The customs and habits of the Dulong people
Whether drinking, eating or eating meat, the Dulong family is divided among the housewives. A share will be distributed equally when guests arrive.
After night, the man drank wine by the fire pond and read a congratulatory message, then threw the wine bowl on the bamboo rack on the fire pond, taking the mouth of the bowl facing towards the sky as an auspicious sign.
The Dulong people are very hospitable. If they encounter hunting wild animals or killing pigs and cattle in a certain family, they form a banquet where distant relatives and close neighbors gather together to have a meal. In addition, the Dulong people also have the custom of entertaining passers-by who have never met before. They warmly entertain guests passing by and staying at home. It is a shameful thing not to give guests food and not to keep guests staying at night. They have a good tradition of not picking up relics on the road or closing their doors at night, and regard theft as the most shameful act. When the Dulong people carried out some primitive sacrificial activities, tourists were not allowed to visit the sacrificial activities.
Woodcut "invitation card"
In the winter or twelfth lunar month every year, the Dulong people celebrate the only traditional festival. It is called "Kaquewa" in the Dulong people's language, which is the annual festival of the Dulong people. The length of the festival mainly depends on the preparation of food, and is usually two or three days or four to five days. There is no unified fixed date for festivals. Various ethnic groups are free to choose good auspicious days to celebrate the New Year. The Dulong people live in the Dulong River Basin between the Gaoligong Mountains and the Danlika Snow Mountains. They are one of the less populous ethnic groups in China. After choosing an auspicious day for the New Year, each family invited relatives and friends to celebrate the New Year. They carved gaps in the specially made wooden strips. This was the "invitation card" and sent people to the invited village. Several gaps are carved on the wooden strip, indicating that a ceremony will be held in a few days to celebrate the New Year. People who receive woodcut "invitations" must bring all kinds of food and go to pay their respects and congratulate them. When the host and guest meet, they must drink a can of wine together and sing to each other. In the evening, all the people in the village gathered together with the guests around the bonfire, tasting the food and watching young men and women dance the "Guozhuang Dance" to celebrate the annual harvest. The man drank while congratulating him. After drinking the wine, he threw the wine bowl into the bamboo rack hanging above the fire pond to predict disaster and good fortune, with the bowl mouth facing up as a good omen.
The custom of tattooing faces
--The distant custom of tattooing faces
Gray coated surface: the last member of the Dulong ethnic group in Yunnan
In ancient times, tattoos were called "carving title","tattooing flesh","tattooing face","embroidered feet","embroidered face","tattooing ink","tattooing green", etc. It is a body decoration method that uses sharp objects such as thorns, needles, knives, etc. to carve tattoos or symbols on the skin, infiltrate the color, and keep them for life and never fade away. It originated very early and was developed from the custom of primitive people painting on the skin for decoration or conducting religious activities. It was widely popular among many primitive peoples in southeastern Asia, Oceania, Central and South America and Africa. To this day, many indigenous peoples in these areas still regard it as an irreplaceable decoration and love it endlessly. In the southeast and southwest regions of China, ancient tattoos are also very popular. Until modern times, this custom still has certain traces among Li, Dai, Bulang, De 'ang, Dulong, Jinuo, Wa, Nu, Jingpo, Lhoba, Gaoshan and other ethnic groups.
The tattoos of Dulong women mainly focus on the face, so they are often called "face painting" or "face tattooing". Whenever a girl reaches the age of twelve or thirteen, she needs facial tattoos to symbolize adulthood. Shi Wenshi asked elderly and experienced women to first use a bamboo stick dipped in a pot of smoke and water to draw a pattern on the girl's face, and then use a small wooden stick to hit the hard thorn or a wooden stick with a needle to pierce the skin according to the pattern. Then rub the ash or grass juice from the bottom of the pot into the wound, and remove the scab, it will form a blue-blue pattern. The patterns can be roughly divided into two types: in the middle and upper reaches of the Dulong River, there are usually five or six diamond-shaped patterns connected from the forehead of the eyebrows to the bridge of the nose. Then, with the mouth as the center, they are spread to both sides of the nose, and the connected small diamond-shaped patterns are continued to be pierced. The cheeks to the lower jaw converge to form a square circle. The square circle is pierced vertically, and dot patterns are pierced horizontally from above the square circle to the eyes. The whole pattern is like a butterfly spreading its wings and ready to fly. The lower reaches of the Dulong River are relatively simple, and generally only two or three rows of vertical strips are printed on the lower jaw. Other parts are uncultured.
Dulong women
According to historical records and folk legends, there are specific historical reasons for the origin of the custom of tattooing faces among Dulong women. In the past two to three hundred years, the forces of Tibetan Tusi and Susu slave owners have continued to penetrate deep into the Dulong area, brutally exploiting and squeezing the Dulong people. In particular, the Tibetan Tsawalong Tusi forcibly collects various tribute from the Dulong people every year, even taxing his mouth, ears, nose, and hair. If they could not afford to pay, they would forcibly kidnap women and send them to Tibetan areas as slaves. In particular, young and beautiful Dulong women are often at risk of being kidnapped from other places. In this special social and historical environment, in order to avoid plunder and escape the ravages and trampling of the Tusi, Dulong women had no choice but to adopt a passive self-rescue method: smearing their cheeks with a pot of cigarette, or even reluctantly dyeing their faces into "Demo green patterns" that will never be washed out, making people look like people and ghosts look like ghosts, making people afraid and afraid to come closer. Over time, the custom of tattooing was formed and continued until the beginning of liberation. Therefore, tattooing has historically been a form of negative struggle for Dulong women to resist national oppression and seek personal security.
Carving wood and tying rope
The Dulong people did not have their own writing. Before the founding of New China, they had always relied on carving wood to record records or convey information, and used knots to count time.
The carved wood notes of the Dulong people are widely used. Woodcuts engraved with various symbols play the same role as ordinary characters and documents. It is possible to record and convey the orders of the Tusi, folk debts, betrothal gifts, etc. The woodcuts issued by the government (Tusi) are large, shaped like wooden swords, about 20 centimeters wide and about seventy to eighty centimeters long. The middle is slightly thick, the sides are flat, the top is obliquely pointed, and the lower end has a handle. Different content requires different gaps or line segments, graphics, etc. For example, a woodcut used to convey the payment of taxes and donations from the Tusi has a large gap carved on the upper left and a few small gaps carved on the lower, indicating that a big steward and several entourage will come. A large gap and two small gaps are carved on the right side, indicating that a leader and two common people are required to come to welcome them. Different objects such as arrowheads, chili peppers, and chicken feathers are sometimes attached below the woodcuts to express different meanings. For example, arrows indicate quick arrival, spicy rice indicates severe sanctions if not obeying, chicken feathers indicate rapid delivery, etc. This kind of woodcut is generally explained by the person holding the woodcut while delivering it.
The woodcuts used by the people are smaller. It is often used to record matters such as debts and gifts. If a family sacrifices ghosts and no oxen, and when borrowing oxen from relatives and friends, the size of the oxen must be measured and recorded. The specific method is: first measure the chest circumference of the cow with a bamboo strip, then measure the length of the bamboo strip with your fists, and carve the number of fists on both sides of a piece of wood correspondingly. Finally, divide the wood piece into two from the middle, and each side holds half. When returning the cattle, the measurement was carried out according to the method. If there was a difference, the grain was used to make up the difference, and the more was returned and the less. Then the woodcuts were thrown into the fire and burned without any dispute.
Rope tying timing is also widely used. It refers to using a thin hemp rope to tie the knot to keep time, and each knot represents a day. If you go out on errands, tie a knot every day. When I come back, I will solve the knot one day, so that the date and itinerary can be accurately calculated. The annual New Year's Festival is the happiest moment for the Dulong people. However, since there is no fixed date, a temporary appointment is required every year. The agreed method is also mostly completed by tying a rope. If you decide to celebrate the holidays 10 days later, prepare a number of ropes tied with 10 knots and give them to relatives and friends, and untie one after a day. When the last knot is completed, it means that the festival is coming. Everyone kills pigs and cattle, sings and dances, and celebrates the New Year.
simple folk customs
The folk customs in the Dulong area are simple, and the ancient style of "not picking up relics on the road and not closing doors at night" still exists today. No matter who finds something on the road, he will never take it for himself. Or wait for the owner to come back and look for it, or try to find out where the owner is and return the property to its original owner as soon as possible. When people go out long distances, they often divide the grain they carry with them into several portions, hang it on trees or place it in caves along the way, and save it for consumption on the return journey. No matter how hungry passers-by are, they will never eat without authorization. Even clothes and other items can be placed on the roadside anytime and anywhere. As long as a stone is pressed on it, it means that it is owned and that others will not pick it up.
Dulong people never pick up relics on the road, let alone steal. Most of their granaries are built behind their houses, even on the mountains or on the ground far away from home. Only bamboo strips or wooden sticks are inserted horizontally on the warehouse door, and there is no danger of theft. Even if you leave home, the door is so simple that no one will enter it privately.
The traditional virtues of the Dulong people are also expressed in many other aspects. For example, the virtues of unity and mutual assistance in helping the whole village when there is something to do; the virtues of respecting the elderly and loving the young, and alleviating the poor; the virtues of treating others politely and being hospitable, etc.
food custom
The Dulong people like to drink water, drink tea, and smoke dry tobacco. The Dulong people have a unique method of making wine. Dig an earthen cellar on the ground and surround it with banana leaves on all sides. Mix the cooked corn or rice with the distiller's yeast, place it in the cellar, cover it with a layer of banana leaves, seal it with soil, and heat it up. After three to five days, drill a small hole in the earthen pit. If there is a strong alcohol smell, the brewing is successful. Pushing open the sealed mud mouth, take out the corn or rice, put it in a basin, rub it and mash it, and the juice filtered out is edible wine. Whether drinking, eating or eating, or eating meat, the Dulong family shares the food among the housewives. Guests will be divided equally. Generally, every family has several firehouses. After each child gets married, one firehouse will be added, and each firehouse will take turns taking care of the cooking. The Dulong people invite each other in a very unique way. They usually use a piece of wood as an invitation to invite each other, and send the piece of wood to the guest's home. Carving a few gaps on the piece of wood means that the banquet ceremony will be held a few days later. Invited guests are asked to bring a variety of food as a token of gratitude. After entering the gate, guests must first drink a can of wine with the host, then sit down for dinner and watch songs and dances. After night, the man drank and read a congratulatory speech by the fire pond, and then put the wine bowlOn the bamboo rack on the fire pond, the mouth of the bowl is facing towards the sky as an auspicious sign. The Dulong people are honest and kind. Even if they meet each other on the road, they will treat each other with wine. They believe that it is a shameful thing not to give food to the guests and not to leave guests to stay at night.
National marriage customs
The Dulong people marry outside the family and are monogamous individual families. They are free to fall in love. After young men and women of the Dulong people fall in love, they will give each other affectionate gifts. The girl gave the young man a single dragon carpet that he carefully woven, and the young man gave the girl a hoe or a basket he made himself.
When it comes to proposing marriage, the young man will ask a man who is eloquent to go and propose marriage to the wife. The married person must carry a teapot and carry tea leaves, cigarettes and tea pots in his backpack.
When we go to the girl's house, no matter what the other party's attitude is, the person who wants to marry must fill the teapot with water as quickly as possible, walk to the fire pond, heat the fire up, and put the teapot on it. Then take out the tea leaves and tea jars from the backpack, go to the girl's cupboard and take out the bowls, and prepare for making tea. Whether the girl's family agreed or not, they could only wait around the fire pond. As soon as the water boils, the married person immediately makes tea in a tea vat and then pours it into a bowl. In order, we will first respect the girl's parents, then the girl's brothers and sisters, and finally the girl herself. Next, we began to talk about marriage, nothing more than how good the young man was and how the family liked the girl.
At a certain time, although the girl's family didn't say anything, only the girl's father or mother drank the tea in one gulp, and the girl and others also drank the tea, and the marriage was concluded. If it's late at night and no one drinks tea, come back the next night. If no one still drinks tea for three consecutive nights, it means that the girl's family does not agree to the marriage. If you still want to say it, you need to wait until next year.
The wedding ceremony of the Dulong people is relatively simple. During the ceremony, parents of both men and women must introduce the situation of their sons and daughters to everyone, and encourage the newlyweds to care about each other. In the future, if one party's hands or feet are broken or his eyes are blind, they cannot be separated. Then the couple drank Tongxin wine and everyone danced a solo dragon dance, which would be the end of the ceremony.
Wedding taboos for the Dulong people: 1. Strictly abide by the system of out-of-clan marriage and prohibit intra-clan marriage. In the old days, there were fixed marriage groups between families. 2. Avoid no betrothal gifts for engagement or marriage. 3. Avoid divorce. If the wife abandons her husband and has a sister at home, the sister will come to pay for it, otherwise all the betrothal gifts will be refunded. If a husband abandons his wife, the wife's family may refund less or no betrothal gifts. 4. Intermarriage with Tibetans is prohibited. In the old days, the Dulong people were forbidden to intermarry with Tibetans, but this has changed.
In the past, the marriage status of the Dulong people was relatively complex, including almost various marriage forms at different stages of development of human society. After liberation, the people's government helped the Dulong people develop production, carry out economic construction, improve transportation, open up posts and telecommunications, and deliver culture, education, and medical care to the Dulong Valley, fundamentally changing the appearance of the Dulong inhabited area. With the development of economy and culture, my country's marriage law has been gradually implemented in the Dulong area, and the old marriage customs have been greatly changed. Monogamy has been established, marriage between wives and sisters, marriage between husbands and brothers, marriage between unequal generations, and fixed family exogamy have been basically abandoned, and the number of buying and selling marriages is relatively rare.
Robbing cattle and offering sacrifices to heaven
A sacrificial activity held by the Dulong people to celebrate the harvest year. It is generally held on a selected day every autumn. The most important and largest one is the ceremony at the New Year's Festival "Kaquewa."
The ox-raping ritual is presided over by a wizard. At the beginning of the ceremony, the ox wearing a lone dragon carpet used for sacrifice was led into the field and tied to a thick wooden stake. With the cow as the center, people automatically form a circle, beat gongs, wield knives and spears, and dance and jump.
When other sacrifices were laid out, the chief priest lit pine trees and pine feathers, murmured, and prayed to Gemon, praying that he would bless the safety of people and animals, and that everything would go smoothly, bringing the sacrificial ceremony to a climax. Then the wizard stabbed the cow under the armpit with a sharp bamboo spear, and the cow was plundered to death. Then everyone cooked the meat and shared it. The wizard also had to carry a cow's head on his back and lead the crowd to dance around the "sacrificial cow". At this time, the atmosphere of the New Year reached its peak. Everyone drank and ate meat while singing and dancing. The banks of Dulong River became a sea of joy. In the end, all those who participated in the cattle rationing ceremony received an equal share of beef. Everyone drank and had dinner together to celebrate the good New Year, and prayed for a bumper harvest and prosperity for people and livestock.
Kuqequwa is held on a certain day in the twelfth lunar month of winter every year (the time varies from place to place). The length of the festival often depends on the amount of food prepared. It usually lasts two or four or five days. The most solemn sacrificial activity during the New Year's Festival is "cattle raping to sacrifice to heaven".
When raping the cow, the festival host first tied the cow to a wooden stake, and then the young woman put a linen blanket on the back of the cow. The horns were hung with bead chains. After arranging the sacrifices, the pine trees and pine hair (pine leaves) were lit. Finally, a young man with both parents stabbed the cow to death with a sharp bamboo spear, then cut the beef on the spot, and immediately cooked it in a large pot. During the festival, all Dulong people should greet each other and congratulate each other on a family basis. The Dulong people have a very unique way of inviting each other. They usually use a piece of wood as an invitation to each other. At that time, the piece of wood must be delivered to the guest's home. Carving a few gaps on the piece of wood means that a banquet will be held in a few days. ceremony.
Invited guests are asked to bring a variety of food as a token of gratitude. After entering the gate, guests must first drink a can of wine with the host, then sit down for dinner, and watch songs and dances to add fun. After night, the man drank wine by the fire pond and read a congratulatory message, then threw the wine bowl on the bamboo rack on the Guangtang, taking the mouth of the bowl facing towards the sky as an auspicious sign.
On the second day after the banquet, some villages also hold a shooting celebration, and the heads of various animals are kneaded with honey, and they are worshipped on the slopes behind the house at sunrise. Then young people shoot with bows and arrows shoot at the pre-set targets, and finally distribute the sacrifices made of buckwheat flour to the onlookers.
At the wedding banquet, the Dulong people often slaughtered pigs, killed chickens and served wine to entertain guests. Whenever a woman gives birth to a child after marriage, the son-in-law will give her father-in-law a cow or other thing such as an iron pot, a knife, etc. to express her gratitude. [4]The Dulong people are honest and kind. Even if they meet each other on the road, they will treat each other with wine. They believe that it is a shameful thing not to give food to the guests and not to leave guests to stay at night. When building houses, weddings, funerals and weddings, they must take the initiative to help. When encountering game or slaughtering pigs, they must invite distant relatives and close neighbors to dinner, and take the initiative to present gifts after the dinner.
funeral customs
Most of the Dulong people are buried in the ground. On the day after their deaths, people in the village and relatives near and far must send food, wine, chickens, etc. to express their condolences. Generally, the funeral is carried out the next day. On the third day, the family of the deceased will lead the villagers to their own warehouse. Open the warehouse and cook wine and share it together. Some even killed pigs to entertain guests as a reward. At that time, family members and relatives will also send gifts. This kind of funeral banquet usually starts in the afternoon and lasts until late into the night. A portion of wine must be given to the deceased continuously. At the same time, the elderly in the village also make some food and send it to the deceased's home.