Bai traditional customs

Bai people are the 15th largest ethnic minority in China. They call themselves "Baizi","Baini" and "Baihuo", which means "white" in Chinese. However, there are more than 60 other names for the Bai people by various ethnic groups, including "Minjia","Nama","Lemo", etc. The Bai people living in Dali, Kunming and other places and the Sangzhi area of Hunan are called "Minjia" in Chinese; the Bai people living in Lijiang, Diqing, and Nujiang areas are called "Nama" in Naxi and "Lemo" in Lisu; They are called "Lebo" in Tibetan, and "Loubu","Luoben" and "Rogipo" in Yi. The Bai people in Guizhou have different names such as "Seven Surnames","Nine Surnames","Luo Ju","Longjiang People", and "Nanjing People". The Bai people in the Weining area of Guizhou are called the "Seven Surnames People" because they have seven surnames.

The Bai people mainly live in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Dali is the ethnic origin, ancestral residence and main settlement of the Bai people, and about 80% of the Bai people in the country live here. In addition, Yunnan's Kunming, Lijiang, Nujiang, Diqing, Baoshan, Yuxi, Chuxiong, Wenshan, Lincang and other prefectures and cities all have Bai ethnic communities. There are also Bai ethnic groups in Zhangjiajie and Xiangxi in Hunan Province, Bijie and Anshun in Guizhou, and Liangshan in Sichuan.

Bai people have their own language, and the Bai language belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibetan and Burmese language group of the Sino-Tibetan family. Bai language is divided into three major dialects: Dali (southern), Jianchuan (central) and Nujiang (northern). Among them, Nujiang dialect was originally called Bijiang dialect, but was renamed Nujiang dialect because Bijiang County, Nujiang Prefecture was abolished in 1986. The Bai people have two ethnic languages, namely the old white language and the new white language. The old white script was developed on the basis of Chinese characters, while the new white script was a pinyin script created after the founding of New China.

During the long-term use of Chinese language, the Bai people began to borrow Chinese characters to record the Bai language very early due to the needs of social production and life. In the middle and late stages of Nanzhao, they also copied the Chinese character formation method by adding and damaging the stroke fields of Chinese characters to imitate the Chinese character formation method. Methods such as combining radicals into characters created "Bai Wen", which was used to write the language of the nation. This kind of writing was also known as "Bo Wen" in history. In order to distinguish it from the Pinyin White Wen created after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was also called "Lao Bai Wen","Ancient Bai Wen","Box Bai Wen" or "Hanzi Bai Wen". It is a typical Chinese character system.

The worship of the Lord is a religion believed by the entire Bai people. The name of the master in white is "Wu Zeng", which is the abbreviation of "the blessing lord of the local realm", which means "my master". They are the protective gods of Bai villages and communities. Some villages worship one master, while some villages worship the same master. As long as people and things that are closely connected to the Bai village and community can become the main owner, so among the main gods, there are not only the gods of mountains, rivers, trees, insects, fish, birds and beasts with strong primitive religious color, but also the gods of Buddhism and Taoism, Confucian model figures and figures in folklore; there are both royal families, aristocrats, heroes and civilians; there are both Bai people, Han people and other ethnic groups. Each owner has his own festival, which is the owner's temple fair. In the daily life of the Bai people, sacrifices must be made to the main temple not only for festivals and major events, but also for weddings and funerals, diseases and disasters, long journeys, etc., to pray for the blessings of the main god.

站图片位置Bai people's houses are in the form of "three long rooms" lined with kitchens, livestock stalls and thatched houses with yards, or tiled houses with "one upright and two ears","three sides and one illuminated wall", and "four in five patios". Bedrooms, kitchens, and livestock stalls are all separated. Most of the mountainous areas are straw houses,"flash" houses, bamboo houses or "wooden stacks" houses that go upstairs and downstairs. The place for cooking and sleeping are often connected.

Bai people advocate white, and their clothing styles vary slightly from place to place. White clothes are regarded as noble. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, generally speaking, the costumes of the Bai people are generally the same in various places, while the costumes of women are different in various places.

Men usually wrap their heads in white or blue, wear white placket on top, black collar jacket on top, and white and blue trousers under them. Bai men in the eastern part of Erhai wear suede necklaces or leather or satin necklaces, with embroidered pockets around their waists and blue or black trousers. When going out, they often carry bags on their backs, and some even carry long knives.

Women in Dali often use embroidered cloth or colored towels to wrap their heads, wear white tops and red waistcoats, or light blue tops and coats with black velvet necklaces, hang "three-beard" and "five-beard" silver ornaments at the right lining button, tie an embroidered short waist around the waist, wear blue wide trousers, and wear embroidered shoes on their feet. Married people wear a bun, and unmarried people braid it down behind or around their heads, all wrapped in embroidered, printed or colored towel heads. On the headdress of a Bai girl, there is a word that is very familiar to everyone, which is: wind, flower, snow and moon. Explanation: On the hat of a Bai girl, the hanging Keiko is the wind of Xiaguan; the gorgeous floral decorations are the flowers of Shangguan; the white on the top of the hat is the snow of Cangshan Mountain; and the curved shape is the moon of Erhai Lake.

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Women's headwear are even more colorful. Unmarried women in Dali wear a single braid and wrap it around a flower head handkerchief, and then wrap it with flower ribbons, etc., and a bundle of white sash ears hangs on the left side; after marriage, the braid is changed into a bun and wrapped around the top of the head. The tie-dyed or batik blue cloth handkerchief is wrapped around plain cloth strips. Girls from Fengyu, Dengchuan, and Eryuan like to wear "Phoenix Parasas"; in some places, their heads are wrapped in flower towels or only plaits are wrapped around their heads, and then wrapped with a bundle of red head ropes; in some places, the headwear is made of "a tile"; In some places, the heads are covered with multiple pieces of cloth stacked on top of each other, and the outermost piece of cloth is embroidered with patterns that the Bai people like. Wrap a head rope of multiple colors around it, which is particularly beautiful. Women all like to wear jade or silver bracelets and pendant earrings. Most urban residents wear Han costumes, and young people love fashion.

In Fengyu Bazi, Eryuan County, Yunnan Province, Bai girls and daughter-in-law have learned to make birthday shoes since childhood. Women who cannot make birthday shoes are often laughed at as incompetent. Longevity shoes are made of bright red satin or cloth. The top of the shoe is spiced with a Shou character pattern, and a simple and elegant coniferous pine is embroidered with blue silk thread under the pattern; the upper and heel are symmetrical right-angled triangle patterns; and the three-layered sole. Wearing longevity shoes marks that a person has entered a senior year and has both good fortune and wealth. Talented people usually start wearing their first pair of birthday shoes on their sixty-sixth birthday.

The Bai people are hospitable, and the guests first and the host are the etiquette of the Bai people to treat guests. Guests came to the house and treated each other with wine and tea. The famous "Chacha" is the Bai nationality hospitality. However, the Bai people usually only pour half a cup of tea, but when pouring wine, they need to fill the cup. They believe that full wine respects others and full tea deceives others. If you have been warmly received by the Bai people, you should say hello to you (thank you) to express your gratitude and gratitude.

Respecting elders is a traditional virtue of the Bai people. When you see the elderly, you should take the initiative to say hello, greet, give way, give up your seat, serve tea, and pass cigarettes. The first cup of morning tea after getting up should be toast to the elderly first. When eating, let the old man sit at the table and use the chopsticks first. Don't swear words in front of old people, and you are not allowed to cross your legs. In some Bai people in mountainous areas, family members each have relatively fixed seats. Generally, male elders sit on the upper left, female elders sit on the upper right, and guests and younger generations sit on the lower and upper sides. The fire pond of the Bai people is a sacred place. It is forbidden to spit into the fire pond and it is forbidden to cross over it. Bai people are also taboo on the threshold. Women should not step over tools used by men. It is taboo for people wearing a filial handkerchief to enter the family, believing that this will bring impurity to the family.

Bai people's daily diet mainly consists of three meals a day, and for busy farming or festivals, they add one morning or noon meal. Rice and wheat are the staple foods in Pingba area, and corn, potatoes and wheat are often eaten in mountainous areas. The staple food is generally steamed into dry rice and carried to the ground. In addition, I also like cabbage, bait nuggets, glutinous rice balls, rice noodles, porridge, sugar rice (made of glutinous rice and dried malt powder), etc.

Most of the Bai people like to drink alcohol. Due to the different raw materials and methods used, there are many types of wines. When making wine, more than 40 kinds of medicinal materials are commonly used to make distillers 'koji to make various liquors, among which kiln liquor and dry liquor are the traditional best wines. There is also a sweet wine made from glutinous rice, which is specially made for women and pregnant women. It is said to have nourishing and promoting lactation effects.

Drinking tea is another hobby of the Bai people. The Bai people pay great attention to drinking tea twice every morning and noon. Morning tea is called "morning tea" or "awakening tea". It is drunk as soon as you get up and is drunk by adults; afternoon tea is also called "rest tea" or "thirst-quenching tea" and contains rice flowers and milk, including children.

The Bai people also have food taboos, mainly because they do not use iron knives on the first day of the New Year. Housewives should cook quietly and not blow the fire. They must go to the well to "draw new water." When cooking in a funeral home, all people will be boiled and stir-fried. Red food will not be used, and red envelopes will not be used. When entering, the elders sit on top of the younger generation to serve them.

Bai wedding banquet is accustomed to using "Xizhou Tuba Bowl", which consists of eight hot dishes: red meat stewed with red rice; crisp meat fried with egg paste; thousands of pieces of five-flower and third-line pork steamed with soy sauce and honey; steamed with sweet potatoes or potatoes; dry aroma made of pig's head, liver, and pork stewed; white lentils covered with minced meat and egg crumbs; fungus, tofu, sewage, shredded eggs, and vegetable stalks; bamboo shoots with fried pork strips. In addition, each customer has a package of betel nut.

Special diet: 1. Fish casserole and tofu casserole: Put ham slices, tender chicken nuggets, mushrooms, egg rolls, dried bacon slices, tofu, olay slices, meatballs, etc. into the casserole in proportion with bow fish (or carp), place the seasonings, and simmer it over slow fire. If you replace the main fish with tofu and a small amount of cabbage, you will make tofu casserole.

2. Milk fan: It is a famous specialty. The method is to put goat's milk in a pot, add sour water (or alum) to make it semi-solid, pick it up with chopsticks, and dry it to form a milk fan, which can be eaten raw or decocted.

3. Fresh pork liver: "Chop the pork liver, mix with salt, pepper, wine, sesame seeds, star anise, grass nuts, etc., seal it in an earthenware jar, which can be stored for 1 year. It can be steamed or used as condiments.

4. Liver blowing: After blowing the whole fresh liver full of air, add some salt, hang it in a cool and ventilated place to dry. When eating, slice pork liver and add sesame oil, vinegar, pepper, onion, and cilantro. Just serve cold.

5. Hides: After slaughtering the pig, roast it over fire to remove hair, so that the skin is roasted to golden yellow, and the meat is half-cooked. Cut it into slices or shredded pork, and add onions, ginger, vinegar, garlic and other seasonings to eat. Raw hides were a banquet dish for guests during the old New Year's Festival.

The Bai people practice monogamy, and no intermarriage is allowed between the same clan and the same surname. In Bai families, the son lives apart from his parents after marriage.

Young men and women of the Bai nationality have relatively free love activities. They usually use the opportunities of labor, fairs, festival activities and temple fairs to talk about love, test each other through folk songs, express their feelings, and find their own crush. When a young Bai man asks for love from a girl, if the girl agrees, she will send cake to the man; at the wedding, the bride will go to the kitchen to make "fish soup"; on the first Mid-Autumn Festival after marriage, the bride will make a big noodle cake to express the bride's cooking skills. During the wedding, refreshments should be served first, followed by four-four-ruyi seats (i.e. four plates, four plates, four basins, and four bowls).

There are three forms of marriage in

Bai nationality: one is to marry a daughter to a man's family, which accounts for the majority; the other is to recruit a son-in-law. This situation is mainly because the woman's parents have no son, and even if they do, they are foolish and sick, so they recruit a son-in-law. The daughter-in-law who comes to the house must change his surname to the woman's surname, and then the woman's elders will rename it; the third is the form of rolling the accounts back to the house, that is, seven days after the couple's marriage, the wife will take her husband back to the woman's house with the curtains and bedding. Because although the woman had brothers in her family, they were too young and her parents were old, so she had to "take care of the elderly and take care of her young siblings." After the younger brother grew up and got married, the man took his wife back to the man's home to live. These three forms of marriage have a long history and are still in use today. But no matter which form of marriage it belongs to, the wedding date and the wedding process are basically the same. It's just that when he recruits a son-in-law, she marries a man, not a man marries a woman, and the roles of both parties are reversed. After a son gets married, he usually separates from his parents and forms a small family. Parents choose who to live with, and most of them choose to live with their young children. Therefore, small monogamy families are a common form of family organization among the Bai people.

The wedding was grand and enthusiastic. According to traditional customs, on the day of the wedding, the groom and the young men must ride tall horses to get married. After the bride is married, she has to pay homage to the elders in the family one by one, and then she treats her to dinner. The groom and bride have to accompany the guests to eat. At this time, the guests can ask the newlyweds problems or let them perform. The wedding is shrouded in cheers and laughter. The most distinctive thing was that chili powder was lit at the wedding, so many people sneezed and coughed amid the laughter, making it extremely lively.

Back-marriage is a popular marriage custom in the Bai area of Eryuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. At every intersection, three forks or place where people gather, the accompanying guests will stop, fold the dowry into two large piles, and let the groom carry the bride and wrap the word "8" around the dowry.

According to Bai custom, if her husband dies, the wife can keep the chastity for life, or she can marry another woman, but she cannot take away her ex-husband's property when she marries another woman. In some areas, there is also the custom of transferring houses. After the death of the brother, the sister-in-law can marry the younger brother and call it uncle or sister-in-law, but this phenomenon is no longer common.

站图片位置Bai folk entertainment activities are rich and diverse. Torch Festival, March Street (Ethnic Festival), Qingming Festival, Middle Yuan Festival, and Winter Solstice are all traditional Bai folk festival activities. There are also festivals specially endowed with national characteristics: Raosanling, which lasts for three or four days in the late fourth month of the lunar calendar; Shibao Mountain Song Festival, which is held for three days at Shibao Mountain Shizhong Temple at the end of the seventh month of the lunar calendar; Jianchuan Mulle and Horse Fair, Benzhu Festival, Butterfly Festival, Cibi Lake Song Festival, Haixi Sea Song Festival; Chaoji Festival, held from the first day to the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar in Jizu Mountain, Binchuan; Shuhai Festival, held on the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar in Caitun, Dali; Gegen Festival, held on the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar in Dali Santa Temple.

The Bai people attach great importance to festivals, and there are one or more kinds of food for almost every festival. For example, during the Spring Festival, you eat jingling sugar, soaked rice tea and Jiangzhai rice; during the Spring Festival, you eat steamed cakes and rice flour; during the Qingming Festival, you eat cold assorted and "Zhai Yan Xiang"(fried crispy pork); during the Dragon Boat Festival, you eat rice dumplings and realgar wine; During the New Festival, you eat new beans, tender melons and old grains mixed with new rice; during the Torot Festival, you eat sweets and various candies; during the Zhongwu Festival, you eat morels and fish wrapped meat; during the Mid-Autumn Festival, you eat white cakes and drunk cakes; during the Double Ninth Festival, you eat fat sheep; During the Winter Solstice, you eat fried grains and mutton farms.

In addition, the Bai people, like the Han people, celebrate the Spring Festival from the first to the tenth of the first lunar month every year. There is a custom of grabbing new water on the first day of the lunar month. Whoever receives the first spring water of the New Year will definitely be very auspicious in the coming year. From the first day to the fifth day, no metal utensils other than kitchen utensils are allowed, no water is allowed, or no floor is allowed. On the second day of the second day, sacrifices were made to heaven and earth, and on the third day, sacrifices were made to mountains, rivers and grasslands.