Humanistic characteristics and tourism value of the Buyi people

National culture is the culture with national characteristics created and developed by each nation in its historical development process.

Food, clothing, etc. belong to material culture; language, writing, literature, songs, dances, festivals, etc. belong to spiritual culture.

1. The unique totem of the Buyi people - the big bamboo totem pole

Bamboo grows vigorously and was regarded as a totem by the ancestors of the Buyi people in ancient times. The Buyi people's life rituals such as "taking a sedan chair", "birth ceremony", "passing over the elderly after passing away" and other rituals are still passed down to this day. In the large-scale ceremony "Guye Wang" worshiped by the Buyi people's ancestors, large bamboos are used as totem poles, with two dragons coiled on the totem poles. The large bamboo totem pole symbolizes the Buyi ancestors' admiration for the coexistence of all things.

2. Characteristics of Buyi costumes

Buyi men and women mostly like to wear blue, green, black, white and other colored fabrics. Young and middle-aged men usually wear turbans, double-breasted shorts (or long gowns), turbans, and trousers.

Buyi women like to wear silver bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and pointed-nose embroidered shoes. The overall tone of Buyi clothing is elegant and simple, maintaining natural harmony with nature.

Buyi girls have the aura of making batik since they were young. Most of the clothes they wear are sewn by themselves, fit well, and are simple and elegant.

The Buyi people’s batik has long been famous. As early as the Song Dynasty, there are records of batik cloth, a specialty of Huishui, Guizhou. The "blue and white cloth" mentioned in the history books of the Qing Dynasty is batik cloth. Buyi girls begin to learn batik techniques from their mothers when they are twelve or thirteen years old.

Buyi batik patterns, common ones include bracken flowers, group flowers, and small flowers. There are also bronze drum patterns, swirl patterns, water wave shapes, chain shapes, mandarin ducks, double happiness and double longevity, etc. The pattern is continuous and symmetrical, rich in folk customs, simple and elegant. It is famous both at home and abroad for its unique cracked ice patterns and exquisite painting techniques.

4. Eight-tone Sitting Sing

The Buyi Eight-tone Sitting Sing (referred to as Buyi Eight-tone) is a rap art that is mainly spread in areas where the Buyi people inhabit in Qianxinan Prefecture. The performance form of Bayin Sitting Sing is eight people (sometimes up to 14 people) holding ox bone Hu (ox horn Hu), gourd Qin (gourd Hu), Yue Qin, Cigu (bamboo drum), flute tube, cymbal, and bag. Eight kinds of musical instruments, including gongs and pony gongs, take turns singing in a circle.

Tell stories and convey emotions in rap. Boys mostly use higher octaves; girls sing in the original key, so when singing, it not only creates a strong contrast in timbre, but also increases the interest of singing.

According to historical records, the Buyi eight-tone music was formerly a court music and became popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Mainly wind and percussion music, the gradually improved Buyi eight-tone music is mainly performed with silk and bamboo music. It has the majesty of palace music, the majesty of temple music, and the charm of the ancient Buyi music.

In 2006, Buyi's "Bayin" in Southwest Guizhou was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.