Dongxiang ethnic customs
Dongxiang people are a distinctive ethnic minority in Gansu Province, China. They believe in Sunni Islam. They have a long history and folk customs, and have integrated and developed multiple cultures. The Dongxiang people are named after living in the Dongxiang area of Hezhou (present-day Linxia area, Gansu). This ethnic group calls itself "Sarta" and is gradually formed by the integration of the local Han and Mongolian ethnic groups. Sarta originally meant "merchant" and referred to the people of all ethnic groups who settled in Central Asia and believed in Islam. They mainly included Turks, Tajiks, and Persians, and were collectively referred to as the Semu.
Views on the origin and formation of the Dongxiang people were once quite divided. Among them, Mongolians are the main ones. As early as the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the Dongxiang people actively participated in the peasant uprising led by Mi Ciying and Ding Guodong. Due to the special environment in which the nation was formed, when the Dongxiang nationality was formed, its social structure was the social system.
The Dongxiang people still only have their own language: Dongxiang language, but no written language. Today they use Chinese, and most of the people understand Chinese. Dongxiang language belongs to the Mongolian family of the Altaic family. Among the Dongxiang vocabulary, there are many Chinese loanwords, as well as many Turkic, Arabic and Persian loanwords.
Today's Dongxiang people mainly live in Dongxiang Autonomous County of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, and a few are scattered in Qinghai Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The Dongxiang ethnic area is located in the foothills west of the Tao River, east of the Daxia River and south of the Yellow River in Gansu Province.
Dongxiang buildings mainly include residential buildings, mosque buildings, and Gongbei buildings. The residents 'architectural style is simple, simple and practical. There are not many styles, including cave dwellings, bungalows, tiled houses, earthen sheds, etc.
Residential buildings: There are two types of cave dwellings: horizontal cave type and kang type. The former is relatively spacious, while the latter has doors and windows integrated into one, so you can go to the kang after entering the door. Zhuangyuan has a word courtyard, a three-way courtyard, a courtyard, a Lianpu courtyard, etc. Traditional villas are mainly bungalows, and the main building material is clay. Except for doors, windows, columns and beams, the rest are paved with soil. The roof is covered with a layer of clay and compacted with barriers. There are two types of tiled houses: "Yangsha tiles" and "Yinyang tiles"."Yangsha tiles" means that the tiles are put up to the sky to cover the roof, and "Yinyang tiles" means that another layer of tubular tiles is laid in the gaps of the "Yangsha tiles". Structurally speaking, there are "single-running tile houses" and "two-running tile houses".
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Mosque building: It is a Dongxiang religious building. The general layout is "three halls in one", that is, the chapel, water hall and scripture hall are integrated into one. The chapel is in the middle, and the water hall and scripture hall are separated on both sides. Build a towering minaret at the gate of the mosque. There are three architectural styles of the main hall: one is an Arabic-style circular arch building, the second is a China palace-style building, and the third is a Chinese-Arab wall-style building. Among these three types of buildings, China palace-style buildings account for the vast majority.
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Gongbei Building: It is generally built in remote, quiet, and sparsely populated places in deep mountains and empty valleys. Its main or core building is the tomb houses of various religious masters and elderly people. The tombs are all built with a tomb pavilion on top of a brick rectangular "arch". Brick carving, wood carving, color painting and other techniques are mostly used in the buildings. The tomb is generally called the "eight hanging". There are round, quadrangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal and other shapes, and can be built into one, two, and three floors, of which the majority are second and third floors.
in terms of clothing has changed a lot over the past few decades and has begun to be similar to the costumes of the Han and Hui nationalities. Its characteristics are mainly reflected in the headwear. Dongxiang men generally wear small white or black rimless hats, called "no-hat"; women generally wear hijab made of silk or silk. Girls and newly married young women wear green hats, middle-aged women wear blue hats, and elderly women wear white hats. The hijab usually grows to the waist and covers all the hair. Some young women who work no longer wear hijab for the convenience of labor and work, but prefer to wear small white hats.
Dongxiang men generally wear wide robes with wide belts on which knives, purses, snuffboxes, glasses boxes and other items are hung, and wear white or black flat-topped soft hats. Dongxiang men do not like to grow long hair, but are accustomed to growing beards, which is different from those who believe in Islam such as Hui, Bao 'an and Sala. It is said that Muslim men, who grow beards at the appropriate age, must be treated with courtesy by fellow believers. The elderly like to wear long robes and "Zhongbai", which are generally sewn with gray or black cloth and paired with long robes. Women wear large plumes and jackets with knee-length vests. The very unique ones are women's hats. There is a kind of hat with a round crown of green or blue, red or green ruffled lace on the brim, and tinsel made of colored threads and various beads hanging from the brim. The hijab of unmarried girls is made of thin, soft green silk yarn, and is changed to black after marriage, while elderly women wear white hijab.
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is based on eating habits. Dongxiang people eat wheat, highland barley, corn, beans, and potatoes (potatoes) as their staple foods. Usually people's types of pasta include: "steamed buns, noodles, oily flavor, etc." The most famous foods such as "Lashiha"("ramen" or "sliced noodles"), fried oil fragrance,"Gajiwa" and hand-grabbed mutton are important foods for entertaining guests. The Dongxiang people like to eat food that combines meals, and every family has a small stone mill. The Dongxiang people do not live without potatoes for three meals a day. Potatoes can be used as both a dish and a rice. You can cook, roast, roast, or stir-fry, especially in winter and spring. The Dongxiang people also like to make highland barley noodles and barley noodles into "pot ta" or "Qiongguo steamed buns" as staple food.
The Dongxiang people make "Zhanyang" meat, which is also unique. They usually use whole sheep under clear water and steam "hair" on the pot. Slaughtering Zhanyang and eating hair is a form of improving their lives for the Dongxiang people. There is a local saying that: "The hair that comes first is more fragrant than the meat that comes later." The Dongxiang people are also good at making mutton from mutton into clear soup mutton, which is delicious, nutritious and suitable for all ages. Dongxiang people also like to drink Ziyang tea and Ximaojian tea. Generally, every meal cannot be separated from tea. Most of them use a lid bowl to make tea, or use small teapot. The cover bowl is also known as the "Three Fortresses", which consists of a tea cover, a tea bowl and a chassis seat.
The Dongxiang people are hospitable. When guests come, they are all welcomed by the elderly. When guests enter the house, they must first invite them to the kang, and then they must present a more exquisite bowl of tea. Sometimes rock sugar, longan or roasted dates are added to the tea, which is commonly called Sanxiang tea. At dinner, the Dongxiang people like to use "Gaji Wa" to entertain guests. Eating chicken at banquets is very particular. Each part of the chicken is usually divided into 13 levels, and the corresponding levels of parts are eaten according to seniority. Among the 13 parts, the chicken tip (chicken tail) is the most noble, and generally only guests and elderly people are eligible to enjoy it. The most solemn reception of Dongxiang people belongs to Duan Quanyang, which means that various parts of the sheep such as the neck, ribs, front and rear legs, and sheep's tail are placed on the table in turn, so that everything is complete on the table.
The banquet of the Dongxiang people is also unique. Every festival, a "Gulong Yijie Banquet" is held, which means "eating pasta food." The main foods include fried oil flavor, sesame paste (oily small steamed buns), crispy rice (big hemp flowers), Zhongbula (about 3 kilograms of steamed buns with white flour), Lashiha (knife cut surface), Kunguozi (fermented cake with fructose egg and milk filling), buckwheat pancakes, sprout taste, rice flour wowo, etc. After the guests arrived, all went to the kang, and the owner was responsible for entertaining rather than accompanying them. Before the opening ceremony, a highly respected old man delivered a tribute, and everyone listened attentively, which was called "the end of the report"; then everyone discussed while eating, chatting all over the mountains and the sea, which was called "discussion." The higher the guests 'interest in eating and talking, the happier the host is, which means that the food is exquisite, the guests are satisfied, and the guests are enthusiastic.
Dongxiang men have always retained the habit of "eating flat meat". That is, during the slack season, some people get together, choose a fat sheep, and slaughter the sheep at the owner's house or a family who is good at cooking tea and rice. The sheep is put into the pot, and the offal is mixed with seasonings and steamed in the pot. The people who eat the meat will drink tea and eat oil cakes. When the "hair" is cooked, each person has a bowl, and then they will eat the dough in the broth. After that, the cooked mutton will be divided into several parts according to the whole body of the sheep. One for each person, and finally everyone will share the money to the owner. You can also use things and grain at a discount.
The Dongxiang people are very polite, hospitable, respect the elderly, love the young, and pay attention to hygiene. The elderly live above them. During meals, if they don't eat, the younger generation is not allowed to do it. Except for elderly women, women generally do not eat at the table with men. Guests need to take off their shoes when going to the kang, but female guests do not. Dongxiang people generally do not eat with their guests when they entertain guests, but only stand on the edge of the kang to show their respect for their guests. Male guests are entertained by the male host, and female guests are entertained by the hostess.
Ma Youde, Dongxiang Autonomous County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, a Dongxiang boy from his family will hold a "circumcision" adulthood ceremony when he is 12 or 13 years old. "Circumcision", which Muslims call "Sunna", is one of the indispensable "sacred practices" in their lives. The Dongxiang people attach great importance to circumcision. After circumcision, it symbolizes that the recipient has entered the ranks of young people before he can get married.
In terms of traditional marriage relations, the Dongxiang people still retain a marriage custom that respects the concept of "Ahajiao". The so-called "Ahajiao" is a remnant form of the clan or family. An "Aha Jiao" includes hundreds of families with blood relations, and the oldest person is called the "head of the family." Men and women who belong to the same "Ahajiao" cannot marry, and violators will be condemned. When a widow remarries, her peers have priority. Arranged marriages are the main thing. Men and women can hold weddings at the age of sixteen or seventeen, but more and more men and women are marrying according to the legal age stipulated in China's Marriage Law. The wedding ceremony has a religious atmosphere.
Dongxiang people maintain good bathing habits because of their religious connections. There are "big net" and "small net". "Xiaojing" washes every day to keep hands, feet, mouth, face and nostrils clean. "Da Jing", once a week, keep your whole body clean. Before every festival, people generally take a bath. In terms of taboos, for religious reasons, Dongxiang people abstain from pigs, dogs, horses, mules, and donkey meat, and avoid talking about pigs; do not eat animal blood; ban dirty things from entering cemeteries and mosques; avoid making jokes with food; avoid showing your chest and back in front of others; it is forbidden to hand out cigarettes and toasts.