Li ethnic customs

(Ocha Village is currently the most completely preserved, largest and most primitive village inhabited by the Li people in Li Village, Hainan.)

Since the Tang Dynasty, the Li people, together with other ethnic groups in Lingnan, have been widely referred to as "Li","Man","Li","Liao", etc. The exclusive name of "Li" began in the late Tang Dynasty and was not consolidated until the Song Dynasty. The Li people are also one of the Lingnan ethnic groups in China. They mainly live in seven counties and two cities in the south-central part of Hainan Province, including Qiongzhong County, Baisha County, Changjiang County, Dongfang City, Ledong County, Lingshui County, Baoting County, Wuzhishan City, and Sanya City. The rest are scattered in Wanning, Tunchang, Qionghai, Chengmai, Danzhou, Ding 'an and other cities and counties in Hainan Province. Focusing on agriculture, women are good at weaving, and "Li Brocade" and "Li Dan" are world-famous.

The Li people have not formed a unified religious belief. All places mainly worship ancestors and nature worship. In some areas, traces of clan totem worship are still left. The Li people believe in ghosts, especially ancestral ghosts. Sacrifice to ancestors is an important religious activity of the Li people in order to ensure the safety of their families. In the past, in order to remember the great achievements of Li's mother in breeding the Li people, the Li people warned future generations that women's embroidery of facials and tattoos was a rule set by their ancestors. If women did not embroider faces and tattoos, their ancestors would not recognize each other after death. Of course, this custom has basically disappeared and can only be seen in remote areas.

The Li people have a language but no writing. Li language belongs to a language of the Sino-Tibetan family, with different dialects in different regions. In areas close to the Han nationality and places where various ethnic groups live together, the Li people can generally speak Chinese (referring to Hainan dialect), Miao language, etc. At the same time, Li language has also absorbed many Chinese words, especially the new words related to politics, economy, and culture absorbed after liberation. There are more new words. The Li people did not have their own national writing, and gradually used Chinese after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In the production and life practice for thousands of years, the Li people have created the unique traditional living houses of the Li people based on natural geography, climatic conditions, building materials and technical levels according to local conditions-Boat-shaped houses. It is a simple thatched house built with thatched grass and framed with bamboo and wood. It is the crystallization of the traditional wisdom of the Li people.

The structure of traditional boat-shaped houses uses grid wood, bamboo, red and white rattan and thatched grass as building materials. The skeleton of the house is made of bamboo and wood, which is very primitive and simple. It belongs to the traditional bamboo structure building. There are two main styles of Li thatched houses. They are boat-shaped houses and golden-shaped houses. Boat-shaped houses can be divided into elevated boat-shaped houses and low-frame (floor-standing) boat-shaped houses. The exterior is shaped like a canopy and has an arch shape. Make frames with red and white vines and cover them with thatch or sunflower leaves. The golden-shaped house uses tree trunks as supports, bamboo trunks are woven into walls, and then straw and mud are pasted on the walls. The size of a house is generally determined by population or financial ability. All daily life is accommodated in such a space.

(Mobil-Li Traditional Clothing) The style of Li costumes is also very unique and has no seasons. Li men generally wear collarless linen clothes with no buttons on their upper body, a strip of linen woven cloth is hung at the front and back of their waists, and red or black cloth is wrapped around their heads, with horns and discs in shapes. Women's decorations generally wear double or partial lapses, straight collars or round-neck tops, embroidered on the edges of the tops, and decorated with shells, copper coins, beads and other ornaments. Li women are accustomed to wearing floral turbans on their heads and tubular skirts on their lower bodies. In addition, their hair is tied into a ball. Li women used to have the traditional habit of tattooing, but it is now rare. Plus insert a silver hairpin or bone hairpin. On March 3 every year, the Li people wear their unique costumes to show off their unique charm.

The Li people practice monogamy in a small patrilineal family. After their children grow up, they live in "squatter houses" outside the house. Once the wife settled down in her husband's house after marriage, the couple separated from their parents and did not cook. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were many early marriages, and parents decided, but before marriage, they allowed freedom to fall in love. The popular custom of not leaving her husband's home after marriage is that the bride returns to her mother's home for one or two years or even seven or eight years before settling in her husband's home.) Children born out of wedlock are not discriminated against. Divorce and remarriage of widows are relatively free.

the Li people are located in the subtropical region, their diet is relatively simple. They eat rice, sweet potatoes, and corn as their staple foods, and mostly eat from hunting and gathering as their non-staple foods. They only grow a small number of vegetables, and most of them are introduced from the Han area. The traditional delicacies of the Li nationality include "bamboo tube rice","Lei Gonggen" and "Xiang", and "Xiang" can only be eaten during festivals or when distinguished guests visit their homes. There are two types: "fish tea" and "meat tea." The Li family also love to eat rat meat. Whether it is mountain mice, voles, house mice, or squirrels, they can hunt. Every family has bamboo mousetraps, which can be installed at a time, and dozens of mice can be caught the next day.

Li people hold tables, banquets and alcohol during festivals, weddings, new houses, childbirth, social interactions and other activities. Usually, drinking wine is a gift to welcome guests, and toasts and songs often stay all night long. Therefore, most of the Li compatriots are addicted to alcohol, and most of the wines they drink are home-brewed low-alcohol rice wine, sweet potato wine and tapioca wine. The wine brewed with Arabica is a well-known wine and is often used as a valuable gift. The Li family often uses this wine to entertain distinguished guests. Some places are accustomed to using small bamboo pipes to sip wine and respect customers.

The Li people in Hainan Province also have a set of eating etiquette when entertaining guests. When dining, drink first for male guests, and drink first for female guests. The host and guest sat opposite each other separately. When inviting wine, the host first raised the wine bowl with both hands to express the invitation to the guests, and then drank the wine himself. Then, the rice wine was presented to the guests one by one. After the guests finished drinking the wine, the owner also sent a bite of meat and vegetables to each mouth to show respect. Usually, the owner only accompanies the guests to drink and does not accompany the guests to eat, for fear that the guests will be embarrassed to eat their fill.

The Li compatriots like chewing betel nut very much in ordinary times. The method of eating it is to cut the betel nut into slices, wrap it in lulu leaves, add lime cream and tobacco, and put it in the mouth to chew it carefully. It can make people feel like drinking wine, their faces are red and their spirits are refreshed. Frequent consumption of betel nut can also prevent diseases, treat diseases and beauty, so Li compatriots regard betel nut as a healthy and long-term food.

Most festivals of the Li nationality are the same as those of the Han nationality, such as the Spring Festival, which is basically the same as the Han nationality celebrating the Spring Festival. Before the Spring Festival, every family will eat New Year's Eve, brew New Year's wine, and pound "lamp leaves"(that is, rice cakes, and glutinous rice cakes). The lamp leaves can be stored for a period of time and become very tough. They can be sliced with a sharp knife, then roasted or fried to have a unique flavor. Li compatriots in some areas also make a Chinese New Year rice dumpling without meat filling. On New Year's Eve, we began to worship our ancestors, eat New Year's meals and drink New Year's wine. On the first day of the first day, we must stay at home behind closed doors. On the second day, we will go out to visit relatives and friends, go up the mountains to hunt, or go down the river to find shrimps, and hold various festive activities with national characteristics until the 15th day of the first month.

The biggest folk traditional festival of the Li people in Hainan Province is the third day of March of the Li people (the third day of the third month of the lunar month). It is also a beautiful day for Li people. It is also called Love Festival and Love Talk Day. It is called "Fu Nianfu" in Li language. It is held on the third day of the third month of the lunar month every year. It is a traditional festival for the Li people in Hainan to mourn their hardworking and brave ancestors and express their yearning for love and happiness.

The "March 3rd" of the Li nationality originated from a legend about the reproduction of the ancestors of the Li nationality. On this day, young men and women wear beautiful national costumes. The men hold black umbrellas and carry mountain orchid wine, and the women hold small waist baskets with glutinous rice cakes, dried bacon, etc. hidden in the towel. They go to the legendary Niangmu Cave to worship their ancestors, and then eat the food they bring together, entertain together, and look at the person they love. After they met, the men and women sang songs to each other and ate a kind of "lamp leaf" cake embedded in sugar hearts.

of theis on the 14th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar every year. The Li people hold folk ancestral worship activities. On this day, families killed chickens to buy meat and cut five-color paper into paper clothes to sacrifice to their ancestors. At night, children in each household plant a few incense sticks in front of their homes to pay tribute to their ancestors who had no one to offer sacrifices.

There is also a special custom and etiquette in the Li area of Hainan Province called "reconciliation etiquette." In Li, it is called "Ruicha", which means "giving good eyes." If both sides wanted to stop fighting and make peace, they would each have a widow to act as a mediator. Both sides also sent one representative. The widow first put a number of copper coins into a basin of clear water. Representatives from both sides took out the copper coins from the water and wiped each other's eyes. Then, they took the money from each other and threw it behind them. Finally, toast each other to show reconciliation.

TheLi funeral ceremonies vary from place to place. Near the Han District, there are customs of stopping coffins and celebrating ceremonies and choosing places to build graves according to Feng Shui.

In the Li people in Hainan, when the patient is dying, the family still has to feed water and rice to show filial piety. After a loved one passed away, a gun was fired to announce the funeral, and relatives and friends discussed the funeral ceremony together. Neighbors in the village came to help with pigs and wine. Wash the deceased and change them into new clothes, which must be worn upside down. If the deceased is a woman, her face will be smeared with black ash from the bottom of the stove to show her hard work during her lifetime and will be welcomed in the underworld.

The Li people believe that it is unlucky not to make coffins during their lifetime. After a person died, the brothers had to go up the mountain to cut wood and make coffins. Coffins are divided into four classes according to the Li family's customs. The first-class coffins are made of fine wood such as lychee, black ink, and mountain silk. The user uses killing cattle as the sacrifice mouth during the funeral, and the other three uses killing pigs as the sacrifice. The second class is made of tree bark, the third class is a bamboo coffin made of bamboo, and the fourth class is a coffin with open pockets.

The Li people also believe that ghosts are everywhere and can harm people, so they are very afraid of all ghosts, including the ghosts of their ancestors. Therefore, the dead in Hemu area were buried in the public cemetery of the clan, using wooden coffins to bury them in the earth. No graves were built and monuments were erected, and no memorial ceremonies were carried out after burial.