Bai customs and taboos

Everyone has their own living habits, things they like, and things they hate and dislike. When getting along with others, you must be clear about the taboos they have and don't touch them. The same is true for ethnic minorities. Ethnic minorities all have their own special customs and taboos, so let's take a look at what are the taboos of the Bai people?

1. Hospitality is taboo for guests coming to the house. You can only listen to the guests, not interrupt or ask random questions. When men are at home, women cannot take the initiative to smoke, make tea or chat with guests. Guests should be invited to sit down with eight people during dinner. The owner should not step on the railing of the table or speak loudly, which means respecting the guests. It is not allowed to use a spoon to dig a hole in a Zhen Zi, which means that you will not quarrel with food and treat people equally.

Fathers, older brothers, and younger brothers cannot eat with their daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law and their brothers and sister-in-law sit on the same bench to eat. Don't drop rice grains when eating, otherwise they will be hit by lightning, which means cherishing food. When visiting, fathers and sons cannot sit at the same table, and men and women cannot sit at the same table. This means that the eldest and the youngest, the order of ethics is not chaotic, and men and women should be different. After eating, place your chopsticks by the edge of the bowl where you have finished eating in a regular manner. Don't throw them around, to thank the host for his hospitality. This kind of hospitality taboo regulates people's behavior in detail, and enables people to develop good moral qualities of respecting elders and loving children, being kind to neighbors and friends, being polite and humble, and borrowing talents and loving things.

2. Festival taboos There is a common saying among Bai people: "Avoid the beginning of the first month and avoid the end of the twelfth month." Therefore, there are particularly many taboos on the evening of New Year's Eve and the first day of the first lunar month. Money owed to others must be paid off before the evening of New Year's Eve, and it is forbidden to carry a wax tent on your back; if you wear dirty clothes, your doors and windows must also be cleaned on the evening of New Year's Eve; it is intended to eliminate the old and make new ones. Wash water after New Year's Eve dinner should be stored and poured out until noon the next day, so as not to spill out the blessings of the year.

The door is closed from 11 to 12 o'clock on the evening of New Year's Eve, and family members are not allowed to leave, and outsiders are also refused to visit, so as not to bring evil spirits into the home, so that family members can be reunited without interference. Opening the door at midnight, accepting wealth from the southeast, northwest, and then sending people to public drinking places to grab water, is intended to put everything first in the new year. Avoid eating meat for breakfast and Chinese food on New Year's Day to avoid feeling drowsy for a year. Chinese food specializes in dry la, which means to eliminate disasters and avoid difficulties. Eat pumpkins, carrots and other dishes, which means sweet honey. Burn pine wood, which means to be loose and loose, and don't live your life tightly.

From morning to noon on New Year's Day, do not use knives and forks when cooking, and avoid using weapons to ensure safety. From the evening of New Year's Eve to noon on the first day of New Year's Eve, it is particularly taboo to splash oil, broken bowls, etc., believing that this will be unlucky throughout the year. It is taboo to quarrel and quarrel, and to maintain an intimate atmosphere of gentle breeze and drizzle.

From the first day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, before each meal, we should add incense to worship our ancestors, respecting the great virtue of heaven and earth. We should avoid drinking before our ancestors. That would be regarded as disrespectful to heaven and earth and our ancestors. The 15th day of the third month of the lunar calendar is a snake festival. Lime must be sprinkled on the walls in front of every house to avoid snake households. On this day, it is taboo to sit on the threshold to avoid attracting snake households. These taboos all contain the philosophy of life of being cautious, acting civilized, and being grateful and carrying virtue.

3. Taboos on weddings and funerals There are zodiac taboos in marriage, such as pigs and dogs are not worthy, and chickens and dogs are not worthy of restlessness; tigers and dragons are not worthy, dragons and snakes are forbidden, chickens pecking snakes are not worthy, couples are forbidden, etc. Choose a wedding date to avoid the "Four Qualities", that is, you cannot use it one day before the beginning of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, to avoid losing children; also avoid the "Four Distances", that is, you cannot use it one day before the vernal equinox, autumn equinox, summer solstice, and winter solstice, to avoid the loss of your wife. Wedding guests are not allowed to wear plain white clothes; dumb, non-talking children, and pregnant women are not allowed to enter the new house to avoid bringing bad luck to others. When the bride takes her home, she cannot see the groom's parents. Elder brothers and sisters-in-law and other elderly people, so as to avoid collisions and loss of harmony in the future.

If a person dies at home, filial sons and grandchildren are not allowed to sit on a bench during the memorial service, and all recreational activities such as drinking are prohibited; they are not allowed to wash their hair, shave and take a bath, and are not allowed to enter other people's homes for ten days. Otherwise, it will be regarded as disrespectful to the deceased or bringing bad luck to others. Within a year, the family cannot hold happy events, otherwise it will be a great taboo of unfilial piety. If there is a red funeral, a heavy funeral, or a yellow sky, the burial cannot be carried out, so the spiritual hub can be postponed and the funeral will be held on an auspicious day. During the funeral, all people with the same zodiac sign must avoid it, otherwise it will bring disaster to the living.

There is a saying in the Tielu Bai mountainous area: "Use red funerals for white things, and the couple guard the empty room, and make red funerals on the upper beam. It is not safe to do home." When encountering the omen of red mourning, another person will die in the family of the deceased. The solution is to make a small coffin out of big dragon bamboo, sew it on with thread, then squeeze it into a person with flour and place it in the coffin, and take out the blood from the chicken head and drop it on the wheat-flour man. On the day of the funeral, carry the small coffin out through the threshold and dig a hole to the intersection and bury it deeply. These taboos, which are almost superstitious, are intended to make living people be filial to the dead, not treat life hastily, and allow living people to practice the virtues of loyalty and filial piety.

Summary: Every ethnic group has its own customs and taboos. In fact, everyone also has their own likes and dislikes. We must respect others and avoid doing things that make others dislike and hate.