Characteristics of She Nationality in Zhejiang Province

She people call themselves "Shanha", which means customers who live in the mountains. It is said that the ancestral home of She nationality is Chaozhou, Guangdong. Mainly distributed in Fuan, Fujian, Jingning, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Anhui and other provinces, mostly mixed with Han people. The population is 630,378 (1the fourth census in 1990).

There is only one She Autonomous County in China, which is located in the mountainous area of southern Zhejiang. The She nationality in Jingning originated in the second year of Tang Yongtai (766) and settled in Jingning when it moved from Fujian to southwest Zhejiang, with a history of 1200 years. Therefore, Jingning is also called Shexiang, China.

1984 On June 30th, Zhejiang Jingning She Autonomous County was established. There are 57 ethnic townships in the She inhabited area.

She nationality is dominated by agriculture, and its agricultural products are mainly rice, sweet potato, wheat, rape and tobacco. The mountainous area where she people live is rich in trees and bamboo, and tea enjoys a high reputation in domestic and foreign markets.

Language and writing: She people have their own language, but they don't have their own writing. Ninety-nine percent of the She people use China Hakka dialect and commonly use Chinese.

Traditional culture: She nationality's traditional culture is very rich. Song of Gaudi is a famous epic, which mainly describes the origin and migration of this nation. She people especially like to sing folk songs, and "She songs" are the pearl of She culture. In sacrificial ceremonies, praying to God and worshipping Buddha, entertaining guests, festivals or ordinary life and labor, people talk with songs and answer questions like a flood. The "novel song" is a form of narrative folk songs of the She nationality, which is mostly adapted from Zhang Hui's novels or ballads of storytelling of the Han nationality, and some are compiled according to their own folk stories, such as The Legend of the White Snake, butterfly lovers, Indigo Rain and so on. "Wedding Dance" is unique. Both men and women express their love and enter into marriage by "singing" (singing folk songs in pairs).

Custom: When guests arrive at the door, they should offer tea first, and usually drink two dishes. There is a saying: "Drinking a bowl of tea is heartless tea." There is another saying: "One bowl of bitterness, two bowls of tonic, three bowls of gargle." As long as the guest takes the host's tea, he must drink the second bowl. If the guest is thirsty, he can explain in advance until he is satisfied with the drink. If the visitor is a female guest, the host will also put on snacks such as melon seeds, peanuts and fried beans.

She women living in the mountainous areas along the northeast coast of Fujian have the custom of wearing "three knives". The "three knives" are actually three metal pipes that look like knives, with sharp edges on both sides and five or six inches long. According to legend, this custom began in the late Ming Dynasty, when foreign enemies invaded the southeast coast of China. In order to prevent the invaders' insults, she women put three short swords in their bun, which can be used to resist foreign enemies and protect themselves in times of crisis. The custom of three knives shows the bold and simple character of She women.

Marriage custom: She nationality is monogamous, and the same surname does not get married. The wedding of She nationality has a unique flavor. The Yue family greeted the groom. When the Yue family eats, there is nothing on the table. The groom must sing one by one, such as "Chopsticks Song" if he wants chopsticks, and "Wine Song" if he wants wine. The chef will also sing a song, and things will come out. After dinner, the groom needs to sing back the things on the table one by one.

In the She nationality, besides the usual extramarital affairs of women, there is also the marriage custom of men marrying women. There are two ways for a man to marry a woman: one is to marry an unmarried woman, called "being a son-in-law"; The widow's son-in-law is called "home". Families without sons have many sons who can be adopted through marriage, but many families with sons also let their sons adopt through marriage and let their daughters keep their "sons" (that is, sons-in-law). Generally, adopted children take their mother's surname, and two sons take their parents' surnames respectively. If both husband and wife are only children, they have to be "two families", that is, they have to take care of two families in the first few years of marriage and have no fixed abode. After a few years, you can determine that the economic conditions are better and settle down in the couple's home.

There are two stages before marriage: affinity and engagement, and a lot of etiquette. When getting married, the man sent a wedding procession consisting of the groom's uncle, the singer "Chilang", the groomsman's "Jiegu", the cook and the glib Chilang. Two days before the wedding, the matchmaker led him to the woman's house to set off firecrackers to open the door, give gifts and take off his shoes (take off sandals, wash his feet and wear new cloth shoes). The song banquet that night will last all night. If the male singer can't answer the female singer's question, his face will be covered with the bottom of the pot, which will lead to laughter. The next day, at the woman's home, a ceremony of "asking for grandpa" was held for her, that is, to report the marriage to the ancestral tablet and ask for blessings. Later, the bride's mother put the dowry on the bed, and the mother and daughter sat by the bed crying, which was called "crying dowry". The third day is a formal wedding, and the bride decides the time to get on the sedan chair according to the distance of her husband's family. The principle is to get to the groom's house before dawn. On the way, the bride can't look back to ensure that she will grow old together after marriage. Outside the groom's door, the bride wants an umbrella to pass through the red cloth bag placed in front, symbolizing succession. On the way to nave, relatives and friends of in-laws will sprinkle peanuts and wish them many children. The groom didn't see the bride until he worshipped his ancestors in the nave. On the third day after marriage, the groom accompanied the bride back to her parents' home to hold a return gift. Stay for two or four nights, and then go back to your husband's house. To this day, this ancient rule is still followed in Shexiang.

Taboo: avoid picking dung, sedan chairs and blowing horns on the first day of the first month; Avoid being a beggar; Avoid dog meat.

Festivals: She people attach great importance to traditional festivals and ancestor worship. Every year, February, July and August 15th are ancestor worship days, and she believes in ghosts and gods. When offering sacrifices to ancestors, two glasses of wine, a cup of tea, three meats and three vegetables, six bowls of dishes, and candied fruit in different seasons. During the festival, except for wine and meat, there are certain traditional habits for eating anything in every festival. But no matter what festival, we should make Ciba. Besides killing chickens and ducks, adults should also make Ciba on their birthdays.

"March 3rd" is a traditional festival of She nationality, which is held every year on the third day of the third lunar month. Its main activity is to go for an outing and eat black rice to commemorate our ancestors, also known as "Ebony Day". Black rice is to dye glutinous rice black with the juice of a plant. According to legend, in the Tang Dynasty, the leaders of the She nationality, Lei Wanxing and Lan Fenggao, led the She people to rebel against the ruling class at that time and were besieged by the imperial army in the mountains. The soldiers lived for a year by eating a kind of wild fruit called "black rice", and rushed out of the encirclement on March 3 of the following year to win. In order to commemorate them, people regard March 3 as a festival and eat "black rice" to commemorate them. During the festival, dozens of nearby She people gathered in the concert hall, singing from morning till night, including praising Pan Hu and remembering their ancestors. The whole Sheshan is immersed in the ocean of songs. In the evening, every household eats "black rice". Late at night, ancestor worship activities were held.

In addition, the She people also celebrate the Spring Festival. In addition to killing chickens and pigs during the Spring Festival, we should also make Ciba. I wish you good luck in the new year and every day is sweet. On the first morning, the whole family paid homage to "the founder of Pangu", and the old man talked about the difficulty of starting a business in his ancestors. Later, the family got together, sang folk songs and gave gifts. Young men and women walk from one village to another, expressing their feelings and exchanging friendship with songs.

Clothing: Her clothing is reflected in women's clothing. Women's dresses of She nationality are slightly different from place to place, and their * * * feature is that there are more embroidery on them. Especially the blouses of Fuding and Xiapu in Fujian have various embroidery patterns, flowers, birds, dragons and phoenixes on the collar, lapel, clothes bucket and even cuffs. In the hot climate, no matter what season, women will wear shorts, leggings and colored belts around their waists. The hair plate is combed in a spiral or disc shape on the top of the head and wrapped with red hair.

Drinking tea is essential in the daily life of She people, and most of them are self-produced baked green tea.

Festivals, Sacrifices and Eating Habits She people attach great importance to traditional festivals. During festivals, besides wine and meat, she also has some traditional habits, and eats anything at every festival. Such as: eating black rice on March 3rd, eating Tomb-Sweeping Day in Tomb-Sweeping Day and making zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival. But no matter what festival, we should make Ciba. Besides killing chickens and ducks, adults should also make Ciba on their birthdays. There is a saying in the She family: "An adult's birthday is a mortar, and a child's birthday is a pair of eggs."

When offering sacrifices to ancestors, two glasses of wine, a cup of tea, three meats and three vegetables, six bowls of dishes, and candied fruit in different seasons.

The wedding of She nationality is very interesting. The groom was greeted by the Yue family, who paid for the meal. When eating, if there is nothing on the table, the groom must say it one by one. For example, if you want chopsticks, you can sing "Chopsticks Song", if you want wine, you can sing "Wine Song", and the chefs should sing together, and the object will come out. After dinner, the groom needs to sing back the objects on the table one by one.

When guests come to the door, they should serve tea first, and usually drink two dishes. There is a saying: "Drinking a bowl of tea is heartless tea." There is another saying: "One bowl of bitterness, two bowls of tonic, three bowls of gargle." As long as the guest takes the host's tea, he must drink the second bowl. If the guest is thirsty, he can explain in advance until he is satisfied with the drink. If the visitor is a female guest, the host will also put on snacks such as melon seeds, peanuts, fried beans and dried vegetables.

She nationality's liquor is mainly self-brewed white wine and glutinous rice wine. There is also a kind of green qu liquor in Jingning mountain area. There are two kinds of liquor: open burning and dark burning.

Typical foods Her unique typical foods are: marinated ginger; Kimchi is a she ethnic cuisine, usually pickled with pepper, ginger, radish and so on. , and is called bad pepper, bad ginger, etc. Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is called horn by the people. Black rice, a seasonal food on March 3rd, is a shiny black rice made by mashing the tender leaves of black rice tree (called black branch in She language) and soaking glutinous rice in juice. It is said that eating black rice is not afraid of ants biting.