A Brief History of the Tujia—Living Customs (Part Two)
II. Marriage and Funeral Customs. Historically, Tujia marriage customs underwent several changes. Before the gaitu reforms, there was the custom that "those of the same surname might marry; weddings did not use sedan chairs, the bride was carried on the back, and men and women mingled freely." In Sangzhi, "following ancient Yi customs, a father's concubine or an elder brother's wife could be taken, and unions were free." Under the chieftain system such marriage customs existed: "by old chieftain rule, a sister's daughter must marry a brother's son, called..."
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
II. Marriage and Funeral Rites and Customs
In history, Tujia marriage customs underwent several changes. Before gaitu, there had been the custom that "people of the same surname married one another; in marriage no sedan chair was used, the bride was carried on the back, and men and women mixed freely." In Sangzhi, "following ancient Yi customs, a father's concubine could become a son's wife, and unions were free." Under the tusi system such marriage customs existed: "By old tusi rule, a paternal aunt's daughter had to marry a maternal uncle's son, called 'bone seed.' Regardless of age, there were even cases where the aunt's daughter was more than ten years older and still had to wait for the uncle's son to grow up before marrying." This custom that a paternal aunt's daughter must be given to the maternal uncle's family was, with respect to uncle's rights, "returning the bone seed." Later it gradually evolved so that a paternal aunt's daughter had priority to marry the maternal uncle's son; only when the uncle's family waived the right could she marry elsewhere, but still had to pay a heavy bride price to the uncle's family. "Cross-cousin marriage" and "shoulder-pole marriage" were quite prevalent. When an elder brother died, his younger brother took his widow; when a younger brother died, his elder brother took his widow, called "filling the room" ("transferring the room"); this levirate marriage was also once popular. Living amid countless mountains, men and women went out and came in together for farming, without regard to closeness or distance. When they met on the road, regardless of sex, they used song as the matchmaker for marriage; young men and women had relatively free marriages, singing and dancing and pledging themselves to each other. With the approval of the tu laoshi and after worshipping at the Tuwang Shrine before marriage, they could marry (folk legend says the "Tujia chief" had the right of first night). After gaitu, with the development of the feudal economy, young people's marriages were mostly restricted by matching social status and wealth and constrained by the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers. At first "marriage gifts were cattle, cloth, and the five grains"; later, for betrothal the man's family had to give the woman's family cattle, sheep, silver, pigs, wine, and other goods as bride price, and some poor families could never establish a household.
After gaitu, wedding ceremonies for men and women gradually approached the customs of the local Han people, while also retaining some ethnic and local characteristics. Marriage age was generally young, mostly at sixteen or seventeen, and some married at twelve or thirteen. Before marriage the girl had to make a fine Tujia flowered bedcover herself. After the wedding date was chosen, she had to cry before leaving home. Before the wedding day, both men and women underwent the coming-of-age rite of "inserting flowers in the hair." On the wedding day, before sending the sedan chair to fetch the bride, the man prepared a pig's head and a chicken and went to the Tuwang Shrine to sacrifice to the Tuwang; the groom had to perform nine kowtows and eight bows, otherwise it would be inauspicious. When the man's family went to the woman's family to fetch the bride, they had to perform the gate-blocking rite. On the wedding day the bride wore dew clothes and carried a dew umbrella, and was carried to the sedan chair on the back of a brother (originally they walked together, later they were carried on the back in a wooden tub, and only after gaitu did the sedan chair come into use). Before getting into the sedan chair, she also had to throw chopsticks and toss a torch. When the woman entered the man's house, some still practiced the custom of "stamping the gate," and some, upon entering the bridal chamber, also had a "contending for the bed" ceremony. With the "third-day return visit," the custom of not living with the husband's family no longer existed.
Before the founding of New China, there were also certain rituals for bearing sons and raising daughters. After a man and woman married, the man's family had to send a jar of rice wine to the woman's family. After a woman gave birth, the man's family had to go to the woman's family to announce the good news: if a boy was born, they had to bring a rooster; if a girl, a hen. Upon hearing the news, the wife's natal family would go to the son-in-law's house to "celebrate the tenth day" for the infant and give back children's supplies as well as meat, eggs, sweet wine, and other things to the son-in-law's family. If a woman was infertile after marriage and sought a child, some invited the tu laoshi to worship the gods, setting up a platform on the lawn and hanging divine images to pray, offering rice cakes, tofu, beef, and internal organs; they cut paper into child-shaped figures, placed a basin of water, put beef below and tofu in the middle, inserted the paper figures into the tofu, and made child-shaped figures from rice cakes. After the tu laoshi finished the ritual, the couple seeking a child would take the rice cakes and secretly eat them in a corner of the house to seek offspring. There were also those who made vows to the Nuo gods for a child; after the man and woman went to the Tuwang Temple to make vows, they placed the ash bowl used in prayer on the shrine, and after a child was born they had to invite the tu laoshi to "redeem money" to the Tuwang and fulfill the "joyful Nuo gods" vow. When a child was ill or difficult to raise, there were also vows and vow fulfillments, and some invited the tu laoshi to "cross the pass," and some had the child ritually adopted by a bodhisattva. Those adopted by Guanyin Bodhisattva had the childhood name "Guanbao"; those adopted by a well were named "Shuiwang"; those adopted by a ferryboat were named "Chuanbao," and so on. These rituals and customs were all closely related to the Tujia being bound by the feudal system and to the low level of production and culture. After the founding of New China, these customs gradually changed.
In the past the Tujia mostly practiced cremation, and after gaitu burial in the ground gradually became more common. For elders who died a natural death, most invited the tu laoshi to recite scriptures, and monks and Daoists to open the way. The tu laoshi's scripture recitation mostly consisted of singing myths of the creation of heaven and earth, ethnic migrations, and eulogies praising the ancestors and the deeds of the deceased. "Funeral affairs favored songs"; at night they sang mourning songs and beat night gongs and drums to mourn through song. At the funeral procession, the tu laoshi adorned the deceased: if the deceased was female, the tu laoshi carried a quilt and shoes; if the deceased was male, the tu laoshi carried a tobacco pouch and a curved knife, while the family circled around weeping in mourning. After the mourning, the objects carried by the tu laoshi were immediately burned. They also slaughtered cattle and sheep to sacrifice to the gods. Then monks and Daoists "led the way" and burial took place. For those who died unnaturally, the tu laoshi was invited to perform the "climbing the knife ladder" rite to deliver the soul before burial. As for graves: "The rich had stone tombs, shaped like a mountain city, using steles to display the prosperity of the clan. The poor often used a straw mat and a thin coffin." The scale and form of tombs differed greatly between rich and poor. The elaborate or simple nature of funeral rites also varied greatly. After the founding of New China, some funerals held only a memorial meeting to express grief.