What is going on in Lugu Lake walking marriage?

What does walking marriage mean? Walking marriage is a unique marriage system. Many people may have heard of it, but they don’t know the details.

To put it simply, walking marriage means that if a man likes a woman, he can climb into the woman’s house at night to go on a date. The most important thing is that it is legal. Doesn’t it sound exciting!

In life, we can see walking marriages in many movies and TV dramas, which also makes many men yearn for it, but is it really that simple? When it comes to walking marriages, many tourists go to Lugu Lake for walking marriages. The purpose, so what is going on? Let’s go and take a look~

What does walking marriage mean: What is walking marriage?

Walking marriage is a marriage system of the Mosuo people.

The Mosuo people are a matriarchal society. During the day, men and women rarely get along alone. They can only express their feelings to their loved ones by singing and dancing at parties. If a man is attracted to a woman, after making an appointment with her during the day, he will go to the woman's "flower house" (a room for adult Mosuo women, independent of the grandmother's house, that is, the "family house") at midnight. Traditionally, he will go there on horseback. However, you cannot enter the flower building through the main entrance. Instead, you have to climb through the window and hang a hat and other representative items outside the door to indicate that the two are dating and ask others not to interfere. Then you have to leave before dawn. At this time, you can leave through the main entrance. It will be considered rude to leave after dawn or after the woman's parents have gotten up.

The Mosuo people, known as the "daughter country", still retain a matrilineal social system, and everything about the Mosuo people is dominated by women. The Mosuo people have a unique way of marriage - walking marriage. Walking marriage is called "Sese" in Mosu language, which means "walking around". It vividly shows that walking marriage is a kind of marriage relationship in which people get together at night and leave in the morning. , there is no marriage relationship between the man and woman. The man will only live at the woman's house at night, and still live and work in their respective homes during the day.

The Mosuo people generally refer to the Mosuo people

The Mosuo people live in the northwest of Yunnan Province, on the beautiful Lugu Lake in Lijiang City at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan, with a population of about 50,000. Their own native language, but no writing. Lugu Lake is famous for its unique Mosuo style and beautiful landscape.

In Ninglang County of Yunnan Province, east of the Jinsha River, and Yanyuan, Muli and other counties in Sichuan, the population is about 40,000. The Mosuo population in Ninglang is more than 15,000, and they mainly live in Yongning Bazi on the bank of Lugu Lake.

The Mosuo people are an unidentified ethnic group. During the entire identification process of the country, this ethnic group has not declared its ethnic identity through an announcement by the central government.

Etiquette taboos

Mosuo people’s coming-of-age ceremony

The coming-of-age ceremony is one of the important rituals in the life of the Mosuo people. Mosuo people are considered adults at the age of 13. Women wear skirts and men wear trousers.

Children who have not yet entered adulthood must wear linen gowns to cover their bodies. After adulthood, the clothing of men and women will be different.

You are eligible for walking marriage as an adult, but walking marriage usually begins after the age of 16. Many Mosuo men and women delay their first walking marriage until they are 20 years old.

Preparations must be made the night before the ceremony. Adults and young friends play together all night long. As soon as the rooster crows, the ceremony begins. There is also a ceremony to thank the dog.

The ceremony is hosted by the mother or uncle. If the mother has passed away or there is no uncle, the time for the coming-of-age ceremony must be determined by divination from a Daba (shaman).

Mosuo people's skirt-wearing ceremony

The mother presides over the ceremony. The girl steps on pig fat and grain sacks, and the mother dresses the girl in adult clothes.

After the ceremony, the girl will call the dog into the house, and she will feed the dog a ball of rice and a piece of pig fat to express her gratitude to the dog.

Adult women should wear braids. You can wear different accessories such as earrings, rings, bracelets, etc., and you can also have your own flower tower.

Mosuo people wear trousers ceremony

The ceremony is hosted by the uncle. The young boy must take some food, such as cakes and bacon, go outside to call the dog and give it to the dog. Dog thanks.

The young man walked across the roof of the main house holding a spear. It is said that the spear is one of the weapons used by the Mosuo people in ancient times. A cloth flag and a flag hung on the head of the spear were given to the nephew by his uncle. long sword as a lifelong weapon.

After the boy puts on adult clothes, the Daba recites prayers, and then the boy kowtows to the guests and toasts them with a horn cup.

The shy culture of the Mosuo people

The Mosuo people have shy taboos, which are mainly found in Yongning Mosuo.

For example, you must not mention any sexual words in front of the fire pit or in front of relatives, even "Axia", "Azhu", "Chuwei", "Khanchuba" "," "pregnancy", "heredity", "walking marriage" and other Mosuo words cannot be used. Otherwise it will embarrass the other person and be disrespectful to the elderly. The word "Ada" cannot be mentioned in the presence of other maternal relatives, because it will imply the sexual relationship between the mother and the father, which will embarrass the mother.

The culture of shyness is a way to avoid incest and to maintain the stability and harmony of the matrilineal family.

Ninglang Mosuo lives in an area between Han and Yi ethnic groups, and has not yet had the habit of walking away from home. She also calls her father "Abo" without any shyness or embarrassment.

Reference material—Baidu Encyclopedia Mosuo people