Wenshan Zhuang

The Zhuang people are the indigenous ethnic group of Wenshan Prefecture. According to historical records, the ancestors of the Zhuang nationality belonged to the ancient Dian Pu people and were descendants of the Gouding Pu people. Unearthed cultural relics, cave sites and cliff paintings from many places in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Wenshan Prefecture have proven that this ancient land has long been the cradle of the ancestors of the Zhuang people. Before the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Zhuang ancestors created rice farming culture on this land. The Zhuang people call the rice fields "Na", and the Zhuang people love "Na" so much that they call the villages where they have settled for generations "Ship" (boat-shaped field), "Nahong" (king, emperor's field), etc. Only Wenshan Prefecture is named "Na". There are 518 named villages.

The ancestors of the Zhuang nationality experienced a matrilineal clan society in the early days, which was called the "乜hong" system in Zhuang language; then they experienced a patrilineal clan society, which was called the "Buhong" system in Zhuang language; following the "Buhong" system in Zhuang language Also experienced the "Buban" old-system society. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wenshan Prefecture belonged to the Chu State; during the Han Dynasty, it was enfeoffed by imperial edict and was established as Juding State in present-day Guangnan County; during the Tang Dynasty, it belonged to the Lingnan Road and Liaozi Department; from the Song to the Yuan Dynasty, it belonged to the Guangnan West Road; from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty, it belonged to the Yunnan Province Guangnan Mansion. Due to historical development and different places of residence, there are more than 30 kinds of titles for the Zhuang people, and there are also differences in their languages. The Zhuang language is divided into two major dialect areas: southern and northern. The Zhuang people in Wenshan Prefecture can be divided into three major branches: Nong, Sha and Tu. The Nong and Tu branches speak the southern dialect, and the Sha branch speaks the northern dialect. The current population is 993,591 people (2003).

The Zhuang people in Wenshan Prefecture have a long history and rich traditional cultural heritage. Since ancient times, the Zhuang people have built villages and lived in Shuitou and riverside areas. In the long-term historical development process, they have created and accumulated a rich and complete set of material culture and spiritual culture, the essence of which includes: worshiping and protecting forests. The "ecological culture" that maintains the survival of the nation through rice production; the "that culture" that inherits cultural ancient books; the "bronze drum culture" that was created and passed down to this day; the "festival culture" that entertains people and gods ?; the "gewei culture" represented by songs; the "clothing culture" featuring Zhuang brocade; the "food culture" processed with glutinous rice, etc.

Bronze drum culture: Ancient books of the Wenshan Zhuang people record that our ancestors were smelting copper and casting bronze vessels as early as the Minhong era. Today, the Zhuang people still carry out activities such as offering sacrifices to bronze drums and dancing with bronze drums. The Zhuang people worship the sun, frogs, birds, forehead gods, heaven and earth water, gourds, buffaloes, bronze drums, etc. There are decorative records on the bronze drums. The production and circulation of bronze drums has a history of more than 2,000 years. Although the bronze drums produced have a historical process of competition, trade, inheritance and use by foreign ethnic groups, bronze drums are one of the carriers of Zhuang history and culture. A total of 138 bronze drums were discovered in Wenshan Quanzhou, ranking first in Yunnan. Moreover, all eight types of bronze drums in the classification are found in Wenshan Prefecture, which is unique not only in Yunnan Province, but also in the whole of China and Southeast Asian countries. Experts have argued that Wenshan in Yunnan is very likely to be one of the origins of bronze drums in the world. ?

Gewei culture: The Zhuang people are a nation that lives with songs and dies while singing. When a young woman becomes pregnant after marriage, there are simple songs to protect her baby; when she is afraid of miscarriage, she has mysterious songs to protect her baby; when a baby is born, there are songs to bless her; when a child learns to speak, he is taught beautiful children's songs first; in ordinary life conversations, the language is like a song; When it comes to love, there are affectionate love songs; during festival banquets, there are antiphons that stir the mountains and rivers; when someone dies, they are buried with songs. Everyone's life is bathed in the ocean of poetry. Every year on March Flower Street and Longduan Street, thousands of people participate in street singing activities.

The Zhuang people maintain their survival and reproduction by producing rice. Over thousands of years, the Zhuang people have developed an open, tolerant, tenacious and hospitable character.