Marriage custom of Mulao nationality

The marriage custom of the Mulao nationality is different surnames, but people with the same surnames but different winters can usually get married. Marriage within other families is "incest", which is not allowed by family rules. "Winter" was originally distributed to grass-roots units in society. Because most of the Mulao people live in the same surname, they are divided into "houses" under "winter", which actually becomes the surname and housing organization under the feudal patriarchal clan system.

Mulao nationality evolved from the ancient "Liao people". In Changqu's "Huayang Gongzhi Nanzhong Zhi", there is a record of the activities of "Liao people" on the southern edge of Yunling Mountain in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, descriptions of "Liao" and "Ling" appeared in historical books, such as Answering People Outside the Ridge and Xi Man Cong Xiao. It is said in Tianhe County Records and Qing Dynasty Unification Records that "the actor is also called Liao, but his common name is Mu Lao", which shows that Mu Lao is closely related to Liao and Ling. Academic circles generally believe that the Mulao nationality is formed by the differentiation of this generation and this generation. The Mulao nationality was not regarded as a nation in history, and it was not until1August 30, 953 that the Mulao nationality truly became a member of the Chinese nation.

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Brief introduction of marriage customs of Mulao nationality;

The intermarriage scope of Mulao nationality is not limited to its own nationality, but can intermarry with the surrounding Han and Zhuang nationalities. However, Mulao people do not marry with different surnames. People with the same surname but different from "Dong" can usually marry, while marriages within other families are "incest", which is not allowed by family rules. "Winter" was originally distributed to grass-roots units in society. Because most of the Mulao people live in the same surname, they are divided into "houses" under "winter", which actually becomes the surname and housing organization under the feudal patriarchal clan system. In the Qing Dynasty, the Mulao area was divided into "Li" below the county level, and "Winter" was located under the "Li". There are about ten households in each "winter", and there is a "winter head", which is elected by everyone and is responsible for raising food and collecting money.

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Young men and women of Mulao nationality have always been free to fall in love. In addition to meeting at festivals, parties and fairs, the main ways of love are spreading songs and answering questions and making friends in "Walking Slope". The season of "going uphill" is spring March and autumn August. Young people are dressed in costumes, and men and women go to the market to find partners to sing. After finding the satisfied opponents, we invited them to start duets on the beautiful hillside lawn, asking questions and answering questions with songs as the medium, satisfying each other and giving each other tokens. Finally, let the matchmaker inform the parents to determine the wedding date.

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The matchmaker was asked by the man first. If the woman's family agreed, she would give her daughter's birthday to the matchmaker and hand it over to the man. After receiving the woman's horoscope, the man's parents thought it was consistent with his son's horoscope, and the marriage was basically completed.

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The way of picking up relatives varies slightly from place to place. The most interesting thing is "sending ten sisters to marry". One month after the bride went through the door, girls of the same age in the same village volunteered to form ten bridesmaids to be sisters in the unmarried bride's house, and stayed with the bride day and night to help her make new shoes, sew wedding clothes and prepare makeup. On the wedding day, the ten sisters and the bride dressed exactly the same, wearing the same "lover's shoes" and "wedding clothes", holding the same "sister umbrella", cutting the same hairstyle, tying the same braid, and even behaving very similarly. If it weren't for relatives and friends, I really don't know who the bride is and who the best man is. When we arrived at the groom's house, eleven girls came into the house together, which was very lively.

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On the day of picking up relatives, many places have the custom of setting up "Song cards". When the man and his party visit relatives in the woman's village, they must sing and answer questions before they can enter the bride's house through the "song card". Similarly, when the woman goes to the man's village to see off the wedding procession, she has to answer a question song before she can enter the groom's house. Sometimes people who sing from morning till night crowd around to watch the fun. Finally, if you can't answer, ask yourself, or your parents will come forward to sing "Reconciliation Song" and announce the end of "Hurdle Song". In a long conversation, the host should provide delicious food and drinks to the guests to ensure that the guests are energetic and full of emotions.

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After the bride enters the room, there will be "noisy karaoke bars" in many places, that is, a competition song will be put inside and outside the bridal chamber, and men and women will sing and answer. At the climax, laughter and laughter are integrated and become an excellent place for young people to show their talents. On the wedding day, newlyweds don't spend the night together. The bride and groom should spend the night with their guests and relatives. After breakfast the next day, the bride went back to her parents' home with the people who sent her off. It was not until the social day in February of the following year that the man took the bride home for the festival. On this night, husband and wife must sleep together. The next day, the bride went back to her parents' home. Usually, only in the busy farming season, the bride temporarily goes back to her husband's house for a few days, and does not return to her family until a long time after pregnancy and childbirth.

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Marriage process of Mulao nationality:

Act as a matchmaker/middleman

If a man wants a woman, let the matchmaker go to the woman's house and ask. If the woman's parents agree to get married, they will give her birthday to the matchmaker and take it to the man's house. After the man's parents receive it, they will first put the eight characters under the incense burner. On the morning of the third day, the sixth day and the ninth day, if there are no unexpected signs such as chicken crowing and breaking utensils during this period, they can "combine the eight characters" and ask the fortune teller to tell their fortune. If the eight characters of men and women don't match (such as fire, water and soil, fire and gold, etc.). ), they can get engaged, otherwise the man's family will return to the eight characters and the marriage will be ruined.

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be engaged in

The characters of the two sides overlap, and the man left the characters and sent two Jin of pork to the woman's house as a "warm marriage". Subsequently, the matchmaker and both parties agreed that the man would bring eight Jin of pork, a pair of capons, two pots of wine and some bride price money to the woman's house for engagement. In some places, after the man showed the woman's horoscope, he asked the matchmaker to send three pounds of pork to the woman's house for notice, which was called "returning to Liuhe" and was considered as the completion of the engagement procedure. After the engagement, the fortune teller chose the auspicious day of the ecliptic as the wedding day, and then chose another auspicious day to sew new clothes for the woman.

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marry

Before marriage, the man entrusted the matchmaker to the woman's house to discuss the bride price. One month before the wedding, the man must "send a bride price", that is, send a matchmaker to bring four kilograms of pork and half of the bride price money, as well as the selected auspicious day (the opening day, the cutting day and the wedding day of the bride's dowry cloth, etc.). ) notify the woman's family. In some places, 20 days before marriage, all the gifts are sent to the woman's home, which is called "bride price". On the wedding day, the man went to the woman's house, and the woman's house hosted a banquet for guests, and invited family members, in-laws and guests to see him off. After the banquet, the female family selected two young singers, a man and a woman, and opened two "karaoke bars" to accompany the guests, and gathered all the young men and women in the village to accompany the wine. The male guests, female guests and male guests sang together until dawn. The lyrics are rich and colorful, mainly including flattering songs, ancient songs (that is, story songs) and heckling songs. In some places, there is no karaoke room in the woman's house. The next day, the bride was sent to the man's house and the wedding was held. The man's family hosted a banquet to entertain the woman's givers and relatives and friends.

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Characteristics of marriage customs of Mulao nationality;

Three pairs of door shoes

At the Mulao wedding, the bride must wear three pairs of new shoes in some places on the day of going through the door. The occasion of wearing shoes is very particular. On the morning of the door, the bride put on a pair of brand-new white cloth shoes in the boudoir, which was carried out by her brother at home and accompanied by many sisters to see her off. At the head of the groom's village, the farewell party stopped. One of the bride's closest relatives and sisters took out a pair of new cloth shoes with a white background from her bag and put them on the bride's feet. At the front door of the groom's house, the procession stopped again, and the bride's closest relatives and sisters took out a pair of new white cloth shoes and put them on the bride. Folk believe that changing shoes several times in this way indicates that the girl has been in her husband's family since birth, innocent and pure-hearted.

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Gate-blocking song

When the bride enters the door, some places will be blocked by the "Song Gate", which is an important activity of the marriage custom of the Mulao people. The village head of the groom's house was full of men, women and children on the wedding day. The people at the post rushed in and were greeted by young people who formed the "Geka". They pretended as if nothing had happened. Some of them are sitting by the river, some are sitting under the big tree at the head of the village, and some are frolicking on the road. When the procession to see the bride off approached, sweet songs came to each other. Coupled with songs, the girls who saw off the bride knew that there was a "song card" in front, so they quickly gathered together, discussed it and sang back. This question and answer, in the song, the other party can't answer, and the questioner asks himself and answers himself, so the outcome is clear. If the girl wins, the younger generation will tear up the song card and give the green light to let it go.

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"Meeting relatives" in ancient times

According to legend, "meeting relatives" is an ancient way of marriage for Mulao people, but it has disappeared now. If both parties agree to get married, it is convenient for the man to pick a cart of wine and meat and put it at the crossroads, and then avoid it. The woman and her parents, relatives and friends went here for a meal and took the rest. The next day, the woman's family returned the same cart of wine and meat at the intersection, and the man, his parents, relatives and friends also came to dinner. This is the "wedding ceremony", which is the first step of the whole wedding. It is completely presided over by the matchmaker, and neither side meets. On the wedding day, the man sent two beautiful girls and the matchmaker to pick up the bride. There are dozens of female companions around the bride, each with an oil-paper umbrella, shielding passers-by for the bride all the way. When I arrived at the groom's house, I went into the bridal chamber with a black cloth on my head. When the bride comes out of her family, she can't see anyone or the sky. That night, bridesmaids and male guests sang folk songs to bet on the outcome until the next morning. This custom has disappeared so far, and it is only preserved in the memories and narratives of the old people.