What etiquette do the Zhuang people have?

1. Marriage The Zhuang people practice monogamy and clan exogamy. People with the same surname but different clans can intermarry. In the past, matchmakers and parents arranged arrangements were popular, and early marriages were common. Engagements were usually arranged by parents at the age of thirteen or fourteen. During the engagement, the matchmaker delivers milk, money, food and wine, clothes to honor the girl's parents, and clothes and jewelry purchased for the girl to the girl's home. When getting married, they offer meals to their ancestors, pay homage to their family members, and inform their ancestors. The wedding ceremony is the same as that of the Han people. Marriage by marriage is commonly known as "door-to-door marriage". The etiquette is the same as marrying a wife, but the ceremony is simple. No betrothal gift is required from the groom's family, and the bride's family entertains the guests. There is a marriage custom of "transfer of houses", but it only applies to the death of a brother's sister-in-law, which is now rare. For a long time, it has been popular to "sit at home" after marriage, and a woman returns to her natal family immediately after marriage. During the "sitting at home" period, both men and women have the freedom to socialize, but their behavior must be carried out under the supervision of their parents. They will not start living with the husband's family until they are pregnant or have a child (during New Year's Day and busy farming season, the husband or his younger siblings can be taken back to stay for a short period of time) . If you are still infertile after three or five years, but your younger siblings have grown up and gotten married, you will have to leave your husband's family. Otherwise, you will remarry. After 1981, the time spent "sitting at home" has been greatly shortened, and one can live with her husband permanently in about three to five months or even a month. For the Zhuang people in cities and counties such as Gejiu, Mengzi, and Kaiyuan, the custom of "sitting at home" has changed, and they move to their husband's family after marriage. Young men and women are also free to fall in love. Whenever they go out on the streets or during festivals, they choose a spouse by singing folk songs, throwing flower bags (embroidered ball-shaped sachets), etc. However, even if both parties are in love, they must obtain the consent of their parents and go through the "combined horoscope". Only then can you get married. When getting married, it is popular for "Tu Lao" and "Nong people" to splash water on the groom, while for "Sha people" it is popular to splash water on the matchmaker. On the day of receiving the bride, you have to carry cakes to the bride’s house. When "Nong people" visit the church, the elders should give the bride and groom their wedding names. From now on, the parents-in-law will call the daughter-in-law by their wedding name, and the parents-in-law will call the son-in-law by their wedding name.

When the "country guys" from Kaiyuan and Mengzi ask a matchmaker to arrange marriage, they must bring wine and meat for the first time, which is commonly known as "dog-fighting food". Engagement is called "eating water and wine", and marriage is called "offering food". When accepting a bride, the door of the woman's family is closed tightly, and the groom's groom has to stuff a red envelope through the crack of the door and give a "girl's chicken" before opening the door. The "girl's chicken" is slaughtered on the same day to entertain the guests, and the wine feast lasts until dawn the next day, while eating Sing. The next day, the woman's family still entertains relatives, but if there is no food, they must sing the "Song for Food" before delivering it. After the meal, when the family welcomes the bride to go on her way, the bride's family will send "noon" as a gift, which must include a piece of pig's head meat. When the bride arrives home, she must pay "entry money" and put a pole on the threshold to show that the bride will shoulder the burden of the family's life from now on.

There are "scimitars" or bows and arrows placed on both sides of the gate, and the bride uses the flower umbrella she brings to open it, indicating the bride's wit and bravery. The "Nong people" and "Sha people" in Jinping, Hekou and Yuanyang call it "eating wine" when getting engaged. On the first day of the wedding, the female companions, who have gotten along well with the girl since childhood, each brought fried soybeans and scrambled egg cakes from home to the bride's house for dinner, and accompanied the bride to eat and sing. After people in the Maitreya area get to know each other and establish a relationship, the man's family invites a matchmaker to the woman's family to propose marriage. When the girl's parents agree, they will bring the girl's birth date to the boy's family through a matchmaker. If the "horoscope" matches, the man's family will ask a fortune teller to choose an auspicious day, and the matchmaker will inform the woman's family, who will then be busy making a dowry for the girl. On the first day of the wedding, the groom's family chooses a young man to represent the groom, and a girl and two older men carry wine and meat to the bride's family to pick up the bride. On the morning of the auspicious day, the woman's family invites all her relatives to their home for a "wedding meal", and then selects six men and women to send off to the bride. When the girl arrives at the groom's house, she does not share a room with the groom, but lives in a room with the six sisters who came to see her off. On the second day, he and the groom went to the banquet to toast, and on the third day he returned home. During the planting season next year, the groom will personally go to his mother-in-law's house to pick up the bride. From then on, the couple will live together in Ni Tianyuan and become one for a long time. The age of marriage in Gejiu area is generally no more than 20 years old. Parents will choose a partner for him before he is 18 years old. There are also people who can fall in love freely, but they must obtain the consent of their parents and first invite two matchmakers to "talk about marriage", which is called "talking". For the second time, the matchmaker brought two pieces of rib meat (also called "marriage dishes"), wine, and vegetables to wait until the woman's family wanted to match her birthday. There are three etiquettes to be followed from the marriage to the formal visit to the church:

Bao Xiaowen: During the marriage if it is believed that there is no "competition" between men and women, they will have a small wedding (engagement). The man gives a "small gift" to the woman, usually 7.5 kilograms of wine, half a pig, 77.5 kilograms of rice, 160 yuan of gift silver, 66 yuan of milk silver, two long-headed homespun cloth, and jewelry. After getting engaged, you should give gifts to your father-in-law's family during every festival, such as glutinous rice during the Dragon Boat Festival, moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, meat and cakes during the Spring Festival, etc.

Bao Wedding: Both families agree on the wedding date through a matchmaker. After the wedding date is decided, have a physical examination and receive a marriage certificate. Within half a year before the marriage, the woman needs to "package the wedding" gifts according to the man's family financial situation. The amount of money is uncertain, but it is required to include six characters, such as 260, etc. Other items include a pig, a load of rice, enough wine and food for a banquet, several sets of clothes and shoes, silver bracelets, double round waist back chains, silver, "blue silk" syringes, pipe heads, etc. If the man's financial situation is good, the woman will want gold rings and earrings. For both weddings, guests are invited and the agreed-upon gifts and silver are given to prepare the woman's dowry, such as a double bed, bedding, boxes, clothing, etc.

Marriage: The day before the wedding, the groom’s family will give a "gift", that is, give a pig, and choose a "water gift" including pastries, tea, wine, small food money, red and green clothes and pants worn by the bride, etc. . The wedding is held the day after the "ceremony". The groom. When the matchmaker and groomsmen ride to the bride's house, someone must come out to greet them.

After worshiping heaven and earth, the girl's family serves three bowls of tea with chicken, fish and meat, which means the chicken flies away and the fish flies away. After eating, she gets up and returns to the groom's house, taking the dowry with her. In the past, the bride rode in a sedan chair, but after liberation, she walked instead. Since the 1980s, carriages, tractors and cars have become popular. A mat is placed on the ground at the door of the groom's house, and a saddle is placed on the threshold. Before the bride and groom sit on the saddle, they ask Mr. "Zhang Zhang" to recite the mantra of "returning the carriage". While reciting, he throws grains, straw, and copper plates in all directions. It's called "withdrawal". A steelyard and a bucket of rice are placed on a table at the gate, and scissors and rulers are placed on the rice. After the tent is spread, two unmarried girls take the bride to the new house. The groom first stands at the door of the house and hits the bride three times with his fan to symbolize the husband's authority. Another woman placed a sieve tray with a seven-star lamp under her new bed. The seven-star lamp should be lit continuously for three days. That night, the bridesmaids who saw off the bride stayed together in the bridal chamber, and the groom had no choice but to sleep elsewhere. On the second day, the bride and groom worshiped heaven and earth, ancestors, parents, relatives and elders together. After paying homage, the elders will give jewelry or money, which the Zhuang people call "making money on the bench".

It is up to the widow to decide whether to remarry, but before remarrying, she must explain to her mother-in-law, who will "knock" the man's gift money and determine the amount of profit. You can only take your usual clothes with you when you get married. When going to the man's house, there are certain villages where no one can discover him. If he is discovered, he will be fined. Some people do not hold a wedding, but only treat relatives and friends to a meal and it is considered a wedding.

2. Family The Zhuang family is composed of one husband and one committee. Before liberation, there were some cases of polygamy. There are three generations in the family. After the son gets married, he can build a new house and live separately. The parents used to leave their youngest son to settle down in the old house. The younger son has the right and obligation to support his parents and inherit the ancestral home. Other property is divided equally among the sons of the family. As members of the family, women and men both take care of the housework. In productive labor, men are mostly responsible for plowing, repairing and building houses, etc. Women are mostly responsible for transplanting rice, transporting fertilizer, weeding, growing cotton, harvesting cotton, spinning and weaving. Raising livestock and poultry, etc.

The Zhuang people have a deep sense of family. As long as they find out where their ancestors and brothers live, they will go to seek relatives and contact them no matter how far away they are. The surname that was the first to establish a village is respected, and the elder of that surname is often elected as the "elder" of the village, presiding over the mediation of civil disputes and the village's celebration activities.

3. Festivals The Spring Festival is regarded as a major festival of the year by the Zhuang people. In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, roads are built, houses are cleaned, and new clothes are purchased. The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month celebrates the Little New Year, which is similar to the Han people's "giving away the stove". After the Little New Year, every household begins to prepare festive food, killing chickens and pigs, making rice cakes, making rice cakes, and making rice dumplings in the estuary area. On the first day of the new year, people rush to carry new water, dragging the grass symbols of cows, horses, and pigs while walking. The heads of chickens and other animals imitate the cries of the six animals in their mouths, in order to "prosper the six animals". In some areas, after worshiping ancestors early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the children are asked to read for a while, the parents play with the abacus, and the women take a small amount of fertilizer and grain seeds and scatter them in the fields to show that all industries will be prosperous and their livelihoods will be successful in the new year. Most of the people living on the banks of the Red River and Nanxi River in Hekou County are descendants of the "Black Banner Army". They also celebrate the "Little New Year" on the 29th of the first lunar month, which is also called "Eating Li Festival" (meaning to celebrate the old age in Zhuang language). It is said that during the Sino-French War, the Spring Festival could not be celebrated as scheduled due to the busy war. After the victory of the war, it was already the 28th day of the first lunar month, so people just made up for the Spring Festival and celebrated the victory. People who call themselves "Nong people" conduct New Year greetings every year on the first and second day of the second lunar month.

The "Gumiji" Festival in Yuanyang County is held twice a year. The first time is 10 days before the Ox Day in the first month or February of the lunar calendar. Prepare 1 pullet, 1 rooster, 1 chicken The dog is made into a straw man with mountain grass, and is cut into clothes from red paper and put on. The village elder carried the straw man to lead the way, and selected four strong and capable men to drag the pigs, dogs, and chickens behind, and walked around the main street of the village. The man and the dragged pigs, dogs, etc. are sent to the foot of a fixed stone or tree in the east of the village, a thatched house is built, and the pigs, dogs, chickens, etc. are slaughtered and sacrificed. The second time is in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when the road is repaired at Longkou, and the village is "cleaned" on the day of the Horse. This sacrificial sweep is the same as the last sacrificial sweep except that chickens are killed instead of dogs. On the day of the festival, every farmer in the village must send one person to participate. Meat must be eaten on the spot and cannot be taken back to the village. It is believed that by cleaning the village and driving away the monsters and monsters, people and animals will be protected from disasters and the crops will grow well.

On the day of the "Gumiji" Festival, villagers will go to the woods fixed above the stockade, set up a stone at the foot of the selected tree, and kill pigs to offer sacrifices to the gods. The "village leader" who sacrifices to the village god needs to be a person with good facial features, complete limbs, a son and a daughter, and a husband and wife. The "old priest" must first lead two assistants and six other people to clean up the woods. The pig's head and pig's feet are cooked and eaten during the sacrificial ceremony. Each household takes a portion of the remaining pork, glutinous rice and white wine home, thinking it is a "secret gift" of wine and meat. Each family must keep this portion of wine and meat until they plant cotton. On the day of the opening of the Yangyang Gate, they were brought to the cotton fields and rice fields to offer sacrifices. There are pregnant women or farmers who have recently died in the program. They can only wait outside the fence while others deliver wine and meat. The "old priest" and his assistants who preside over the sacrifice must go to the hot springs to bathe in the first two days of the festival. They are not allowed to sleep with their wives. They are not allowed to eat beef, dog meat, fish and other fishy foods before the 7 days. On the day of the festival, a basin of fragrant water is placed outside the woods designated as "secret". Anyone who enters the site must first wash their hands with the fragrant water. The water used for killing and scalding pigs and the scraped pig hair must be dug and buried deep in ponds. If the burial is not deep enough and attracts flies, it is believed that there will be more flies and mosquitoes in the village this year. On that day, there will be a "leopard chasing" activity, that is, one of the people participating in the "secret giving" will be selected to be the "leopard", and before eating and when it is getting dark, a bowl of meat will be given to the "leopard".

The "leopard" carried the bowl of meat and circled the head of a match forward and backward three times, and everyone shouted loudly, meaning to chase the "leopard". Those who serve as "leopards" will not return to have dinner with everyone after eating that day, and are not allowed to go out to visit the village. Otherwise, it is believed that the people and animals in the village will be harmed. During the festival, every household steams yellow and red glutinous rice, boils colored eggs for the children to eat, and chops pine trees into ponies for the children to drag around the village. On this day, people from other villages are not allowed to enter the village, and people from this village are not allowed to go up the mountain to carry firewood. They are not allowed to wash vegetables in the well that morning. Violators are punished by the village elders according to regulations. During the festival, they treat each other and the whole village rests for 4 to 5 days. Men, women and children, old and young, put on new peasant clothes. During the day, young men and women go to the mountains to sing in antiphony, and at night they sing and dance in the village.

Eat new rice. Every year, before the millet is harvested and after the rice has matured, each family chooses the day to eat new rice. After the millet is mature, they go to the field to cut 4 to 6 rice grains and carry them back to be processed into rice. They kill a red rooster, make water tofu, cook the newly dug taro, and carry it to the altar table to offer sacrifices to gods and the dinner table. Ancestors. A man who goes to cut grain must get up early and eat before going to the fields. If he cuts new grain while hungry, it is believed that the whole family will be hungry that year. On the way back and forth, you were not allowed to answer anyone you met. When eating new rice, the married girl must be brought back. After the elders take a bite first, others can add more food. Don't soak the first bowl of rice in the soup.

"Tuoluo is full of years". Gejiu, Mengzi and other places celebrate the "Full Year Festival" on the 28th day of the ninth lunar month in the lunar calendar for the elderly who died that year. Before the festival, the old man's daughter and son-in-law will bring chickens and wine back to their parents' home to burn paper, offer meals, and invite relatives and friends to visit the graves of their ancestors. In the past, the "Full Year Festival" was held for three consecutive years, but now it is generally held for only one year. There are two folk legends about the "Full Year's Day": one is that in ancient times, there was an emperor who asked Zhuang chefs to prepare royal meals. One day the emperor asked him: What is the sweetest thing in the world? "The chef said, "Salt is the sweetest." The emperor killed the chef in anger and hired another chef. This chef did not add salt to the dishes. The emperor asked the chef: "Why not add salt? The chef replied: "The emperor said that salt is not sweet, so he did not dare to put it in." "Only when the emperor realized that he had killed someone by mistake, he cooked "New Year's Eve" for the chef who killed the wrong person. Secondly, in ancient times, there was an emperor's concubine, who was a country girl. One year, the concubine's mother passed away. She chose the right one. On the day of departure (September 28), I went home to mourn my mother. The emperor said: "It's raining, so you won't go back." The concubine said: "No matter how heavy the rain is, we have to go." The emperor said: "It's going to rain, it's going to rain." "It really rained on this day. It is said that it will rain every September 28th, and it will be cloudy for three days even if it doesn't rain. If the sky is not cloudy, the harvest will not be good.

4. Funeral The Zhuang people once practiced wooden coffin cremation. According to the old records, "Tu Liao" "died a cellar for a person's death, placed the coffin on it, beat it randomly, beat earthen drums every day, took it out and burned it in three days." "The sand man" "was buried in a thin coffin. The daughter-in-law was dressed in makeup and stood there. After that, she was thrown into the wild, burned and covered." "Yi Ren" "Death in person, vegetarian food and linen clothing, earth witchcraft and divination in the morning and cremation, regardless of the sun and moon, will be removed at the end of the year." "In modern times, the Zhuang people generally practice burial in wooden coffins like the Han people. Only those who claim to be "Yi Ren" are named Dai Xiao, such as Wu, who wears a white hat and white short clothes; Zhang, who wears a white hat and white long clothes; Shen and Lu People with the surname Wang wear linen hats and linen clothes; people with the surname Wang have their coffins lying sideways. Before entering the coffin, "Nongren" must sift the ashes on the bottom of the coffin with a sieve, and then pat the coffin with their hands to see if there are any unusual marks in the coffin to identify the deceased. Whether the soul leaves the housewife and lives with the ancestors? The pillow of the deceased should be packed with rice that has been sifted without grains and barnyard grass. When the Yuanyang Zhuang people are buried, Changyu hangs a black cloth bag with millet and rice flowers on his shoulders. A hen, kneeling in front of the coffin, puts a long knife on the head, with the knife edge facing inward. After kowtowing three times, shake the knife on the ground and look at the direction of the knife edge. Facing inward indicates that the deceased is unwilling to go out, and he will continue to kowtow and outward. It means that the deceased has no worries. The children of the deceased must wear mourning clothes for one month after the burial. On the third and 30th day after the burial, chickens are sacrificed on the grave. Three years after the death of the "Sand Man" in the river mouth. The body and bones should be picked out from the coffin on an auspicious day and placed in an earthen jar for reburial. When the Zhuang people of Maitreya die, they will beat the bronze drum. When the villagers hear the sound of the drum, they will know the death of the woman. The coffin is placed at the scene, and those who come bring sacrifices, pigs, sheep, etc. When a man dies, his brothers can be placed in the coffin after death, and the coffin is made of glutinous rice flour to imitate cattle, sheep, houses, etc. Place a memorial ceremony in front of the coffin for the "use" of the deceased. Children who observe mourning are not allowed to have haircuts or shaves within one year. The mourning cloth can only be used to make clothes for grandchildren.

5. Taboos related to social interaction. Taboos: The father-in-law cannot enter the daughter-in-law's bedroom. The literate person does not dare to write divorce papers to others. The next generation cannot accompany the guests to drink slowly.

Taboos related to production: Do not pick up excrement or urinate on the Dragon Day in the lunar calendar. You should not go to the fields to start building a house on June 6. If the almanac says "it is not appropriate to break ground". Just choose another auspicious day.

Superstitious taboos: Do not blow fire, sweep the floor, visit the house on the first day of the first lunar month, and pound rice, wash clothes, or use knives or axes. Borrowing things from outside is not allowed. Loans and borrowed items must be paid off before New Year's Eve. You cannot sit on the doorstep, step on the tripod on the stove or fire pit, carry a hoe or wear a bamboo hat into the house, and cannot climb or cut down things on Longshan. Trees.

Taboos regarding women: Pregnant women are not allowed to see the bride in the wedding home. When there is a pregnant woman in the house, a straw hat is hung on the door to imply that outsiders are not allowed to enter the home. , cannot take things from the altar.

It is not allowed to build new tiles on the roof of a pregnant woman’s kitchen. Women who have given birth less than three days ago are not allowed to light lights in their bedrooms. Maternity clothes should not be washed together with men's clothes. Women are not allowed to comb their hair on New Year's Day.