Brief introduction of Zhuang nationality

Brief introduction of Zhuang nationality

Zhuang is the most populous ethnic group in China, with a total population of 1.0045 million, mainly distributed in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Qujing area, as well as in Guangxi, Guangdong Lianshan, Guizhou Congjiang, Hunan Jianghua and other places. Zhuang people have languages, and Chinese is widely used. It belongs to Zhuang-Dai branch of Sino-Tibetan language family.

On the basis of concentrating their folk literature, music, dance and skills, the Zhuang people created Zhuang drama. Tonggu is the most representative folk musical instrument of Zhuang nationality.

Agriculture is the pillar of Zhuang nationality, and the famous Sanqi, Gecko and fennel oil are well-known specialties in Zhuang area. Sugarcane production ranks first in the country.

Zhuangshi

Zhuang nationality is an indigenous people in Lingnan, China. The "Liujiang Man" fossil discovered in 1958 belongs to the late Paleolithic period, about 50,000 years ago. It can be seen that as early as 50 thousand years ago, the ancestors of Zhuang nationality were widely distributed in Guangxi. Together with Buyi, Dai, Dong, Shui and Maonan, it originated from Ou Yue and Max Loehr among the ancient Yue people, and was later called Wuhu, Li, Liao and Tu.

Zhuang nationality is called "convex" and "zi" in the History of Song Dynasty. After liberation, they were called "children". 1965, renamed "Zhuang". Zhuang language belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong language family of Sino-Tibetan language family, which is divided into two dialects: North and South. 1955 created Zhuang language on the basis of Latin alphabet. 1957 "Zhuang Language Plan" was approved by the State Council, ending the history that Zhuang people did not have their own legal language.

Zhuang music

Zhuang population13 million, mainly distributed in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the rest in Yunnan Province. Zhuang people belong to the Dong language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. They have their own personalities, believe in polytheism and worship nature.

Zhuang folk songs and song festivals have a history of thousands of years, and multi-voice folk songs have strong national characteristics. The broad musical range, sometimes jumping and sometimes euphemistic melody reveal the style of Zhuang folk songs.

Zhuang etiquette

Zhuang nationality is a hospitable nation. In the past, any guest in Zhuang village was regarded as a guest in the whole village. Often several families take turns to invite them to dinner, and sometimes five or six families have a meal. Usually, we have the habit of visiting each other. For example, if a family kills pigs, we will invite everyone in the village to have a meal. Be sure to prepare wine for the guests at the table, which will be very grand. The custom of toasting is to have a drink. Actually, a white porcelain spoon is used instead of a cup.

When guests arrive home, they will try their best to give them the best accommodation, especially the elderly and new guests. When eating, you must wait for the oldest old man to sit down before eating; The younger generation must not eat the dishes that the elders have not touched; When serving tea and rice to elders and guests, you must hold it in your hands, not in front of the guests or behind your elders' backs. Those who finish eating first should say "enjoy your meal" to their elders and guests before leaving; The younger generation can't eat the whole table.

Respecting the old and loving the young is the traditional virtue of Zhuang nationality. Old people in Lu Yu should take the initiative to say hello and give way. Don't cross your legs, swear or cross over the old people. When killing a chicken, the head and nose of the chicken must respect the old man. The old people in Lu Yu You Yue should be called "Grandpa" for men and "Grandma" or "Old Lady" for women. When you meet a guest or a person with a heavy load, you should take the initiative to make way. If you encounter the burden of the elderly, you should take the initiative to help and send it to break up.

Zhuang people celebrate festivals.

Zhuang people have festivals almost every month, and the famous festivals include the annual "March 3" song meeting. The most grand festival of Zhuang nationality is Spring Festival, followed by Ghost Festival on July 15, Tomb-Sweeping Day on March 3, Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival, New Year's Eve, Winter Solstice Day, cattle spirits, sending off the stove and so on.

Generally speaking, the preparations for the Spring Festival begin after the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. Slaughter 27 pigs, make 28 packages of zongzi, and make 29? On New Year's Eve, Baba, the whole family, men, women and children, get together and cook rice that they have eaten all day on the first day of the first year, which means wishing a bumper harvest in the coming year. On New Year's Eve, the most distinctive dish is the whole boiled rooster, which is a must for every family. On New Year's Day, before dawn, people get up and freshen up to welcome the beginning of the new year. Zhuang people living in mountainous areas also have a custom of fetching water: during the Spring Festival, women put on new clothes and shoes and filed to the canal by the river to carry fresh water home. As they walked, they dragged stones symbolizing cows, horses, pigs, sheep, dogs and cats, imitating the cries of six animals in their mouths, which implied that they wished "six animals prosper" in the coming year. Bring fresh water back, add brown sugar, bamboo leaves, chopped green onion and ginger and boil it for the whole family and guests. It is said that drinking this auspicious new water will make people smarter in the coming year. The custom of "pumping water" expresses the longing and longing of the Zhuang people for a better life. After the second day of the second year, you can visit relatives and friends and pay New Year greetings to each other. What foods are given to each other? Ba, zongzi, rice candy, etc. It lasted until the 15th Lantern Festival, and in some places it even ended on the 30th of the first month.

During the Spring Festival, the Zhuang people also carried out a variety of cultural and recreational activities, such as singing competitions and dances. Matang dance is a dance that Zhuang people celebrate the New Year and wish a good harvest during the Spring Festival. They think that after dancing in the iron pot, food will pile up in Man Cang in the coming year, so there is a saying, "In the first month, the iron pot will make a noise, and this year will be full of joy." . When dancing, you should sing and dance. Several women each took a rice pestle and knocked on a long wooden stake. They also beat it into rhythm with bamboo tubes. The original name is "Gulang", which means "doing" in Zhuang language, and "Lang" is rice trough. Later, I felt that the wooden pestle was too heavy to dance, so I hit it with a pole and changed my name to "hit Lv Lie". "Lv Lie" is the sound of hitting a pole. Dancers each hold a pole, around the wooden trough, up and down, left and right, singing and playing. The dance steps of Qiangtang dance are vigorous, lively and cheerful, which embodies the industrious, brave, optimistic and heroic character of the Zhuang people.

According to the past custom, March 3 is the day to sweep graves. At that time, every family will send people with colorful glutinous rice and eggs to worship and sweep the graves, and the elders will preach the family history and patriarchal clan rules and have a picnic. And folk songs are also very lively. After 1940, this tradition gradually developed into an organized song competition, and the atmosphere became more grand and warm.

Other festivals also have their own dietary customs, such as eating ducks in the Central Plains, eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival and eating rice cakes on the Double Ninth Festival.

Some festivals of Zhuang nationality are closely related to religious activities. For example, some Zhuang people living in Yunnan offer sacrifices to the "Hall for the Elderly" in the first month of the family calendar, pigs to Longshan on the second day of February, Raytheon on the third day of March, Dragon Boat Festival in May and Yang Liulang in June. The ancestor worship on July 14 was quite grand, and every household had to kill chickens and ducks to worship their ancestors.

The beautiful and rich Zhuang nationality township is known as "the ocean of songs". Especially on the grand "March 3rd", dozens of young men and women in Fiona Fang happily put on their holiday costumes, and the time ranged from several hundred hours to thousands or tens of thousands. Suddenly, a sea of people, loud songs, became a sea of songs.

March 3rd is a traditional festival of Zhuang nationality, and Errenzhuan is a big activity on March 3rd, so it is also called "Song Club" or "Song Club".

Xu Ge is a traditional folk cultural activity of Zhuang nationality, and also a place for young men and women to socialize. In Zhuang language, it is called "Wharton" and "Woyan", which means "playing in the wild". Because this kind of activity sings for each other, the ancients called it "Dunwei".

In the long-term development process, the song fair of Zhuang nationality has left many touching legends. One of the most popular stories is the story of "singing to choose a husband". Legend has it that in the past, the daughter of an old Zhuang singer was very beautiful and good at singing folk songs. The old man hopes to choose a young man with outstanding singing skills as his husband. Young singers from all over the world came here one after another, and Seg proposed. Since then, a formal SEG has been formed.

According to ancient documents, the Song Fair was popular as early as the Song Dynasty, and developed in the Ming Dynasty, and it was held regularly in a fixed place. Zhuang people have large and small song parties, which are different from place to place. However, the third day of the third lunar month is the most grand. Set up a colorful shed, a singing platform, throw a colorful ball and choose a good couple, which is unique. At the concert, young men and women in each village, in groups of three or five, found young people from other villages and sang folk songs collectively. Usually young men take the initiative to sing "sightseeing songs" to observe and find their opponents; With the right person, they will sing "Meeting Song" and "Invitation Song"; If the woman agrees, she will sing "Ask Song". Sing "love songs" and "love songs" when you know them; When they parted, they sang a "Farewell Song", and the lyrics were sung along with the compilation, which was apt and touching. Young men and women have established certain feelings after contacting songs, and they will meet again at the next concert.

At the Expo, besides singing, there are also colorful game activities. There are wonderful throwing hydrangeas, interesting touching red eggs, lively fireworks, and Zhuang opera performances that the masses love.

Niuhun Festival

The eighth day of the fourth lunar month. Also known as the Off-yoke Festival, it is popular in Zhuang mountain villages in Longsheng area of northern Guangxi. Legend has it that this day is the birthday of Niu Wang. Take off the yoke of the cow, scrub the body and graze in a place with rich water and grass. Cowshed should be cleaned and covered with dry straw. There is no labor, let alone flogging, but also singing folk songs to cattle and feeding black rice. In the past, Niuwangmo Temple was built in some livestock farms. On the festival day, pigs were sacrificed and villagers gathered in the temple for dinner. There is a local legend that there were only rocks and yellow sand on the land at the beginning, and Niu Wang was ordered to descend to sow a hundred herbs. He originally planned to spread a handful of grass every three steps, but Niu Wang made a mistake and spread three handfuls every step instead, so that the ground was covered with grass and even the crops were covered with weeds. The Emperor of Heaven was furious and sent the ox king down to earth to eat a hundred herbs. However, the Emperor of Heaven did not forget. Whenever the cow was born, he sent Niu Wangmo to visit and protect the cow king and his descendants to eliminate diseases and disasters for them, so he built Niu Wangmo Temple. Cattle Soul Festival expresses the Zhuang people's love for cattle and their expectation for a bumper harvest in agriculture.

Marriage custom of Zhuang nationality

Villages of Zhuang nationality are generally composed of members with several surnames, without clan organization, and have obvious characteristics of village community. The basic form of Zhuang marriage is monogamy. Branches generally practice intermarriage, but different ethnic groups with the same surname can intermarry. Four generations later, the "natives" family thought that they were not related by blood and could get married. Cousins can get married, cousins can't. An "arbitrary" clan marries outside, and an aunt's son and uncle's daughter can marry, but it is forbidden for an uncle's son and aunt's daughter to marry. Historically, early marriage was widely practiced in Zhuang nationality. According to local records, "early marriage is common for different people", and the form of marriage is basically a dual-track system of free love and arranged by parents. Young men and women have social freedom before marriage, but even if they are congenial, they need their parents' consent to get married. The main way of free marriage is that young men and women choose their spouses by singing folk songs. This way is called "singing the stream" or "catching the wind" locally. For a long time, it has become a system in the marriage life of Zhuang nationality. Until liberation, the Zhuang area in Guangnan was still very popular. In Zhuang society, men and women generally learn to sing a few folk songs from the age of 12 or 13, and they will be able to learn instant love songs at the age of 17 or 18. There are strict rules about where to sing folk songs, whether in a secluded mountain village or in a busy street, they must be recognized by everyone or seen by anyone. Time depends on the local agricultural production season. It is held in different places every year. "Sand People" is held on the first street day of the first month of each year and in February and March. "according to people" is held every year after harvesting and before sowing. During the year, unmarried men and women and married women who don't "sit at home" each carry rice candy, glutinous rice, small towels, small mirrors and other items to sing folk songs in fixed venues. If a young man falls in love with a girl, he can try his best to flirt with her in the stage of group duet. If the girl also has admiration, the two sides will form a pair by asking and answering folk songs. After the duet, you can sit down and entertain each other, give each other small things as keepsakes, and invite them to meet on future street days or festivals. Even if the lovers who sing folk songs are congenial in the future, the man should ask the matchmaker to make a formal request.

Matchmakers usually have to arrange several marriages. Once or twice, they go to the woman's house, and if the woman's parents are interested, they can provide meals. After going back and forth for three or five times, you can agree on marriage and get engaged with a "eight-character". Wedding silver jewelry is very heavy, so it is generally necessary to give the woman a full set of silver jewelry. Parents' arranged marriage also occupies a certain position in Zhuang nationality. Men and women are usually married by their parents at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and some are as early as seven or eight years old. Zhuang society generally retains the marriage custom of "never leaving the husband's family" after marriage and before giving birth. On the third day after marriage, the woman went back to her family to accompany her husband until she became pregnant. At this time, she is called "sitting at home" or "leaving her husband's home". In fact, this is a custom left over from the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy. During the period of "not sitting at home", married women are still regarded as girls in social concept and have the right to sing folk songs and engage in other free social activities with young men. But if you have sex with another man, or even get pregnant, if you are found out, the "old man in the village" must come forward to mediate and punish the adulterer. The punishment method is usually to hang five feet of red cloth on the door, indicating that the ex-husband "receives red"; At the same time, compensate her ex-husband for part of the gift money as an apology. In this case, many people don't divorce, and even the parents of their ex-husbands struggle to make their sons laugh at them, so they don't have to mind. If the adulterer abducts and sells women, the ex-husband has the right to ask relatives and friends to investigate, and the kidnapper must return all the money to the ex-husband. The time a married woman "stays at her husband's house" is generally limited to whether she is pregnant or not. If you can't have children after three to five years, and your sister-in-law has grown up and got married, you should "stay in your husband's family" even if you can't have children, or you will remarry. Zhuang nationality has the custom of adopting an adopted wife. Families of adopted women usually send matchmakers to the man's house, and the man's surname living in his wife's house is changed to the woman's surname. A dead wife can remarry or change rooms. But the transfer is limited to the death of the widowed brother, and the sister-in-law is transferred to the brother's wife.

Zhuang clothing

Zhuang men often wear double-breasted shirts with buttons tied tightly with cloth. Sew a small pocket on the chest to match the two large pockets on the abdomen, and fold the hem inward into a wide edge; Pants are short and wide, and some are leggings; A headscarf with embroidered patterns. Blue and black are the common hobbies of Zhuang women, who like to wear long skirts and short coats, blue embroidered handkerchiefs on their heads and delicate waists. Jackets are divided into double-breasted and offset. Right-handed shirt, collar, cuffs and hem are embroidered with colored lace; Wearing baggy black pants. There is also a black pleated skirt with colorful embroidery on it and colorful cloth stickers below. Wearing a cloth, embroidered waist, and wearing a black headscarf embroidered with patterns. Wear embroidered shoes and embroidered shoulder pads during festivals or fairs.

The diet of Zhuang nationality

Zhuang people in most areas are used to eating three meals during the solar eclipse, and Zhuang people in a few areas also eat four meals, that is, adding a small meal between lunch and dinner. Breakfast and Chinese food are relatively simple, usually porridge, dinner is dinner, dry rice is eaten more, and vegetables are more abundant. Rice and corn are abundant grains in Zhuang areas, which naturally become their staple food.

Daily vegetables include green vegetables, melon seedlings, melon leaves, Beijing cabbage (Chinese cabbage), Chinese cabbage, rape, mustard, lettuce, celery, spinach, kale, spinach, bitter gourd, even bean leaves, sweet potato leaves, pumpkin seedlings, pumpkin flowers and pea seedlings can also be vegetables. Boiling is the most common, as well as the habit of pickling vegetables, such as sauerkraut, sour bamboo shoots, salted radish, kohlrabi and so on. Add lard, salt and chopped green onion when cooking.

Zhuang people love to eat any kind of animal meat, such as pork, beef, mutton, chickens, ducks and geese. In some areas, they also like to eat dog meat. Pork is also cooked in whole pieces, then cut into square pieces, and then put the seasoning back into the pot. Zhuang people are used to making fresh chicken, duck, fish and vegetables into 70-80% maturity, and then frying the vegetables in a hot pot before cooking, so as to keep the dishes delicious.

Zhuang people like hunting and cooking game and insects, and they are very good at the diet of Panax notoginseng. Cooking with flowers, leaves, roots and whiskers of Panax notoginseng is very distinctive. Zhuang people are also good at roasting, frying, stewing, salting and marinating, addicted to alcohol, with spicy and sour tastes, and like to eat crispy dishes. The main specialties are: spicy blood, roasted meat, banker roast duck, salty liver, crisp? Bees, spiced bean worms, fried sand worms, skin liver, ginger rabbit meat, white fried sanqihua frog, Tame chickens, etc.

Zhuang people also brew rice wine, sweet potato wine and cassava wine, which are not too high. Among them, yellow rice wine is the main drink for festivals and entertainments. Some yellow rice wines are called chicken gall and chicken offal wine, and chicken offal and pig liver wine. Drink the chicken offal wine and pork liver wine in one gulp, and chew the chicken offal and pork liver left in your mouth slowly, which can not only relieve the hangover, but also be eaten as a dish.

Typical food: There are many famous dishes and snacks of Zhuang nationality, mainly including horseshoe pole, raw fish, roast suckling pig, glutinous rice with flowers, Ningming Zhuang zongzi, champion firewood, white-cut dog meat, crispy chicken, braised cross-section dog and dragon pumping.

Zhuang architecture

The houses of Zhuang people living near the dam area and towns are mostly brick-wood structures, with white exterior walls and decorative patterns painted on the eaves. Zhuang people living in remote mountainous areas, their village houses are mostly tile-roofed houses or straw houses with civil structures, and the architectural styles are generally semi-dry fence and all-ground style.

Gan Lan, also known as Mulou and Diaojiaolou. Zhuang, Dong, Yao, Miao and Han all have it. Most of them are two floors. Upstairs is usually 3 days or 5 people. The lower floor is the wooden building column foot, which is composed of bamboo pieces and wooden boards. It can be used as a stable for livestock, and can also be used for stacking farm tools, firewood and sundries. Some also have attics and annex buildings. Generally, dry fences are surrounded by mountains and rivers, facing the fields, with broad prospects and good lighting. A stockade and a community, on the whole, are magnificent. In some villages, families are connected and integrated, just like a big family. The layout of the living room has its own characteristics. The trunk wall of Zhuang nationality in Longji Township, Longsheng County is centered on the shrine. Behind the shrine, there is a public house (centered on the hostess), and the left corner is the woman's house. There is a small door communicating with the public house. The housewife's room is in the right corner. The husband's room is outside the hall on the right. The guest room is in the left corner of the lobby, and the girls' room is next to the stairs in the right corner, which is convenient for them to communicate with boys. The biggest feature of this layout is that husband and wife live in separate rooms and follow ancient customs. At present, the internal structure of the main fence has changed slightly, but the basic pattern remains unchanged.

Zhuang custom

On holidays, there should be worship activities. At that time, pigs, chickens and fish should be prepared to worship their ancestors. Boiling pork to worship ancestors is still a ceremony for Jing women when they get married. Every year, on Haji Festival, all men over the age of 16 should buy chicken, wine, glutinous rice, betel nut and other sacrifices for Harting. Only after the worship is over, can men be counted as "joining the group" (that is, entering adulthood) and allowed to participate in singing Haji Festival before they can participate in fishing production.

Zhuang nationality-taboo

Zhuang people are taboo to kill on the first day of the first lunar month; Young women in some areas avoid eating beef and dog meat; For the first three days (some for the first seven days), women were forbidden to let outsiders in; Women who have not yet given birth to a full moon are forbidden to visit their homes. When you board the bamboo building of Zhuang people, you usually take off your shoes. Zhuang people are forbidden to wear hats and bring hoes or other farm tools into their homes, so they should put down their farm tools and take off their hats and hats when they go outside the Zhuang family. Tanghuo and bathhouse are the most sacred places in the Zhuang family. It is forbidden to step on the tripod and stove on the Tang Huo with your feet. When young Zhuang people get married, pregnant women are forbidden to participate, especially pregnant women can't see the bride. Especially pregnant women can't enter the maternal home. If there is a pregnant woman at home, it is forbidden to hang sleeves, branches or knives on the door. If you accidentally break into the maternal home, you must give the baby a name and a set of clothes. A chicken or corresponding gift becomes a child's Platini and godmother.

As a rice-growing nation, the Zhuang people like frogs very much. In some places, Zhuang people have a special "frog worship ceremony", so it is forbidden to kill frogs or eat frog meat in Zhuang areas. Whenever floods or other major disasters occur, the Zhuang people will hold ancestor worship activities and pray for the dragon's blessing for disaster relief. After the ceremony, a monument was erected at the entrance of the village, and outsiders were not allowed to enter the village.

Zhuang religion

The ancient Zhuang people did not form a unified religion, and their ancestors developed from nature worship to ancestor worship and polytheism. Zhuang people generally worship their ancestors, and the god wall of each main hall is dedicated to "heaven and earth are the teachers" and the ancestors' gods.

After the Tang and Song Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism were introduced and temples were established. 1858 was introduced into Catholicism, and 1862 was introduced into Christianity, but none of them spread. Every family has a shrine to their ancestors. In many areas, wizards and witches have divined divination.