What are the customs of the Tu people?

In Tujia's yard, the location of the house is determined by the orientation of the gate, the five elements of Yin and Yang, and the gossip. The main house of a well-off family has five purlins built on the main ridge, two large rooms with seven purlins, and a hall with purlins in front and behind. Most of the wooden components in this house are painted and carved beams. Other houses are small bungalows with civil structures. Except in summer, most Turks in alpine regions sleep on hot kang. There are two kinds of hot kang, one made of mud is called mud kang, and the other is made of wood.

As the ancestors of the Tu nationality settled in the eastern part of Qinghai, they initially engaged in animal husbandry production, taking meat and dairy products as their staple food. After they turned to agricultural production, the traditional nomadic customs remained, such as drinking milk tea, buttered tea, fried noodles with butter, eating large pieces of meat and drinking large bowls of wine. Due to the high altitude and arid climate in eastern Qinghai, crops can only be planted with wheat, highland barley, broad beans, peas, potatoes and rape.

Tu people pay special attention to etiquette, and people greet each other when they meet. During the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, relatives and friends all bring their own food to worship each other. When you build a villa, build a house, install a gate, have a full moon, and get married, invite friends and relatives to congratulate you. The Turkish people are warm and hospitable, and there is a saying that "visitors are blessed", and they have special respect for their elders and distinguished guests. On holidays or when guests come, first of all, three glasses of wine are offered to the guests at the door, which is called "three glasses of wine at the door". Then, the guests are invited to sit on the kang. According to their age or seniority, the host should provide three glasses of wine to the guests. It's called "three glasses of lucky wine" Guests who can't drink can dip their ring finger in wine and play it three times in the air. At this time, the housewife respectfully served the cooked food on a wooden tray and suggested that the guests enjoy it. When guests go out, they should propose a toast for three cups, which is called "three glasses of wine at once".

The Spring Festival is the most solemn festival for the Tu people. Before the festival, preparations were made from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, such as cleaning the house, sewing new clothes, killing pigs and sheep, branding and frying steamed bread. Generally, the Spring Festival lasts more than ten days. On New Year's Eve, clean the quadrangle, put up money horses, Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures, and then have dinner. Some people tell stories at night. Some people drink and sing until all night. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, men went up the mountain to stew mulberry, "releasing deer and horses" ("stew mulberry", which means smoke sacrifice in Chinese and Tibetan characters. "deer and horse" is a kind of five-color square paper printed with flying horses, which floats in the wind at the top of the mountain, indicating good luck. Children and women begin to wear holiday clothes. When the East is hazy and bright, families and neighbors pay New Year greetings to each other. During the Chinese New Year, men, women and children gather in spacious alleys or on the threshing floor. In autumn, they wander around, kicking shuttlecocks, playing wool balls and dancing Zhao An until the 15th day of the first month.

Besides the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, Tujia people also have a grand time. On the fifth day of May, people drink realgar wine and eat bean jelly and cold noodles. Men, women and children should wear holiday clothes and wear "locks" (tied around their necks, wrists and ankles with colored silk thread), and children should also wear sachets. Make big moon cakes one or two days before Mid-Autumn Festival. On the surface, moon cakes should be decorated with various patterns. It's better to be big and beautiful. Mooncakes must be given to friends and relatives. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, a square table should be placed in the middle of the yard, with moon cakes and melons, green oil lamps lit and mulberries simmered to welcome the moon out. Now the custom of harvesting the moon has gradually disappeared, and the whole family is mainly happy for reunion.

Weddings of Tu people are always expressed by singing, just like a splendid opera and a ballet, and the beautiful dance of "Zhao An" runs through. The wedding of the Tu nationality is the overall reflection of its culture, religion, living customs and national characteristics, and it is an important basis for studying the material and spiritual forms of this nationality. (Source: Tencent Travel)