Customs and taboos in Kazakhstan
The Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakh: аза стан Республика сы), referred to as Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia named after its ethnic group and the largest landlocked country in the world. Their ancestors had lived in present-day Kazakhstan as early as the Bronze Age, and there were successively Saisians, Wusun, Aranians, etc. Soviet power was established in 1917 and belonged to The Russian Federation. It was called the Kazakh Autonomous Republic on April 19, 1925. It joined the Soviet Union on December 25, 1936. On October 25, 1990, the Republic adopted the "Declaration of Sovereignty" and declared independence on December 5, 1991.
Kazakhstan is located in the southwest of the Asian part of the former Soviet Union. The Russian Federation is bordered to the north, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to the south, Xinjiang of China to the east, and the Caspian Sea to the west. The national area of Kazakhstan is 2.717 million square kilometers. The population is 16.6903 million. There are more than 130 ethnic groups living, mainly Kazakhs and Russians, as well as a small number of Ukraine. Kazakhstan has autonomous republics, autonomous prefectures and ethnic regions. The capital, Astana. The currency is Kazakhstan tenge. Kazakh is the national language, and Kazakh and Russian are both official languages.
Kazakhstan has a strong human body and is born brave and loves exercise; sheep raising, horse riding and wrestling has a wide range of interests; it particularly likes owls and regards them as firm and brave; it cooks sheep's heads as treasures, and often prepares good banquets for guests and friends; it is civilized and polite and traditional, and left-handed service is the most annoying.
When Kazakhstan people meet friends, the habit of saying hello is very ethnic. When a guest meets the owner, he must first ask "The livestock are safe" and then ask "The whole family is safe." It is said that this special etiquette and habit came into being mainly because livestock are closely related to them and even control their destiny. Therefore, they attach equal importance to livestock as much as they value people.
Kazakhstan is a nation that attaches great importance to civilization and courtesy. They have this creed: "Respect the elderly, support the young, and be loyal to your friends and beliefs." They have deep feelings for green. Green is a positive color, giving people the impression of luck and happiness. They have a special preference for owls. People regard it as a beneficial bird. And regard it as a symbol of courage, determination, and indomitable spirit. They are also often used as precious objects, hanging on wall hangings in yurts, or using a strand of feathers to decorate one's flower hats to compete with each other.
When Kazakhstan people meet guests in social occasions, they usually shake hands as a courtesy. Women generally curtsy more to their guests. When they meet an elderly person on the way, the younger generation will press his chest with his right hand, make a 30-degree bow, say a wish, and then shake hands; if they meet as equals, they will usually shake hands directly and say hello. After shaking hands, they will bend down and kiss each other's hands.
When meeting relatives and friends, kissing rituals are often performed: when meeting between elders and young people, the young people must kiss the back of their hands; when meeting between elders and young women, the elderly must kiss the forehead or eyes of the young people; when people of the same gender and equal seniority meet, they often kiss the lips or cheeks as a courtesy. Most couples are not used to shaking hands in front of everyone, but are only used to paying attention to each other to express their passionate feelings from the heart.
Most people in Kazakhstan believe that Islam is Sunni, and some believe in the Russian Orthodox Church. People in Kazakhstan avoid taking off their hats when talking to others. I think it is impolite to take off my hat. They most abhor others praising their children and livestock in front of them. I think this will bring ominous signs to children and livestock. They avoid counting the number of people with their fingers or sticks. I think this means comparing people to livestock and is an insulting behavior.
The people of Kazakhstan have the traditional national concept of "using the right as the top and the left as the base." Therefore, they particularly avoid serving guests with their left hand, which is extremely impolite. When they worship, the most taboo is that others pass in front of them. They think this is a great insult to them in Yunnan. They taboo people kicking sheep and using their feet to stomp salt and other animals. They hate black and believe that black is the color of funeral. They banned pork, mule meat, donkey meat, animal blood and all animals that died of themselves; they also did not eat raw fish.
The favorite foods of Kazakhstan people include "Kent" made by mixing young animal meat with cream and boiling it in horse intestines, as well as "Naren", milk tofu, milk bumps, milk skin, etc. The most popular dish is hand-grabbed mutton. The Kazakh word for hand-grabbed mutton is "Beshbarmak", which means "five fingers" are eaten with your hands. Except for those living in cities and towns who often eat vegetables, people who generally make a living by nomads rarely eat vegetables. They eat with their hands, and only in social occasions do some people eat with knives and forks.
in Kazakhstan. When guests meet each other, men and women must sit separately, and the most important guest sits on the left side, sitting in order according to status or seniority. The owner is on the far right. If a distinguished guest comes to the house, the owner must slaughter the sheep and entertain him. Kazakh is a nation that values etiquette and face. Before slaughtering the sheep, the owner would first show the sheep to the guests and politely say something: "Although the sheep are not too fat, I would like to express my gratitude."
There are certain rules for eating mutton at banquets. The host and guests should eat sheep liver and sheep tail oil first, and then eat mutton. They regard the sheep's head as a treasure in the meal. It is usually divided in half and placed on the top of the plate to entertain the most noble guests. Next, we eat mutton without bones, and finally eat mutton with bones and mutton soup.
During the process of eating mutton, guests should take some meat from the plate and invite the housewife to eat it to show respect and gratitude, otherwise it will be considered rude. After eating, the host should politely say: "There is not much food, I didn't eat well, please forgive me" and other words. Guests must raise their hands, touch them from their cheeks down to their chests, and say,"May God bless the food and drink."
People in Kazakhstan love horses, but they are not taboo to eat horse meat. Every summer, the aroma of roasted horse meat wafts throughout the city of Almaty. There is a very witty saying in the local area that wolves love to eat horse meat most in the world, followed by Kazakhstan people. This may be related to the nomadic life of living in the wind and living without a fixed place in the past. Energy consumption was too high, and eating meat was the best way to replenish energy.
Traditional cuisine in Kazakhstan is related to horses. The most distinctive feature is horse intestines. Wash the horse intestines, cut the fresh horse meat into strips, add salt, monosodium glutamate and mashed garlic, and pour it into the intestines. Finally, seal the ends with a toothpick and cook over low heat for a few hours. The favorite food of Kazakhstan people is a kind of hot noodle soup called "Beshbarmak". It is made of large pieces of boneless horse meat to make soup and then add hand-rolled dough sheets to the delicious soup.
After eating, they drink soup. People add black pepper, homemade yogurt, ground milk residue or pickled tomatoes to the soup according to their preferences. There is also delicious horse milk. Drinking horse milk is very particular. You can't drink too much the first time, otherwise it will cause uncomfortable reactions. The horse's milk jug made of real leather is also one of the main local handicrafts.