Wa Marriage Customs

Most Wa marriages are concluded through free love. The age of marriage is generally around 20 years old, and most men are older than women. However, young men and women from the age of 15 or 16 years old can begin to participate in social and recreational activities to talk about love. This kind of love activity is commonly known as "string girls". "String girls" is carried out in groups, before the formalization of the relationship, fewer individual activities. In this activity, the man always takes the initiative. Weddings are usually held after the fall and should not be held after the Spring Festival.

Wa, one of China's ethnic minorities. The current population is more than 350,000 people. It is mainly distributed in the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas of Cangyuan, Ximeng, Lancang, Menglian, Shuangjiang, Gengma, Yongde, Zhenkang and other counties in the southwest of Yunnan Province. They are located in the "A Wa Mountainous Region" between the Lancang and Salween Rivers and in the southern section of the Nushan Mountain Range. They are interspersed with Han, Dai, Brown, De'ang, Lisu, Lahu and other ethnic groups.

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After the Han Dynasty, Yunnan was inhabited by the Pu people. Tang Dynasty, "Pu people", "Wang people" distributed in the east from Jingdong, Weishan, west to Tengchong, Lianghe, south from Zhenkang, north to the Yongping Zhenxi area. Pu People" may be a general term for the Wa speaking ancestors living in this area. The "Wangren" may be mainly Wa ancestors. In historical documents, names such as "Wang Ban", "Wang Tho Zi" and "Wai Yu" are basically the same as or very similar to the Wa's self-proclaimed name "Wa" nowadays. The Wa call themselves "Wa", "Ba Raoke", "Bu Raoke", "A Wa", "A Wu", "A Wu", "A Wu", "A Wu", "A Wu", "A Wu", "A Wu", "A Wu", "A Wu" and "A Wu", The Wa call themselves "Wa", "Ba Raoke", "Bu Raoke", "A Wa", "A Wao", "A Wao", "A Wao Lai", "Le Wa" and so on. Other names include "La", "I", "Awa" and "Kawa". The historical names of the ethnic groups are "Hara", "Hawa", "Kawa", etc., which mean "people who live in the mountains". In accordance with the will of the people, the name "Wa" was given in 1962.

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History of Wa Marriage Customs:

The Wa now practise monogamy, and there have been polygamy in history. In a polygamous family, the first wife has no special status in the family, and the youngest wife is not discriminated against. In the past, the Wa also had the custom of transferring houses. A wife whose husband had died could transfer her house to her younger brother, and if the younger brother was married, he could, with the consent of his sister-in-law and brother-in-law, also be transferred to the younger brother's concubine. If the woman is not willing to transfer her house, she can also marry another woman, but the new husband's family must pay a bride price to the brother of the deceased husband or to a family of the same name. Couples do not get along, can also be divorced, but if the man initiated, the bride price is not returned; if the woman proposed, the bride price will be returned.

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In the Wa tribe around Cangyuan in Yunnan, there is a unique way of love between men and women: young men and women lie on the ground back to back to talk about love. After a young man presents something to a girl to show his courtship, he can go to the girl's house for a rendezvous. Regardless of when, whether or not there are people around, the young man into the girl's home, lying on his side in the middle of the yard, which is the same as to tell the girl's family, the proposal of the young man to come. When this happens, the girl's family will be indifferent and go on about their business. The girl, on the other hand, whether she agrees or not, will come out of the bamboo building, lie down next to the young man, and the two of them will whisper and love each other back to back in full view of everyone. If the girl agrees to the young man's marriage proposal, she will slowly turn around, and the young man face-to-face conversation and song, until the sea vows, before getting up from the ground. The young man leaves happily with the girl and the members of the family in attendance. If the girl has no intention, then she is also lying on the ground, but the young man's words of love will shut up and answer, the young man spoke of dry mouth, see no hope, but also will be interested in getting up, and find another object.

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Introduction to Wa Marriage Customs:

Wa love and marriage is relatively free, young men and women are generally fifteen or sixteen years old and start to talk about love, in the form of "string girls". After dinner, the girls are invited to a family in groups of three or five, waiting for the boys to arrive. Boys also three or two groups to the girl's home string horse. When stringing girls together, young men and women form a friendship, and after a number of interactions and a deepening of understanding, if a young man falls in love with a particular girl, he will send her a proposal of marriage by proxy or in person. If the girl accepts the gift, she is considered to have agreed to the man's proposal. The young man then asks a matchmaker to accompany him, bringing two bags of tea and two barrels of wine to the woman's home to formally propose marriage to her parents. After the woman's parents agree, the young man must also bring the same gifts to the woman's home to "and the Weng", i.e., to further settle the marriage. The night of the "and weng", the young man to bring a hang of meat to the girl's home, invited the whole village people to eat a little. So, the marriage contract is finalized.

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Wa Engagement Wedding Customs:

The engagement of Wa youths in Mangdui, Yunnan Province, goes through the three stages of Feiyu (stringing up girls), Diya (robbing girls to kill chickens to see the gossip), and Dupa (sending betrothal gifts).

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Feiyu (string of girls)

In Feiyu (string of girls), the main love songs and "scattered sea" (combing) two forms, especially "scattered sea" (combing) the most interesting. "Scattering the sea" is by the female youth in the older volunteer as a representative, take turns to the boys combing hair. All the young men who participate in "Feiyu" have to accept the girl's combing. In the combing of hair, girls and boys whisper to each other to test each other to see if they love each other. If the two sides are more in love, then the girl's action is soft and sentimental, deliberately delayed combing time, even if other people have opinions, they do not care.

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Diya (robbing the girl to kill the chicken to see Gua)

"Diya" is a man and a woman after a period of interaction, the time is ripe to consider marriage, but must let the great "Plum God" know and agree to this matter, held by robbing the girl to kill the chicken to see Gua activities. The girl killed the chicken to see the activities. "Diya" this evening, the young man and his matchmaker about a few companions, pretending to the girl's home "string". To the dead of night, people have been asleep, the matchmaker signaled the girl out of the door, the girl followed out, the fiancé will be her head of the bag snatched and ran. The girl went after the fiancé and asked him to give her back her head, but the young man said, "Your head is already mine." Then he went forward again, and if the girl didn't go, the others pushed her. This is a critical time for the girl to choose her life's work, and if she disagrees or has a temporary change of heart, she must shout for her parents, family and friends to drive the lads away. If she agrees, she will pretend to wrap her head and follow her fiancé all the way to the man's house. After arriving at the man's side, people kill chickens and sacrifice to the gods, praying to God to make the marriage successful, and then everyone ate chicken porridge happily. By the third day, the fiancé can take the matchmaker and gifts to the woman's home to say goodbye.

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Du Pa (to send the betrothal gift)

After the betrothal, but also after three "Du Pa", each time there are strict requirements and standards. The first time to send "Bailaijia" (clan wine), to 6 bottles, to the female father's clan of male family members to eat; the second time to send "Bailai Meng" (neighbor wine), also 6 bottles, to the village to eat; the third to send "Bailai The third time you have to send "Bai Lai Pai Xie Cuo" (Open Door Wine), just one bottle, for the girl's mother to eat.

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Wa Wedding Ceremony:

Wa wedding ceremony is simple and rustic. The Wa young man's marriage proposal is warm and bold, and the young man will look for an opportunity to seize the girl's collar or bracelet ornaments after he sees his sweetheart. Even if the robbed girl loves the young man very much in her heart, she has to shout and pretend to resist. This custom is called "unique Ranmu". The young man took the girl's decorations, if the girl in three or two days to ask for, is equal to the acceptance of the courtship, the two sides can report to the parents to divine the end of the marriage.

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Young men and women generally choose to get married in the idle season: one is in the fourth month of the lunar calendar, that is, the Wa tribe held a ritual activity of cutting the tail of the cow to cover the month before the wooden drum room; the second is between September and December, from the completion of the repair of the house to the sun deck to the sacrifice of the water ghosts during this period of time. When a Wa girl gets married, her parents have to prepare a dowry for her. The dowry consists of clothes, covers, textile tools and production tools. The silver jewelry worn by the girl at the time of her marriage is not accompanied by the dowry, but is taken in the form of borrowing and wearing, which is returned to the mother's family after one or two years of borrowing and wearing, or else the groom's family pays for the purchase of the silver jewelry.

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The marriage ceremony of Wa is relatively simple, and the wedding period **** three days. On the first day, the man and the woman each invite the townspeople of their village to have a meal of wine and rice. On the second day, the man sends a bride-price to the woman's family, which contains part of the cash, part of the wedding supplies and gifts for the woman's family. On the third day, the parents hold the girl's hand and send her to the man's house with the bridegroom's team. After the bride came to the man's home, by the magic Ba kill chicken to read the trigrams, and the newlyweds blessing.