The Zhuang ethnic group is the most populous ethnic group among the ethnic minorities in China. The total population living in Yunnan is more than 1 million. They are mainly distributed in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Qujing area in Yunnan Province. The Zhuang people have a language, and the common language is Chinese. It belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family.
The Zhuang people are called "Chong" and "Tong" in the historical records of the Song Dynasty. After liberation, he was called "Tong". In 1965, the name of the clan was changed to "Zhuang". The Zhuang language belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family, and is divided into two major dialects: northern and southern dialects. In 1955, Zhuang script based on the Latin alphabet was created. In 1957, the "Zhuang Language Plan" was approved by the State Council, ending the history of the Zhuang people without their own legal written language.
On the basis of concentrating on the folk literature, music, dance and skills of their own nation, the Zhuang people created Zhuang Opera. The bronze drum is the most representative folk instrument of the Zhuang people.
The Yunnan Zhuang people are composed of Nong people, Sha people, Tuliao and other branches. They mainly live in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and Shizong, Mengzi, Kaiyuan, Hekou, Yuanyang and other counties, with a population of 1.04 million. , accounting for 6.5% of the Zhuang population in China. . The Zhuang people mainly focus on agriculture. Panax notoginseng, gecko and fennel oil, which are famous both at home and abroad, are famous specialties in the Zhuang area. Sugarcane production ranks first in the country. The Zhuang area is rich in products, and the textile industry and arts and crafts are quite developed. Women are good at weaving strong cloth and brocade, with fresh patterns and a unique "dot wax unlined" style.
Etiquette
The Zhuang people are a hospitable nation. In the past, any guest who visited any house in a Zhuang village was considered a guest of the whole village. Several families would often take turns to treat each other to a meal, sometimes one meal at a time. Eat at five or six restaurants. They usually have the habit of being guests to each other. For example, when a family is killing a pig, they must invite one person from each household in the village to have a meal together. Be sure to have wine on the table when entertaining guests to show your grandeur. The custom of toasting is "drinking and handing over cups". In fact, cups are not used, but white porcelain spoons are used.
When guests come home, we must provide them with the best food and accommodation within our capabilities. We are especially enthusiastic about the elderly and new guests. When dining, you must wait for the eldest person to sit down before eating; the younger people are not allowed to eat the dishes that have not been touched by the elders first; serving tea and rice to the elders and guests must be held with both hands, and cannot be handed from in front of the guests or from behind. Pass it to the elders behind your back; those who finish first must say "eat slowly" to the elders and guests one by one before leaving the table; the younger ones cannot eat after everyone at the table.
When meeting an elderly person on the road, a man should address him as "father-in-law" and a woman as "grandma" or "old lady"; when meeting a guest or a person carrying a heavy load, one should actively give way. Take the initiative to help and send them to the breakup location. The Zhuang people taboo against killing animals on the first day of the first lunar month; young women in some areas taboo against eating beef and dog meat; outsiders are taboo against women entering the first three days (sometimes the first seven days) of giving birth; women who are not yet one month old are taboo against visiting their homes.
Clothing
Zhuang men usually wear double-breasted tops with buttons tied with cloth. A small pocket is sewn on the chest to match the two large pockets on the abdomen, and the hem is folded inwards to form a wide edge; the trousers are short and wide, and some are wrapped with leggings; a headscarf with embroidered patterns is tied. Blue and black are the favorite colors of Zhuang women. They like to wear long skirts and short coats, with cyan embroidered handkerchiefs on their heads and delicate aprons around their waists. There are two types of tops: double-breasted and partial-breasted. The right blouse has colorful lace embroidery on the collar, cuffs and placket; he wears black wide and fat trousers. There are also black pleated skirts with colorful embroidery on the top and colorful cloth patches on the bottom. The colors are bright and dazzling. Wear a girdle, embroidered apron, and a black headscarf embroidered with patterns. Wear embroidered shoes and embroidered shoulder pads during festivals or at market and singing venues.
Zhuang women love silver ornaments and like to wear their hair in a bun or a bun, with tightly buttoned tops, narrow waists and small sleeves, and colorful pleated skirts. Breast pockets, shoes, and hats are often embroidered with patterns of birds, animals, figures, and flowers in bright colors. The official newspaper girl's dress is covered with silver chains, silver buckles, silver necklaces, and silver headdresses. The silver is shining, magnificent and dazzling.
Marriage Customs
Zhuang villages are generally composed of members with several surnames. They have no clan organization and have obvious characteristics of village communities. The basic form of marriage among the Zhuang people is monogamy. Clan exogamy is generally practiced in all branches, but people with the same surname but different clans can intermarry.
Boiling is the most common method, and there is also the habit of pickling vegetables into sauerkraut, pickled bamboo shoots, salted radish, kohlrabi, etc. When it's almost out of the pan, add lard, salt, and chopped green onion.
The Zhuang people are not allowed to eat any poultry and livestock meat, such as pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, goose, etc. In some areas, they also love to eat dog meat. The pork is cooked as a whole piece first, then cut into hand-sized cubes, and then added to the pot with seasonings. The Zhuang people are accustomed to cooking fresh chicken, duck, fish and vegetables until they are about seven or eight years old. The vegetables are stir-fried in a hot pot and then taken out of the pot, which can maintain the freshness of the vegetables.
The Zhuang people like to hunt and cook game and insects. They have done a lot of research on the dietary therapy of Panax notoginseng. The use of Panax notoginseng flowers, leaves, roots and whiskers in cooking is very distinctive. The Zhuang people are also good at roasting, frying, stewing, pickling, and marinating. They are fond of alcohol, have spicy and sour tastes, and like to eat crispy and fragrant dishes. The main specialties include: spicy blood, torch meat, Zhuangjia roast duck, salted wind liver, crispy fried bee, five-spice bean worm, fried sand worm, skin liver grits, ginger hare meat, white-fried Panax notoginseng flower frog , Baton chicken, etc.
The Zhuang people also brew rice wine, sweet potato wine and cassava wine, which are not too high in alcohol content. Rice wine is the main drink for festivals and entertaining guests. Some rice wine is paired with chicken gallbladder, which is called chicken gallbladder. Wine, paired with chicken offal is called chicken offal wine, and paired with pork liver is called pig liver wine. When drinking chicken offal wine and pork liver wine, drink it all in one gulp. Chew the chicken offal and pork liver left in your mouth slowly, which can relieve hangover and serve as a dish.
Typical food: The Zhuang people have many famous dishes and snacks, mainly including: horse foot pole, fish raw, roasted suckling pig, flower glutinous rice, Ningming Zhuang rice dumpling, Zhuangyuan firewood handle, white-cut dog meat, Zhuang Homemade crispy chicken, braised broken-faced dog, and three-legged rice dumplings.
Festivals
The Zhuang people celebrate festivals almost every month. Famous festivals include the annual "March 3" Song Festival. The most solemn festival of the Zhuang people is the Spring Festival, followed by the Ghost Festival on July 15th, March 3rd, Tomb-Sweeping Tomb Visiting, Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Tasting New Things, Winter Solstice, Ox Soul, Stove Sending, etc. .
Preparations for the Spring Festival usually begin on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month after the Stove-giving Festival. On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, New Year pigs are slaughtered, on the 28th day, rice dumplings are made, and on the 29th day, glutinous rice cakes are made. On New Year's Eve, families of all ages and gender gather together to cook rice, which is eaten all day long on the first day of the Lunar New Year. It is called "New Year's Rice" to wish for a good harvest in the coming year. On New Year's Eve, the most distinctive feature among the sumptuous dishes is the whole boiled big rooster, which every family must have. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, before dawn, people get up and freshen up to welcome the beginning of the new year. The Zhuang people who live in the mountainous areas also have a custom of collecting new water: on the Spring Festival, women wearing new clothes and new shoes file to the river canals to carry new water home. As they walked, they dragged stones symbolizing cows, horses, pigs, sheep, dogs, and cats, and imitated the sounds of the six animals in their mouths, which meant wishing "the six animals prosper" in the coming year. The newly collected water is boiled with brown sugar, bamboo leaves, chopped green onions and ginger, and the whole family and guests drink it. It is said that drinking this new water, which symbolizes good luck, will make people smarter in the coming year. The custom of "drawing new water" expresses the Zhuang people's yearning and desire for a better life. Only after the second day of the Lunar New Year can you visit relatives and friends and pay New Year greetings to each other. Among the foods given to each other include glutinous rice cakes, rice dumplings, rice candy, etc., which lasts until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the lunar month. In some places, the entire Spring Festival is not over until the 30th day of the first lunar month.
During the Spring Festival, the Zhuang people also carry out colorful cultural and entertainment activities such as singing competitions and dancing. Chungtang dance is a dance performed by Zhuang people during the Spring Festival to celebrate the New Year and wish for a good harvest. They believe that if they dance the Chung Hall Dance, the warehouses will be filled with food in the coming year. Therefore, there is a saying that "the Chung Hall is noisy in the first month, and everything will be happy and abundant this year." When dancing the Chungtang dance, you have to sing and dance at the same time. Several women each carry a pestle for pounding rice and beat it on a long wooden stake. Bamboo tubes are also used to beat the rhythm. The original name is "Gulang", which means "Gulang" in Zhuang language. "Gu" means "making", and "榔" means rice pounding trough. Later, he felt that the wooden pestle was too heavy and heavy to swing, so he used a carrying pole to beat, so he changed his name to "Da Lu Lie", "Lu Lie" refers to the sound of hitting the pole. The dancers each hold a pole and circle the wooden trough, up, down, left and right, singing and beating at the same time. The dance steps of Chungtang Dance are vigorous and lively, and the scene is lively and joyful. It embodies the diligent, brave, optimistic and heroic character of the Zhuang people.
According to the past customs, March 3rd was the day to visit the tombs. At that time, every household would send people to bring five-color glutinous rice and colored eggs to the ancestors’ tombs to offer sacrifices and clean the tombs. The elders would also preach the ancestral family history, According to clan rules, everyone is allowed to have a picnic. Others sang folk songs in duet, which was very lively. After 1940, this tradition has gradually developed into organized singing competitions, and the atmosphere has become more grand and enthusiastic.
Other festival food customs also have their own specialties and characteristics, such as eating duck during the Zhongyuan Festival, eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival, eating cakes during the Double Ninth Festival, etc.
Some of the Zhuang festivals are closely related to religious activities. For example, some Zhuang people living in Yunnan sacrifice to the "Old Man's Hall" on the first month of the family calendar, kill pigs and sacrifice to Longshan on the second day of February, worship the God of Thunder on the third day of March, and sacrifice the God of Thunder on the fifth day of the lunar calendar. The dragon is sacrificed in the moon, Yang Liulang is sacrificed in the sixth month, and the ancestor worship is held on July 14th. Every household kills chickens and ducks to worship the ancestors.
The beautiful and rich Zhuang Township is known as the "Sea of ??Songs". Especially on the grand "March 3rd", young men and women from dozens of miles around come to participate in the festival happily dressed in festive costumes, ranging from a few hundred people to thousands or tens of thousands. Suddenly, there was a sea of ??people, singing loudly, and it became a sea of ??songs.
March 3 is a traditional festival for the Zhuang people, and antiphonal singing is a major activity on March 3, so it is also called "Song Fair" or "Song Festival".
The song fair is a traditional folk cultural activity of the Zhuang people and a place for young men and women to socialize. It is called "Wo Dun" or "Wo Yan" in Zhuang language, which means "going out to play in the wild". Because this kind of activity supports each other and sings to each other, the ancient people called it "Dunwe".
The Zhuang Song Fair has many touching legends during its long-term development. One of the more popular ones is the story of "Song Song to Choose a Son-in-law". Legend has it that in the past, there was an old Zhuang singer whose daughter was very beautiful and could sing folk songs very well. The old man wanted to choose a young man with outstanding singing talent as his son-in-law. Young singers from all over the country came one after another to propose marriage to Song Song, and regular gatherings of Song Song competitions have been formed since then.
According to records in ancient documents, song fairs had been popular as early as the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, song fairs developed again and were held regularly at fixed locations. Zhuang song fairs vary from large to small and vary from place to place. However, the third day of the third lunar month is the most solemn. Setting up a colorful tent, setting up a singing platform, throwing colorful balls, and choosing a good partner are all unique and charming. At the song fair, young men and women from each village, in groups of three or five, look for young people from other villages to sing folk songs collectively. Usually the young men take the initiative to sing the "tour song" first to observe and identify their opponents; when they meet a more suitable partner, they sing the "meeting song" and the "invitation song"; when the woman agrees, they sing the "inquiry song"; to understand each other, They sing "love songs" and "friendship songs"; when they say goodbye, they sing "farewell songs". The lyrics are sung along with the lyrics. The metaphors are apt, cordial and touching. The young men and women get in touch after singing duets, establish a certain relationship, and meet at the next song fair. Goodbye.
At the song fair, in addition to antiphonal singing, a variety of game activities are also held. There are wonderful hydrangea throwing, interesting red egg touching, lively fireworks, and spectacular performances that the masses love to see.
The Ox Soul Festival is the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. Also known as the Off-yoke Festival, it is popular in the Zhuang mountain villages in Longsheng, northern Guangxi. Legend has it that this day is the birthday of the Ox King. Take the yoke off the oxen, wash them, and graze them to a place with abundant water and grass. The cattle pen should be cleaned and covered with dry straw. They were not allowed to work, let alone be whipped, and they had to sing folk songs to the cattle and feed them black rice. In the past, some villages also built temples of the Bull Demon King. On the festival day, pigs were killed and sacrificed, and the villagers gathered in the temple for dinner. There is a popular local legend: At that time, there were only rocks and yellow sand on the land. The Ox King was ordered to go down to the earth to sow hundreds of grasses. He originally planned to spread a handful of grass in three steps. Even the crops are overgrown with weeds. The Emperor of Heaven was furious and punished the Ox King to come down to earth and eat all kinds of grass. But the Emperor of Heaven did not forget it. Whenever it was his birthday, he sent the Bull Demon King down to earth to visit and protect the Bull King and his descendants, and to eliminate diseases and disasters for them. Hence, the Bull Demon King Temple was built. The Ox Soul Festival reflects the Zhuang people's love for their cattle and their expectation for a good agricultural harvest.
Architecture
The houses of the Zhuang people living in dam areas and near towns are mostly brick and wood structures, with whitewashed exterior walls and decorative patterns on the eaves.
For the Zhuang people who live in remote mountainous areas, most of their village houses are tile-roofed houses or thatched houses with civil structures. The architectural styles generally include semi-stilt style and full-ground dwelling style.
Ganlan is also called a wooden building or a stilted building. There are Zhuang, Dong, Yao, Miao and Han people. Mostly two layers. The upper floor is usually 3 days or 5 bays for people to live in. The lower floor is made of wooden pillars, and is mostly made of bamboo and wood panels to form walls. It can be used as a stable for livestock, or for stacking farm tools, firewood, and sundries. Some also have attics and outbuildings. Generally, the stilts are located near mountains and rivers, facing fields, with broad prospects and good lighting. One village and one community, the whole is magnificent, majestic and spectacular. In some villages, every family is connected and integrated, like a big family. Each ethnic group has its own characteristics in terms of bedroom layout. The Zhuang ganlan in Longji Township, Longsheng County, is centered on the shrine. Behind the shrine, in the middle is the house of the father-in-law (centered on the mistress), and in the left corner is the house of the mother-in-law, with a small door connected to the house of the father-in-law. The housewife's room is in the right corner. The husband's room is outside the right side of the hall. The guest room is in the left corner of the vestibule, and the girls' room is next to the stairs in the right corner, making it easier for them to socialize with the boys. The biggest feature of this layout is that the husband and wife live in different rooms, following the ancient custom. The internal structure of the current gantry has changed slightly, but the basic layout remains unchanged.
Religion
The ancient Zhuang people did not form a unified religion. Their ancestors developed from nature worship to ancestor worship and polytheistic beliefs. The Zhuang people generally worship their ancestors, and the "seat of the master of heaven and earth" and the ancestors' gods are enshrined on the sacred wall in the main hall of each household.
After the Tang and Song Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism were introduced successively and temples were built. After 1858, Catholicism was introduced, and in 1862, Christianity was introduced, but neither spread. Every family has a shrine to worship their ancestors. In many areas, shamans and witches perform divination and so on.