Uzbek customs

Uzbeks, also known as Uzbeks, are one of the ethnic minorities in China and the main ethnic group in Uzbekistan (those living in China are called Uzbeks, and those living outside China are called Uzbeks). The Uzbek people are a nation with a long history and have made outstanding achievements in military, economy, culture, politics, history, art and other fields.

The Uzbek people are an ancient nation. Their ancestors were Sogdians, Huarazim, Masaigat, etc., and later developed into Uzbek people. There are several theories among them. One theory holds that Sultan Mohammed Uzbek Khan, the ruler of the Golden Horde Khanate in the 14th century, said in the Yuan History that the moon is the same and the moon is the same. At that time, Uzbek Khan's country was very powerful. Uzbek Khan managed his khanate very strictly and his army was very famous. Therefore, the surrounding people called his country the Uzbek Khanate and called his citizens Uzbeks.

The Uzbek people belong to the Europa race and have mixed Mongolian ethnic characteristics. The modern Uzbek people mainly live in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan and other countries and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The Uzbek people in my country mainly live in Yining, Tacheng and Urumqi in the northern Xinjiang, Kashgar, Shache and Yecheng in the southern Xinjiang, and the Uzbek townships of Qitai, Jimsar and Mulei counties. In 1934, Sheng Shicai held the Second People's Congress of Xinjiang, which determined that Uzbek nationality was the official transliteration of Chinese, while Uzbek nationality living abroad was still written as Uzbek nationality.

Uzbek is a Turkic language of the Altai family of languages. Uzbek currently has three alphabets: Words written in Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic. Uzbeks in Uzbekistan use the Latin alphabet (used to use the Cyrillic alphabet), Uzbeks in Afghanistan use the Arabic alphabet, and Uzbeks in China also use the Arabic alphabet. However, after 1990, the same Latin alphabet as Uzbekistan was gradually popularized, and more and more Uzbeks in Xinjiang use the Uzbek script with the Latin alphabet. Since the Uzbek people are very scattered in China, Uyghur and Kazakh are generally used in daily life depending on the environment they live in.

Uzbek people believe in Islam and are Sunni. Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, more and more Uzbeks settled in Xinjiang. Uzbek people living in Kashgar, Yarkant, Aksu, Ili, Qitai and other places spontaneously donated money, materials, and worked out to build some large-scale and magnificent mosques as centers for their religious activities.

The Uzbek people strictly abide by the basic beliefs of Islam, respect the Koran and the Hadith, and perform required courses. Islam has had a profound impact on the Uzbek people in all aspects of the earth.

Before eating, the elderly of Uzbek nationality usually touch their faces with their hands to make duwa, which is an ancient religious blessing ceremony. Among the ethnic groups that believe in Islam in China, Uzbek nationality is one of the best ethnic groups to maintain this tradition.

Uzbek people pay attention to etiquette, respect elders, and let elders speak and walk first. When riding out, if two people walk together, the elder is in front, the younger is behind, and the male is in front and the female is behind. When men meet, place their hands on their chests and bow before shaking hands; when women meet, place their hands on their chests and bow before hugging.

During meals, the elderly occupy the upper seat and the young occupy the lower seat. Families with large families also have separate tables for meals. Under normal circumstances, children and women have to set up another table. In the past, many foods were eaten by hand, so you had to wash your hands before and after meals. Except for pastoral areas who still use hand food, most Uzbeks use chopsticks and spoons. It is strictly forbidden to take off your hat while eating, and you are not allowed to cough in front of guests.

The Uzbek people are hospitable and warmly welcome guests from afar. They often entertain guests with pilaf, and guests must eat at least a little, otherwise it will be considered disrespectful to the host. Elderly people often touch their faces with both hands when eating to make "duwa"(a religious ceremony of blessing).

Uzbek weddings are customary to be held at the woman's home. First, the parents of both parties negotiated to ask for a break, which meant that if the man filed for divorce in the future, he would have to pay the woman.

In the traditional customs of the Uzbek people, young men and women must follow the principle of growing up first and then young. That is: 1. If the brother is unmarried, the younger brother cannot marry;2. If the older sister is not married, the younger sister cannot marry first;3. The younger brother cannot marry, and the younger sister cannot marry.

When Uzbek women give birth, their husbands are not allowed to enter the delivery room. Pregnant women are not allowed to go out for seven days. After the child was born, he reported good news to relatives and friends, who prepared gifts and congratulations. The day after giving birth, a naming ceremony was held.

Uzbek men and women like to wear small flower hats. There are many forms of small flower hats, some with edges and some without edges and corners. The top and four sides of the hat are embroidered with geometric shapes and flower-based patterns. Some elderly people wear flower hats with few patterns, while some have no patterns. The flower hats are made of purple, dark green, black, and date red gold velvet and corduroy.

Uzbek women wear do`ppi hats with long colorful turbans and wear patterned riding boots, which look unique. In spring and summer, they wear large and pleated flower dresses, paired with necklaces, bracelets, rings and other decorations, which adds a lot of beauty to them. Women wear silk shirts, dresses, etc. in summer. Elderly women have many and wide pleats and monotonous colors. Young women have gorgeous colors. Various patterns and patterns are embroidered on their chests, and decorated with colorful beads and sequins. I like to wear fox skin and fur coats in winter.

Uzbek women wear a variety of jewelry styles and exquisite materials. Hairpins, rings, and flowers made of gold, silver, beads, jade, velvet, and silk are worn neatly on the head. Coupled with exquisite earrings, golden necklaces, and rings, it is really a pearl and green shadow. It has the style of a fashion model.

There are also many styles of men's clothing. They like to wear a long gown. The long gown has no buttons or pockets, a triangular embroidered belt around the waist, and riding boots and rubber overshoes, making them look elegant and energetic. In summer, men like to wear white shirts: this shirt has geometric patterns embroidered on the neckline, hem and cuffs.

Uzbek men like to wear silk pullover short-sleeved shirts in summer. The neckline, cuffs and front opening of the shirt are embroidered with red, green and blue velvet into various pattern lace. A long silk loop worn above the knee in spring and autumn, and a triangular embroidered belt made of satin or cotton is tied around the waist. Wear sweaters, woolen pants, sheepskin jackets, etc. in winter. Men and women must wear "Duopi" hats all year round.

Among the Uzbek buildings, many have Central Asian architectural art and architectural styles. Its houses are generally flat-topped long houses with civil structures. This house is unique in shape and unique in style.

The "Andijan Wall" is called a "funny mud wall" by Uzbeks. It is a kind of building that connects and fixes adobe into a whole with fences. It is suitable for construction in areas with unstable foundations such as deserts or swamps. There is a kind of Uzbek houses called "Awa", which still leaves traces of their ancient traditional architectural art. The top floor of "Ava" is circular. Some roofs are covered with iron sheets to prevent rain leakage, glass windows are opened, wooden doors are arched, and some have arcades.

Uzbek people in southern Xinjiang generally live in rectangular earthen houses with flat tops and slightly tilted roofs. The walls of the houses are very thick and warm in winter and cool in summer. A courtyard was enclosed with earth walls outside the house. In the past, an earth wall was usually built in the courtyard about 1 meter away from the courtyard door. Grape sheds are generally set up in front of the house to shade the sun, with grape vine branches densely covering it, and under the shed it becomes a cool summer activity place. Flowers and other fruit trees are usually planted in the courtyard and are cleaned very cleanly.

There are many niches dug on the indoor walls, and the niches are inlaid with carved plaster. The shapes are diverse and have a unique interest. Various utensils and decorations are placed in the niche, which is both practical and beautiful. In the past, fireplaces were often used for heating in winter. In the early 21st century, families using fireplaces were rare. Unlike other ethnic groups, the Uzbek people can put a mattress on the fire pond and put your feet into the mattress to warm up. There are also some families who dig a small pit indoors, place a stove in the pit, and the chimney leads directly to the outside. Place wooden boards across the pit and lay blankets on it for sitting and lying.

Uzbek people living in the pastoral areas of northern Xinjiang generally live in yurts. A yurt is generally about three meters high and covers an area of twenty to thirty square meters. The lower part is a cylinder and the upper part is a circular arc. Red willow trees are staggered and connected to form a wooden fence to make the felt house wall. A grass curtain woven by Achnatherum is placed on the periphery of the felt house wall, and then a white felt is placed around it. The top of the arc-shaped shape is framed with braces, and the outside is covered with white felt. A skylight is left at the top and covered with a movable felt that can be opened and closed at any time. This kind of yurt is basically the same as the yurt of Kazakh herdsmen. It can be demolished at any time, making it suitable for herdsmen to migrate all year round. In winter, Uzbek herders generally live in fixed earthen huts or wooden houses.

Uzbeks have three meals per day, and the staple food is mainly rice. Naan is the most common pasta food. There are several kinds of folk roasted naan: Samarqand patir, Oq non, Kulcha, Piyoz non, Jizza non, etc.

Palov ranks first in the Uzbek diet. No matter any occasion, weddings, festivals, funerals, and receptions of guests, pilaf must be included for dinner. There are many varieties of Uzbek pilaf, mainly including: Tashkent pilaf (called black pilaf by some people because of the dark color of rice), Andijan pilaf (generally translated as minced pilaf in Xinjiang), Samarkand pilaf, Bukhara pilaf, Huali pilaf, Jizak pilaf, Nawai pilaf, wedding pilaf, teahouse pilaf, etc., and each type of pilaf has a different production method and a unique taste.

Uzbeks like tea, including black tea and green tea. Milk tea is an indispensable beverage in Uzbek daily life. Generally speaking, a copper pot or aluminum pot is used to make milk tea. Boil the tea first, then add milk to boil, stir well, and wait until the tea milk is completely blended, add appropriate amount of salt. When drinking, put the milk tea into a bowl, add a little butter or mutton oil and pepper. Among the Uzbek people's three meals a day, breakfast is relatively simple, with small pieces of naan made to brew milk tea.

Typical traditional flavors of Uzbek people mainly include: Norin, Do`lma, Mastaba, Masihorda (Mosh xo`rda), Dimlama, Nishara (Nisholda), Hasip, Xalim, Sumalak, Somsa, Glemende (G`ilmindi), broth Sho`rva), crock soup (K`o`za sho`rva), quail soup (Bedana sho`rva), Chaos (Chuchuvara), steamed buns (Manti), Yupqa, green steamed buns (Ko`k somsa), Jiz, Jaz, Kabob, Besh barmoq, Tandir kabob, Qazon kabob, Tuxum barak, Colorful steamed buns (Rangli manti), horse intestines (Qazi), etc.

Uzbek people are also a nation that loves singing and dancing. Their traditional music is rich in content, including folk song and dance music, rap music, classical music, etc.; traditional musical instruments include plucked instruments such as "Dutar","Xiegenai","Rewapu", and "Danpur", as well as percussion instruments such as tambourine and Sapai. They play and sing during performances and express their emotions very freely.

The Uzbek people are good at singing and dancing. Traditional music has beautiful tunes, lively beats, and melodious rhythm. There are many forms such as solo singing, chorus singing, and duet singing. Folk rap is also very rich and has a strong atmosphere of life."Girl with Black Eyebrows"(This song is also called: "Raise Your Hijab"),"Elpamish","Guruhela Sultan", etc. are the most popular. There is always a song, and there is a dance. The Uzbek dance is beautiful, lively and varied. The dance posture is stretched, showing the rich Western customs of "Ayi River","Upar","Tanawal","Harazin" and other folk dances are the most popular.

The main festivals of the Uzbek people include "Holy Order Day","Rouzi Day","Goulbang Day", etc. Traditional festivals are basically the same as other local festivals of Islamic ethnic groups, with Roz Festival and Gharbang Festival as the most solemn festivals of the year.

During Ramadan before the "Rouzi Festival", adults must fast. When eating vegetarian meals, relatives and neighbors must invite each other. If any guests arrive, the host must entertain them warmly. During the Gurbang Festival, cattle and sheep are slaughtered with fried oil cakes, and hand-grabbed meat and pilaf as well as the unique folk flavor food "Naren".

Nawruz Festival is the Uzbek Spring Festival. It is the most solemn festival. It is held on March 21 of the Gregorian calendar. At this time, the "Sumailek" ceremony will also be held. At that time, the village will serve as a unit, and everyone will bring their own raw food. Gather together, cook it in a large pot and have a meal together. During this process, people gathered together to conduct song and dance entertainment activities, wishing the weather smooth and the people and livestock prosperous.