Customs of the Yao People

The costumes of the Yao people are rich and colorful, and they vary from region to region and from branch to branch. Men's and women's clothing is mainly made of dark green and blue cloth, men like to wear short shirts without collars, and long pants or knee-length shorts underneath, usually with a belt, and the men of "White Pants Yao" in Nandan County like to wear knee-length white pants with embroidered edges; women usually wear large-breasted blouses without collars, and belt with a belt around their waists, and long pants, skirts, or pleated skirts underneath, and some of them wear knee-length long nongs, with colorful laces embroidered at conspicuous places, and now young people usually wear Chinese dresses, only with colorful laces, and now young people usually wear Chinese dresses. Women generally wear collarless lapel tops with a belt around the waist, and long pants, short skirts or pleated skirts underneath, and some wear knee-length long nongs embroidered with colorful laces in conspicuous places. Women's headdresses in a variety of styles, chic style, often wearing earrings, bracelets, silver medallions and other silver ornaments, multiplied by colorful ribbons, part of the head of the women in the Dayao Mountains wearing a curved silver hairpin, weighing up to 1 catty or so, from the headdresses of Yao women can be distinguished from the young girl, unmarried women, married women and belong to which Yao tribe branch.

Diet: Yao diet to rice, corn, sweet potatoes, taro-based, part of the region prevails "playing oil tea", the Yao Mountain Yao like to pickle "bird vinegar", "animal vinegar "and as a hospitality product, some are pickled smoked pork, pastrami and other unique flavors of food.

Dwelling: Yao housing for bamboo and wood materials, generally a building of three, rectangular, but also built into a dry-rail type building, more built on the mountain, living in a cluster.

Marriage customs: Yao unmarried young men and women in love more freely, the use of festivals, gatherings and leisure time to go to villages and villages, through the song or other ways to establish feelings, give each other tokens, the independent marriage; there are also subject to parental consent, please matchmaking, can be married. Yao son-in-law phenomenon is more common, generally do not intermarry with outside the tribe, with economic development, and gradually closer interaction with the outside world, outside the tribe also began to increase marriage.

Burials: The rural Yao people are mainly buried in the earth, and some areas and branches of the Yao people practise cremation, cliff burials and hanging burials.

Taboos: women do not like visits from outsiders before the full moon of childbirth; the date of marriage cannot be chosen on the anniversary of the parents' death; men and women cannot sit on the same stool when they sing to each other; they cannot speak foul language in front of women; spitting is not allowed in the hall; it is forbidden for men to sit in front of the cupboard. The men and women of the generation are called brothers and sisters, and it is taboo to call them "brother-in-law", "sister-in-law" and so on

The rich and colorful living customs of the Yao people are an important part of the Yao culture, and they are the conditions of the Yao people's residence, the living environment, and the historical encounters, It is a reflection of the living conditions, living environment, historical encounters, health conditions, lifestyle, production development level, religious beliefs and aesthetic interests of the Yao people, and it is a guideline and norm for the Yao people's **** life and their thoughts and behaviors.

Home customs

The big mountainous areas of the Yao people's housing is mostly "thatched huts", the four walls of the small wooden bars tied together, commonly known as "a thousand pillars under the ground". Covered with cedar bark or thatch. There are a small number of wooden houses, mostly a building of three, called "three halls". On both sides of the main house, there are two other rooms made of cedar strips, commonly known as "Phi Suen". The east room is used for stacking sundries or as a corral or toilet; the west room is used as a kitchen and bathing room. Yao people used to take hot water baths once a day, regardless of summer and winter. There is another kind of "hanging floor" type wooden house, half of which is on the flat ground, the other half is stood up with trees according to the slope of the mountain, above which people live, and below which things are put, which is commonly known as "Yaoyia Hanging Foot Tower". Now, "thatched cottage" type houses gradually reduced.

Yao in the hilly areas, housing more brick and wood structure, covered with tiles, two-story window form of "three halls" building. Upstairs, although there are windows, shorter, do not live, used as a storage room. The main door in the center of the hall, with side doors on both sides.

Production Practices

The Yao who entered the large mountainous area, when the land was vast and sparsely populated, practiced marking land, slash-and-burn cultivation, and "planted this mountain and planted that mountain". With the increase in population, the feudal ruling forces gradually deepened into the mountainous areas, the Yao people's land was gradually encroached upon, in order to make a living, forced to borrow land for farming. The condition of borrowing land: "planting trees to return to the mountains". That is, the Yao people in the borrowed land, sowing crops, to "mountain master" planted trees; in the care of crops, to combine the care of the forest, to be the growth of the forest, the land can no longer plant crops, before the land and trees back to the "mountain master", and then borrowed the land elsewhere to cultivate. It is customary to plant forests, and to intercrop forests and grains.

Food crops to corn, sweet potatoes, dry grass, millet, wheat, taro-based, interplanting oil tree, palm flakes, tea, medicinal herbs, etc., fertilizer is the use of humus in the soil of the newly logged land and burned reclamation of the grass ash. Production tools are mainly hoe sickle, axe, supplemented by bamboo and wood tools. Transportation mainly relies on manpower to carry and pick. The back basket is the most customary transportation tool for Yao people. The form of labor, household as a unit, men and women with the labor, the need to ask for helpers, no matter how busy they are invited to help, have to go to help. In the case of reclaiming large areas of mountain farms, collective labor is carried out in the form of shareholding by household or by labor force, and dividends are paid by share after autumn.

Hunting is one of the production contents of the Yao people in the big mountains. Mainly wild boar hunting, as long as the discovery of wild boar damage to crops, the collective roundup until the capture or drive away. Hunting 1 ~ 2 people with hounds for traces, the rest of the guard card. The distribution of the captured beasts can be shared even with the children on their backs. Individuals hunt, mainly by putting up sets of ropes and loading crossbows.

Marriage customs

Pre-marital dating Historically, the Yao family young men and women, dating and love, relatively free. In the production of labor, pike guests, holiday parties, more than song as a medium to express love. Once the two sides agree, you can interact with each other, parents do not interfere. This behavior, the male side called "cross guest aunt", the female side called "with the latter". To the formal marriage, such as the groom is not the first friend, the boyfriend must prepare a basket of gifts (candy and grooming supplies), to his girlfriend, called "take the basket". The woman prepared a bag containing cloud shoes, belts, etc., as a gift, called "throw baggage".

In the mountainous areas, Pan, Zhao two surnames can be intermarried with the same surname, other surnames are generally intermarried. But Yao Han generally not allowed to intermarry, the Republic of China period, a slight relaxation. After the liberation, the national intercourse day more, unity and harmony, the prohibition of intermarriage, the basic liberalization.

The form of marriage is mainly "son-in-law" (i.e., recruiting), which is called "tangled thousand" in Yao language. A man who settles in a woman's home is usually required to write a "redundant book", which covers the duties and rights of the man after the redundant, the children's inheritance, the inheritance of property and other provisions. In general, the family member to change his name, according to the female family generation, there are also a few couples to change their surnames. There are two other forms of redundant son-in-law, one is called "both sides go", the man is still using the original name, husband and wife *** with the care of both parents, the children, the first with the mother's surname, the second father's surname, and so on; another is called "openly discussing the dark," this marriage This kind of marriage is mostly due to the fact that the woman's parents are old, her siblings are young, and there is no labor force in the family, so once the above conditions change, the man will return home with his wife, and the children will take the father's name. If a woman marries a man, it is mainly in Pingdi Yao, where the wife keeps her original surname and the children take their father's name.

Marriage Ceremony Male to the female family into the family, the marriage is organized by the female family, the groom by a group of unmarried young people accompanied by walking, the female family drums and music halfway to welcome the evening ceremony, and all receive friends and relatives (some uninvited), "sitting song Hall" all night long. Female to the male family, before the wedding, the female family "sitting song hall", the wedding day, the bride by the father and brother or maternal uncle back out the door, and then, the village girl accompanied by umbrellas to walk to the male family, held a ceremony to pay homage to accept the congratulations of friends and relatives.

Divorce and remarriage (redundant) Lingdong Alpine Yao, the status of women is higher, the two sides after marriage **** with the labor, such as the feelings of incompatibility, either party can file for divorce. General please village old man "tea", the reasons for divorce, the mediation is invalid, the "judgment" divorce. Couples take a bamboo tube to the mountains, a knife split in half, each holding half, back to back, this breakup. The man, such as the violation of the "redundant book" treaty, the woman can be "repudiation", all the property belongs to the woman. Widow remarriage is not restricted, but strictly prohibit the marriage union of brother and sister. After the liberation of the Yao people, according to the provisions of the Marriage Law, the formalities.

Crying for marriage Before the girl was married, all the relatives and friends and village sisters, to gather at home for two consecutive nights, the first night of refreshments, the night set up a banquet. After the banquet gathered in the hall, singing "women's song", said the private love or laughter and amusement, "sitting song hall". The bride is in order of seniority to friends and relatives "crying marriage", friends and relatives to give "red envelopes".

Beating the groom Three days after the wedding, the groom back to the door to the house of Yue, the women in the village, about to come and fight the groom, to show that the future can not abuse the bride. Some villages, is the first Spring Festival after marriage, the groom to the in-laws to pay homage to the village of young men and women, banging gongs and drums (and sometimes play dragons and lions), to congratulate the groom, the groom is returned to the "red packet", which is also known as playing the bridegroom. Later gradually evolved into the village women and children to ask for "happy color" money, otherwise, they will not stop, sometimes making the groom greatly embarrassed.