Living Habits, Festivals and Wear of the Zhuang People

, a pair of small pockets sewn on the chest, two large pockets on the abdomen, the hem folded inward into a wide edge and a symmetrical slit opened at the lower edge on the left and right sides. Wearing wide pants, short below the knee. Some of them wrap their legs and tie their headscarves. In winter, they wear shoes and hats (or black scarves), and in summer, they are barefoot. On festivals or visits to relatives, they wear cloud-head shoes or double-hooked duckbill shoes. Straw shoes are worn during labor. The dress of Zhuang women is dignified and simple. Their general dress is all blue and black, with slightly wider trouser legs, colorful printed or jacquard towels wrapped around their heads, and delicate aprons tied around their waists. Tops with navy blue or dark blue short collar right-over-overlap blouse (some in the neck, cuffs, lapel are embroidered with colorful lace), divided into two kinds of lapel and placket, collarless and collared difference. There is a secret pocket hidden in the front lapel of the abdomen, and several pairs of cloth knot buttons are sewn with the lapel. In the remote mountainous areas, Zhuang women also wear broken chest lapel coat, collarless, embroidered with five-color pattern, set on the appendix. Wearing wide fat black pants (some of them also set two different color strips along the leg), waist tie apron, pants set on the knees of the blue, red, green silk and cotton appliqués. When working, they wear straw shoes and shoulder pads. Embroidered shoes are worn during dike rushes, songfests or festivals. Zhuang women generally prefer to wear earrings, bracelets and collars. The color of clothing and the small ornaments worn vary slightly from place to place. There are two schools of thought on the length of blouses, with most areas being short and waist-length, and a few areas having blouses as long as the knee. Living Habits The Zhuang like to live by the mountains and the water, and the traditional dwellings are building houses, half-floor houses and ground houses. The staple food of the Zhuang is rice and corn, and various kinds of flour cakes are made from rice. Sashimi is the delicacy. Five-color rice is eaten on March 3rd. Roasted pigs. Chicken is also a specialty of the Zhuang for hospitality. The Zhuang are also mainly agricultural. The traditional folk festival is the Song Wei The Zhuang are one of the most populous of China's ethnic minorities, living mainly in Guangxi and Wenshan in Yunnan Province, but also in Lianshan in Guangdong Province, Congjiang in Guizhou Province, and Jianghua in Hunan Province. The population is over 17 million (2005).

Traditional Festivals

Song Polder

Song polder is prevalent in the Zhuang region. The period of the pike is not exactly the same everywhere, but it is most prevalent in spring and fall. Spring is more in the Spring Festival after a period of time, for the first four or first seven February, February 19, the third of March, March 16 and so on; fall is more in the Mid-Autumn Festival after a period of time, for the fifteenth of August or the ninth of September, the tenth of October and so on. In addition, there are unscheduled song dike, which is often common. Regular song dike generally held three or two times a year, the scale of the large tens of thousands of people to participate in, the small also have one or two thousand people. Unscheduled song pike is generally small, thirty or fifty people, one or two dozen people can be carried out. Song Wei sung on the song, mainly to the male and female youth in pursuit of beautiful love ideals as the theme. The content of the songs are generally meeting songs, invitation songs, disk songs, new songs, adoration songs, oath songs, farewell songs and so on. Song Wei generally lasts for one day, there are also two or three consecutive days. Participate in the song dike in addition to young people, there are also middle-aged and teenagers. Elderly children are mainly "watching the battle", appreciation, evaluation, some elderly singers to participate in the activities, but they do not sing, but to the young people as a counselor. Song Wei is very lively, in addition to the youth of the song, there are singing, doing business. All kinds of daily necessities, silk cloth, food and cakes, chickens, ducks, fish, meat, vegetables, etc., everything. In fact, the song Wei also with a few points of the nature of the fair.

Song will

Song will be different from the song Wei, probably derived from the song Wei. Song will not necessarily be held, as long as there is a need, can be carried out at any time. The number of participants in the song will be more than a thousand, as few as three or two dozen. Songs sung at the song, mainly to show the Zhuang people to change society, change the thought of life passion and vision of future life as the theme. The content of the song from the beginning of the song, and then to the dedication of the song, song, evaluation of the song, and the song, learn the song, unity song and so on. Participants are usually adults who have a sense of current affairs.

The Spring Festival of the Zhuang People

The Spring Festival of the Zhuang people lasts from the 30th day of the Lunar New Year to the first and second days of the first month of the Lunar New Year, ***3 days, but the fourth and fifth days of the first month of the Lunar New Year are still counted as the Spring Festival period. It is the grandest festival of the year. Generally from the twenty-third of Lunar New Year onwards to make preparations, families engaged in sanitation, sewing clothes and pants, buying New Year's goods, posting couplets, making pastries, killing pigs, wrapping dumplings. The Spring Festival is a day of reunion, all the people who work outside, generally rushed home before the 30th of the year to get together and have a reunion dinner. During the Spring Festival, in addition to visiting friends and relatives, young men and women go to participate in songs, playing gyro, dancing, ball games, theater and other recreational and sports activities. New Year's Eve

Every family kills chickens and ducks, steams buckled meat, powdered meat, and makes barbecued pork. The eight-course dinner includes "white chopped chicken", and families with elderly people make stewed pig's feet and whole chickens. Rice is made in large quantities and left over for the next day to symbolize wealth.

New Year's Eve

Families keep watch until the rooster crows in the middle of the night, when firecrackers are set off to welcome in the new year. In the past, some places to firecrackers called "cattle soul" (Zhuang language called "Ou Soul Huai"), meaning that the soul of the old ox is still scattered in the field, the cattle soul back, the beginning of the new year, the old ox should be hard work again to serve the host family. "Recruiting cattle soul" began, some people beat gongs and drums, blowing Xiao and flute, the whole village overflowing with a joyful atmosphere. The Zhuang family wrapped dumplings for the New Year, but never eat dumplings on the night of the 30th of the year.

The first and second days of the first month

Where guests must eat rice dumplings. The zongzi of the Zhuang family is the more noble food. Dumplings are large and small, large one or two pounds, small two or three two, there is a called "wind Mo" (oversized dumplings), weighing one or two pounds. The main ingredient of the rice dumplings is glutinous rice, but to have a filling. Stuffing is made from peeled green beans, half-fat and not thin pork rind mixed with the above sauce, hostage in the heart of the dumplings, cooked, the flavor of the aroma is a masterpiece.

The Gyro Festival

In Guangxi, where the Zhuang people live, a famous sports event is held every year - the Gyro Festival. The time is from the old calendar year New Year's Eve two or three days before the New Year's Eve to the 16th day of the first month of the new year, lasting more than half a month. Gyro, the Zhuang language called "Lejiang", it has a large and small, light and heavy. There are as big as Hetian pomelo, weighing about a catty, there are as small as a goose egg, there are two or three taels. The production of gyro must choose the texture of good solid wood. Its "head" should be round and smooth. "Hit" time, with two or three feet long twine circle by circle upward winding, has been wrapped to their own think appropriate place, and then the right hand ring finger and little finger hold the end of the twine, quickly to the ground a spin, gyro "hoo hoo" turn up. Good quality gyro, coupled with the spinning technology, spinning up to seven or eight minutes before falling down. Competition to play gyro is even more lively, the first place winner honored as "gyro king". It is said that since the rise of the gyro, there has been more than 300 years of history.

Long Duan Festival

Long Duan Festival is a traditional festival of the Zhuang people in Funing County, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The word "Longduan" is a translation of the Zhuang language, which means to go to a wide and flat place to get together. According to legend, during the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to resist the brutal oppression and exploitation of the feudal rulers, Nong Zhigao led the Zhuang people in Guangxi to rise up, won successes, established the "South Heavenly Kingdom", called himself "South Heavenly King", and was very powerful in Nanning, Qinzhou and Guangzhou. Later, the rebels lost and retreated to Funing. In order to quell the peasants' revolt and weaken the power of the rebel army, the Northern Song rulers demobilized the Zhuang people to Guizhou and other places. Before saying goodbye, the Zhuang people have gathered, sad to say goodbye, and instructed the villagers to return to the reunion in the coming year. Since then, every year in March of the lunar calendar, the Zhuang people living in other countries return to their homes to reunite with friends and relatives. With the passage of time, the formation of the "Longduan" festival. Longduan Festival began on March 25th of the lunar calendar, lasted three days. Before the festival, as the host village, kill pigs and cows, set up a theater on the field dam, and make arrangements to receive guests for food and lodging. At that time, the girls put on collarless tops and batik skirts with silver rows on the corners and cuffs and embroidered lace patterns, put on brocade bibs, and wear embroidered shoes, which are beautiful and colorful. The handsome young men meet the girls and sing and dance until sunset. Those who are still interested can follow the girls into the village to continue the song.

Eating Festival

The Eating Festival is a unique festival of the Zhuang people in Longzhou County and Pingxiang City of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. "Eat Li" means "celebrate" in Zhuang language. The Zhuang people have a tradition of celebrating the Spring Festival. However, when the Spring Festival came in 1894, the French invaders invaded our borders. In order to combat the invaders, young and strong men went to the frontier, bravely killed the enemy and defended their homeland. On the 30th day of the first month, the soldiers returned in triumph, the townspeople killed chickens and slaughtered sheep, made sticky rice, hospitality, *** with the celebration of victory, make up for the Spring Festival. Since then, gradually formed to eat Li Festival. During the festival, people dance lions, play dragon lanterns, singing and dancing, lively. Yabai Festival

Guangxi Ning, SuoWu around the Zhuang, every April rabbit that day, have to kill a cow, a pig, two chickens and forty-eight fish, to Yabai mountain to go, laying sacrifices to the Zhuang women Yabai. On that day, men and women, young and old were present, and the ceremony was very solemn. Legend has it that Yabai was the leader of a Zhuang cottage, who led the Zhuang people to fight with the government soldiers and was killed after the defeat. The people buried her to the top of the mountain, and called this mountain Yabai Mountain. Every year, on the day of Yabai's death, the Zhuang people would kill cows and pigs to pay tribute to her. In this way, year after year to pay tribute, never interrupted, over time, they formed a festival - Yabai Festival.