Are all people living in Luoping Township, Shimen County, Tujia people? What customs and habits do they have?
Tujia people are mainly distributed in northwest Hunan Province (Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture), Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hubei Province, Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County and Changyang Tujia Autonomous County in Yichang, as well as Shizhu and Xiushan in Sichuan Province , Youyang, Qianjiang and other counties, mixed with Han, Miao and other ethnic groups.
Inhabited areas, customs and customs
Language
The Tujia people have their own language. The Tujia language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Undecided. Since most people have lived together with the Han people for a long time, they have begun to use Chinese and Chinese characters very early. Only the settlement areas such as Yongshun, Longshan, and Guzhang in Hunan still retain the Tujia language intact. This ethnic group has no written language and the common Chinese language is Chinese.
Clothing
Tujia women’s clothing is a short coat with big sleeves, an open left coat, rolled with 2 to 3 layers of lace, and hemmed trousers; men’s clothing is a double-breasted short shirt. "Celebrating the New Year" means celebrating the New Year 1 to 2 days in advance, which is an important festival. Tujia men wear pipa-collared jackets and blue silk headbands. Women wear left-sleeved coats with two or three laces, relatively wide sleeves, rimmed trousers or eight-piece skirts, and like to wear various gold, silver, and jade ornaments.
Residences
Tujia people like to live in groups and live in stilted wooden buildings. Houses are built in villages and villages, and there are very few single-family houses. Most of the houses built are of wooden structure, with small blue tiles, lattice windows, suspended eaves, wooden railings and handrails, and horse-drawn corners, giving them an antique look. Most homes have a small courtyard, with a fence in front of the courtyard, a bamboo forest behind the courtyard, bluestone paving, planed wood walls, and bright pine trees. The family leads a peaceful pastoral life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
Customs
Men and women often sing antiphons to each other and get married. Have the habit of "crying for marriage". Women start crying 7-20 days before getting married. Wedding crying songs include "Women cry for mothers", "Sisters cry for sisters", "Scold the matchmaker", etc. It starts with soft singing, and becomes more and more sad as the wedding day approaches. I cried until my mouth was dry and my eyes were red and swollen. They regard whether a woman is good at crying in marriage as a measure of a woman's talent.
Before the Tusi system, the Tujia people practiced cremation. Burial is still practiced in the period of Tusi system. The funeral is presided over by Tu Lao Si. When Tu Lao Si worships the deceased, he spins the spinning wheel in the sky window three times and chants sutras to send the deceased across the bridge to the heaven. Then they pretended to be dead and went out in circles around the "Haha Terrace". The deceased's children followed Tu Laosi in mourning, and Tu Laosi sang funeral songs and blew horns. Suddenly there were cannons flying to the sky, crying, singing and wailing, which lasted for several days and nights. The coffin containing the body is then carried up the mountain for burial. From the time when Tujia people were repatriated to the Republic of China, Taoist priests presided over the funerals of the Tujia people. Three, five, or seven days after the body was laid to rest, the Taoist priests would conduct different levels of dojo according to the owner's family background, including "Little Ten Kings", "Big Ten Kings", "Overnight" Such names as "Sutang", "One vertical mast", "Two vertical masts", "Seven vertical masts". Generally, Taoist temples carry out specific operating procedures such as laying down the willow bed, opening the way, recommending the dead, delivering animals, serving cooked food, scattering flowers and explaining, untying lamps, burning coffins, praying for spirits, and sweeping the hall. Relatives of the deceased wore sackcloth and mourning, followed the Taoist priests in the funeral ceremony, and invited people to sing filial songs to mourn the deceased. After the founding of New China, Tu Laosi and Taoist priests stopped their activities and held memorial services and sang funeral songs instead of dojos.
Religious beliefs
Influenced by the Han people, in terms of religion, they mainly believe in ghosts and gods and worship ancestors. These gods are not their own gods. In the past there were wizards who exorcised ghosts. Some places believe in Taoism. On every New Year's Day, we should pay great respect to our ancestors, and we should also pay small respects on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. The foods used to worship ancestors include pig heads, dumplings, cakes, chickens, ducks and grain seeds. Some people use chopsticks to hold a small amount of vegetables on the rice before each meal and stand in silence for a while, indicating that they would like to ask their deceased ancestors to eat first, and then they start to eat. The sixth day of the sixth lunar month is the day for offering sacrifices to the King of Earth. Every village must set up a hand-waving hall, and sacrifices such as pig heads and fruits are placed in front of the hand-waving hall. On the first day of October, winter is celebrated, chickens and ducks are slaughtered and a banquet is held for guests. In addition, the Tujia people also worship the Kitchen God, the Earth God, the Five Grain God, and the Swine Official God. They offer sacrifices to Luban when building houses. In addition to wine and meat, the Tujia people sacrifice a big rooster.
White Tiger Worship: The white tiger plays an important role in the hearts of the Tujia people. The Tujia people call themselves the "Queens of the White Tiger". According to legend, in ancient times, Bawuxiang, the ancestor of the Tujia people, was promoted as the chieftain of the five surname tribes and was called "Linjun". Lin Jun led the tribe members to travel along the river in earthen boats to Yanyang, where they killed the ferocious Salt Water Goddess and settled down. People live and work in peace and contentment, and Lin Jun is naturally deeply loved by people. Later, Lin Jun passed away and his soul transformed into a white tiger and ascended to heaven. From then on, the Tujia people regarded the white tiger as their ancestral god and worshiped it everywhere. A wooden white tiger is enshrined on the shrine of each house all year round. When getting married, the groom will place a tiger blanket on the large square table in the main hall, symbolizing sacrifice to the tiger ancestor. In addition to religious worship, the shadow of the white tiger can also be seen everywhere in the lives of the Tujia people. The intention is to use the tiger's majestic vision to drive away evil and suppress evil, hoping to gain peace and happiness.
Eating Habits
Tujia people usually eat three meals a day, and usually eat two meals in their free time; they eat four meals in spring and summer when farming is busy and the labor intensity is high. For example, during the rice transplanting season, there is a "Zao Zao" meal in the morning. Most of the "Zao Zao" meals are snacks such as glutinous rice dumplings or mung bean flour. It is said that eating glutinous rice balls "too early" means a good harvest and good luck. Tujia people also like to eat oil tea soup. In addition to rice, rice with rice is the most common daily staple food.
Sometimes they also eat rice with beans, rice cakes and dumplings are also seasonal staple foods of the Tujia people, and some even eat them until the time of planting rice. In the past, red potato has been regarded as a staple food in many areas, and it is still a common food after winter in some areas. The main characteristics of Tujia cuisine are hot and sour. Every household has a sauerkraut vat for pickling sauerkraut, and sauerkraut is an indispensable part of every meal. Soy products are also very common, such as tofu, tempeh, bean leaf skin, fermented bean curd, etc. In particular, I like to eat mixed dregs, that is, grind the soybeans finely, leaving the slurry and dregs intact, boil them to clarify, add vegetable leaves and cook them before eating. Folks often eat bean rice, rice with rice and residue soup together. The Tujia people drink wine, especially during festivals or when entertaining guests. The most common ones are sweet wine and smoky wine brewed from glutinous rice and sorghum. The alcohol content is not high and the taste is pure. Typical foods: Tujia people love to eat cakes (glutinous glutinous rice cakes), bacon, camellia and other foods, as well as vegetables, dumplings, mung bean noodles (rice noodles), and fried cakes.
Culture
Tujia people love to sing folk songs, which include love songs, wedding songs, waving songs, labor songs, pan songs, etc.
The "Waving Dance" is a popular ancient group dance, including more than 70 movements in hunting, military, farming, banquets, etc. It is associated with worshiping ancestors and praying for a good harvest. No matter what the grand party is, you have to dance. "Waving Hands" selects a single day in the lunar calendar to start, and the duration is also an odd number of days. Usually three days, five days, seven days. Usually on the ninth day of the first lunar month or the third day of the third month of the third lunar month, tens of thousands of people participate. The rhythm is distinct, the movements are graceful, simple, and have a strong flavor of life. Epic poems and folk songs are the most famous.
Mainly engaged in agriculture and handicrafts, embroidery and weaving are relatively famous, and native flower bedding is particularly famous. Its economic and cultural development is largely influenced by the Han people, but it also retains its own characteristics. The "golden tung oil" in western Hunan and the "ba lacquer" in western Hubei are famous products both at home and abroad.
"Xilan Kapu" is a wonderful flower among the Tujia ethnic crafts. Also known as "flower bedding", it is a kind of Tujia brocade. It is listed among China's five major brocades for its unique craftsmanship and wonderful composition.
Tujia literature is most famous for its narrative poems, folk songs and hand-waving songs sung during hand-waving dances. Hand-waving songs can be divided into big-waving songs and small-waving songs. Big-waving songs are epic in nature; small-waving songs are mostly bitter songs and love songs, which are lyrical works. It has strong ethnic characteristics and unique mountain flavor. The long narrative poem "Golden Pheasant" is a combination of four-line folk songs, performed in the form of duet between men and women. It takes a love story as the main line and reflects the broad aspects of social life.
Astronomy and Calendar
The Tujia people have accumulated a large amount of knowledge in astronomy, geography, meteorology, water conservancy, agriculture, biology, and medicine during their long-term farming life, and use this knowledge to guide the next generation. The production and life of another generation of Tujia people.
The meteorological knowledge of the Tujia people is passed down in the form of proverbs and songs, such as: "The clouds facing the workers are bright and bright; the clouds facing the west are covered with raincoats; the clouds facing south are breaking the boat, and the clouds are facing north , it can’t rain properly”, “If you burn the clouds in the morning, you won’t be able to make tea; if you burn the clouds in the evening, you’ll kill the toads”, “Thunder God’s light sings, and there won’t be much rain”, “The sun is shining in the east, the rain is rainbowing in the west, and the rainbow is rising in the south. Flood", "The moon holds an umbrella, the sun breaks the rock slabs, the moon grows hair, the rain falls in the morning", "Wear a hat on a mountain with rain, wipe your waist on a mountain without rain", etc. are all through the analysis of celestial phenomena such as clouds, thunder, rainbows, or the sun and moon. Observation of celestial bodies is used to predict fine weather with high accuracy.
The Tujia people also arrange farming seasons, predict the climate, and estimate annual harvests based on the withering of vegetation in the mountains, the coming and going of migratory birds, the changes in the sun, moon, and stars, and the alternation of clouds, wind, rain, and lightning. They compiled the farming experience accumulated over generations into folk songs and proverbs, which were passed down orally to guide spring planting and autumn harvest. Such as: "Lao Zhang, don't listen to the coaxing of the old man. The tung trees are blooming and they need to be planted.", "Spring comes in March and the flowers bloom, and the mountains are full of sunbirds chirping. Firstly, it announces the Spring Festival, and secondly, it destroys the crops." Warnings The time when the tung trees are blooming and the sunbirds are chirping is also the time to sow seeds. Another example: "The Qingming Festival needs to be bright, and the Grain Rain needs to be drenched." This is to predict the quality of agricultural harvests based on the meteorological conditions of specific solar terms.
Their agricultural knowledge is also passed down through such proverbs and songs, such as: "Plow deeply, rake badly, and a bowl of mud will bring a bowl of rice." It talks about the fact that farmland must be plowed deeply and carefully, so that the harvest can be harvested. good. "Plant potatoes deeply and plant seedlings shallowly, and plant red potatoes on the skin." "It is better to plant autumn potatoes than autumn buckwheat." They are also teaching the planting techniques of rice seedlings, red potatoes, potatoes, and buckwheat.