Russian Ethnic Problems in China

Russians are descendants of Russian immigrants. According to the fifth national census in 2000, the total population of Russia is 15609. Russians are distributed in 3/kloc-0 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, mainly concentrated in the northwest of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the north of Heilongjiang Province and Hulunbeier City in the northeast of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with a population of about 1.4 million, accounting for 89.40% of the total population of Russians.

The word "Russia" comes from the name "Ross" of an ancient Eastern Slavic tribe in Europe. The ancestors of the Russians lived in Eastern Europe at the earliest, and were called "Villedi" by Roman historians in the 1 th century. They live in the Vistula River and the southern bank of the Baltic Sea and are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. In the 6th century, they were already called "Ross". /kloc-in the 0 th century, Russian Dagong Oleg controlled the surrounding tribes centered on Kiev. /kloc-in the 3rd century, Kiev Russia was annexed by the Mongols and incorporated into the Golden Account khanate established by the Mongols. When Yuan Wenzong was emperor, he recruited 1000 Russian soldiers from the Golden Tent khanate as guards and farmed in different fields. This is the earliest record of Russians entering China in large numbers in history, and they are called Semu people in China history books. Starting from the14th century, Russians broke away from the Gulos tribe and established a centralized state with Moscow as the center at the end of15th century and the beginning of16th century.

In terms of racial classification, Russians belong to the European race (white). The human body is characterized by white skin, brown or blue eyes, high nose, thin lips, soft yellow hair and tall figure. The third kind of hair (beard, armpit hair, etc. ) moderately developed. As a result of intermarriage with neighboring nationalities, the Russian ethnic group in China has gradually changed its constitution and has the characteristics of yellow race.

Russians in China moved from tsarist Russia as early as the18th century. /kloc-In the late 8th century, due to the cruel rule of Russia, a large number of Russians moved to China, especially at the end of 19 and before and after the Russian October Revolution, more Russians poured into northern Xinjiang, northeast China and northeast Inner Mongolia from Siberia and other places. After the October Revolution in Russia, some people fled the war and entered China. At that time, they were called "naturalized people" and the village where they lived together was called "naturalized village". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was changed to the Russian ethnic group, which was recognized as a minority in China and enjoyed equal rights with people of other ethnic groups. The living customs, material culture and spiritual culture of Russians in China are basically the same as those of Russians in Russia.

Because Russians have not migrated to our country for a long time, many of them have their own relatives and friends in the former Soviet Union countries. After the founding of New China, their relationship resumed, and many people asked to go back to their hometown to reunite with their relatives. In the 1950s, with the consent of the Chinese and Soviet governments, they were helped to move back to their hometown. In addition, some Russians have moved to Australia and Canada because they also have relatives there. Therefore, the population of Russians in China is running out.

[Edit this paragraph] National language

Russians have their own language and writing, using Russian and Slavic kirill alphabet. * * * has 33 letters, which is different from printed and handwritten letters. This language belongs to the Slavic family of Indo-European family. In society, they all speak and use Chinese. At home, when interacting with their people, they also speak and use Russian. Russian is characterized by vowels and consonants. Consonants are divided into unvoiced consonants (vocal cords do not vibrate) and voiced consonants (vocal cords vibrate). In addition, Russian consonants can also be divided into soft consonants and hard consonants, and their pronunciation actions are basically the same. The main difference is that when making soft consonants, the middle of the tongue needs to be raised to the upper jaw. Nouns are singular and plural, with changes in part of speech and case, and verbs are in the categories of form, tense, person and aspect.

[Edit this paragraph] Production technology

Before 1949, Russians in China lived in cities and towns, engaged in various repairs, transportation and handicrafts, and some engaged in agriculture. They are good at gardening and beekeeping, and some of them specialize in gardening, raising livestock and beekeeping. Most Russian people in rural areas live together with dozens of families and become a single village. Most of them cultivate land on both sides of the Ili River and the Tekes River. In some places near pastoral areas, there are also people engaged in animal husbandry.

After liberation, Russians, like people of all ethnic groups, enjoyed full democratic rights. China and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have all had representatives of Russians. Russian people actively participate in democratic reform, socialist transformation and socialist construction. Through employment, most urban residents become workers on all fronts of industry, trade, finance and health. Some Russians in Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia participated in the local state-owned farms and became agricultural workers.

[Edit this paragraph] Religious belief

Most Russians believe in the Orthodox Church, just like Russians abroad.

At first, the Russians in our country believed that the soul was immortal and that the soul was still alive after death. In modern times, most of them have converted to the Orthodox Church, some believe in Christianity of other sects, and more and more people are not religious. There are two kinds of religious activities in Russia, one is to do morning prayers and evening prayers at home, and the other is to go to church to listen to the preacher. When you pray, you draw a cross on your chest. Orthodox Christians draw crosswalks from right to left, which is different from Catholicism. In Yili, Tacheng and Urumqi in Xinjiang, Harbin and Qiqihar in Heilongjiang, there are Orthodox churches built by Russians.

Unlike Catholicism, the Orthodox Church does not recognize the position and power of the Pope over other bishops. Advocate that all priests can get married except bishops. The main festivals are Easter, Christmas and baptism. Christmas in the Orthodox Church begins on 65438+1October 7th. Just after the New Year, the Russian favorite Christmas (родество) followed. Christmas in the Orthodox Church is always called "святки" (Christmas), which lasts for two weeks from 65438+10.7 until the end of Epiphany. The day before Christmas, that is, 65438+1October 6th, is called Christmas Eve (сочельник), which is called Christmas Eve in the west. On Christmas Eve, Christians must fast all day and do not break fast until evening. On the night before Christmas, believers and non-believers are used to eating Christmas geese, which is essential for Christmas dinner. People fill the stomachs of bought geese with apples, bread and oily onions, add various seasonings and bake cooked food.

[Edit this paragraph] National Literature

Russian literature occupies an important position in world culture, and its main source is the oral literary heritage left by Russian ancestors to future generations, such as long epics, nursery rhymes and proverbs. Especially at the beginning of19th century, Russian literary heritage had a certain influence on Russian culture in China.

Russians have excellent traditional culture and rich literature and art, among which written literature mainly includes poems and novels. For example, Ivan, a Russian immigrant who joined China, wrote a novel called Escape, which mainly described their experiences of fleeing from Russia to China. A Russian female teacher once wrote a poem "We are Members of the Chinese Nation", which reflects the harmony and unity of our family in China. In addition, there are a large number of Russian folk oral literature, including myths and legends, stories, fables, aphorisms, proverbs, riddles, rap and other forms, most of which praise the noble qualities of working people such as diligence, wisdom, kindness, creativity and courage to overcome difficulties.

[Edit this paragraph] National Music

Russians with profound musical and cultural traditions regard music and dance as their life, and they are accompanied by songs, dances and musical instruments, whether in religious ceremonies or in daily festive and entertainment occasions.

Russian music circulating in China can be divided into religious music and folk music, with folk music with diverse styles as the main body; Its music belongs to the typical European music system, and its mode scale adopts European mode, and its texture is mainly multi-voice, which has the characteristics of longitudinal and harmonious musical thinking and is unique among 56 ethnic groups.

Russian folk songs have a wide range of contents, which can be divided into ritual songs, lyric songs, narrative songs and short dance music.

Ritual songs are an important form of Russian folk songs, which are mostly related to the traditional customs of the nation. They are mainly used in weddings and funeral ceremonies, among which the most representative is wedding songs. In traditional Russian weddings, relatives and friends will come to congratulate the girl the day before her wedding, and sing goodbye when the female companions dress up for the bride. The song is full of feelings of parting, which is very sad. Flying Swallow is a very famous wedding song.

Lyric songs mostly show the content of love, and the melody is very beautiful. Most of these songs are in the form of two or three choruses, using natural minor scales and sometimes leading the crowd. Each voice can be freely combined and adjusted at any time, maintaining the balance between the voices, with unique musical style and strong artistic expression. Fishermen's songs, which are widely circulated among the people, are lyric songs sung by a leader and two choirs. The lyrics tell the love story of the fisherman's three sons. The high-pitched part of this song adopts distinct natural minor, while the low-pitched part has the characteristics of melody minor. The melody is deep and restrained, which is deeply loved by people.

There are a large number of narrative songs in Russian folk, which are sung repeatedly in the form of one song and many words, with a wide range of contents and themes. This kind of songs belong to multi-voice chorus, such as "My son died in the battlefield" and "A lush orchard" with the theme of war, with rich harmony and solemn music; There are also "Wandering Girls" and "Rugged Altai Mountain Road" which reflect the tragic fate and love experience of women, with sad colors.

In many folk festivals or entertainment gatherings, lively and cheerful Russian folk dance is an indispensable entertainment program. The music accompanying these dances is mostly short dance music sung in the form of solo or duet, or music played by folk instruments. There are a large number of dance music circulating in Russian folk, with humorous content, lively and lively tunes and square structure, which can be improvised and suitable for accompaniment or solo singing. The tunes of dance music generally come from folk songs, but there are also a few special dance music such as Karin Nushka, mirka and Aquino Chika.

Russian instrumental culture is also relatively developed, and almost all men can play musical instruments. Common folk musical instruments are Bayan (accordion), guitar, mandolin and Balalaika. "Balalaika" is a distinctive Russian folk musical instrument, which is also called "grand piano" because of its triangular shape. It belongs to a stringed instrument, with a long flat handle, white bone chips with scales embedded in the front end, slightly carved on the upper part of the handle, and four strings standing obliquely. In the lower center of the speaker, there is a piano code with strings, which is usually tuned in four degrees. There are five or six shapes of high, middle and low notes. Among them, the tenor Balalaika has the brightest and clearest timbre, and often plays with mandolin, guitar and accordion. It is deeply loved by young people and widely circulated among the people. On the basis of Russian folk songs, instrumental music is mostly developed by adding flowers to melody or decomposing chords. Song and dance and chorus are usually performed at parties, and musicians often have high performance skills and variation ability. Famous music includes My Darling, Carla Busca and so on.

[Edit this paragraph] National Dance

Russians are also a nation that can sing and dance well. They often hold various family banquets and parties, including ballroom dancing, Russian dancing, Swan Lake dancing, Ukrainian dancing, Russian group dancing, tap dancing, headscarf dancing and carriage dancing. , graceful, with strong national characteristics.

Tap dancing is a folk dance of the Russian nation and one of the Easter dances. When dancing this dance, men, women and children put on leather shoes and participate together. Accompanied by the accordion, people form a circle and hit the ground with a part of their toes, heels or soles, making a kicking sound. Women danced and waved silk, men whistled while dancing, and violinists joined the dance, pulling and dancing. The rhythm is clear and changeable, the movements under the feet are flexible and loud, and the scene is lively and warm.

[Edit this paragraph] National Entertainment

Russians have lived in the north for generations, and their sports activities are mostly related to natural conditions and living environment. In winter, Russians like skating and skiing, as well as wrestling and playing football. They are fast and have a lot of exercise. They like fishing in summer and hunting in autumn. They also have the custom of going for an outing. Every spring, young men and women meet for an outing, and people dance, sing and have a picnic in beautiful places with rich food.

[Edit this paragraph] National costumes

Russian traditional costumes are rich and colorful, and people choose different colors and styles in different seasons.

In summer, men wear silk robes and trousers, or white embroidered shirts and bloomers, and octagonal hats. Wear leather coat, sheepskin shearing cap, high boots or felt boots in winter.

In summer, women often wear short jackets and short sleeves, half-open, waist-tied, embroidered or printed dresses, and some people wear collarless embroidered shirts and homemade white long skirts embroidered with colorful patterns. In spring and autumn, people often wear suits or skirts and colorful fedora with feathers as decoration. In winter, they wear skirts, fur coats, high boots, wool scarves or fur hats. The collars, cuffs and chests of men's and women's T-shirts are decorated with exquisite embroidered geometric patterns or floral patterns, which are bright in color and strong in contrast.

The clothes of the elderly have always maintained the traditional style of the former Soviet Union. Most men wear uniforms, breeches, leather boots or shoes, and some people wear forked robes and trousers. Most women wear collarless embroidered jackets, homemade cotton long skirts, and ribbons around their waists. Some people wear dresses.

Russian women's headdresses are quite distinctive, and the headdresses of young girls are strictly different from those of married women. The top of the girl's headdress is open, her hair is exposed, and she combs it into a long braid with colorful hair bands and small glass beads woven in it. A married woman's headdress must be tight and imperforate, that is, her hair should be combed into two braids and put on her head, and then wrapped in a headscarf or hat, otherwise it will be considered polite.

[Edit this paragraph] National Craft

Russian pottery tile is a unique nation, and its folk crafts are very rich and developed, full of artistry and national style, which has a far-reaching impact on folk crafts in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang.

Russian men are mainly engaged in boots and shoes processing, cutting and sewing, wood carving and other industries. The leather shoes and belts for men and women designed and produced by them are diverse, colorful and beautifully processed, and are deeply loved by people. Russian women are mainly engaged in knitting and embroidery. They can weave tapestries, cushions, carpets, headscarves and so on. It is embroidered with figures, flowers and birds, wild animals and other patterns. They are beautiful and generous, and they are all exquisite handicrafts.

[Edit this paragraph] Ethnic Diet

The Russian diet, in many ways, retains the traditional customs of living in Russia in the early days, and is also deeply influenced by the Han nationality and other nationalities. The staple food is their own baked bread, and the non-staple food red vegetable soup is mostly Leba Russian-style cooking. Three meals a day for Russians are: drinking milk and eating buttered bread in the morning; Lunch is bread and vegetables; Dinner is very rich, mostly rice, stir-fry, or pilaf, noodles and so on.

Russian diet not only inherits the traditional cooking habits such as frying, roasting, stewing, frying and cooking, but also absorbs the advantages and experiences of Su Bo (soup) of Han nationality and other nationalities. The Russian diet still maintains the traditional flavor, and the bread and cakes they make are various and delicious. They especially like to eat nutritious vegetables such as cucumbers and tomatoes. Their snacks mixed with milk, eggs, butter and jam were imitated by other local ethnic groups. Smoked sausages, smoked ham and sausages produced by Russian herdsmen's families are deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups.

Russians love drinking and are good at making all kinds of food and drinks. It is famous for baking bread and brewing beer. Russians call beer "more sugar than red vegetables". Homemade beer tastes sweet, unlike ordinary beer.

The staple food of Russians is mainly baked Leba (a kind of hard bread) and pancakes, and the non-staple food includes meat, eggs Leba (bread), enema, milk, butter and so on. They like to eat Russian-style stuffed bread and all kinds of cakes, roast goose, roast beef slices, beef boiled potatoes, sliced pork with eggs and other Russian-style hot dishes, and they like to eat cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and carrots. I like to drink all kinds of vegetables with beef and potatoes, such as Supo soup, white wine (vodka) and my own mellow and sweet beer. Their daily meals mainly include Russian-style Heileba, Brakka, Luliete, Guliqi, Bilogo, Supo, Gadelede, roast beef with potatoes, Buraas, Bourinet and Araghi.