Overview of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture — Geographical Environment (Part 3)

I. Population. Section 3: Population and Ethnic Groups. According to the 2000 Fifth National Population Census, the registered permanent resident population of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture was 2,463,600 (including temporary residents, excluding those who had moved out). Compared with 2,294,900 in the 1990 Fourth National Population Census, an increase of 1...

This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.

I. Population

Section 3 Population and Ethnic Groups

According to the statistics of the Fifth National Population Census in 2000, the registered permanent resident population of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture under the census criteria was 2,463,600 (including temporary residents from elsewhere, excluding those who had moved out). Compared with 2,294,900 in the Fourth National Population Census in 1990, it increased by 168,700 over 10 years, a growth of 7.35%.

Ethnic Population According to the statistics of the Fifth National Population Census in 2000, the prefecture had 43 ethnic components in total. According to statistics under the administrative regional management criteria, by the end of 2005, the registered population of the prefecture was 2,683,400, of which the Han numbered 674,800, accounting for 25.15% of the total population; ethnic minorities numbered 2,008,600, accounting for 74.85% of the total population. Among the ethnic minority population, the Tujia numbered 1,105,900, accounting for 41.21% of the total population; the Miao numbered 886,100, accounting for 33.02% of the total population; there were also 8,424 Hui, 2,349 Yao, about 2,000 Dong, and about 1,800 Bai. The other 36 ethnic minority components each had populations below 400, and 22 ethnic minority components had populations of fewer than 10 people. The Tujia and Miao are the ethnic minorities with larger populations in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture.

Population Density According to the statistics of the 2000 "Fifth Census" (the same below), the population density of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture was 159 people per square kilometer, 145 fewer than Hunan Province's 304 people.

Family Household Population The prefecture had a total of 627,000 family households, with a family household population of 2,407,400. The average family household size was 3.8 people, a decrease of 0.42 people from 4.22 people at the time of the "Fourth Census."

Urban and Rural Population Of the prefecture's total population, 486,700 people lived in towns and cities, accounting for 19.77%; 1,975,300 people lived in rural areas, accounting for 80.23%. The agricultural population was 2,057,000, accounting for 83.84% of the total population; the non-agricultural population was 396,400, accounting for 16.16%.

Age Composition The population aged 0–14 was 701,400, accounting for 28.49% of the total population; the population aged 15–64 was 1,589,400, accounting for 64.56%; the population aged 65 and above was 171,200, accounting for 6.95%.

Sex Composition Males numbered 1,277,400, accounting for 51.88%; females numbered 1,184,600, accounting for 48.12%; the male-to-female sex ratio was 107.84:100.

Population by Educational Attainment Among the population aged 6 and above, 47,700 had received a university education (referring to junior college and above), accounting for 2.41% of the population with various educational attainments; 220,000 had received a senior secondary education (including specialized secondary schools), accounting for 11.12%; 624,300 had received a junior secondary education, accounting for 31.56%; and 1,086,200 had received a primary education, accounting for 54.91% (the above populations with various educational attainments include graduates, former students, and current students of all types of schools). Compared with 1990, among every 100,000 people, those with a university education rose from 765 to 1,937, an increase of 1,172; those with a senior secondary education rose from 6,741 to 8,938, an increase of 2,197. The illiterate population was 234,700, and the illiteracy rate dropped from 29.38% in 1990 to 13.33%, a decrease of 16.05 percentage points.

II. Ethnic Groups

In 1953, when the First National Population Census was conducted, the Tujia ethnic identity had not yet been confirmed. In the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth National Population Censuses, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture had 15, 24, 30, and 43 ethnic components respectively.

By the end of 2005, calculated by absolute population, the distribution of the Tujia in the 8 counties and cities was, in order: Yongshun County 372,400; Longshan County 285,400; Baojing County 159,500; Jishou City 95,900; Fenghuang County 70,800; Guzhang County 54,400; Luxi County 50,000; and Huayuan County 17,400. The distribution of the Miao in the 8 counties and cities was, in order: Huayuan County 207,400; Fenghuang County 205,600; Jishou City 115,200; Luxi County 114,500; Longshan County 70,200; Baojing County 63,400; Guzhang County 63,300; and Yongshun County 46,600. The Hui were mainly concentrated in Longshan County with 4,010, Fenghuang County with 2,010, Yongshun County with 1,409, and Jishou City with 751; the Yao were most numerous in Baojing County, with 1,501, followed by Jishou City and Yongshun County. As for the Han, in terms of absolute population, Longshan County had the most, with 185,000; in terms of relative population, Luxi County had the largest proportion, at 42.76%. Overall, the various ethnic groups of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture are in a state of large-scale mixing and small-scale concentrated settlement. The Tujia are mainly concentrated in the northern half and central areas of Yongshun, Longshan, Baojing, Guzhang, and Jishou, while the Miao are mainly concentrated in the southern half and central areas of Huayuan, Fenghuang, Jishou, Luxi, Baojing, and Guzhang.

(1) The Tujia

The Tujia people of Xiangxi call themselves "Bizika." "Ka" means "person," "group of people," "family," or "clan." What does "Bizi" mean? Some believe it means local people, some believe it is consistent with the Qiang-Rong totem "Fuxi," some believe it refers to a special kind of net, and some believe it is in the same line of descent as the self-designation "Gengzi" of the ancient Cong people. In Chinese historical texts, the Tujia have had many historical appellations. In the pre-Qin period they were called "Lingjun Man," "Banmei Man," and "Cong people"; after the Qin they were called "Ba Commandery and Nan Commandery Man," "Wuling Man," "Wuxi Man," and so on; in the Tang and Song they were called "Xizhou Man," "Tiancizhou Man," "Jiangzhou Man," "Chenzhou Man," and so on, grouping the Tujia together with other ethnic minorities under collective names. It was only in the Song dynasty that appellations distinguishing them from other ethnic groups appeared, such as "Tubing," "Tuding," and "Turen." From "Man" to "Tu," they became a relatively stable ethnic group and appellation with their own unique characteristics. After the establishment of the native chieftain system in the Yuan dynasty, historical records began to use the specific term "Tumin," listed and mentioned alongside "Miaomin" and "Kemin." In folk understanding, the "ka" in "Bizika" is more often understood as "family." Corresponding to "Tumin," the oral term "Tujia" appeared among the people. The earliest written appearance is probably in the "Bamboo Branch Song" by Peng Yongxing (1835–1892) of Yongshun: "At the New Year they go to the temple to worship Lord Peng, only the Tujia are greatly different. Everywhere the same yi-he hand-waving dance, the song is also accompanied by dai-dai-du."

Research on the ethnic origins of the Tujia started relatively late. Articles began to touch on it only in the 1930s. During the ethnic identification work of the 1950s, a number of monographs and investigation reports on Tujia origins appeared. After the 1980s, an upsurge in research on Tujia origins and development arose. After the 1990s, research on Tujia origins and development became increasingly comprehensive and in-depth. Regarding the origins of the Xiangxi Tujia, there are various theories such as the Ba people theory, the indigenous theory, the Cong people theory, and the Wuman theory. Although these theories coexist, one point can be affirmed: from the pre-Qin period to the present, over more than two thousand years, the Tujia people have always lived among the countless mountains along the borders of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, and Guizhou, and have not undergone any major migration. Probably from the Five Dynasties onward, this stable community gradually formed into a single ethnic group, namely today's Tujia.

1. Language and Script

The Tujia have their own language, which the Tujia call "Bizisha," that is, the Tujia language. It belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family and is an independent language relatively close to the Yi branch.

Qing dynasty writers, quoting Yuan dynasty sources, said that in Tujia villages of Xiangxi, "the speech is so guttural that it cannot be distinguished," and that in the Five Streams region "guttural sounds are everywhere." This shows that in the Yuan dynasty the Tujia language was completely different from Chinese and was quite widely used. In the decades after the Qing dynasty's "replacement of native chieftains with officials," "the speech of the Tumin was mumbling and hard to distinguish. As development has gone on for some time, five or six out of ten can speak the official pronunciation." The Tujia used the Tujia language internally and Chinese externally as a tool for social communication. In 1956, according to an oral inquiry survey by Pan Guangdan: "Among ordinary 'Tujia,' more than 60% can speak the Tujia language; in the areas where 'Tujia' are most densely concentrated, those who can speak Tujia account for more than 90%." According to Ye Deshu's survey statistics, in 1990, 160,000 people in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture used Tujia entirely as a communication tool; more than 200,000 used both Tujia and Chinese, mainly Chinese, and these people used Tujia only in their own township and locality; once away from their home area, they used Chinese entirely. After surveying and compiling statistics in Longshan, Yongshun, Baojing, Guzhang, Luxi, and other counties, Deng Youling believed that by the end of the 20th century, "in the above areas where the preservation and use of the Tujia language are relatively good, the actual number of users of the Tujia language is less than 100,000." We believe that the data from the above surveys over the years are basically accurate.

In order to develop culture and education in Tujia concentrated areas, carry out "Tujia-Chinese bilingual teaching," and transmit the excellent culture of the ethnic group, in 1983 Peng Xiumo and Ye Deshu of Jishou University, accepting the opinions of deputies to the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture People's Congress, created the "Tujia Language Pinyin Scheme." In 1986, the Tujia-Chinese bilingual and dual-script chain teaching experiment began in Pojiao Township, Longshan County.

2. Customs and Habits

Clothing According to relevant historical records, before the Qing dynasty's "replacement of native chieftains with officials," the characteristics of Tujia clothing were: short jackets and short skirts, floral borders like clouds, high coiled buns and spiral hair loops, embroidered headscarves, a preference for hanging earrings, and light bodies with bare feet.

After the policy of 'replacing local chieftains with government officials' (gaituguiliu), Tujia clothing was forcibly reformed and gradually changed. During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, proclamations and prohibitions issued by prefects and county magistrates included items such as 'clothing should distinguish men and women,' 'prohibit short garments and bare feet,' and 'prohibit white cloth headwraps,' guiding the Tujia people to 'distinguish their dress regulations.' The Tujia people scattered among the valleys probably did not 'distinguish their dress regulations' until the Jiaqing period. However, they still retained the motifs of Tujia clothing. At this time, the characteristics of Tujia clothing were:

Men's clothing. The fastest change was from white cloth head wraps to black cloth, later evolving into black silk turbans, but the 'ren' (person) shape feature was still retained at the forehead, and in some places a two-inch-long turban end was left at the left ear. Next was footwear and socks. Third, the upper garment was originally a 'pipa lapel' style, later changed so that older men wore a front-buttoned jacket inside and a full-front garment outside; young and middle-aged men wore front-buttoned jackets, and skirts were changed to long trousers. Clothes and trousers still had embroidered borders, and the three colors blue, black, and white were favored. The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Museum currently houses a late Qing Dynasty Tujia man's 'Sixi garment', with wide clothes and large sleeves, a front-buttoned stand-up collar, black color, light blue strips pressed along the lapel edges and hem, and ruyi-head decorations on both shoulders front and back, the chest, the corners of the garment, and at the slits on both sides of the waist; it is a large-trimmed, large-edged ruyi-head magua.

Women's clothing. Middle-aged and elderly women wrapped black turbans in a 'pot spiral coil' shape. Young women wore long braids tied with red string, and draped square cross-stitch embroidered kerchiefs. They wore shoes and socks with embroidery, and did not bind their feet. The upper garment had a short collar with a right-side opening, with borders or embroidery on the shoulders, lapel edges, cuffs, and hem, and was divided into three styles according to the complexity of the floral patterns: 'silver hook,' 'outer shoulder,' and 'inner garment.' Among these borders, the most ancient ones included brocade borders. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Fu's Ximan Congxiao explained 'xibu' (stream cloth) as: 'Woven from five-colored threads, with brilliant and colorful patterns worth viewing; commonly used for quilts or clothing, or made into kerchiefs, hence also called dong kerchiefs.' In the Qing Dynasty, Peng Shiduo's 'Carefree Daughter' wrote: 'The carefree daughter is just at the age of wearing her hair down, weaving brocade ribbons at the loom with her companions. Suddenly hearing that mushrooms have grown in the deep mountain caves, they cross the natural bridge together with their back-baskets.' 'Brocade ribbons' were bands woven from silk threads. These bands were used as forehead bands, waist sashes, and borders. Women's lower garments were first skirts, later trousers mainly replaced skirts. The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Ethnic Research Institute houses a late Qing Dynasty Tujia woman's eight-panel skirt (Bafu Luoqun), which is plain white, with black cloth strips outlining it into 8 panels—namely, one large flat panel each at the front and back center, and three small pleated panels on each of the left and right sides. The hem and the middle-lower part of the large flat panels are appliquéd with slightly wider black cloth strips. Each panel is embroidered with 3 groups of flowers using the thread-counting technique, symmetrical front-to-back and left-to-right. The entire skirt alternates black and white, with distinct edges and corners, prominent themes, dignified and plain, with exquisite craftsmanship.

In order to preserve and promote ethnic culture and develop ethnic customs tourism, in 2002, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Ethnic Affairs Commission organized experts and scholars to reform Tujia and Miao clothing. The overall concept was: maintain traditional characteristics, absorb modern elements, have clear identifying features, and incorporate folk crafts. After multiple reviews and revisions, the characteristics of Tujia women's clothing were determined as: brocade headdress with silver ornaments; upper garment with stand-up collar and right-side opening, with cloud shoulders, lapel edges, cuffs, and hem trimmed with borders, using the yangque flower (lark flower) as the main motif, and a ruyi-hook waist ornament; lower garment as an eight-panel skirt. The characteristics of Tujia men's clothing were determined as: herringbone black silk turban, front-buttoned jacket with long trousers, worn with a brocade vest, using the eight-hook and ruyi-hook as the main motifs. After promotion, it was widely welcomed in the border areas of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, and Guizhou.

Diet. Xiangxi has many mountains and few fields, so grains are mainly rice and corn, supplemented by wheat, beans, millet, and sweet potatoes. Among their meals, the Tujia people love baba (glutinous rice cakes) the most, often making many before festivals so they can still be eaten for some time after. As the saying goes, 'On the twenty-eighth, pound ciba.' During the New Year, every household pounds ciba, grinds flour cakes, and fries oil cakes; in March during Qingming, they knead mugwort baba; on the eighth day of the fourth month, they make many baba as if celebrating the New Year; on the fifth day of the fifth month, they wrap zongzi; on the sixth day of the sixth month, they eat newly ground corn baba; and after the autumn harvest, they make tangsan (fried dough twists). For betrothal, they send 'ear baba'; for house-raising, they toss 'beam baba.' Different festivals call for different baba, and baba are closely tied to the festival life of the Tujia people.

The Tujia people love to grow vegetables and are expert vegetable growers. There is a wide variety of vegetables, eaten fresh in all four seasons, with a particular emphasis on sour and spicy flavors. 'In the five flavors they favor pungency; at every meal, they cannot do without chilies. For among the dense rocks and deep valleys, the spring water is cold and clear, and the mist and fog are steamy; without pungency, one cannot warm the stomach and harmonize the spleen, so they all rely on it.' In summer and autumn they eat fresh peppers; in winter and spring they eat dried peppers; and in all four seasons they have pickled sour chilies—corn sour chilies, glutinous rice sour chilies, and ground chilies. In addition, most vegetables can also be processed into pickled sour vegetables, including large-head sour, radish sour, green tea sour, cabbage sour, cowpea sour, and Jerusalem artichoke sour, as well as sour meat, sour fish, and so on. In mountain villages, every household has several or a dozen earthen jars for pickling various sour vegetables.

Among meat foods, cured meat (larou) is the most distinctive. Wuling black pigs fed on five grains and miscellaneous cereals, vegetables, and wild herbs are the best meat choice for making cured meat. At New Year, every household slaughters a New Year pig, cuts it into palm-width chunks, rubs them with salt and Sichuan pepper while hot, puts them in a vat to pickle for ten days to half a month, hangs them on the smoking rack, and slowly smokes them over a low fire for one to two months. Tujia cured meat is red and translucent, fragrant but not greasy.

In the past, the Tujia people toiled all day and could not get enough food and clothing, so food was their heaven, and the first thing they said upon meeting was 'Have you eaten?' At the same time, many etiquettes formed around diet. When visiting relatives and friends or calling on one's father-in-law, one must bring cured meat, ciba, tangsan, and noodles as gifts. When a distinguished guest arrives, cured meat is indispensable, and it must be cut into palm-sized pieces, called 'black dragon crossing the river,' to show the host's generosity and the guest's honor.

After the reform and opening up, the lives of the Tujia people became more and more comfortable, and they became more and more particular about food, forming some quite influential famous restaurants and famous dishes. Classic dishes and famous snacks include Tujia cured meat, hezha (ground soybean soup), Youshui River chive mandarin fish, Huatangba sliced fish, Zejiahu mutton, Baojing pole noodles, Wangcun rice tofu, Xichehe tofu, Wanping large-head sour, and so on.

Residence. Before the 'gaituguiliu' reform, Tujia villages in Xiangxi were almost all single-clan villages of one ethnic group, with the same surname and lineage forming one village, often named after the surname or in the Tujia language. After 'gaituguiliu,' due to the expansion of mixed residence, villages developed to be mostly named after place names. Villages were 'scattered among streams and valleys, and dwellings were always chosen on high and steep ground.'

Dwellings are mainly wooden post-and-beam (chuandou) houses, and thick pillars are considered a mark of honor, possessing a rugged beauty. Because there is relatively much rain, roofs are covered with small blue tiles, with a roof pitch ratio of 9:5, and wide eaves are favored. Generally, single-story houses predominate, with four rows and three bays. The middle is the central hall (tangwu), with a high and wide threshold, and four main doors reaching up to the roof beam. The central hall is the place for worshipping ancestors, welcoming guests, and conducting weddings and funerals. The rooms on both sides of the central hall are called 'renjian,' divided by the central pillar into two small rooms, with the front half used as the kitchen/fire room and the back half as the bedroom. The fire room has a three-chi-square fire pit, with a tripod inside and a wooden smoking rack hanging above. The fire pit is where they cook, keep warm, and smoke cured meat. On the left and right sides of the main house, it is customary to attach a 'horse-rump' extension and a 'side-shed room,' used for building stoves, installing mills and mortars, and for pig and cattle pens and latrines. When visiting a Tujia home, one must absolutely not step on the threshold, much less sit or squat on it, nor step on the tripod, as this is seen as insulting the host.

Among Tujia dwellings, the most distinctive is the corner building, commonly known as the stilted house (diaojiaolou). Choosing one end (or both ends) of the main house, several sets of frame rows extend perpendicularly outward, forming a pile-dwelling-style building, namely the 'corner building,' mostly two stories. Climbing the steps to the upper floor, there are rooms with low double doors and small lattice windows on both sides, serving as a maiden's chamber. The corridor is a passage formed by hanging columns projecting outward from the ground-based pillars, and there are single-sided, double-sided, three-sided, and even four-sided corridors. A four-sided corridor is called a 'galloping horse building' (paomalou). Beneath the hanging columns of the corner building are wooden carvings of golden melons. Connecting the hanging columns are 'eyebrow beams,' which both facilitate lighting and add beauty.

The characteristics of Tujia dwellings are: a splayed entrance gate with blue-tiled houses, and flying eaves with upturned corners on the corner buildings.

The Tujia people have many particular customs when building houses: before starting construction, they invite a feng shui master to set up a compass to examine the dragon vein; directly opposite the house site, a white-faced cliff is most taboo, as white cliffs are believed to be where the white tiger lives, and the saying goes, 'If the white tiger sits facing the hall, if there is no disaster there will be misfortune'; the zi-wu orientation is also taboo, with the saying 'A grave faces a pointed mountain, a house faces a pass.' When cutting house pillars, they first sacrifice to the mountain god, and the first tree must fall toward the east. Among the timbers, the beam wood is the most particular, and it must be stolen from someone else's property. When erecting the house, raising the beam is the most solemn, with beam-raising verses, tossing beam baba, and other sacred and joyful scenes.

With the improvement of living standards and increased environmental awareness, great changes have taken place in Tujia house-building, with brick-and-concrete multi-story buildings replacing wooden single-story houses.

Festivals. In addition to some Han Chinese festivals, the Tujia people also have their own traditional ethnic festivals. Their festival activities are closely related to ancestor worship, farming, and warfare.

New Year. 'When the Tujia people celebrate the New Year, if the month is long (30 days), they take the twenty-ninth as New Year's Eve; if the month is short, they take the twenty-eighth.' This is one day earlier than the Han Chinese. There are various folk legends about its origin, all related to military life, saying that after celebrating the New Year one day early, they would set out to battle the enemy the next day. New Year preparations begin in the twelfth lunar month: slaughtering the New Year pig, smoking cured meat, grinding tofu, and pounding ciba—these are essential New Year goods. On New Year's Day, they use a wooden steamer to steam rice and a large pot to cook 'mixed vegetables.' The time for the New Year meal varies from place to place—some eat before dawn, some in the morning, some in the afternoon, and some only in the evening. On this day, pine branches and plum blossoms are inserted into the house pillars, hemp cloth curtains are hung in the central hall, and New Year meals are fed to livestock and fruit trees. On New Year's Eve day, they send lights to the graves of relatives during the day, and at night they burn a roaring fire to stay up for the new year; at midnight they 'seize the new year,' and besides setting off firecrackers, they also open the main door, pound the mortar, turn the mill, knock on the granary door, fetch water, and worship the Four Officials God, praying for great fortune, abundant harvests, and thriving livestock. On the first day of the first lunar month, they do not go out; from the second day they begin paying New Year calls; on the third day they watch performances; and until the fifteenth, after the Lantern Festival is over, 'after eating the slope-climbing meat, each finds their own way'—only then is the New Year considered finished.

Sheba Day. Commonly known as the 'Hand-waving Festival,' it is an ancestor-worship and year-adjusting activity. It is held at the hand-waving hall, mostly in the first lunar month, lasting three days. The hand-waving hall enshrines statues of the Eight Tribes Great Gods or Duke Peng, Elder Xiang, and Good Man Tian. In the courtyard outside the hall, a flagpole is erected in the center, with a crane at the top and dragon-and-phoenix flags hung. When the hand-waving activity is held, the Tima (priest) first presides over the ritual of sweeping away evil and pacifying the gods; everyone kneels on one knee and sings the god-inviting song in unison. Then they dance the hand-waving dance and perform Maogusi. 'When the gongs and drums sound, the feet itch'—people dance around the ground under the leadership of the hall master. Its content expresses ethnic migration, hunting and warfare, farming and weaving, and so on. In recent years, Sheba Day has been utilized and integrated to become an exhibition of ethnic customs.

Horse-Jumping Festival. To pray to the Earth God for protection and abundant harvests. It is held on the first 'horse day' after the fifteenth of the first lunar month. The horse body is made from bamboo strips, bedsheets, palm leaves, etc., with a hole left at the horse's waist so it can be slipped over the rider. The rider wears a straw hat, holds a battle knife, and charges into the horse-jumping ground, jumping instead of running. First they sacrifice to ancestors and the Earth God. Then the horse-jumping performance is held; the horse troupe imitates various movements of fine horses, including tense and fierce battle scenes and relaxed and carefree entertainment and play. After the performance, the 'war horse' is sent to the water's edge, the Tujia priest chants the horse-sending scripture, and the 'war horse' is burned as an offering to the Earth God.

The Eighth of the Fourth Month. A major Tujia festival. There are various legends about its origin—some say it is related to ethnic migration, some say it is related to a water buffalo saving a life, and some say it is the day when the grandmother goddess married off the caterpillars. Some celebrate it on the eighth of the fourth month, some on the eighteenth, collectively called 'the Eighth of the Fourth Month.' The Guangxu edition of the Longshan County Gazetteer says: 'The Tujia people take the eighth of the fourth month as a great festival, making rice cakes and slaughtering pigs, cutting them into large chunks and steaming them with glutinous rice. After offering to the ancestors, they sit in a circle and eat, also entertaining guests.'

The Sixth of the Sixth Month. The Tujia people's minor New Year, a festival of eating new grain and worshipping ancestors. One account says it is the Auntie Festival; another says this day is when the ancestors came to settle in Xiangxi; a third says it commemorates the day when Maogang Tusi Qin Zhong met with disaster. On this day, they slaughter pigs, pound baba, grind tofu, and bring married daughters home to 'rest for the summer.' Hand-waving activities centered on ancestor worship are held.

The Half of the Seventh Month. The Tujia people's Half of the Seventh Month is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month, to sacrifice to ancestors who, because of war, went to Yunnan and never returned. From the beginning of the month to the fourteenth, every night they offer wine, meat, and fresh grains before the ancestral shrine; on the night of the fourteenth, they burn paper money in front of the main gate and go to a place far from home to 'sprinkle ghost porridge,' giving the ancestors traveling money to attend the 'Yunnan Assembly.'

Marriage. Tujia marriage, from asking a matchmaker to seek a bride to the newlyweds' return visit, goes through dozens of procedures: sending word, matching horoscopes, firing the cannon, betrothal, delivering festival gifts, making dowry, face-threading, crying marriage, fetching the bride, blocking the gate, the three teas and six rites, accompanying the ten sisters, accompanying the ten brothers, finding the momi, bidding farewell to the ancestral incense, tossing chopsticks, carrying the bride on one's back, warding off the sedan chair evil, carrying the sedan chair, worshipping at the Tuwang Temple, stepping over the seven-star lamp, bowing in the hall, lifting the dream veil, washing the harmony face, teasing the bridal chamber, accompanying the escorting guests, and so on—with numerous rituals and particularities at every step. Among these are both respect for the bride's family and humorous entertainment activities, as well as displays of shamanistic customs and magic and reenactments of ancient marriage customs. Here we give just one or two examples.

Singing the matchmaker. When the matchmaker goes to the woman's family to propose marriage, he must carry an umbrella, commonly called the 'reunion umbrella,' and 'sing the matchmaker' in song: 'The sun burns my legs black, I dreamed of climbing the Flaming Mountain; the magpie chattered and woke me, saying your house has wine to drink.' The woman's family: 'My home lives in a thatched nest, matchmaker brother (sister), you've taken the wrong path; a poor family has only plain wine, I don't know if you can drink it or not.' ... The matchmaker: 'Hide a thousand, hide ten thousand, but don't hide it from me—your family has a beautiful maiden; her nose is just like her father's, her eyes are simply her mother's peeled shell.' The woman's family: 'The wild goose has the hardest wings, the matchmaker has the sharpest tongue; you could coax a monkey down from a tree, you could coax a rock to life.' Antiphonal singing can bring people's feelings closer and help arrange a marriage. Singing the matchmaker is the basic skill of a Tujia matchmaker.

Crying marriage. Marriage is originally the greatest joy in life, but feeling that she is about to leave her relatives, friends, and familiar surroundings to go to a place where she knows no one, the girl is filled with both sorrow and joy, both happy and sad. The joy is buried deep in her heart; the sorrow—let it be cried out. This crying also requires knowledge and skill; it is a crying in which, amid 'the song being a long drawn-out sound,' she speaks eloquently while 'tears fall with the voice.' The words are those of 'longing for parental kindness, grieving at parting.' Crying for marriage, singing for marriage—this is 'crying—marriage—song.' Tujia girls begin crying marriage seven days, ten days to half a month, or at most one month or even three months before the wedding. During the crying, the bride is the main performer, taking turns crying in response with relatives and friends, thus there are 'crying for parents,' 'crying for sisters,' 'crying while combing hair,' 'crying farewell to ancestors,' 'crying on the sedan chair,' and so on—tens of thousands of words, with no repetition, worthy of being called a queen of crying-marriage songs. Crying marriage takes place at night, in the bedroom, with the accompanying criers and the bride holding handkerchiefs to their faces, embracing and crying together.

Blocking the gate. When the bride-fetching procession arrives at the gate of the bride's house, it is blocked by the bride's clan with a large table. The woman's family's inner steward stands at the head of the table to block the gate, and the man's family's master of ceremonies stands facing the table to break through. There is a song: 'The flowered sedan comes to fetch the bride, a table blocks the main gate; each side please send a clever-tongued man, to debate heaven, earth, and the past and present.' If the master of ceremonies is stumped, he must crawl under the table to enter; if the inner steward is defeated in debate, he moves the table to let them pass. Generally, the debate and responses continue until both sides are satisfied, then they shake hands and make peace; moving the table does not count as a loss, and the one who broke through has not won either. The words of debate and response are called 'gate-blocking ritual words.'

Finding the momi. In the bride-fetching procession there is a group of unmarried young men, among whom one serves as the groom's representative, called 'momi' in the Tujia language. At dusk, in the courtyard of the bride's house, the bridesmaids (all unmarried girls) smear their palms full of soot from the bottom of the pot, and aiming at the young man they believe to be the 'momi,' launch a sudden attack, freely smearing pot soot on his face. After the young man is smeared into a big black flower face, he wipes the black soot off with his palms and smears it back onto the girls' faces. Young men and women tussle together, laughing and cheering joyously. This is both a playful transformation of the solemn and sorrowful occasion of the bride's departure and a comic scene in which girls and boys take the opportunity to spot their sweethearts.

Etiquette

Greetings upon meeting. When people of the same generation meet, they exchange greetings: 'Where are you coming from?' or 'Where are you going?' If it happens to be breakfast or dinner time, they ask, 'Have you eaten?' When a younger person meets an elder, the younger greets the elder first. If meeting a stranger, they will take the initiative to ask: 'Where are you going, who are you looking for?' Everything is plain, with no flowery words.

Receiving guests. When a guest arrives home, they are welcomed into the central hall, offered a chair, and first given a few tobacco leaves; if it is winter or spring, then a bowl of tangsan is brewed; if it is summer or early autumn, then a bowl of sweet fermented rice is poured to quench thirst. Regardless of whether the guest is from far or near, familiar or rare, they must sincerely be asked to stay for a meal. The main dish is cured meat, cut into palm-sized pieces, to show respect for the guest. If there is no cured meat, then fresh meat stir-fried with chilies is served, and when urging the guest to eat, the host says: 'Eat sea peppers (chilies), eat sea peppers!' You must absolutely not think the host is really telling you to eat chilies—it is actually the host's modest way of speaking, inviting you to eat meat. With wine, they urge you to drink until satisfied; with meat and rice, they will not rest until you are full. When the guest rises to say goodbye, the host must see them off outside the gate.

Respecting teachers. When students meet a teacher on the road, they stop, bow, and call out loudly: "Po ga ca (Hello, teacher)!" At New Year and festivals, students give teachers food and firewood. When a teacher's family has a major event, parents all come forward to help.

Red and white events. Welcoming brides, marrying off daughters, childbirth, celebrating birthdays, and building houses and installing doors are called red events; the passing of an elderly person is called a white event. Generally, "red events require invitation, white events do not (people come on their own)." For welcoming brides and marrying off daughters, the host must go to invite guests; those not invited do not come. Those who come bring gifts, called "adding to the box." For childbirth, the first person notified is the maternal grandmother (waipo); other relatives and friends come on their own with gifts to congratulate, called "seeing the month mother." The host keeps guests to eat red eggs and sugar sanzi rice. When building a new house, people are invited to help with "white labor"; relatives and friends send plaques, couplets, colored decorations, beam wraps, and money and grain, commonly called "inlaying the fire pit." As people's living standards improve, Tujia birthday celebrations have become increasingly popular. When a Tujia elder dies, enthusiastic people take the initiative to notify relatives, friends, and the whole village; people come without being invited, and even families who rarely socialize, or even those with past grievances, will come on their own to mourn and send grain, money, and funeral banners. Capable people help manage the funeral affairs, and young and strong men compete to carry the coffin.

Taboos

Taboo words. On festivals, celebrations, and when going out, one must not speak inauspicious words.

Taboo actions. On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, needlework and washing clothes are not allowed. During the New Year's Eve meal, one must not pour soup over rice, otherwise the coming year will bring floods that wash away the field ridges. On New Year's Eve, one must not eat baba (glutinous rice cakes), otherwise one will develop sores. On the first day of the first lunar month, one must not sprinkle water or sweep the floor, lest the wealth be swept out the door. On Qingming, Lixia, and the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, using oxen is forbidden, otherwise the oxen will fall ill. Snake days in the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth lunar months, rooster days in the eleventh lunar month, and ox days in the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth lunar months are all regarded as red evil days; going on long journeys is taboo, and there is a saying: "If you go out and meet a red evil, you will never return home."

Everyday taboos. In a pregnant woman's home, one must not casually move earth, drive nails, move beds, or make knocking and hammering noises, for fear of disturbing the fetus and causing miscarriage.

Pregnant women are forbidden to climb trees to pick fruit, saying that the trees will not bear fruit the following year.

It is forbidden to borrow things or take fire from a home with a newborn baby, otherwise the baby will cry often or die young.

Sitting on the threshold of the main door is forbidden, as it is suspected of disrespecting the host.

Standing behind others while they eat is taboo, otherwise the other person will have bad luck.

One must not sit on the same bench as another man's young wife, and must not joke with another man's unmarried daughter.

Borrowing money or goods from others in the middle of the night is taboo, called "wealth does not go out at night."

Stepping on the stove or the tripod is not allowed, clothing must not be placed on the stove, and dog meat must not be cooked on the stove, as this is said to insult the Kitchen God.

Carrying hoes on the shoulder or carrying manure buckets into the main hall is not allowed, and dumping a dustpan upside down in the middle of the main hall is not allowed; these are signs of burying someone.

Whistling or whooping in the home is not allowed, for fear of attracting ghosts and causing fire.

Unmarried men and women are not allowed to eat pig trotters, saying that it is easy for one's match to be "forked away" when seeking a partner.

Pointing at a young pumpkin with a finger is not allowed, otherwise the melon will wither.

If a snake enters the house in the seventh lunar month, it must not be killed, only driven away, saying it is the incarnation of ancestors coming to visit their descendants.

If one sees snakes mating, one must first tell it to a tree, and only then tell people, otherwise it is inauspicious.

3. Religious beliefs

The folk beliefs of the Tujia people are still in the primitive religious stage, with polytheistic worship, animism, ancestor worship, and belief in the Tima.

Superstition about various gods. The Tujia believe that the sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning all have life, and that mountains, rivers, valleys, trees, flowers, grasses, birds, beasts, fish, and insects all have spiritual nature. Mountains have mountain gods, the earth has earth gods, trees have tree spirits (gods), grain cultivation has the Five Grains God, tea planting has the Tea God, fishing and hunting have the Meishan God, boating has the River God, thriving livestock have the Four Officials God, child care has Ami Mama (auntie), and the home also has the Kitchen God, Granary God, and so on. Gods are everywhere, exist everywhere, and are sacrificed to at all times. "Every year in the third month, white sheep are killed, drums are beaten and sheng are blown to sacrifice to ghosts; on the eighteenth day of the fourth month and the night of the fifteenth day of the seventh month, ancestors are sacrificed to; on the ninth day of the ninth month, the whole village slaughters animals and sacrifices to Chongyang to repay the earth's merits; on the night of the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month, ancestors are sacrificed to, called sacrificing to ghosts. ... Singing at funerals and crying at weddings, revering shamans and honoring ghosts." Nowadays, with the popularization and improvement of science and culture, the Tujia people hold an optimistic attitude toward "ghosts and gods": "Believe and they exist; do not believe and they do not exist."

Ancestor worship first means worshiping the ethnic gods—the Eight Tribes Kings and King Xiang Tianzi. Legend says that the White Tiger Goddess sent a crane to plant nanmu, giving birth to Aba and Anie; Anie ate tea leaves and gave birth to eight sons and one daughter. The eight sons, nursed by the Dragon Mother and sheltered from rain by Sister Phoenix, grew up with extraordinary abilities, each opening a territory by the Youshui River and multiplying descendants. Later generations called them the "Eight Tribes Kings." "Eight Tribes" is also "Bapu," meaning grandfather in the Tujia language. In the past, many Eight Tribes Kings temples were built in the Tujia areas of Xiangxi. The Eight Tribes Kings Temple in Shuiba Village, Wanmipo Town, Baojing County is called "First Eight Dong," and its damaged stele reads: "First Eight Dong, through Han, Jin, the Six Dynasties, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, and Ming, is the upper reaches of southern Chu... Therefore it is named Eight Tribes, because it once controlled eight dongs, each dong being a tribe." Its couplet reads: "Merit and excellence shine in records, enfeoffed as Eight Tribes; the forest is refreshed in this land, receiving blood sacrifices for a thousand autumns." Today, when Tujia people sacrifice to the Eight Tribes Kings, they still use raw meat with hair and blood as offerings. As for King Xiang Tianzi, one theory says he was the Ba clan son Wuxiang, another says he was Xiang Laoguanren. The Eight Tribes Kings and King Xiang Tianzi symbolize tribal leaders from the ancient period of the Tujia people, representing the ancient ancestors of the entire ethnic group, and are regarded by all Tujia people as ethnic gods.

Second is worshiping regional gods—the Tuwang. In the Xiangxi region, for a long time it was a jimi prefecture, a native official's seat, and a Tusi territory. The Tusi were local emperors in life, combining clan power and divine power in one person. After death they rose to become ancestor gods and were worshiped in high halls. "Tujia custom: each village has a Baishou Hall... the gods are former xuanwei and sheba, such as King Peng, Tian Dahan, and Shang Laoguanren." The Tuwang gods not only resided in high halls and great temples, but also personally visited every household: "Whenever celebrating the New Year, first place the spirit tablet of the deceased Tusi in the front of the house, and offer fish and meat." Sacrificing to the Tuwang at the Baishou Hall generally took place at the beginning of the year. During the sacrifice, ancestors were worshiped first, then the Tuwang, and then drums and gongs were struck, with dancing and singing, entertaining both gods and people.

Third is worshiping one's own family gods—the family ancestors. The spirit tablets of family ancestors were far lower than those of the Tuwang: "Tujia people offer a certain Tusi god's tablet in the hall, display wine, meat, and fish, and place their own ancestors' tablets behind the door." After democratic ideas spread into Xiangxi, family ancestors replaced the Tusi god's tablet and were placed in the main hall—the family ancestor shrine—with arrangements basically the same as Han customs. At the same time, the position behind the door was taken over by the Four Officials God. The Tujia believe that family ancestor gods are always present and everywhere; they must be worshiped at New Year and festivals, on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month, and especially when welcoming brides and marrying off daughters.

Belief in the Tima. Tima is a direct transliteration from the Tujia language, meaning a person who worships gods. The Tima are executors and hosts of religious rituals and are the great synthesizers of Tujia culture; they are familiar with ancient Tujia language and proficient in Tujia historical anecdotes, music and dance, customs and habits, as well as medicine and pharmacology and special skills and arts. In the minds of the Tujia people, the Tima are both divine and human, and are highly respected.

Among the Tujia, Miao, and other ethnic minorities in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, in addition to deeply rooted primitive religion, Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Catholicism and other humanistic religions were introduced from ancient to modern times. The CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government attach great importance to religious work; the prefecture, counties, and cities have all separately established religious affairs bureaus to specifically handle religious affairs. They earnestly implement the Chinese Communist Party's religious policies and the "Regulations on Religious Affairs" issued by the State Council in November 2004, actively implement policies on religious property, and standardize the management of religious sites. By the end of 2005, there were 353 registered religious activity sites in the prefecture, including 123 temples, monasteries, and churches (106 Buddhist, 5 Christian, 1 Daoist, 11 folk belief), and 230 other fixed religious activity sites (51 Buddhist, 12 Christian, 148 Daoist, 19 folk belief).

(2) Miao Ethnic Group

The Miao in Xiangxi call themselves "Guoxiong." Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, historical records have generally called them "Red Miao." According to relevant historical materials, the Miao have a lineage relationship with the Jiuli and Sanmiao. Jiuli was a major tribal alliance in ancient China. About 5,000 years ago, it arose in the Jianghuai and lower Yellow River areas. Sanmiao was one of its tribes. The leader of Jiuli was Chiyou, a heroic figure who shook the winds and clouds. In the Battle of Zhuolu (present-day Zhuolu County, Hebei Province), the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor fought Chiyou; Chiyou was defeated, and most of his remaining people retreated to the Jianghuai and middle Yangtze River regions. Therefore, "sorrowful and sleepless, the multitude's thoughts linger." In today's Xiangxi Miao areas, countless customs and legends of reverence and remembrance for the ancestor Chiyou have been left behind. Things change and time turns; history evolves. After the Jiuli remnants retreated to the middle and lower Yangtze River, they established a new tribal alliance—Sanmiao. It possessed a vast territory "with Dongting on the left and Pengli on the right," and repeatedly contended with Yao, Shun, and Yu; later it was destroyed by Yu, and most Miao people migrated to the deep forests of the southwest. According to Miao oral materials, during this period many Miao ancestors set out from the Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake areas, followed the Yuan River, passed through Wuxi, and entered Xiangxi to settle, thus establishing the pattern for some Miao people to multiply and live in Xiangxi. Afterward, some Miao also migrated in from Guizhou. Their migration increased the households of Xiangxi Miao and also added to the magical splendor of Xiangxi Miao.

1. Language and Script

The Xiangxi Miao language belongs to the Miao branch of the Miao-Yao language group of the Sino-Tibetan language family, specifically the eastern dialect of Miao. Xiangxi Miao can be divided into two sub-dialects, namely the eastern Xiangxi sub-dialect and the western sub-dialect. The eastern sub-dialect is spoken in western Luxi County, eastern Jishou City, southeastern Guzhang County, southern Longshan County, and eastern Yongshun County. The western sub-dialect is spoken in all Miao areas of Fenghuang, Huayuan, and Baojing counties, most of Jishou City, and western Guzhang County.

Historically, many Miao people created scripts on the basis of Chinese characters, somewhat like Vietnam's "chu nom," to record the Miao language. The most prominent representatives are Bantang Miao script, Guzhang Miao script, Miao language shorthand symbols, and Laozhai Miao script.

In order to solve the difficulties of learning culture for the broad Miao people in the eastern Miao dialect area, in October 1956, relevant state departments held a scientific discussion meeting on Miao language and script issues in Guiyang City and created the "Miao Eastern Dialect Script Plan" (draft). This script plan uses Latin letters as writing symbols and takes the Miao language of Layi Village, Jiwei Township, Huayuan County as the standard pronunciation.

2. Customs and Habits

Clothing. Xiangxi Miao clothing has a long history. According to Eastern Han Ying Shao's "Fengsu Tong," Jin Gan Bao's "Soushen Ji," and Fan Ye's "Book of Later Han: Biography of the Southern Man," as early as more than 4,000 years ago during the Gaoxin period, the Miao ancestors who migrated to the Wushan area of the prefecture created primitive Miao clothing "all with tail shapes." The Xiangxi Miao area should rightly be recognized as one of the birthplaces and cradles of Miao clothing.

There are more than 20 branches of Miao in Xiangxi, including several sub-branches. This pattern led to the characteristic diversity of styles and designs in Xiangxi Miao clothing. They coexisted for a long time in the limited territory of Xiangxi, influencing, penetrating, and absorbing from one another, ultimately forming one type (Xiangxi type) and three styles (Huayuan-Baojing style, Fenghuang-Songtao style, Jishou-Luxi style). These styles both inherited the motifs of ancient Miao clothing and uniquely displayed the elegance of multiple Miao branch costumes, which is rarely seen in other Miao areas in China.

Xiangxi Miao clothing decoration patterns are rich in fantasy and creativity, brilliantly colored, and profound in meaning. They carry the historical and cultural imprints of the Xiangxi Miao for thousands of years, depict the production and life scenes of the Xiangxi Miao, and are a tangible and perceptible historical and cultural scroll of the Xiangxi Miao.

Xiangxi Miao clothing has exquisite craftsmanship and a complete range of varieties; from textile printing and dyeing to processing and production, all have their own unique technical processes and special aesthetic tastes. The Miao brocade used for fabric (that is, Dong brocade) is a clothing specialty famous at home and abroad and had already become a famous tribute of Xiangxi during the Tang and Song dynasties; flower belts are unique accessories of Xiangxi Miao clothing and are favored by the world; batik clothing is no different from the ancient "camouflage uniforms" of the Xiangxi Miao; silver ornaments are even a wonder of Xiangxi Miao clothing. A Qing dynasty bamboo-branch lyric of the Miao frontier wrote: "Pairs of silver rings fill the shoulders, whose lovely daughter is dancing lightly? Suddenly hearing singing rise beyond the mountain, a barefoot immortal flies down from the sky." It vividly depicts a group of Miao women wearing silver ornaments, dressed in new clothes, walking on mountain paths.

Diet. Before the founding of New China, the Xiangxi Miao area was poor and the land barren; the Miao people's diet was simple and scant, difficult to compare with households in great cities. But the clear and gentle spirit of the mountains and rivers, concentrated in people and also in things, led the Miao people to develop a series of dietary customs with strong ethnic and local characteristics, and many natural foods are unique in the world. To this day, these customs are still inherited and preserved, and the production of many natural foods has begun to take shape and gradually entered the track of industrialization.

The Miao love sour foods. Among the people there is a saying: "If you do not eat sour food for three days, you will stagger when walking." They are good at making sour foods. For example, to make sour fish, select fresh fish of about half a jin, wash the gills, split the belly and remove the innards, place in a jar, and after one or two days take them out and put them in a sieve to dry in the shade; when the water is dry, collect them, then put glutinous rice flour, chili powder, and other seasonings into the empty cavity of the fish, and then seal the fish in the jar. Its preservation period can last as long as several years, and it is a regular delicacy for Miao families entertaining guests. Pickling pork in sour style is the same. For vegetables, salt is taboo in sour pickling.

The Miao love wild green foods. For example, peach blossom worms in rivers; bracken, kudzu, fir mushrooms, tong mushrooms, grass mushrooms, and buckwheat cake mushrooms in the mountains; ground fungus on rocks; and many wild vegetables such as white mugwort, glutinous rice vegetable, and duck-foot leaf. There are truly many varieties, too numerous to count. Previously, city people scorned these green foods, but now they have become hot-selling items in the market and specialty foods for entertaining distinguished guests.

The Miao love raw foods. For example, they are accustomed to drinking well water. Historical records say: "The Miao drink rock spring water; its nature is cold and it can relieve fetal toxins." Today people like to drink mineral water, which is actually no different from Miao custom. In addition, sour fish, sour meat, sour vegetables, and other sour-series foods can also be eaten raw by the Miao. In the past, this custom was regarded as "barbaric" and was maliciously exaggerated or misunderstood as "eating raw meat and drinking blood"; in fact, it is a manifestation of the Miao "light eating" custom. Analyzed with today's scientific perspective, the Miao raw food custom has its own special nutritional and hygienic value.

The Miao and Tujia peoples have lived as neighbors for generations, as close as one family. Many of their dietary customs are no different from those of the Tujia, so they will not be described again here.

Most of the Miao villages in Xiangxi are built on high mountains and in deep valleys. Qu Yuan's description in "Crossing the River" of what he saw when passing through Luxi—"Deep forests are dark and gloomy, where apes and monkeys dwell; mountains are steep and high, blocking the sun; below it is dark and rainy"—is very apt for describing the living environment of the Miao people.

Before the Qing Dynasty's "replacing native officials with centrally appointed officials" policy, the Miao people mostly lived in clans, so it was very common for an entire village to share one surname. After that policy, Han immigrants settled among the Miao areas, and only then did the change appear of a village or hamlet having multiple surnames.

In the Miao language, a dwelling is called a "bao." Even now, Miao villages in Huayuan and Fenghuang counties still have buildings with earthen walls and slate tiles, which can be regarded as a continuation of ancient style. Later, thatched huts gradually appeared, with wooden fork frames and roofs covered with thatch, fir bark, and rice straw. Still later, they developed into tile-roofed houses built with three pillars and four beams, five pillars and six beams, five pillars and eight beams, and three pillars and six beams. In terms of the number of rooms, there were houses of one room, two rooms, three rooms, up to seven rooms in one building. Among them, the tile-roofed house with four rows and three rooms and five pillars and eight beams was the most common, often accompanied by wing rooms or side annexes.

In terms of use, the interior layout is divided into bedrooms, fire beds, the central hall, kitchen, storage room, pigsty, and cattle pen. The central room of the main house is the central hall, with a small rear section used as a bedroom. The room on the right is the fire bed, laid with a wooden floor and enclosing a fire pit. To the right of the fire pit is the "Hangguo," meaning the seat of ancestral spirits; guests, women, and children cannot sit in this position. In the fire pit is an iron tripod, used for placing cookware for cooking rice and stir-frying dishes. This tripod is said to be the incarnation of the fire god, and stepping on it with the feet is strictly forbidden. Behind the fire bed is the host's bedroom. In the room to the left of the central hall, the front part is the stove, and the rear part is the granary. The wing rooms or side rooms mostly contain mills and rice pounders, and pigsties, cattle pens, and toilets are built among them.

After the founding of New China, especially since reform and opening up, Miao dwellings have undergone considerable changes. In Miao areas, not only have large numbers of traditional wooden tile-roofed houses been built, but also small modern-style buildings with a high degree of modernization and exquisite decoration.

Marriage: Miao young people are relatively free in love, and parents do not interfere much. After meeting at social occasions such as market fairs, the Autumn Festival, and the Cherry Fair, they begin the unique Miao style of courtship, expressing love through songs and using songs as matchmakers. If one cannot sing, it is very difficult to enter the hall of love. Young people's dates are generally marked by grass tokens, and passersby who see them should consciously avoid them.

After successful courtship, the young man tells his parents and asks a matchmaker to go to the woman's home to propose. Afterward, the woman's side goes to the man's home to look at the house and learn about his family circumstances; the man's side performs "egg divination" or "chicken divination" to determine whether the marriage can be compatible. Egg divination involves drawing a small circle on each end of an egg, boiling it, piercing it through with a needle from the centers of the two small circles, peeling off the shell, and then having a sorcerer recite incantations and use a hair to split the egg into two along the needle holes. If the yolk and white are even on both sides, it is a good omen and the marriage can be made; otherwise, the woman's side is informed that the marriage is not compatible according to the eight characters, and she can only be regarded as an adopted younger sister. Chicken divination involves killing and cooking a large rooster, then seeing whether the gaps between the two leg bones are the same size and length; if they are the same, it is a good omen. The above divinations are purely superstitious, and no one uses them today.

After the above procedures, the man's side chooses an auspicious day and carries gifts such as wine, meat, rice, flour, and sugar to the woman's home to acknowledge the kinship. The woman's side must send people enthusiastically to meet the carrying pole outside the door. The man's side generally stays overnight at the woman's home and visits the woman's uncles and brothers to show respect.

In the year before taking a wife, the man's side must also pay a major New Year visit to the woman's parents, and only then ask the matchmaker to go to the woman's side to request the "red horoscope" (the woman's birth date and eight characters). Based on the "red horoscope," a fortune-teller or geomancer is asked to determine the auspicious day for the wedding.

Among the Miao, welcoming the bride is a very lively day. The bridal procession plays music and laughs all along the way. When they reach the woman's door, they must perform the "gate-blocking ritual," in which the woman's side first closes the main gate, and inside and outside the gate the host and guests speak "gate-blocking words," asking and answering, going back and forth, matching wits. If the guests win the debate, the hosts open the gate and let them in; if the hosts win, the guests must wrap a certain amount of "gift money" and stuff it through the crack of the door, earnestly begging the hosts to show the grace of opening the gate. This custom is merely entertainment, a contest of wit and eloquence, adding a festive atmosphere, with no intention of making things difficult.

At dawn the next day, the bride cries in farewell to her parents. When leaving the house, the bride's brother carries her out the main gate, and her feet must not touch the ground, symbolizing emerging unstained from filth and showing chastity. At this time, the "kinship manager" raises two torches high, one left at the bride's home and one held in hand to lead the way, meaning to give the bride a bright journey and bring good fortune and happiness to the husband's family.

Among the woman's dowry, there must be two small bamboos with roots and leaves, which the groom plants in front of or behind the house, wishing them prosperity in descendants and continuity for ten thousand generations.

When the bride enters the husband's home, she must step over a bamboo sieve at the doorway. If she steps in first with the left foot, it foretells that the first child will be a boy; if with the right foot first, a girl.

After the bride enters the house, there is no "bowing in the hall" ceremony; instead, she sits below the fire pit to show unwavering loyalty to her husband. That night, the husband's family lights strong fires in the fire pit and the central hall, and guests gather around the blazing fire to listen to singers' moving antiphonal songs and song contests. On the wedding night, the groom and bride cannot sleep together. Before the guests disperse the next day, the groom sets a large square table in the hall, and elders from both sides and the matchmaker sit in two rows on four sides, holding the ceremony of reciting the "Miao Marriage Ritual Words." The reciters are ritual masters invited by both sides. The content includes Miao marriage history, ethnic migration, branch reproduction, and so on. The language is beautiful and the emotion sincere; it is truly the chanting of a Miao epic handed down through the ages. After it ends, the host holds a banquet for the formal guests and sees them off back home. The husband returns with his wife to her natal home, but they still do not sleep together; only after returning to the husband's home do they share a bed and enjoy their honeymoon.

Festivals: The traditional festivals of the Miao include the Eighth of the Fourth Month, Qingming Song Fair, Third of the Third Month Song Fair, Sixth of the Sixth Month Song Fair, Cherry Song Fair, Autumn Festival, and New Year Market Festival. Among them, the Eighth of the Fourth Month and the Autumn Festival are the most grand and lively.

The Eighth of the Fourth Month. This is the Miao people's annual ancestor-worship festival and heroes' festival, and also a Valentine's Day and carnival for young men and women. Legend says that long ago, a Miao young man named Yayi from Fenghuang gathered people at the bank of the Longtang River in that county to rise up against feudal rule and won many battles. On the Eighth of the Fourth Month the following year, Yayi unfortunately died in battle near the Fountain Pool in Guiyang, Guizhou Province. To commemorate this ethnic hero, the Miao people hold memorial activities on the Eighth of the Fourth Month each year to recall Yayi's heroic deeds. On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month every year, the Miao people dress in their finest, gather from all directions at the bank of the Longtang River or at newly agreed locations, and hold commemorative and carnival activities. They play the lusheng, play the suona, beat flower drums, sing Miao songs, perform lion dances, practice boxing and staff techniques, climb knife ladders, and sacrifice cattle, reveling to their hearts' content. For a time, drums and music suddenly rise, resounding to the clouds; Miao songs begin, shaking the four fields; fists and staffs wave, and cheers never stop—extraordinarily lively.

The Autumn Festival. This is a major festive occasion of the Miao in Xiangxi. Every year on the day of "Beginning of Autumn," to celebrate the harvest, the Miao people dress in their finest, wear gold and silver, invite friends, and joyfully surge toward the "autumn market" to participate in or watch various ethnic and folk cultural and sports activities. The so-called "autumn market" is the place where the market fair happens to fall on the day of Beginning of Autumn. Traditional autumn markets include Aizhai in Jishou; Masu Market, Jiwei, and Pailiao in Huayuan; Gouliang Mountain in Fenghuang; and Liangjiatan and Tanxi in Luxi. On this day, the autumn market is crowded shoulder to shoulder, with squeezing itself taken as fun. On the surrounding slopes, figures move about, colorful as brocade, songs curl upward, and laughter fills the air. Swinging, singing mountain songs, climbing knife ladders, blowing ox horns—nothing is missing, and it is extraordinarily lively.

Etiquette: Paying attention to etiquette is a virtue in social interaction; it shows a person's ideological cultivation. Although the Miao people have lived for generations in remote mountain villages, their thinking is simple and honest, and they are very particular about etiquette.

When younger people meet elders: Whenever younger people meet elders, whether male or female, familiar or meeting for the first time, they must speak sincerely, behave respectfully, greet them with a smile, and address them with certain respectful terms. If a younger person is walking and sees an elderly person or elder, they must immediately stand still; if a younger person is sitting and an elder arrives, they should immediately stand up and offer a seat. The eyes should look straight ahead, and the hands should be lowered. If one meets an elder one does not know, and the other is ten or twenty years older than oneself, a man is called "Dena" (eldest maternal uncle) and a woman is called "Demu" (maternal aunt); if the other is even older, a male elder is called "Ada" (maternal grandfather) and a female elder is called "Ada" (maternal grandmother). Only after finishing the address may the younger person sit down or take leave.

When elders meet younger people: Whenever elders meet younger people, they generally nod in greeting. If acquainted, they call them by fixed kinship terms; if not acquainted, and the other is in the prime of life, a man may be called "Dena" (elder brother) and a woman may be called "Aya" (elder sister). If the other is a young child, whether boy or girl, they may be called "Deke" (little brother, little sister).

The Autumn Festival. This is a major festive occasion of the Miao in Xiangxi. Every year on the day of "Beginning of Autumn," to celebrate the harvest, the Miao people dress in their finest, wear gold and silver, invite friends, and joyfully surge toward the "autumn market" to participate in or watch various ethnic and folk cultural and sports activities. The so-called "autumn market" is the place where the market fair happens to fall on the day of Beginning of Autumn. Traditional autumn markets include Aizhai in Jishou; Masu Market, Jiwei, and Pailiao in Huayuan; Gouliang Mountain in Fenghuang; and Liangjiatan and Tanxi in Luxi. On this day, the autumn market is crowded shoulder to shoulder, with squeezing itself taken as fun. On the surrounding slopes, figures move about, colorful as brocade, songs curl upward, and laughter fills the air. Swinging, singing mountain songs, climbing knife ladders, blowing ox horns—nothing is missing, and it is extraordinarily lively.

Etiquette: Paying attention to etiquette is a virtue in social interaction; it shows a person's ideological cultivation. Although the Miao people have lived for generations in remote mountain villages, their thinking is simple and honest, and they are very particular about etiquette.

When younger people meet elders: Whenever younger people meet elders, whether male or female, familiar or meeting for the first time, they must speak sincerely, behave respectfully, greet them with a smile, and address them with certain respectful terms. If a younger person is walking and sees an elderly person or elder, they must immediately stand still; if a younger person is sitting and an elder arrives, they should immediately stand up and offer a seat. The eyes should look straight ahead, and the hands should be lowered. If one meets an elder one does not know, and the other is ten or twenty years older than oneself, a man is called "Dena" (eldest maternal uncle) and a woman is called "Demu" (maternal aunt); if the other is even older, a male elder is called "Ada" (maternal grandfather) and a female elder is called "Ada" (maternal grandmother). Only after finishing the address may the younger person sit down or take leave.

When elders meet younger people: Whenever elders meet younger people, they generally nod in greeting. If acquainted, they call them by fixed kinship terms; if not acquainted, and the other is in the prime of life, a man may be called "Dena" (elder brother) and a woman may be called "Aya" (elder sister). If the other is a young child, whether boy or girl, they may be called "Deke" (little brother, little sister).

When people of the same generation meet: Whenever people of the same generation meet, they must nod in greeting. If acquainted, they use fixed kinship terms; if not acquainted, a man may be called "Alang" (elder brother) or "Baqiu" (cousin), and a woman may be called "Aya" (elder sister).

Miscellaneous etiquette: When elderly people or elders walk together with young people or younger generations, the young people or younger generations must let the elderly or elders walk in front. When old and young sit at the same table for a meal, the elderly sit at the head, the able-bodied adults sit below, and the seats on both sides may generally be taken by anyone. When old and young sit together by the fire pit on the floor building to warm themselves and chat, the side near the central pillar is customarily given to guests, elders, or the elderly; other positions may be taken freely.

Taboos: The Miao have many taboos, mainly the following:

Do not whistle at home or at night. The Miao believe that whistling can bring cold wind, attract lonely ghosts and wild spirits, and cause misfortune to oneself.

Do not step on the tripod. A tripod is kept in the fire hall all year round, used exclusively for cooking, and no one may step on it. It is said that the tripod was transformed from three ancestors who protected the fire, and stepping on the tripod is disrespectful to the ancestors.

Do not sit at "Hangguo." At the foot of the central pillar on the right side of the Miao fire pit (facing north with the back turned, facing south when facing forward, and so on), there is an ancestral spirit seat called "Hangguo" in the Miao language. Young people and women are strictly forbidden to sit on this side to warm themselves by the fire, and children especially must not romp and make noise here.

Do not shake the dragon stone. In the center of the Miao central hall there is a stone slab, and beneath the slab is a small pit containing a bowl of clear water, said to be the dwelling place of the "dragon." If this stone slab is shaken, it is said the "dragon" will be startled and leave. The host family will suffer disaster and misfortune.

While parents are alive, younger generations may not wrap white headscarves.

Taboo against observing the Minor New Year. Counting from the day of Beginning of Spring, the day that falls on a zi day is the Minor New Year. If the fourth day of the first lunar month happens to fall on a zi day, then the taboo begins from midnight of the third day. At that time, the whole family, old and young, look at one another and quietly do not say a word. On this day, the whole family rests, closes the doors and windows, does not go up the slopes, and does not do farm work, and only after midnight on the night of the fourth day is the taboo lifted.

Taboo on speech: After getting up early in the morning and before eating breakfast, it is taboo to speak of dragons, snakes, tigers, leopards, and ghosts.

Boating taboos: A younger sister cannot sit at the bow of the boat, nor get on or off the boat from the bow, lest she step on the "rooster head" (the bow) and bring disaster. When the boat reaches Dongting, boatmen must not shade their eyes with their hands and gaze into the distance, for fear of offending the Third Prince of the "Six-Corner Temple" of Dongting Lake, causing him to become angry, stir up wind and waves, and overturn the boat. When boating, it is taboo to say fan, strike, overturn, fall, or sink.

When defecating, it is taboo to hear the call of the yangque bird.

When going out, it is taboo to hear the call of a crow.

At a banquet, it is taboo to break bowls or plates.

At New Year and festivals, it is taboo to speak of ghosts early in the morning, especially on the first day of the first lunar month.

When a sow gives birth, a bamboo sieve must be hung to ward off evil, and it is taboo for a "four-eyed person" (a pregnant woman) to see it.

People surnamed Tian taboo eating dog meat, and craftsmen (referring to sorcerers or itinerant people) do not eat the "five detestables" (that is, the meat of animals with five claws, such as dogs, tigers, leopards, wolves, rabbits, and soft-shelled turtles).

Bamboo craftsmen taboo working bare-chested, meaning to respect Master Lu Ban's younger sister.

3. Religious beliefs

The Miao people have a strong tradition of primitive religious customs, known for "revering ghosts and esteeming shamans." The Chenzhou Prefecture Gazetteer · Customs states: "The customs of Chenzhou... believe in shamans and value ghosts. This is so everywhere." The Yongsui Sub-prefecture Gazetteer · Customs (Tongzhi edition) states: "In total, the ghosts that should be sacrificed to in Miao villages number over seventy tang." Among these, the rituals chanted in the guest language (i.e., Chinese) include Receiving the Dragon, Crossing the Pass, Building the Bridge, Severing the Chang, Eating Vegetarian, Striking a Hundred Mouths, Sending Off the Medicine King, Wood-Wrapped Ghost, Stripping the Flag Spear, Redeeming the Door-Blocking Ghost, and Redeeming the High-Slope Ghost; the rituals chanted in the Miao language include Eating Pig, Eating Ox, Sacrificing to the Thunder Ghost, and Unbinding the Strength Ghost. Among the numerous ghosts and spirits, there are heavenly deities, earthly spirits, and human ghosts; flower demons and tree specters, object monsters and spirit transformations; some with names and surnames, and some without; some with vivid images, and some with vague images, far away in the high heavens or the dark underworld. As for their relationships, they are roughly "ordered" yet also quite "disordered." Exactly how many there are in total, no one can ascertain.

The clergy who perform the primitive religious sacrificial activities of the Miao people are called "Badai." Among them, those who chant in the Miao language are called "Badai Xiong" (commonly known in Chinese as "Miao Old Shaman"), and those who chant in Chinese are called "Badai Za" (commonly known in Chinese as "Guest Old Shaman"). They are part-time Miao clergy, distributed in every Miao village. The rituals they perform are mostly passed down through the family. Some "Badai," from childhood, begin learning to chant and sing from their elders, and their magical skills become profound and outstanding. Because the primitive religion of the Miao people contains a great deal of the essence of ancient Miao culture, the "Badai" are fully deserving of being recognized as the inheritors of ancient Miao culture.

Among the many rituals presided over by the Miao "Badai," the four sacrificial ceremonies with the most ethnic characteristics, the liveliest scenes, and the richest connotations are Ox Stabbing, Dragon Receiving, Pig Eating, and Nuo Vow Repayment.

Ox Stabbing is called "Nongye" in the Miao language, meaning "eating ox." The objects of its sacrifice include almost all the numerous ghosts and spirits of the Miao people's natural religious beliefs. At the same time, it is also for sacrificing to the Miao people's ancestral founder, Chiyou. In ancient times, ox stabbing was mostly a "public sacrifice of the whole village," held once every few years, called "Drum-Jumping Festival." After the mid-Qing Dynasty, ox stabbing gradually changed from public village sacrifice to private sacrifice by individual households. Private ox stabbing generally lasted three days, and some lasted as long as four to five days. It was mostly held in the courtyard of the host family. On the first day, a yellow ox was slaughtered and ancestral rites were performed, called "Honoring the Family Ancestors"; the next day, guests were welcomed; only on the third day was the grand ox-stabbing ceremony held. On that day, a water buffalo was tied to a decorated pole (commonly called the "General's Pole") in the courtyard in front of the gate. Led by the shaman's chanting, the relatives on the maternal uncle's side first stabbed it with a spear, followed in order by other relatives. That evening, "Dule" (i.e., "Drum-Jumping Festival") was held, with young men and women beating drums and cheering all night long. The younger generation then ascended to the fire hall and, together with the shaman, recalled and recounted the Miao "Ancient Words." On the morning of the fourth day, the guests, amid the host's farewell songs, reluctantly set out on their respective journeys home.

Dragon Receiving is called "Rangrong" in the Miao language. Legend has it that the dragon's inherent ability to bless the human world includes bringing rain, granting children, averting disasters, and eliminating illness, making it the protective deity of the Miao people. In order to seek favorable weather, add children and grandchildren, and eliminate disasters and illness, the Miao people developed the primitive religious custom of "Dragon Receiving." Dragon Receiving is generally arranged after the tenth lunar month. Several nights before Dragon Receiving, men, women, young, and old of the village gather at the host's home for "Daorong" (i.e., "Stirring the Dragon"). In the gathering, elders talk of the past and present, young people practice drumming, play the suona, and learn to sing, dispersing only late at night. When the Dragon Receiving period arrives, relatives and friends all come to offer congratulations. After the sacrifice begins, the Miao shaman lights candles, burns incense and paper, strikes bamboo tubes, and murmurs incantations. After the sacrifice, led by the shaman, a Dragon Receiving procession of dozens or even hundreds of people goes to a well in the outskirts of the village to receive the dragon. Along the way, flags are furled and drums silenced, solemn and dignified. At the well, the hostess takes a pot of clear spring water and, holding an umbrella, leads the procession back. Along the way, firecrackers resound and gongs and drums sound together. All the women in the procession hold umbrellas, singing and dancing joyfully, like a long dragon writhing toward the host's home. After arriving home, the hostess pours the spring water into a bowl, adds rice wine, silver powder, cinnabar, and other items, and places it in a small pit previously dug in the central hall, covering the pit with a stone slab, called "Anlong" (Securing the Dragon). That evening, men and women sing and dance all night long.

Pig Eating is called "Nongba" in the Miao language. It is said to be an ancestral sacrifice ritual. Its sacrificial ceremony is basically the same as ox stabbing, except that a pig is used instead of an ox as the offering. In addition, the pig tied to the decorated pole is killed by striking with a wooden club rather than stabbing with a spear, so it is commonly called "Stick-Struck Pig."

Nuo Vow Repayment is called "Chongnu" in the Miao language. It is a major ritual chanted in Chinese. The objects of sacrifice are the mythical ancestors of human reproduction, Nuo Gong and Nuo Mu. This sacrifice generally lasts 3 days. The main rituals include setting up the Nuo altar, welcoming the gods, opening the cave, seeking omens, and offering cooked food, interspersed with Nuo opera performances, entertaining both gods and people, with very lively scenes.

(3) Bai Ethnic Group

The Bai people within the prefecture were mostly restored and recognized after the 1980s, mainly distributed in Sangzhi County. In 1984, the prefecture had a total of 91,774 Bai people, of whom 90,533 were in Sangzhi County. After Sangzhi County was separated out, by the end of 2005, the prefecture had approximately 1,800 Bai people.

According to research, the Bai people of Sangzhi are descendants of the "Cunbo Army" from Dali, Yunnan, in the late Song and early Yuan dynasties, and call themselves "Minjia People."

The Bai people of Xiangxi generally use Chinese, but many words and expressions are the same as those of the Bai people in Dali, Yunnan Province.

In terms of customs, the Bai people like to wear white, with the saying "loving to be pretty, dressed all in mourning white." The most grand festivals are, first, the Winter Solstice Festival, also called the Ancestor Worship Festival. On the day of the winter solstice each year, men, women, young, and old dress in their finest, gather at the ancestral hall, slaughter sheep and pigs, and worship the local deity; second, the "Fair Gathering." The dates vary among different branches. At that time, Bai people from all directions come to participate, with ethnic-style artistic performances and product trading.

In terms of artistic activities, the Bai people enjoy dancing the Zhanggu Dance. The prop resembles a pestle, thick at both ends and thin in the middle, generally performed in teams of three, rotating as they dance. Traditional programs include "Wild Boar Teasing Shrimp," "Rabbit Gazing at the Moon," and "Kui Star Pointing at the Dipper." The Bai people also enjoy "Flower Lantern" performances and mountain songs.

(4) Hui Ethnic Group

By the end of 2005, the prefecture had 8,424 Hui people, mainly concentrated in Longshan County with 4,010, Fenghuang County with 2,010, Yongshun County with 1,409, and Jishou City with 751.

The migration of the Hui people began after the Qing Dynasty's "Replacing Native Officials with Central Officials" policy. Some migrated upstream along the Yuan River and You River from the Changde area for commercial activities and settled within the prefecture; others entered with the military and subsequently settled within the prefecture.

The Hui people within the prefecture believe in Islam, and their customs are closely related to Islamic religious activities in many aspects, with very obvious ethnic characteristics. They use Chinese as their language. Their clothing is basically the same as that of the Han people, but on ethnic festivals, prayer services, and religious occasions, men mostly wear white caps and women wear black headscarves. The main festivals are Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Mawlid al-Nabi. They abstain from eating animals that died naturally, do not eat improperly slaughtered animals, and are forbidden from eating pork. When holding a wedding, an imam is invited to recite the "Nikah" to witness the marriage. After a baby is born, an imam is invited to give the child a "scripture name." Funeral activities are conducted quickly and simply.

After the founding of New China, in order to accommodate the dietary habits of the Hui people, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture has consistently implemented a meat subsidy policy for Hui people.

(5) Yao Ethnic Group

According to research, the ancestors of the Yao people migrated into the prefecture at roughly the same time as the ancestors of the Miao people, with the earliest settlement being in present-day Luxi County. Through the long course of history, they migrated again to other places. Today, the Yao people within the prefecture are mainly distributed in Angdong, Longxi, Qianling, and other places in Baojing County, numbering 1,501, having migrated during the Ming and Qing dynasties; next are Jishou City and Yongshun County. By the end of 2005, the prefecture had 2,349 Yao people. The Yao people have the custom of Panhu worship, leaving behind a large number of myths, legends, and historical sites related to Panhu worship in Luxi County. Place names alone, such as Xinnü Rock, Xinnü Stream, Xinnü Bridge, and Dagou Chong, number more than 20, along with the Xinnü Temple with its high walls and large courtyard, as well as numerous related ancient poems and writings.

(6) Dong Ethnic Group

The Dong people are one of the ethnic groups that migrated into the prefecture relatively early, though the specific time of migration has not yet been verified. By the end of 2005, the prefecture had approximately 2,000 Dong people, mainly distributed in Huayuan, Jishou, Longshan, and Fenghuang.

Other ethnic groups, due to their relatively short migration time and small population, will not be described one by one.

In the years of reform and opening up, exchanges among ethnic groups have become increasingly frequent, and the people of all ethnic groups in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture have rapidly learned advanced culture and continuously reformed their own customs and habits.

Source & reference