Kazakh customs and habits

Kazakh people are the majority ethnic group in Kazakhstan, and "Kazakh" means "asylum" or "separatist." It is also an ethnic minority in China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Mongolia and other countries. The Kazakh nation was formed during the Kazakh Khanate in the 15th century. The Kazakh people in China are mainly distributed in Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Altay, Tacheng, Mulei Kazakh Autonomous County and Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and a few are distributed in Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County, Gansu Province. Historically, Kazakhs were mainly engaged in animal husbandry, but now most Kazakhs settle in cities. Good at embroidery, embroidery products have been exported to dozens of countries and regions such as Japan.

The Kazakh people use Kazakh, which belongs to the Turkic language family of the Altaic family. It is the official language of Kazakhstan and the language used by Kazakhs around the world. It is quite close to other ethnic languages belonging to the Turkic language family. Since Kazakhstan was once part of the Soviet Union, the official languages of Kazakhstan are Kazakh and Russian, so the Kazakh people in Kazakhstan often use Russian.

Since the Kazakh people are mainly engaged in animal husbandry, in order to adapt to the needs of nomadic life, their ancestors created a unique and national-style building that people would think to be a "yurt" for the first time, but it was actually a yurt.

The felt house is a Kazakh folk building and is a simple housing suitable for relocation in spring, summer and autumn. In winter, flat-topped earthen houses are built on winter pastures. The felt house is composed of walls, house poles, roof rings, house blankets and doors, and is divided into upper and lower parts. The lower part is cylindrical and the upper part is domed. The lower cylindrical shape is surrounded by a wall composed of red willow wood fences connected horizontally and horizontally. There is a skylight at the top and covered with movable felt for ventilation. Some roof blankets are decorated with red or other color patterns. The yurt door is small. It is a double wooden door with carved patterns. It is called "Skrreuk" in Kazakh. It is generally 1.5 meters high and 0.8 meters wide. It is higher than the ground to prevent snow and severe cold. The door is often opened to the southeast to avoid the north wind. Outside the yurt door, there is a curtain woven of splendens and a layer of flower felt. The curtain is lowered to block the snow in winter and spring, and it is rolled up in summer to ventilate and cool. The yurts are equipped with long wooden poles to pre-use the top felt for the wooden ring top. There are generally four types of yurts: simple small yurts, and yurts with 4, 6, and 8 walls. The furnishings and layout in the yurt are very particular, and are generally divided into several parts: residents, guests, stacking items and cooking. Entering the middle of the yurt facing the skylight is the cooking place. The upper half of the yurt room is covered with a large carpet, with curtains hanging on the poles above the carpet. The carpet is a place for eating and receiving guests during the day, and is separated by a curtain at night to serve as a bedroom.

Winter room: Kazakh herdsmen generally live in winter pastures from November to April of the following year. Houses on winter pastures are generally built in river valleys or valleys that are protected from wind and snow. This kind of house has a strong and durable structure, and has a dome shape. It is called "Sheshala" in Kazakh. It is mostly made of wood or stone. The shape of the house is a square flat top, and there is a tin stove or earthen stove inside. The wall is made of stone or adobe, about 2.5 meters high, and there are many string-like thin wooden rafters on it. The lower ends of the rafters are fixed on the top of the wall, and the upper ends are connected to the top ring of the house. Then they are placed on the woven reed mat or branch strips, 4 or 6 top pillars on the top of the house, and a layer of grass and mud is applied on them. Kazakh people usually spend the winter in such houses.

Kazakh people's daily food mainly includes noodle food, cow, sheep, horse meat, butter, milk bumps, milk tofu, crispy milk, etc. I usually like to make flour into "Baorsac, scones, oil cakes, dough sheets, noodle soup, Naren, Jente, etc., or make meat, butter, milk, rice, flour into various foods. Drinks mainly include milk, goat's milk, and horse milk. I especially like horse milk. Horse milk is a high-end beverage made from horse milk after fermentation. Tea has a special status in the Kazakh diet. Brick tea is mainly drunk, followed by Fu tea. If milk is added to tea, it is called milk tea. Most typical foods come from animal husbandry production, such as winter meat, horse milk, milk bumps, etc.

Kazakh people respect the elderly and must respect the elderly first when drinking tea and eating. Generally, when eating, they are accustomed to the elders sitting first, and others bend their legs around the table cloth or kneel on the felt. During the meal, give the best meat to the elderly. The Kazakh people are hospitable and treat others sincerely. For those who come to stay in, the host must provide the best food to entertain them. When very distinguished guests or relatives who have not seen for many years arrive, in addition to slaughtering sheep, they also need to slaughter horses and treat them with horse meat. Before eating, the owner uses a pot to bring water and a basin to ask the guests to wash their hands, and then places a plate containing the sheep's head, hind legs, and rib meat in front of the guests. The guests must first cut a piece of the sheep's right denomination meat, and then cut off the left ear. After that, the sheep's head is returned to the owner and everyone eats together. After eating, everyone raised their hands to touch their faces at the same time and said "Bata"(Islamic prayer). If there are men and women among the guests, seats are usually divided. Before a guest leaves, if he is a distinguished guest, the host will ask the distinguished guest: "Is there anything you need in the yurt room?" If a customer likes something, they have to give it away. If not, give gifts to the distinguished guests in accordance with the general practice. Those with good economic conditions will send ingots, horses, camels, shotguns and eagles, and the second will send precious animal skins and clothing such as big farmers, harps, fox skins and wolf skins.

Kazakh families have strict patrilineal patriarchy. Husbands enjoy higher power in the family, but family affairs generally respect women's opinions. Kazakh marriage is lifelong, and once the marriage contract is concluded, it is not allowed to be terminated casually. Under special circumstances, if a couple divorces, all children will be attributed to the man. If the husband takes the initiative to file for divorce, the woman can take away the dowry she received at the time of marriage. If the woman asks, nothing is allowed to be taken away, and she can only leave the house alone.

Moreover, Kazakh weddings usually take three days. On the first day, the groom leads the best man and various gifts to get married, and the woman will welcome and entertain them. Accept congratulations from relatives, friends and neighbors. The next day, I took a day off, and officially married the bride on the third day. On this day, naughty bridesmaids will hide the bride. At this time, the best man will ride on a horse and sing funny songs with the bridesmaids, so that he can enter the door to pick up the bride after winning. Sometimes, one of the best men would take advantage of his being unprepared, leap into the yurt from the horse's back, and rush out of the door under the siege of the bridesmaids. If he couldn't escape, he would be ridiculed, ashamed to see others, and even present gifts to the bridesmaids.

Kazakh people used to have a unique custom of "returning children". "Returning children" means that the newlyweds adopt their first child born after marriage to the man's biological parents as a sign of filial piety. The relationship between original grandparents and grandchildren should be changed to the relationship between parents and children. The original titles of grandparents were changed to the titles of parents. The relationship with the newborn parents became the relationship of brothers and sisters, and the address was subsequently changed to brother-in-law and sister-in-law. This custom has basically disappeared today.

They also attach great importance to the birth of new life. A three-day celebration is often held after a baby is born, which is regarded as a cradle ceremony. Kazakh babies generally grow up in cradles, so Kazakhs hold a ceremony to put the baby into the cradle 7 to 10 days after the baby is born. At that time, the owner's family would slaughter a sheep and invite women from relatives, friends and neighbors to participate. A naming ceremony would also be held on the same day. Each woman who came to participate in these two ceremonies was required to give a piece of clothing she made by herself to the baby, and also gave the child one or two names for the owner to choose, or the mulla named the child. The host warmly welcomed the guests, and everyone sat around together while eating and blessing the children. Today, this ceremony is mostly held 40 days after the baby is born. Boys are usually circumcised when they are 5 to 7 years old. Kazakhstan attaches great importance to circumcision, and the scale of the ceremony is very grand. In addition, during the child's growth, there are also horse riding ceremonies.

The main festivals of the Kazakh people are Gurbang Festival, Rouzi Festival and Nawu Rezi Festival (Nawu Rouzi Festival). During the Nawrezi Festival, every household drinks "Ku Straw"(a delicious porridge) made from a mixture of seven things including meat, rice, wheat, barley, milk bumps, salt, and water). It is a traditional Kazakh etiquette to throw Borsak and sugar and dance "Black Junma (traditional Kazakh dance)" to welcome happy events.

Since the Kazakh people believed in Islam, there have been many taboos related to it. The most important ones are: avoid eating pork and livestock meat that died without being slaughtered, and avoid eating the blood of all animals. Livestock are generally slaughtered by men. So you must not kill X in front of him (in order not to cause misunderstanding among Kazakh compatriots).

When eating, you cannot hold the entire naan in your hand and chew it with your mouth. You are not allowed to sit on a bed in a yurt. You must sit cross-legged on the floor on the carpet, and you are not allowed to straighten your legs. Young people are not allowed to drink in front of the elderly. When eating or talking with others, avoid bad habits such as picking your nostrils, spitting, farting, yawning, and picking your ears.

When visiting, guests are forbidden to ride fast horses straight to their homes. This will be considered a provocation or announce funeral and send unlucky news. Slow down when you are approaching your house on your horse. Do not enter the yurt with a whip, or you will be mistaken for picking quarrels and fighting. It is taboo for guests to sit from the right side of the stove and sit on the right side of the stove, because the owner sits on the right side, and do not sit on a wooden cabinet for putting food or other daily utensils. The guest's seat should follow the owner's instructions; When eating and drinking milk tea, you cannot step on the table cloth with your feet, let alone straddle it. It is best not to leave until the table cloth is cleaned up. If you go out for an emergency, you can't walk past the owner, you must walk around the back of others; When the owner is cooking, guests should not walk into the catering area. It is forbidden for guests to tamper with the tableware, let alone fiddle with the food or lift the lid. The tea, wine, meat and other food delivered by the owner, whether it suits your appetite or not, should be happily accepted. Drinking milk tea should not be left with half left before drinking. Drinking horse milk wine should also be drunk in one gulp. Even if you don't know how to drink, you should take a little sip to show your gratitude, otherwise it will spoil the owner. Before and after eating, the host will pour water for the guests to wash their hands. After washing their hands, do not shake them randomly. Use a towel to wipe their hands and return the towel politely; if it is late and the host stays over, do not refuse to use the host's bedding, otherwise you will be misunderstood by the host.

daughter-in-law cannot use his father-in-law's saddle and his father-in-law's bed; the father-in-law cannot use his daughter-in-law's saddle and his daughter-in-law's bed. You cannot count the owner's herd and livestock face to face. Do not hit livestock on the head with your feet or clubs. Do not cross the ropes used to tie livestock. When walking when encountering sheep, you have to take a detour. You are not allowed to enter or exit the sheep by horse. It is strictly forbidden to pass in front of people praying (Naimazi), nor to step on the prayer sheet, nor to laugh and laugh loudly in imitation of their movements.

According to Kazakh traditional customs, women should not eat camel meat and camel milk after pregnancy; they should not wear clothes made of camel hair. Because female camels are generally pregnant for 12 months, it is believed that eating camel milk and camel meat will prolong the pregnancy. Avoid eating rabbit meat because rabbits have three-pronged mouths, and believe that pregnant women who eat rabbit meat will give birth to children with open lips. Avoid eating meat from livestock bitten by wolves, because wolves drool a lot, and children born to it will also drool a lot. When a woman gives birth, men, including her husband, should not be in the delivery room. The midwife cannot be a pregnant woman who thinks that the woman will bleed heavily; avoid people who have given birth to children but die prematurely. Don't praise their children in front of parents, especially don't say words such as fat, beautiful, or handsome.

It is not allowed to defecate and defecate anywhere near houses, next to water sources, around worship temples and cemeteries. Livestock cannot enter the cemetery. No soil shall be collected from the cemetery.

Kazakhs worship grass and fire, so they are taboo to pluck new grass in spring. You are not allowed to use your feet on the fire, you are not allowed to spit on the fire, you are not allowed to run around the fire, you are not allowed to press fire seedlings, and you are not allowed to urinate on the fire.

Kazakhs believe that Tuesdays and Fridays are unlucky days and cannot go out. In terms of numbers, they attach great importance to the singular, especially "seven" and "nine". Especially "seven" is admired and respected by them. In Kazakh folk literature,"seven" is the number that appears most frequently, generally referring to the number. For example,"seven days","seven days and nights", and "seven years" are mostly metaphors of the long journey, the suffering of life, and the tempering of perseverance. He also often has an indissoluble bond with the "Seventh" in terms of living customs. For example, Kazakhs hold a cradle ceremony and naming ceremony on the seventh day after the birth of a baby. Intermarriage is not allowed within seven generations, and the families married must be separated by seven rivers. The betrothal price for marrying a wife is also 77 horses, 47 horses for middle-class households, and 17 horses for lower-class households. After a person dies, after placing the deceased in the tomb, each person must also shovel 7 pieces of soil. On the seventh day, sacrifices are made to the dead. Light up 7 oil lamps in the yurt where the deceased lived before his death. Even when seven guests came to the door together, the owner was very happy and thought this was an auspicious sign. If one of them gives them some gifts and thinks it is a matter of great honor and happiness, he often treasures the gift as a permanent memorial.

Because the Kazakh people believe in Islam, their funerals are basically carried out in accordance with Islamic rules. The Kazakh people attach great importance to funerals. Funerals are generally divided into a series of activities such as pre-death rites, mullahs chanting scriptures to "atonement", plastic surgery, flag-hanging condolences, funeral announcements, funeral visits, funeral ceremonies, funeral processions, mourning, and sacrifice. The whole process even lasts for a year.

The Kazakh people practice burial without coffins. The "buried body" was cleaned behind him, wrapped in white cloth, tilted straight, with head north and feet south, and facing west towards Mecca, the holy land. Generally, a straight pit is dug first and a cave is dug on the west wall of the straight pit. After placing, the side holes were first sealed with adobe branches, then filled with soil in the straight pit, and finally piled stones on the tomb to form a mound. The shape of the tomb is rectangular, with tomb walls built around it and doors for entry and exit. It looks like a yurt. A monument was erected in front of the tomb. On the anniversary of the death of the deceased, the tomb must be rebuilt. Ordinary people's graves are built with stones, while people with certain economic conditions use adobe to build round or square tombs. The famous dead also built towers with bricks and stones on their graves.

The horse riding by the male deceased during his lifetime had its ponytail and horse mane cut off, or its tail and mane combed into a braid shape. This horse was called "Toliat" in Kazakh, and no one was allowed to ride or whip it.