Yi People's Coming of Age Ceremony: Mysterious Skirt Changing Ceremony
Every country has adult ceremonies, with different customs! In my country, the Yi ethnic minority in Liangshan Mountains, their coming of age ceremony is called "dress change", and the Yi language is called "Sharaluo", which means that young girls will take off their childhood dresses and change into adult dresses. When the girl was in Salaro, she wore red and white skirts, tied in a single braid, and her ears were pierced with ear threads. After the "skirt changing" ceremony, you must wear a three-piece mop long dress interrupted to black and blue, change one braid to double braid, wear an embroidered headband, and hang earrings, which means you have become an adult.
After the "skirt changing" ceremony, the girl can freely go shopping, rush to the venue, watch horse racing, play with friends, and fall in love. The time for "changing skirts" is determined according to the development status of the girl. It is generally selected between the ages of 15 and 17, and it is usually selected for a single year. Because in the eyes of the local Yi people,"changing skirts" at the age of two will be disastrous and will not be auspicious for life. As for the specific date of the "dress change", the elderly must be asked to carefully choose and calculate it before finally setting an auspicious day.
Since "changing skirts" is a symbol for a woman from childhood to adulthood, parents attach great importance to this. Especially the mother. She is a considerate person to her daughter and knows her daughter's physiological condition best. Before changing the skirt, she enthusiastically prepared lace black hapa, a new skirt, as well as beads of different colors and silver medals on the collar and other clothing items for her daughter.
On the day of "changing skirts", the host family was as festive as a festival. Rich households would kill pigs and sheep and entertain guests in a grand banquet; poor households would at least kill chickens and brew wine to entertain their neighbors. Early in the morning, male and female guests came to the door one after another to present gifts and congratulate them. According to local customs and regulations, no man is allowed to be present when the "skirt changing" ceremony is held, and only female girlfriends are invited to participate. The "skirt changing" ceremony has its own merits depending on the region.
In some places, an adult woman is invited to sit under a fruit tree and whip a piglet. After the pig dies, the dead pig will turn several times on the head of the girl who has changed her skirt several times in a row to dispel evil. Then hang earrings for the girl, comb them into pairs, and change them into a new dress. In some places, we first assume that an object, such as a tree or a mill, is the husband's side, and then dress up the girl as a colorful "fake bride", carry it by an adult woman, and walk around the imaginary object three times to count as marriage.
During the ceremony, in some places, women only said romantic words and wishes to make the girl laugh, while in some places it was carried out with singing and laughter. First, the girl in the lead used her singing to tease and interrogate the girl who was "changing her dress" and asked her who she liked? Are they people who like to eat and eat lazy food, or are they hard-working and brave people? Do you like honest and honest people or people who like speculation and cunning? Faced with interrogation and teasing, the "dress changing" girl generally replied without saying anything. She just sat down shyly with her head lowered, accepting all interrogation in a orderly manner.
All the interrogation content was handled by a girl sitting next to the girl and answered one by one. In the end, the girl in charge always sang such a song: If you want to wear a silver medal, you must tie it with your own hands, if you want to wear a bead chain and string it with your relatives and friends, if you want to find a confidant, you must choose it yourself. After singing and making a fuss, a beautiful, capable, and loving woman was asked to comb the hair and take the hapa for the "dress changer" person: the single braid that was originally combed behind the head was tied to the front, separated in the middle, and placed it in pairs behind the ears, and then put on the hapa. Wet the bangs in front of your forehead with a little water and polish them to make them neat and shiny to show the girl's first love and beauty and dignity.
Wear gorgeous ear beads, which shine with pearls and give you a shy, charming and moving look. Finally, I put on a three-row mop dress with strong contrasting blue and black, and walked with light and graceful steps, full of the beauty of youth and the vitality of life. This is the most beautiful moment, and the women or girls present are immersed in beautiful memories or happy yearning, thus bringing "Saralo" to its climax.
Men can only participate in the banquet after the "Saralot" ceremony. Everyone sat on the ground, happily eating Tuotuo meat, buckwheat buns, fried noodles, etc., and drank happily before they stopped drunk.
"Changing skirts" means that the girl is an adult and can find a lover and fall in love without restriction. If sexual relations occur, as long as they do not violate the restrictions of rank and blood relatives, they will generally not be subject to sanctions under customary law. If the woman is pregnant, the man can apologize or get married. On the contrary, if a young girl is strictly protected before changing skirts, and is not allowed to flirt, commit adultery, or live together illegally, if such an incident occurs, she will be severely punished under customary law.