstaple foods include meat, beans, vegetables, seasonings, and beverages. Cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens are the main types of meat, and cattle are the most important ones for hospitality, followed by sheep and pigs. Beans are mostly soybeans, Hu beans, peas, and so on. One way of eating soybeans is called “durable” by Yi people, that is, soybeans are ground into pulp and cooked with lees and sauerkraut.

Spices mainly collect three kinds of wild plants, one is the leaves of “halau”, one is the roots and flowers of arbor “Muku”, and the other is the roots of herbage “Chepachet”. These three plants all have peculiar fragrance.

The beverage category is mainly wine, and the hospitality of Yi people is mainly wine. According to the proverbs of Yi people, “tea is the most important thing for Han people, while wine is the most important thing for Yi people”, “wine is the banquet, and killing pigs and sheep without wine is not the Banquet”, which shows the importance of wine. Yi People’s wine mainly includes Tan Tan wine (also known as Za wine), barrel wine, water wine, and so on.

Yi people in Liangshan like to smoke orchids, while Yi people in other areas like to smoke leaf tobacco.

Many Yi areas have the habit of drinking tea. Tea is imported from Han areas, but some of them grow their own. For example, in the Yushe area of Shuicheng, Guizhou, Yi people are good at growing tea. Before drinking, they roast tea in a small pot, and then boil it in water, which is called “roasted tea”.

Custom

Festival is the concentrated expression of Yi People’s lifestyle and customs. There are agricultural festivals mainly based on agricultural production; there are sacrificial festivals mainly for gods and ancestors; there are commemorative festivals mainly for remembering heroes and major events; celebration festivals mainly for celebrating harvest and victory; social entertainment festivals mainly for singing and dancing opera activities. The main festivals are:

Yi year: the year of Yi is a grand traditional festival of Yi people in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou. It is called “Kushi” in the Yi language. The Lunar New Year is different in different places. The auspicious day is usually selected from October to November and the second ten days of the lunar calendar.

Torch Festival: it is a traditional festival of Yi nationality, which takes three days on June 24 of the lunar calendar every year. During the festival, people dressed in costumes, concentrated on the Pingba or gentle slope near the village, singing, dancing, racing, bullfighting, fighting sheep, wrestling, beauty selection, etc., and the activities were rich and colorful, and lively. In the morning, people will kill animals to sacrifice their ancestors; in the evening, they will carry fire sticks and swim around the fields, which means burning pests and praying for harvest.

Also, the Yi people in western Guizhou and East Yunnan have to celebrate the festival of mountain sacrifice on March 3 of the lunar calendar; the Yi people in the areas of Shiping, Yuanyang, and Weishan in Yunnan Province have Dragon Festival twice a year, the first in February of the summer calendar belongs to dragon day, and the second time before autumn harvest, it is called “dragon compensation”, which means to thank the rain and dew kindness of Lord long; The Yi people in Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, hold flower festival in the eighth month of the lunar calendar every year to wish happiness and health, prosperous six livestock and abundant grains; the Yi people in Napo and Funding of Guangxi will hold bow jumping festival in April of the lunar calendar, and the third of March of the lunar calendar is the Forest Protection Festival of Longlin Yi people in Guangxi.

Chinese Nation – Hmong

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:34:13 +0000

The Hmong is an ancient ethnic group scattered all over the world, mainly in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Qiong in China, as well as Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries and regions in Southeast Asia.

According to historical records and Miao people’s word-of-mouth information, the ancestors of the Miao nationality first lived in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Their ancestors were Chi You. They moved to the Jianghan Plain during the “Three Miao” era, and then gradually moved south and west due to wars and other reasons. The great migration, into the southwest mountainous area and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, a part of the Miao people have emigrated to Southeast Asian countries, and in modern times they have migrated to Europe and the United States from these places.

The Miao nationality has its own language. The Miao language belongs to the Miao language branch of the Miao-Yao language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is divided into three dialects: Xiangxi, Qiandong, and Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan. Due to the long-term contracts between the Miao and Han, some of the Miao speak both Chinese and use Chinese[1]. The religious beliefs of the Miao people are mainly nature worship and ancestor worship.

In the 2010 China Census, the total population of China’s Miao nationality was 9,426,007, and the population ranked fourth among ethnic minorities.

Population Distribution

Provinces and cities	Population	Rank
Guizhou	3968400	1
Hunan	2060426	2
Yunnan	1202705	3
Chongqing	482714	4
Guangxi	475492	5
Zhejiang	309064	6
Guangdong	251970	7
Hubei	177490	8
Sichuan	164642	9
Fujian	88017	10
Hainan	74482	11
Jiangsu	49535	12
Shanghai	31351	13
Anhui	13856	14
Beijing	12957	15
Hebei	9703	16
Jiangxi	9125	17
Shandong	8414	18
Xinjiang	7626	19
Henan	4321	20
Liaoning	3952	21
Tianjin	3751	22
Inner Mongolia	3349	23
Shaanxi	2787	24
Heilongjiang	2575	25
Shanxi	2205	26
Jilin	1446	27
Gansu	1212	28
Ningxia	1113	29
Qinghai	911	30
Tibet	416	31
total	9426007	——

Note: The data is from the 2010 China Census.

culture

Language

The Hmong language belongs to the Miao branch of the Miao-Yao language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family. In the early 1950s, the second task force of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Minority Language Survey conducted field investigations and conducted scientific research on the word-formation of Miao languages in different regions, but with different phonetic features. After conducting scientific research, they divided the Miao language into three major dialects, namely: Xiangxi Dialects, Qiandongfang dialect, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan dialects (also known as eastern dialects, central dialects, and western dialects), and seven sub-dialects, eighteen native languages.

Western Hunan dialect (Eastern dialect) is mainly prevalent in the Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in western Hunan, Songtao Miao Autonomous County in northeastern Guizhou, Enshi, Xuan’en, Laifeng, Hefeng in Hubei and Xiushan, Youyang, Pengshui and other counties in Chongqing, divided into 5 Kind of native language

Qiandongfang dialect (central dialect) is mainly used in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guangxi Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, Jingzhou and Huiping counties in Hunan, Guizhou Anshun area and parts of Southwestern Guizhou and Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Among the Miao nationality, there are 5 kinds of native languages;

Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan dialects (western dialects) are mainly spoken in the central, western, southern, northern and southern parts of Guizhou, as well as the whole province of Yunnan, and are divided into 8 dialects;

In addition, some Miao people speak Chinese, Dong, Yao, Buyi, Zhuang and other ethnic languages. Although there are some differences in the dialects, sub-dialects and native languages of the Miao language, the similarities still account for more than 60%.

Character

Legend has it that the Miao people once had character in ancient times, which may have the same origin with Chinese characters, but was later lost. These legends are now difficult to verify. At the beginning of the 20th century, some Miao intellectuals created some dialect Text for the development of Miao culture education, such as the square Miao script created by Shibantang in western Hunan, the shorthand Miao script created by Shi Qigui, and the Miao script compiled by Guizhou Songtaolong Shaohua using the international phonetic alphabet Textbooks, etc. Some foreign missionaries also created some Miao scripts for missionary needs. However, these Hmong scripts could not be promoted among the Miao people due to various conditions.

“Ancient Songs of the Miao Nationality” records that the ancestors of the Miao nationality were easily exposed to the enemy because they escaped the war and the secrets of ethnic culture migration. They had to burn and erase the Text. When the few intellectuals died, the Text also followed. It was lost, leaving only the Text written on the clothes. In the late 1950s, the Miao people began to create Latinized Pinyin Text. Most people nowadays use Chinese. The music and dance of the Miao nationality has a long history, and the Lusheng dance, which is loved by the masses, is highly skilled.

Pollard, an Englishman who preached in the Shimenkan area of Weining, northwestern Guizhou, worked with the Miao, Han intellectuals Yang Yage, Zhang Wu, Listiwen and others to use some Latin text mothers and some note symbols, based on the Shimenkan Miao nationality. The phonetic is the standard sound, and a Pinyin Text is created, called “Pladin Text Mother Miao Wen” (commonly known as “Old Miao Wen”), which is used to translate Christian Bibles, compile textbooks, and record Miao folk stories, poems, and memorabilia. In the 1940s, some of the Miao people in the northeastern sub-dialect of the Sichuan, Guizhou and Dian dialects migrated and settled in Xinchi Village, Xiyahe Township. Text and Chinese Text are bilingual teachings. In the 1950s, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Government, a large number of Language scholars including Miao scholars were trained, conducted a census and research on the Miao Language across the country, reformed the “Old Miao Language”, and created the three eastern, western and central regions. The Latin Pinyin Miao script of this dialect. However, due to the complex internal branches of the Miao nationality, the Languages vary greatly and it is extremely difficult to unify.

In addition, the Miao people in Southeast Asia used a Latin phonetic alphabet invented by French missionaries, which gradually developed into “international Miao”.

Religious belief

The Miao people have their own Religious beliefs for a long time. After a long period of historical development, the religious beliefs of the Miao people in different regions are different. In some Miao ethnic areas due to traffic congestion, the Miao believe in primitive religions; there are also a few Miao ethnic areas, such as Weining, Shimenkan, and Yuanling in Xiangxi. In modern times, due to the influence of foreign missionaries, some people converted to Catholicism and Christianity. But in general, most of the Miao people still believe in primitive religions that have been formed for a long time by their own people, which include Nature worship, Totem worship, ghost worship, and Ancestor worship.

Nature worship

The main nature worship objects of the Miao nationality include the sky, the earth, the sun, the moon, huge rocks, big trees, bamboo, rocks, and bridges. In some Miao people in Malipo, Jinping, Yunnan and other places, every time the crops are heading, they must sacrifice the “Mother of Heaven and Earth” to pray for the heaven and the earth to make the crops harvest. This is the relic of the Miao people worshiping heaven and earth.

Totem worship

The ancestors of the Miao nationality have their own totems that they worship. As the Miao people have many branches and distributions, there are many totems they worship. Such as phoenix, maple, butterfly, dog (panhu), dragon, bird, eagle, bamboo, etc. The ancestors of the Miao nationality in southeastern Guizhou worshipped maple as a totem, and believed that their ancestors originated from maple; in addition, they also regarded butterflies as a totem, and believed that their ancestor Jiang Yang was born by “butterfly mother”. The ancestors of the Miao nationality at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou still used Panhu as a totem, and many Panhu temples and Xinnv palaces have been preserved in this area. The Miao people in western Guizhou use birds as their totems.

Ancestor worship

Ancestor worship is still very popular among the Miao people today. The Miao people in Southeastern Guizhou changed their respect for maple trees and butterflies to Jiang Yang, the ancestor of mankind. They believed that he was the ancestor of the Miao people. Each drum club set up a “drum grotto” to worship “yanggong” and “yangpo”; The ancestors worshiped by the Miao people in western Hunan are “Nuo Gong” and “Nuo Mother”. In order to pray for the blessings of ancestor gods, there are large-scale activities of killing cattle and offering sacrifices to ancestors in various places, such as the Gushe Festival in the southeast of Guizhou, where Tongren and Songtao are called “eat cattle” or “steel cattle”, and the southwest of Guizhou and Anshun, Zhenning, etc. It is called “cutting the cow”. In Xiangxi, there is “Returning the wish of Nuo”, offering sacrifices to the “Duke Nuo” and “Mother Nuo”. On festivals, the Miao people also hold ancestor worship ceremonies. In many Miao areas, there are ancestor tablets in the middle of the houses of every family, and they are worshipped every day.

Witch culture

The Miao people have a long history of believing in ghosts and witches, and it is still common after the founding of New China. There are dozens of ghosts and gods believed in. They divide ghosts into two types: good and evil: they believe that good gods can bless people and should be sacrificed frequently for this purpose, while evil ghosts are in trouble with people, causing disasters and disasters, and they should pray for relief and expulsion. It is believed that to achieve this goal, it is necessary to practice witchcraft through wizards. Shamans are intermediaries between people and ghosts. They have high cultural qualities and are respected by the Miao people. The witchcraft practiced by sorcerers mainly include divination, interpretation, and evocation.

Apparel

The Miao nationality apparel has many styles and colorful colors. There is Wuxi in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty. Wuxi: Today’s Xiangxi and the junction of Guizhou, Sichuan and Hubei, the place is named after five streams. The Miao nationality’s “good five-color clothes” record; Du Fu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, also has a famous poem that “five rivers clothes share the sky”. There are more than one hundred styles of clothing for Miao women, which can be called the most national costume in China. There are dozens of types of headdresses that are more representative of traditional “dresses” only on the bun.

Miao women generally wear narrow-sleeved, large-collared, short-breasted shorts on the upper body, and pleated skirts on the lower body. The dress may be long enough to fit your feet, elegant and colorful, or short than knee-length, graceful and moving. For casual wear, a headkerchief, a short coat with a large breasted upper body, trousers on the lower body, embroidered lace, an embroidered waistband, and a little delicate silver ornament are added. The attire of the Miao men is relatively simple. The tops are mostly short coats or gowns with right gussets. The shoulders are woven with geometric patterns of wool felt, the head is wrapped in a blue toe cap, and the legs are wrapped with leggings.

Art

The Miao people can sing and dance. The “Feige” of the Miao nationality is high-pitched, loud and contagious. The dances include the Lusheng dance, the bench dance, and the bronze drum dance, among which the Lusheng dance is the most common. Lusheng dance dances on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the third day of March, the Double Ninth Festival and other festivals and days such as house building, harvest, and welcoming relatives, with multiple changes in the lower limbs of the dance. The folk mass Lusheng dance is generally led by two to five men playing the Lusheng, and the others dance in a circle with joy. The scene is spectacular and the atmosphere is lively. Competitive Lusheng dances are usually performed by a small number of men and women with higher skills at festivals or gatherings, usually two to four people, with difficult movements such as squatting, bending, lying on their backs, and upside down, which are very popular with the masses.

Chinese Nation – Tujia nationality

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:33:59 +0000

Tujia nationality(Tujia Language: Bifzivkar) is a nation with a long history. It has a national language. It belongs to the Tibeto Burmese language family of the Sino Tibetan language family. It is close to the Yi language branch. There is no native language and Chinese is commonly used.

Tujia people are mainly distributed in the Wuling Mountain Area in the border area of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, and Guizhou. The Tujia Nationality in Hunan Province is mainly distributed in Yongshun, Longshan, Baojing, Guzhang, and other counties in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Cili, Sangzhi and other counties in Zhangjiajie City, Shimen, and other counties in Changde City; Hubei Province is mainly distributed in Kaifeng, Hefeng, Xianfeng, Xuanen, Jianshi, Badong, Enshi, Lichuan and other counties in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, and Changyang and Wufeng counties in Yichang city; Chongqing is mainly distributed in Qianjiang, Youyang, Shizhu, Xiushan, Pengshui and other counties in Southeast Chongqing; Guizhou is mainly distributed in Yanhe, Yinjiang, Sinan, Jiangkou, Dejiang and other counties in Northeast Guizhou.

Tujia is also called Biji and bijika. The northern branch of Tujia nationality (Wufeng, Changyang, Southeastern Chongqing, northeastern Guizhou in Hunan Province, Xiangxi Prefecture, Zhangjiajie City, Enshi Prefecture and Yichang City in Hubei Province) calls itself “Bizika, Rijeka, Rijeka and so on”. The southern Tujia people are only distributed in a few villages in Luxi County, Xiangxi Prefecture, Hunan Province. It calls itself “Mengzi”. The southern Tujia language can not communicate with the northern Tujia language. It is not a mixture of Tujia and Chinese. Now it is only used by more than 900 people in Luxi.

Tujia language belongs to Tibeto Burmese language family of Sino Tibetan language family, Tujia language branch. Some people think that it belongs to the Burmese Yi language branch, which is a very old and unique language in the Tibeto Burmese language family. The vast majority of people speak Chinese, but only a few communities still retain the Tujia language. There is no native language. At present, the Latin language created in 1984 is used. It is in Chinese. Worship ancestors and believe in polytheism.

Development history

At present, there are different opinions about its origin. One is the descendant of Ba people; the other is the descendant of a woman who moved from Guizhou to Xiangxi in ancient times; the other is the descendant of Baiyi craftsmen who moved from Jiangxi to Xiangxi from the end of Tang Dynasty to the beginning of Five Dynasties (around 910). Some people think it is the descendant of Han border guards and Native women. According to the latest gene survey results, Tujia nationality is mainly composed of Diqiang and Baiyue nationalities, with many elements such as Han, Miao, Yao, Tungusic, Eastern Europe, and so on, but its language and culture are obviously born out of ancient Qiang. Today’s Qiang nationality is the one that retains the most traditional culture and the name of Qiang Nationality in ancient Qiang di. They are brothers with Burmese (Burmese), Tibetan, Yi, Tujia, Manipur, Kelun, rookie, Jingpo (Kaqin), Bai, Hani, Lisu, Luoba, Naxi, Lahu, Pumi, Jino, Menba, etc Ancient Qiang.

In history, the feudal lord’s economy had a certain development since the Five Dynasties (907-979). In the Qing Dynasty Yongzheng (1723-1735), the feudal lord’s economy gradually transited to the landlord’s economy. Before the founding of new China, the social economy was in the stage of feudal landlord economic development. After the founding of new China, social reform was carried out and two autonomous prefectures were established jointly with the Miao nationality.

More than 2000 years ago, they settled in today’s western Hunan and Western Hubei. Together with other ethnic minorities, they were called “Wuling man” or “Wuxi man”. After the founding of new China, it was officially named Tujia.

National Costume

Tujia costumes are now made up of short clothes with large sleeves, left jacket and open flaps, 2-3-layer lace, and hemmed trousers or skirts; men’s wear is a pair of short shirts. “Catch up with the year”, that is, 1-2 days in advance, is an important festival. Tujia men wear Pipa Lapel tops and wrapped in blue silk headwear. Women wear a left-wing coat, roll two or three lace, sleeves are relatively wide, under the edge of the pants or eight Luo skirt, like to wear a variety of gold, silver, jade ornaments. But as Miao silver ornaments, generally not too prominent part. After the change of the soil and return to the flow, influenced by the Han nationality, the color must be red. Over time, not only in the clothing but also in life, there is a custom of whether red or not to be happy, and there must be a red custom.

After the “changing the land to return to the flow”, due to the suppression of the feudal dynasty and the strong influence of the Central Plains culture, Tujia nationality’s clothing and men’s clothing are full-length styles, which changed the national clothing of “men and women’s clothing is not separated”, and Tujia nationality’s home weaving lace keeps the strong characteristics of their own national clothing.

The left picture is a propaganda map of Zhangjiajie, in which four women, two in Tujia, one in Miao silver, and one for Bai.

Chinese Nation – Uyghur

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:33:36 +0000

Uygur is a multi-source ethnic group, the most important source of which are two branches: one is the Huihe people from the Mongolian grassland, the other is the indigenous people in the oasis of Southern Xinjiang. The two groups of people met on a large scale in 840 AD and were completely integrated in the early 16th century. In the long process of historical development, the Uygur people have created an excellent culture with diligence and wisdom, and have unique national customs.

“Uygur” is the Uygur people’s self claim, which means “united”. The Uygur mainly live in Kashi and Hotan, Aksu, and Korla areas to the south of Tianshan Mountain in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The rest live in Urumqi and Ili to the north of Tianshan Mountain, and a small number live in Taoyuan and Changde of Hunan Province, Kaifeng, and Zhengzhou of Henan Province.

National customs

Uygur people are particular about hospitality and hospitality. If visitors want to invite them to sit on the table and put Nang, various cakes, rock sugar, etc. in summer, they also need to put some melons and fruits and pour tea or milk tea for them first. When the meal is ready, you can serve it. If you use pilaf to treat the guests, you should bring a pot of water before the meal and ask the guests to wash their hands. After dinner, the elder will lead the guests to “DUWA”. After the host has finished packing, the guests can leave. When eating, guests should not fiddle with the food on the plate or go to the cooker. Generally, they should not leave the food in the bowl. At the same time, they should pay attention not to let the rice crumbs fall to the ground. If they fall to the ground carelessly, they should pick them up and put them on the “rice list” in front of them. When eating pilaf, do not put the pilaf into the plate. At the end of the meal, if an elder is leading the “DUWA”, the guests can’t look around or stand up. When eating, the elderly sit at the table, and the whole family sits together. They must wash their hands before and after meals. After washing, they can only use a handkerchief or cloth to dry. They don’t want to throw water without permission. They think it’s impolite.

When a young woman wants to get married, the Imam or Imam (both religious professionals) recite scriptures, dip the two pieces of dry Nang with salt water, and let the bridegroom and bride eat them on the spot, which means that from then on, like Nang and saltwater, they will share weal and woe and live forever. At the wedding banquet, white rice sheets should be spread on the carpet. Nang, wedding candy, raisins, jujubes, cakes, fried Sanzi should be placed first, and then mutton and rice should be grasped.

Foldable national festivals

Uygur people believe in Islam. Traditional festivals include Rouzi Festival, Urban Festival, Noruz Festival, etc. Uygur people attach great importance to traditional festivals, especially the “garbage” festival. At that time, every household has to slaughter sheep, cook meat and make various cakes. The slaughtered livestock can not be sold, except the sheepskin and intestines sent to mosques and religious professionals, the rest is used for self-feeding and entertaining guests. During the festival of sakes, adult believers fast for one month. During fasting, meals are only eaten before sunrise and after sunset. No food or drink is allowed during the day. Renzi Festival is translated as “Eid al Fitr”. According to Islamic rules, fasting begins one month before the festival. That is, after sunrise and before sunset are not allowed to eat, 30 days after the expiration of fast, to restore the habit of eating and drinking during the day. Before Eid al Fitr, every family is used to frying Sanzi, fragrant oil, baking all kinds of snacks, and preparing festival food. During the festival, everyone wore new clothes and hats and congratulated each other.

During the festival, they killed sheep or camels, went to the mosque for a gathering, sang and danced, and held horse racing, Diaoyang, and wrestling activities.

Clothing characteristics

The traditional Uyghur clothing is full of characteristics: men wear long robes with “form loop”, right Lapel slanting collar, no buttons, and the waist is tied with a long silk scarf or cloth towel; rural women often wear a cardigan over a wide sleeve dress; urban women now wear more suits and skirts; Uyghur men and women like to wear shoes and leather boots, leather boots plus plastic overshoes; men and women, old and young, all wear small flowers with four ridges Some of them are decorated with colorful beads; women often use earrings, bracelets, and necklaces as decorations, sometimes dye their nails and use two eyebrows to draw eyebrows;

Uygur girls use long hair as beauty, and they usually wear more than ten thin hair braids before marriage, but they usually wear two long braids after marriage, the braids are scattered, and there are different styles on their heads There are all kinds of headwear, and there are also headdresses with braids in a bun. Others tie their braids into knots. Carpets, flower hats, Adlai silk, folk printed cloth, and Yingjisha knife are the most famous traditional crafts of the Uygur people.

The flower hat is an integral part of Uygur clothing and one of the beautiful symbols of Uygur. As early as the Tang Dynasty, men in the western regions often wore felt hats with rolling eaves and pointed roofs, which looked like today’s “four tiles”. In the Ming Dynasty, influenced by Arab and Central Asian culture, Uygur men cut their hair and wore small embroidered caps. In the early Qing Dynasty, there were new developments in materials and styles of Uygur flower caps. Winter with skin, summer with silk, before the insertion of bird feathers. Women’s hats are decorated with gold and silver thread embroidery. Kagan’s four ridge Flower Hat stands out and has almost become the mainstream of Uygur Flower Hat and continues to this day. Through the continuous innovation of the Uygur people all over the world, the workmanship of the flower cap is becoming more and more refined and the variety is more and more diverse. However, there are mainly two kinds of “Diliman” and “Badanmu”, collectively referred to as “GABA” (small-flowered hat with four ridges). General manager: clear dress form, diverse patterns, bright colors, simple patterns, and exquisite workmanship.

Chinese Nation – Naxi minority

iStudy — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:32:58 +0000

The Naxi minority is one of the 56 ethnic groups in China and one of the unique ethnic groups in Yunnan. Most of them live in Lijiang City in Northwest Yunnan. The rest are distributed in other counties and cities in Yunnan, Yanyuan, Yanbian, Muli, and other counties in Sichuan. A few are also distributed in Mangkang County in Tibet.

Naxi has its own national language, and Naxi belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto Burman language family of the Sino Tibetan language family. Naxi is unique in art, and its poetry, painting, sculpture, music, and dance are famous at all times and all over the world.

The Naxi family organization is widespread, and it is a nationality with a high degree of settlement. The kinship organization of Nari people (Mosuo people) in the Luguhu area maintains relatively ancient characteristics, and Naxi culture is deeply influenced by Han culture.

Traditional festival

Offering sacrifices to heaven is one of the biggest ceremonies of the Dongba religion of Naxi people, and also the biggest traditional festival of Naxi people, which is held in the first month.

New year, the lunar new year, in Naxi language is called “by Benjizheng”, also known as “Kushi”, meaning “new year”. During the festival, Naxi people will hold a series of traditional activities to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

Bangbang club, the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, is a traditional Naxi Festival, which is called “Bangbang club” among the people. “Bangbang club” marks the end of the Spring Festival and the beginning of spring plowing.

Three flowers Festival, “three flowers” is the national protection god of Naxi national belief, also known as “AP three flowers”, which means “ancestors (or grandfather) three flowers”. It is said that he belongs to sheep and is a god of war. Every year on February 8 and August sheep day of the lunar calendar, people from the four townships come to indulge to burn incense and worship gods; Naxi people who go far away have to go to indulge to worship and pray for the blessing of language. The soldiers who go out to battle even worship the three gods; Naxi people all over the country worship the three gods on the first day of the lunar new year. Since 1987, the “three flowers Festival” on February 8 of the lunar calendar has become a legal Naxi national festival.

Torch Festival, from June 24 to 26 of the lunar calendar, is a traditional Torch Festival of Naxi people. Originally originated in the use of fire to resist all kinds of natural disasters. This festival is called “Chuanmei Shengen” in the Naxi language.

July mule Horse Club is a festival of Naxi people in Lijiang. It is held in the middle and late July of the lunar calendar for one to two weeks. It is mainly composed of mules, horses, cattle, and other large livestock. Therefore, it is also called the “July mule Horse Club”.

“Taobao” festival, from the first day to the fourteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, is celebrated by people in the ancient city (that is, Zhongyuan Festival), which is called “Sanmeiboji” in the Naxi language.

There are also many festival customs of Naxi people, such as “Baishuitai meeting” in Sanba township of Shangri La, and offering sacrifices to game goddess mountain by Naxi people (Mosuo) in Yongning.

Special diet

Lijiang Baba: exquisite workmanship and exquisite selection of materials, it uses local top-grade wheat flour, kneads the egg with chemical oil and sesame oil to form gluten, then breaks the crisp and sandwiches the stuffing, and then deep fry it gently, and finally roasts it into a cake with good color and flavor.

Rice enema: it is a famous dish in Naxi snacks.

Chicken bean jelly: it is a kind of jelly snack made of chicken bean (also known as chicken PEA) milled surface and filtrated pulp from Lijiang real estate. Because chicken beans are rich in melanin, the appearance of the cold powder is black, so it is also called “black cold powder”.

Clothes & Accessories

The clothing of Naxi men in the Lijiang area is the same as that of Han people. In winter, they wear sheepskin shawl. In the Zhongdian area, they wear a big cardigan, knee-length trousers, sheepskin pocket, and gaiters. Men in Ninglang, Yongning, Yanyuan, and Muli wear short shirts and long trousers. Men in Ninglang also like to wear bracelets. The old people wear linen collarless long shirts, plus green cloth shoulders and belts. In recent decades, more and more people wear Tibetan clothes.

The dress of Naxi Women varies from region to region. The Naxi Women in Lijiang wear a jacket that is over the knee, wide waist and big sleeves, plus a jacket, a pleated waistband, trousers, and a sheepskin shawl. The Naxi Women in Ninglang wear short shirts, pleated skirts with floor-length, sheepskin, turban, earrings, and bracelets made of gold, silver, jade, and stone, and like to wear “sheep belt” or “girdle belt”. The sheepskin belt is made of cotton cloth. Each belt is about four and a half feet long and two inches wide. It must be used in pairs. The girdle is very delicate and can only be worn on festivals. It is a pair of cotton belts about three feet long and two inches wide, which are embroidered with potted chrysanthemums, Erlong Xizhu, and other patterns. Yongning Naxi Women use yak tail hair to weave a thick wig braid, and then wrap a large circle of blue and black silk thread around the outside of the wig, and hang the silk thread back to the waist.