The customs and habits of the Tatar people

The Tatar people have a long history. Their name was first found in the Turkic inscription on the "Quexian Monument". It was called "Dadan" in the Tang Dynasty documents. The "Dada","Tartar" and "Data" appearing in later documents are all different transliterations of "Tatar." In the middle of the 15th century, Tartars established the Kazan Khanate, living along the Volga River and Kama River. Since the early 20th century, some people of this ethnic group moved to Xinjiang, becoming one of the ethnic minorities in China.

The Tatar people are mainly distributed in Yining, Tacheng and Urumqi in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, and a few are scattered in Burqin, Qitai and major cities in southern Xinjiang. Daquan Tatar Township, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Daquan Tatar Township, Qitai County, is the only ethnic township in the country with the Tatar people as the main body.

The physical signs of the Tatar people are similar to those of Uyghurs and have European-ethnic characteristics. The Tatar people have their own language and belong to the West-Hungarian branch of the Turkic language family of the Altaic family. There are scripts based on the Arabic alphabet. Due to long-term coexistence with the Uyghurs and Kazakhs, the languages and writing of these two ethnic groups have gradually become the daily language and common writing of the Tatar people.

The Tatar people believe in Islam. Like all Islamic believers, every Tatar Muslim must conduct religious activities in accordance with regulations. The most important ones are: perform "Naimazi"(a prayer activity in Islam) five times a day; go to the mosque for a prayer every Friday; and "fast" for a month every year. During the "fast" period, no food or drink can be eaten after the sun rises and before it goes down. In addition, there are many other cumbersome rules and taboos in daily life. For every Muslim, the "Koran","Mazha"(cemetery) and mosque are sacred and inviolable "sacred objects" and "holy places", and the "Hajj" is the most glorious thing every Muslim considers. Another obligation that Islam requires believers to fulfill is religious taxation. In addition to enduring all kinds of economic exploitation, the Tatar people also endured oppression by the religious courts. All betrothal, marriage, inheritance, purchase and sales contracts, pawn documents, etc. must have the testimony and seal of a religious profession before they can have legal effect. However, after liberation, all legal religious activities were guaranteed by the laws and policies of the people's government. Many cumbersome religious rituals that hindered people's physical and mental health and production development were also simplified by the people according to their own will. Historically, Tatar ethnic multi-inhabited towns engaged in commerce. Many people have been engaged in education for a long time. For more than 100 years, the Tatar people have made contributions to the development and construction of Xinjiang. Today, in the tide of the market economy, the Tatar people with business traditions and endowments are playing their due role.

The costumes of the Tatar people are very unique. Men like to wear black curly leather hats in winter, embroidered hats in summer, white shirts, black waist-length vests or black long robes, and trousers are generally black. Women wear small flower hats inlaid with beads and a large gauze scarf on the outside; they like to wear yellow, white, purple-red dresses. Earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces, and pins on the neckline are their usual decorations. A typical male urban resident wears a white shirt with wide sleeves and straight collars and open chests, plus a black waist-length short vest, or a black gown with a belt around the waist. Pants are also generally black, with wide crotch and tight legs. Wearing leather shoes or long leather boots. Female urban residents like to wear large, wide jumpsuits and long skirts with ruffled edges. The colors are mostly white, yellow, or sauce, and the cuffs of the tops are very small. Wear leather shoes or flowered leather boots on your feet. I like to wear small flower hats inlaid with pearls, and some even add a big turban. The usual ornaments throw earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces, brooches on the neckline, etc. Rural female residents generally like to wear headscarves, and few wear small hats. She also wears a long dress, but she often has to add a scarf to her chest. Tatar women are good at embroidery. The clothes of the Tatar people are clean, tidy and gorgeous, expressing a utilitarian beauty.

In terms of house layout and interior furnishings, Tatar people generally live in flat-roofed houses and have separate houses. Various fruit trees, flowers and plants are planted in the courtyard, and the environment is peaceful and beautiful, like a small garden. The walls of the house are thick to allow for the installation of a fire wall or a tin fireplace for winter heating. In addition to the housing, there are guest rooms, kitchens and storage rooms. Parents live separately from their children. The housing is relatively spacious, bright and has a living room. The walls are painted in simple and elegant colors, with tapestries hanging, and carpeting on the floor. The interior is decorated with a variety of European furniture, which looks quaint and luxurious. The Tatar people in the pastoral area adapt to nomadic life and live in tents.

The Tatar people love cleaning most. Their houses are always cleaned and tidy. The surroundings are also planted with various trees. The environment is elegant, especially the canteen and kitchen, which are often kept spotless.

Tatar people are accustomed to eating three meals per day, with lunch for dinner and refreshments in the morning and evening. Their daily diet is inseparable from noodles, meat and milk. They also eat some rice, but all are made into special food. Tatar women are known for their superb cooking skills and are good at making various cakes, such as "Gubaidie" baked with flour, rice and cheese, eggs, cream, raisins, and dried apricots. The outside is crispy and the inner layer is soft. The flavor is famous in Xinjiang; there are also snacks that mix meat and rice and bake them into "Itebaisi". They are also good at making exquisite and delicious naan using eggs, cream, sugar, fresh milk, cocoa powder, soda and flour. In addition to meat, catrit (made from beef, potatoes, rice, eggs, salt, and pepper, similar to pilaf), naan and mixed noodles, there are also palamasi (pie), dumplings, pancakes (with potatoes), etc. Tatar people like flavor drinks: similar to beer,"Ker Xima" is made of honey fermentation, there are wild grapes, sugar and starch made of "Ksel" and so on. Tatar scones and pastries have long enjoyed a high reputation in Xinjiang.

Tatars attach great importance to etiquette, meet to shake hands hello, women shake hands more. The elderly are very respectful, walking, talking, eating are given to the elderly first. The Tatar people are hospitable and always entertain and help guests who come from afar. Among the Tatar people, it is a major event for a woman to give birth to a child, and relatives and friends come to congratulate and give gifts. The weddings of the Tatar people are unique. What is different is that the weddings of the Tatar people are not held at the man's home like other ethnic groups, but at the woman's home.

When the Tatar people eat, each person places a small towel in front of them to wipe their mouths and hands and prevent food from splashing on their clothes. The whole family sits in a circle with a table cloth placed on the middle table. They are accustomed to using spoons, knives and forks when eating. Tea and rice must be served first to the elderly, and then delivered according to age. After the meal, you must make a "Bata"(prayer) before the meal is over.

The marriage customs of the Tatar people are unique, that is,"marry" the groom first and then "marry" him back. The marriage process is: After the matchmaker comes to the house repeatedly and asks for marriage, if the woman's parents promise, the man will then pay a betrothal gift to the woman, called "Kuraksuyunche", which means giving the bride a complete set of clothes from head to toe. After a betrothal gift is given, an engagement is considered.

According to the traditional customs of the Tatar people, the wedding is held at the bride's home, that is, the groom is "married" first. A few days before the wedding, the man must deliver to the bride all the clothes, cookware, furnishings and items to be eaten at the wedding, as well as his own "dowry", including gifts to the bride's parents (called "keith"). On the wedding night, the groom officially "married".

The "marriage" ceremony is also quite interesting. On this day, the groom, accompanied by his best man and relatives and friends, got into the carriage. The young people played the accordion and sang the Tatar pop song "Jier" with great enthusiasm. Along the way, singing, piano music, whistling, and shouts filled the sky., he went to the woman's house to get married. As the sun sets, the groom and his best men arrive at the bride's house. At this time, we had to walk around the courtyard first and then arrive at the door. At this moment, the doors of the women's house are closed, and the groom has to present gifts before entering. In the future, when the groom enters the door, goes to the bedside, and eats meals, he will give wedding money.

The wedding ceremony is carried out in accordance with Islamic rules. First, the imam chants scriptures and asks the newlyweds if they are willing. After both the man and woman answer "yes", the imam will give a cup of sugar water (or honey water) to the groom and bride to drink together, symbolizing sweetness and sweetness to grow old, and entering the bridal chamber after the ceremony. The next morning, the groom would visit his parents-in-law, go home to hold a banquet, and hold various cultural activities, and return to his parents-in-law's house in the evening. After marriage, the groom and bride both have to spend a period of time in the woman's home, some for three months, some for half a year, and some even have a child before returning to the man's home.

The Tatar treat their son-in-law as enthusiastically as they treat their own children. While living in the woman's home, the father-in-law and mother-in-law should take out good food to entertain the son-in-law, so that the son-in-law feels as warm as living in his own home.

When the newlyweds return to their men's home, the bride's dowry must be taken away in full. When they arrive at the man's house, the man's relatives and friends must use ropes to block the bride's way, and the bride must offer candies and other things before she can be released. When the bride returns to her husband's house, the husband's relatives and friends sprinkle candy on the bride and hold a banquet to entertain her heart to welcome her.

The Tatar people love drama, music, song and dance, and their cultural life is rich and colorful. Their music and dance have a unique national style, with clear rhythm and lively and pleasant. Older musical instruments include the two-hole "Cunne"(flut-blown wooden flute) and the "Corbis"(harmonica) made of copper; accordion, mandolin, lyre and violin are also commonly used. Its dances have a wide mass character, and they like to hold dances during festive festivals. According to traditional customs, the male role in the dance should be played by women. The dance movements are lively, dexterous and unrestrained.

The main festivals of the Tatar people are the Rouzi Festival and the Ghorbang Festival. In addition, the "Saban" Festival (also known as the plowshare joint or the plowshare joint) is a traditional festival unique to the Tatar people: the Tatar people are agricultural people, and "Saban", in Kirgiz, means "celebrating spring plowing". Celebration activities are held every year after the end of spring plowing, which not only celebrates the end of spring plowing, but also hopes for a fruitful autumn. This kind of celebration is called "Umaik" in Tatar, which means "group meeting." All villagers participated in the celebration. The celebration was held at the head of the field or in the wild and was hosted by prestigious elders. The main activities included wrestling, pole climbing, singing, dancing, running, tug-of-war, horse racing, etc. Winners will receive handkerchiefs, scarves, embroidered shirts and other prizes woven by the women.

Duet is the main content of the festival. Adults sing of hope for a bumper harvest; young people sing of friendship and love; teenagers sing around the crowd: "Rain, rain, come down quickly, let us not be hungry, and never see the lion-like plague." When the masses sang to each other, they also sang a song that taught the lazy man: "Don't wander and go home quickly. Turn the wine bottle into a horse, turn the wine bottle into a ploughshare, and plant crops honestly."

The Tatar people have the most taboo about pigs and do not eat pork. Fake the meat of donkeys, dogs, mules, self-dead livestock, fierce birds and fierce beasts, and the blood of all animals (including sheep blood). It is forbidden to bring pork into halal canteens, to wash clothes near canals, ponds, wells, and waterlogging dams, and to bathe or swim in waterlogging dams. When staying together, avoid urinating indoors. When talking with others and eating, the most taboo is blowing your nose, spitting, yawning and farting. Avoid making jokes and touching women. In places where there are people, avoid wearing bare upper bodies, let alone wearing vests and underpants to Tatar people's homes. It is not allowed to urinate, spit or pour dirty water near houses, water sources, mosques, or cemeteries.