The customs and habits of the Mulao people

Mulao people developed and evolved from the ancient "Liao people". In Chang Qu's "Huayang Gong Zhi·Nanzhong Zhi" from the Jin Dynasty, there are records of the activities of "Liao people" in the southern edge of the Yunling Mountains on the Yungui Plateau. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, records of the community of "Liao" and "Ling" people appeared in historical books such as "Lingwai Dai Answer" and "Xi Man Cong Xiao". "Tianhe County Annals" and "Qing Dynasty Unity Annals" say: "Actors are also called Liao, and commonly called Mulao." It can be seen that Mulao has a close relationship with Liao and Ling. Academic circles generally believe that the Mulao ethnic group was formed from officials and musicians. The Mulao people were not regarded as a nation in history. After ethnic identification on August 30, 1953, the Mulao people truly became a member of the Chinese nation's big family. The word Mulao means "mother" in the national language. The vast majority live in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County, Guangxi, and the rest are scattered in Xincheng, Yishan, Liucheng, Du 'an, Huanjiang, Hechi and other counties, and live together with Zhuang, Han, Yao, Miao, Dong, Maonan, Shui and other ethnic groups.

The Mulao people began to use their tribe as their surname during the Han Dynasty. The Mulao people have a famous surname, which is the result of the influence of Han culture. In modern times, the Mulao ethnic group had Luo, Yin, Wu, Xie, Pan, Liang, Zhou, Wei, Zhang, Huang, Lu, Bao, Qin, Lu and other surnames, among which Luo, Yin, Wu and Xie were the largest surnames and had the largest population. Most of the Mulao people live together with the same surname and form their own villages. Some tribes have a patriarch who is elected, while some do not. However, there are "winter" organizations, with "winter heads" and "houses" under winter. These are relics of blood settlement. Due to natural conditions and social factors, the Mulao people in Luocheng have lived in a difficult environment for a long time, and their economy has not developed significantly. According to Yu Chenglong, a generation of honest officials, the situation in ancient times was that "Artemisia grass was everywhere and no one was walking";"Yellow hair reached the city";"There were six residents in the city and several thatched houses." Therefore, its difficult conditions can be seen. When Luocheng was established in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County, it was still a national-level poverty-stricken county. However, with the attention of the provincial government, Luocheng has achieved a lot of development and its economic outlook has gradually improved.

Mulao people live in an area surrounded by green mountains and streams. On both sides of the river, mountain dams provide a good environment for the development of agricultural production. The Mulao people are famous for growing rice. As early as the Song Dynasty, the people along the Longjiang River, including the Mulao people, had "grown rice like Huxiang". In addition, the Mulao people also grow corn, sweet potatoes, taro, millet, wheat, buckwheat, sorghum, etc., and cash crops include cotton, peanuts, soybeans, taro sesame, rapeseed, etc. As early as the Ming Dynasty, the Mulao people had used iron farm tools and animal power to cultivate. Production techniques and production tools are roughly equivalent to those of the nearby Han and Zhuang ethnic groups. The handicraft industry in the Mulao area has also developed early. Both "Shuoman" and "Qing Dynasty Tongyi Zhi" have records about the Mulao people's "good at making knives." The Mulao people have a history of making iron tools and firing jars and pottery for hundreds of years. In the Ming Dynasty, there were ironsmiths of our own nation. Sand cans made by the Mulao people are very famous in the nearby area.

Because the Mulao area is rich in coal and sulfur resources, it is often called the "coal township", the Mulao people have formed a tradition of mining coal mines. Documents from the Ming and Qing Dynasties record that the Mulao people used coal for a living, dug ground to make stoves, and fired sand cans. During the Republic of China, coal mining in the Mulao area expanded, and the mining factory employed a large number of Mulao people (Mine 31). The Mulao people have become a minority with a large proportion of production workers in the population. The Mulao area now has many enterprises such as coal mines, cement, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural machinery repair, building materials, wood processing, and food processing. Transportation is very convenient. Fundamental changes have taken place in people's living standards.

In the Mulao ethnic settlement area, the mountains are rolling and rolling, and Wuyang River and Longjiang River flow through them. In the intersection of Dashi Mountain and Tushan Hills, there are canyons and flat dams with varying vertical and horizontal levels. Most of the Mulao people live in mountainous or semi-mountainous areas, and build villages near mountains and rivers. Most of Mulao's residential buildings are brick walls, tile roofs, and low-rise buildings. Whether it is on flat ground or on slopes, the foundation of the house must be built into a platform 30 to 60 centimeters higher than the ground. The base of the wall is made of fire bricks. People live on the ground floor, and upstairs are warehouses. The most prominent feature of the residential buildings is that they use an underground stove for heating and cooking. There is often a small water jar next to the underground stove, which is filled with water. The underground stove is used for heating. Hot water can be used for daily use. It has a history of more than 400 years.

Ground stoves are built on both sides of the main door in the hall or in the kitchen. First dig a pit in the ground, build the stove with bricks in the pit, and place a large water altar next to the stove. The mouth of the altar and the mouth of the ground stove are slightly higher than the ground to prevent sewage from flowing in. A coal pit was built in front of the stove and covered with a movable board. Except for the stove door where ash was dug out and the surroundings of the jar, all the stove were filled with soil, and the surface had to be covered with cement. The earth stove is not extinguished all day long, and there is always hot water in the water jar. In addition to cooking at any time, in winter, it is like earthen heating equipment, making the main room comfortable and warm. Especially in the humid and rainy seasons, the food and clothing in the house will not mold. On holidays, family members and relatives eat "hot pot" around the stove, which is very convenient. Because anthracite is produced in Mulao areas, the use of underground stoves is very common.

站图片位置Mulao nationality has its own characteristics of dress, but because of long-term mixed living with Han and Zhuang nationality, mutual influence, in some aspects has basically the same with the nearby Han and Zhuang nationality. Sixty or seventy years ago, Mulao costumes maintained the characteristics of ancient Liao people. For example, a woman's blouse is very short, reaching only the waist, and all the sleeves are embroidered with scaly patterns. Wear an unpleated tube skirt and hook-pointed shoes on your feet. Most men wear double-pricked clothes, and both men and women wear long handkerchiefs. Mulao clothes are generally dark blue. In the past, most of them were self-spinning, self-weaving, and self-sewing. They have been modified in modern times and are not much different from the clothes of the local Han and Zhuang people. Men wear double-pronged blouses and trousers, and the elderly wear pipa blouses; generally, there are not many people wearing straw sandals and barefoot feet. In the past, girls wore braids and tied them in a bun after getting married. Most of them had their hair cut. Accessories include silver earrings, bracelets, rings, etc.

Mulao people's staple food is rice, corn and potatoes. In the past, except for a few landlords and rich farmers, the majority of the Mulao people ate two thin grains and one dry grains every day, and even three meals were porridge. The Mulao people have always liked cold food. After the food is cooked, it is cooled before eating it. They cannot finish it all, and they do not need to heat it again after eating it. I usually drink raw water. The Mulao people are accustomed to "white boiling" meat cooking, that is, putting large pieces of pork or whole slaughtered chickens and ducks into water and boiling them in white, then cutting them into small pieces, adding salt or dipping them in salt water when eating. Fish are often fried in oil, and beef is often fried singly.

The Mulao people love hot and sour food, and every family marinates sour buckwheat, sour bean, sour taro, sour sword beans, sour garlic, etc. as accompaniment. The main types of vegetables include cabbage, water spinach, amaranth, beans, pumpkin, mustard and radish. The main meat is pork, chicken, duck and fish meat, and cat and snake meat are avoided. In the past, the names Luo and Yao did not eat dog meat. Legend has it that this was related to the dog rescue of Luo's ancestors who fell into a fire. The Yao family does not eat animal viscera. Legend has it that this is related to the Yao family's ancestors. Yao Qi sent troops in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because the pig's heart was not cooked well, the soldiers were not allowed to eat enough. They were not allowed to send troops that day. From then on, the Yao family did not eat animal viscera.

Early marriages arranged by parents were prevalent in the Mulao area in the past, and a small number of them married through "sloping" love. After marriage, there is the custom of "never leaving your husband's home". After getting married, the woman does not stay at her husband's house, but returns to her parents 'house to help with production and labor, and serves her elders. She only returns to her husband's house for a few days during busy farming and holidays, and stays in her husband's house for a long time after she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child. The Mulao ethnic group has long intermarried with the Zhuang and Han ethnic groups. Marriage etiquette is complex and expensive. Generally speaking, from engagement to completion of marriage, there are rituals such as selecting a son-in-law, engaging a matchmaker, appointing a marriage, making a decision, and marrying. The man should give the woman gifts such as pork, rice wine, silver dollar, earrings, bracelets, and clothing, which is equivalent to the value of 1500 to 2000 kilograms of rice. Rich families often take concubines, while poor farmers often cannot afford wives. In some families, the debts owed by their grandfathers when they got married have not yet been paid off by their grandchildren. The dowry provided by the woman's family to the man's family is also costly.

When an elderly person dies in Mulao families, they must report the death to their relatives. If a young daughter-in-law dies, she must be present and seen before she can be buried. Before the old deceased is buried, the dutiful son goes to the river to collect water to bathe the deceased. It is commonly known as buying water. That is, before taking water, he burns incense by the river to express his gratitude to the water god. After bathing, the deceased must be dressed in several layers of new clothes. Then the deceased was carried onto a straw mat on the ground, indicating that "death belongs to the earth." The descendants picked up some meat and rice and held them in the mouth of the deceased, pressed them against them with silver, and then carried them into the coffin and placed them on their feet, with their heads facing the narrow side of the coffin and their feet facing the wide side of the coffin, which means "stepping on lotus flowers". Generally,"Shigong" is invited to fast for the deceased. Generally, if you go to the dojo for one night, there are also people who go to the dojo for more than three nights, depending on the family's financial resources. The burial tomb must be determined by Mr. Feng Shui, which is the so-called "good city and auspicious place". The funeral must be held on an "auspicious day". The Mulao people are buried once more. If they encounter misfortune at home, they will be buried twice. The remains of the people will be picked up, washed, and placed in an altar for burial.

Mulao people spend a long time in filial piety. His parents passed away, and his filial son stayed in mourning for three years. There is a memorial tablet in the main room of the home, and tea and rice are served in the morning and evening to show filial piety. Three years later, spiritual tablets were burned on the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, called "Tuofilial piety". Special rituals must be held for people who die abnormally. In case of fierce death, a fire refining ceremony must be held. When the fire was lit, the mage raised a grass figure as a substitute for the deceased, chanted scriptures and walked past the fire, followed by his family members. It is believed that after performing this ritual, the soul of the deceased is tempered by fire and the evil spirits are expelled, so that they can "return to their ancestors" and be with their ancestors in the underworld. They will not become a dead soul and endanger their families. The families can avoid the misfortune of their own kind. If the wife dies first, the husband must hold a knife in his left hand and a pair of chopsticks in his right hand during the funeral, and cut off the chopsticks to mean that the "husband-wife relationship" will be cut off, so that the dead soul will not be entangled in the future. These burial customs reflect the same or similar beliefs and concepts of the Mulao people as many other ethnic groups, which are the result of cultural exchanges among various ethnic groups.