Tujia Taboos in Zhangjiajie
The "36 Taboo": The number most taboo to the Tujia people is 36. In their minds, 36 is a "calamitous number," and even figures like 3 jin 6 liang, 3 yuan 6 jiao, and 3 chi 6 cun are taboo. When numbering in sequence, after 35 they start again from one. In life, they most fear their 36th birthday. On that occasion, they must wear red cloth underwear.
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 Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated.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.
"The Number 36 Taboo"
The number the Tujia people taboo most is 36. In the eyes of the Tujia people, the number 36 is a "fateful calamity number"; even figures such as 3 jin 6 liang, 3 yuan 6 jiao, and 3 chi 6 cun are also included in the taboo. When numbering in sequence, after reaching 35, one starts again from the first. In one's life, the 36th birthday is feared most. On that occasion, one must wear red cloth underpants, or tie a red waistband; it is said that in this way the evil influence brought by age 36 can be averted. As a folk saying goes: "At thirty-six, one takes a tumble; when a person reaches thirty-six, if he does not get involved in a lawsuit, he will have to sell his house." Some people, in the year they turn 36, invite relatives and friends, hold a banquet, and celebrate the birthday and offer longevity wishes in advance; the guests must set off firecrackers inside the host's house to ward off the evil influence, and at the banquet the relatives and friends also offer congratulations to the birthday person to seek good fortune.
Social Taboos
The Tujia people taboo using the Tujia language with outsiders, and taboo using coarse, vulgar, and impolite language; juniors taboo calling elders directly by name, and when peers call one another by name they taboo omitting the surname; between men and women it is taboo to call out "Dai, Wei"; juniors taboo calling elders "Dai, Wei"; long drawn-out calls such as "A——" are taboo; when someone is sick, it is taboo to say words such as "not tall, not long, death, demise, finished"; when someone has passed away, it is taboo to say "death" directly, and instead substitutes such as "zuo gu," "gui tian," and "zou le" are used; to businesspeople it is taboo to say characters such as "zhe, kui, sun, hao." It is taboo for men and women to sit on the same bench or sit facing each other, and it is taboo for a man to touch a woman's waist. It is taboo to spit when meeting others or in front of others. It is taboo to keep a beard. On occasions of marriage and celebration, it is forbidden to say things like "separate, part," and even more so to talk about funerals; otherwise, it is believed that disaster will be brought.
Travel Taboos
For travel, it is taboo to set out on the 7th or 9th day, and taboo to return home after setting out on the 8th day; the saying goes, "Do not go out on the 7th, do not return on the 8th; going out on the 9th invites trouble." The Tujia people also believe that the Snake day in the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th lunar months, the Rooster day in the winter month, and the Ox day in the 3rd, 6th, and 9th months are all "red evil days," and it is taboo to travel far on them. There is a saying: "If you go out and meet a red evil, you will go and not return home." When people go out to visit relatives and friends or handle affairs, the person they taboo meeting first most is a woman; if they do meet one, then it is not suitable to go out, and they wait until the next day to set out. If the first person met is a man and the second is a woman, then it is not taboo.
Head-Touching Taboo
Tujia men strictly forbid others to touch their heads, whether out of goodwill or for any other reason. Only their own grandparents and parents are exceptions. As a proverb says, "A man's head, a girl's waist, may only be looked at, not touched." It is popularly believed that touching a man's head violates a man's dignity; even the best of friends must strictly observe this taboo, otherwise friendship will turn into enmity.
Omen Taboos
1. If a solar eclipse or lunar eclipse occurs, it is believed that the country will have disorder and the people will have calamity, and gongs and drums must be beaten to rescue them.
2. It is believed that a crow's cawing means someone will die or suffer misfortune; a rooster crowing at midnight means there will be fire and thieves.
3. Sneezing is taboo; it is believed that someone behind one's back is speaking ill of one, or using witchcraft to harm one. Therefore the Tujia people immediately curse: "Good people say I have a good heart, wicked people say my jaw will rot." In this way the misfortune can be dispelled.
4. Dream images are taboo: dreaming of clear water means one will wash one's face with tears, dreaming of white cloth means one will wear mourning, dreaming of a child means one must guard against thieves; dreaming of chickens, birds, or small fish means there will be quarrels, dreaming of jumping over a ditch means illness and disaster, dreaming of going up a mountain means good things, dreaming of going downhill means one will bear burdens
Animal Taboos
1. The crow's cawing is taboo. Whenever a crow caws on the roof ridge in the early morning, or flies in front of a person or circles and caws above their head, and after you drive it away it flies back and caws again, people then consider it an inauspicious sign of the beginning of disaster. Whenever people encounter this, they immediately stamp their feet and curse bitterly: "May your life be cut short!" Then they spit or spit once to dispel the misfortune and turn ill luck into good.
2. Hearing the cuckoo's call is taboo. Every spring, when the cuckoo begins to call, if a person hears the cuckoo's call for the first time while at the toilet, it is considered inauspicious and must be averted. The method of aversion is for the hearer (if young, the mother must do it on their behalf) to dress as a beggar and go out to beg for food for 1-3 days; the rice obtained must be cooked and eaten in the wild where the sounds of chickens and dogs cannot be heard, and only then can the disaster be dispelled. The Tujia people also have the custom of using the cuckoo's call to divine their luck for the year. If one first hears the cuckoo while sleeping in bed, it is greatly auspicious; if one first hears it while walking or while laboring in production, it means one will toil and rush about for the whole year.
3. Hearing an owl hoot is taboo. In the eyes of the Tujia people, the owl is an ominous bird, and hearing its call is especially taboo; legend says that if an owl is heard calling, someone in the village will die.
4. Seeing snakes entwined is taboo; what is called snakes entwined is snakes mating. Legend says that if a person sees it, disaster will surely befall them. There are two methods of aversion: first, quickly take off one's outer pair of long trousers and cover one's own head with them or cover the place where the snakes are entwined. Second, shift the misfortune onto someone else: if there is a companion, immediately call the companion's name; if the other responds, then the disaster will fall upon the one who responded. However, in ordinary circumstances the witness uses stones or wooden sticks to beat the two snakes to death, and then the disaster can be dispelled. There are also those who do not beat them but use words to resolve it, saying: "May you become immortals and ascend to the heavenly court, may you twist rope and string copper coins"; the Tujia resolution words say: "If it is a dragon, let it rise to heaven; if it is a snake, let it drill into the grass; if it is a person, let him prosper."
5. If livestock enter the house during the Lunar New Year festival, it foretells that "a pig coming brings poverty, a dog coming brings wealth, a cat coming means wearing mourning clothes"; if a wild raccoon dog enters the house, a chicken climbs a tree, or a dog climbs onto the roof, then if there is no disaster there will surely be misfortune, and if one does not die one will lose a layer of skin; whenever one goes out to do business or discuss a marriage, hearing a crow caw is considered inauspicious, and one must turn back.