Bao 'an customs

The Baoan ethnic group in the Baoan ethnic community use Baoan language, which belongs to the Mongolian family of the Altaic family. Most people can both speak Chinese and speak Chinese. "Security guard" is the name of his own tribe. In the old days, it was called "Baoanhui" because of its belief in Islam and customs that were slightly similar to those of the local Hui people. The Baoan people mainly live in Jishishan Baoan Dongxiang Sala Autonomous County, and a few are scattered in the counties of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Xunhua County of Qinghai Province.

The Baoan people believe in Islam and belong to the Gadrinye sect, which is divided into Old Religion and Protestant Religion. As for when Islam was introduced to the Baoan area, there is no final conclusion. According to documentary records, there were Muslims among the Baoan people in the early Ming Dynasty. However, Islam was generally accepted in Baoan areas during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. There are several tribes under the Lao Religion, and most of the Baoan people believe in the Lao Religion (Hua Temple) of the Gadrinye sect, while a few Baoan people believe in Protestantism. Religion plays a major role and influence not only on their spiritual field, but also on their political, economic, cultural and daily life.

The Baoan people have their own language. Baoan language belongs to a branch of the Mongolian family of the Altaic family and is relatively close to Dongxiang and Tu languages. Many of their commonly used vocabulary are basically the same. Because the Baoan ethnic group has a long-term and close relationship with the Han and Hui people in history, Baoan language not only absorbs a large number of Chinese loanwords, but also is influenced by Chinese in terms of pronunciation and grammar. Most Baoan people can also speak Chinese and use Chinese as a tool for social communication.

Baoan language has 11 vowels, many compound vowels, and 26 consonants, of which 5 are unstable. In the grammar of Baoan language, nouns, pronouns, numerals, adjectives that are nominalized in sentences, as well as the case categories of verbs. The predicate is the main component of the sentence and can form a sentence alone. The word order is subject-object-predicate, attributes are often placed before the head, and quantifiers can also be placed after the head. There are many loanwords and few derivatives.

The Baoan people are mainly engaged in agriculture, and a few are engaged in animal husbandry and handicrafts. Crops mainly include wheat, barley, buckwheat, Hu wheat, potatoes, beans, etc. The handicraft industry mainly focuses on making knives. The traditional handicraft waist knives (also known as Baoan knives) have a history of more than 100 years and now more than 30 kinds can be produced. The security sword has beautiful style, superb craftsmanship, sharp and refined, and is famous for its beautiful appearance. The handles of the famous "Double Knife" and "Double Base Knife" are mostly made of brass or red copper, horns, and cow bones. They are engraved with various beautiful patterns and are known as the "Ten Beauties". Security women are also good at cutting paper. Household wooden utensils and utensils are engraved with very unique patterns and patterns. These patterns are all paper-cutting patterns of security women. The sword is a symbol of the spirit and bravery of this nation, the brick gate building is a symbol of this nation's love for life, and the flowers are the recitation and singing of this nation's love life.

The Bao 'an family used to be mostly large patriarchal families. Now, it has been completely replaced by small monogamy families. Parents are the absolute authority in the family, and parents arrange their children's marriages. Before liberation, the Baoan people did not intermarry with non-Islamic people, and intermarriage between different sects was rare. Habit early marriage. You must also obtain permission from the leader. However, this situation has now changed. From marriage to marriage, the man has to send at least two betrothal gifts, which are very heavy. The first time when talking about marriage, it was called "Dingcha"; the second time before the wedding, it was called "Ganli". The wedding was chosen on the "main day". After the bride passes through, she does not eat her husband's food for three days, but is delivered by her mother's family.

The Baoan wedding is very interesting. The wedding was held on the main day (Friday). On the wedding day, the man will lead a wedding party with dozens of relatives and friends to marry the bride, including two young and beautiful women. When the blessing ceremony is held at the woman's house, the imam will throw a plate of red dates and walnuts into the courtyard from the window. Young people in the courtyard will compete for it to express the meaning of good luck, early birth of a child, and harmony between husband and wife. Then the young people in the bride's village asked the groom for "slave worker muha", which is lamb meat, to explain to the groom that you will pay a certain price for marrying the girl from our village. When the woman's escort team sends the bride away from home, ask the bride to step back from her door to the door, take a step back, and sprinkle a handful of five-color grains made of wheat, beans, corn, Fu tea, etc. to show that she will leave happiness to parents. On the wedding night, the whole village gathered in the courtyard to sing the "Banquet Song". It was very lively with questions and answers. While singing, the happy people danced emotionally and retreated towards the door while dancing, indicating that the wedding was coming to an end. After the bride entered the house, she would not eat her in-laws 'meals for the 3rd day and would be sent by her mother's family to show that she would not forget her parents' gratitude for raising her.

There are special features in the costumes of security guards. Men of the Baoan ethnic group usually like to wear white or black "number hats", with white shirts inside and blue cloth vests outside; during festive festivals, they wear top hats, black lapel robes, colorful belts, and waist knives., feet climbing high and oxen leather boots, appear majestic, elegant, beautiful and full of national characteristics. This robe is very similar to the "Tibetan robe", but slightly shorter than the "Tibetan robe" and is decorated with "edges" of different widths and colors. The length of the belt is generally three circles around the waist and one foot of sweat is exposed. It is about 12 feet to 15 feet long. Wear a lapel leather coat in winter, which is often brown. Women usually wear purple-red or dark green ploppers,"waistcoats", blue or black earthen trousers, and some wear knee-high robes, with different "edging" on the sleeves and hem of the trousers; During festive festivals, Baoan women like to wear brightly colored clothes on the upper body and mostly wear water-red trousers on the lower body. Women also like to wear hijab. Generally, after marriage, women like to wear round white hats and black "hijab". Girls wear green hijab, and elderly women wear white hijab. The Baoan people lived next to the Mongolian people in the early days, and their costumes were basically the same as the Mongolian people. Men and women mostly wear long leather robes and various leather hats in winter. In summer and autumn, they wear padded jackets and trumpet-shaped high cylinder hats made of white wool felt. Both men and women wear colorful silk belts with small decorations.

The diet of the Baoan people is mainly wheat, highland barley and corn, which are generally made into steamed buns, noodles, oily incense, dumplings, etc.; they only eat sheep and beef for meat, and avoid eating blood, meat and blood from non-ruminant animals such as pigs, horses, and donkeys, as well as ferocious birds and beasts. The daily diet of the Baoan people includes wheat, barley, beans, corn, potatoes, buckwheat, wheat, highland barley, beef and mutton milk, eggs and fish; they only eat sesame, leeks and other foods. I love sour and spicy food, and always stay away from vinegar (or pulp water) and oil-poured chili seeds at every meal. The staple food of security guards is focused on flour products. They often eat steamed buns, rolls, pancakes, steamed buns, soup noodles, noodles with minced noodles, dumplings, cold noodles, steamed noodles, fried meat noodles, kneaded gluten, and stirred dough.

Baoan people also have some unique eating customs when hosting guests. Guests coming from far away will be warmly welcomed. When guests arrive home, they must first let them sit on the seat (that is, sit on the left side of the kang), then take tea and serve food. Before eating, according to Bao 'an rules, an elderly man or household owner must recite an Koran, which means to thank God for giving us food. After that, you can only do it. If it is a staple food such as buns or cakes, the owner must break it first before the guests can eat it. Otherwise, they are considered to be ignorant of the rules. Generally, there are three courses for a meal. The first course is a cake or steamed bun, the second course is hand-grabbed mutton or chicken, and the last course is the refined thin noodles for the meal. If it is a distinguished guest, the host will also use a chicken tip to entertain him to show respect. If the visitor is a man, young and middle-aged women are not allowed to show their faces casually in front of the male guest. They must always be busy in the kitchen making meals or resting for the guest, and can only come out after the guest has left.

In the long-term development, the Baoan people have created rich and colorful culture and art. Most of the folk stories, poems, proverbs, etc. circulated among the people describe national historical legends and the simple love of young men and women. The Baoan people can sing and dance well. The vast majority of people can sing the folk song "Security Flowers". This kind of folk song is unique. It is divided into tunes such as "Security Order","Foot Order", and "Six Three". It is improvised and sung, which is beautiful and beautiful. It is a unique folk song form of the Baoan people, and most people can sing it casually. Famous songs include "Congratulations Song","It's Difficult to Give Up My Brother","Green and Smooth", etc., which are deeply loved. The dance absorbs some characteristics of Tibetan dance, and the movements are rhythmic, cheerful and unrestrained. Men like to play silk and bamboo music. Plastic arts are rich. Women are good at paper-cutting. Household wooden utensils, utensils and security knives are engraved with very unique patterns or painted with colorful pictures. The dance rhythm of the Baoan ethnic group is lively, rapid and bold, and the dance is light and vigorous. It not only has the ancient tradition of Mongolian dance, but also cleverly absorbs and integrates the dance forms of Han, Tibetan, Hui, Sala, and Tu to form its own unique style. Traditional dances mainly include "Kyikahad","Security Guard Waist Knife", etc., which express the optimism and boldness of the security guards.

Baoan people are buried in situ and quickly buried.

In earthen burial, the tombs are all facing north and south, three feet wide, six feet long, and seven feet deep. A side hole called "La Haike" is dug in the two walls at the bottom of the tomb to house the bodies, also known as wheat body). The entrance of the cave is two feet high, three feet deep, and six feet and five inches long. An earth pillow was made on the north wall of the bottom of the tomb. The body faced west, with its head facing northwest, and its feet facing southeast to show the eternal direction towards the Kaaba of Mecca.

Rapid burial is to make the deceased "buried in peace" as soon as possible. The general habit is to bury them the day after death, and no later than three days. If the relatives of the deceased are all in the village or local area, they are often buried in the morning and in the afternoon. In order to implement quick burials, Islam also stipulates that people should be buried wherever they are, and that bodies should never be transported back from distant lands to their hometowns for burial.

The funeral of the Baoan ethnic group was held in accordance with Islamic rules. When you go to the mosque for the funeral ceremony, ask the imam to stand in "Zenazi", with the imam to stand at the front, Manla in the middle, and everyone standing behind. Bian Iong led the people to recite prayers piously, worshiping and praying on behalf of the dead, so that the dead could be freed from dust and return to the Lord. After the ceremony, relatives, friends and neighbors carried the body to the cemetery for burial. People in the village and neighbors all took the initiative to attend the funeral, or took turns to carry the dead to the cemetery, believing that this was a good act.

During funeral, the families of the deceased do not wear filial piety clothes and do not use any objects for burial. When they arrived at the cemetery, they first carried the deceased to the west side of the tomb. Four people held up the sheet covering the deceased from the four corners to cover the sun, and then carried the body down to the tomb. After the body was lowered into the tomb, he untied the tie at both ends of the big bared body and slowly moved it into the "Lahai Wall" side hole on the west side of the tomb), with the head north and feet facing west in a sideways sleeping posture. After that, the door of the "Seawall" was blocked with adobe, and the imam began to read relevant chapters of the Koran. The funeral procession knelt and listened. After reading, everyone "received Duwa" together to show their prayers for the dead.