What are the lifestyles and customs of Dongxiang people?

The life style and customs of Dongxiang nationality

Daily customs

Dongxiang people are hospitable. When the guests came, all the elders went out to meet them. When guests enter the room, please go to the kang first, and then offer more exquisite tea. Sometimes rock sugar, longan or roasted dates are added to tea, commonly known as sanxiang tea. Dongxiang people like to treat them with chicken, and the most grand thing for Dongxiang people to treat them is to end the whole sheep. That is, all parts of the sheep, such as neck, ribs, front and rear legs, and sheep tail, are served in turn, so that everything is on the table.

Dongxiang stamps Dongxiang men have always maintained the habit of "beating their partners". That is, in the slack season, some people get together, choose a fat sheep, kill it in the owner's house or in the home where tea and rice are cooked well, put the whole sheep in the pot, mix the chop suey with seasoning and steam it in the pot, and the people in the same group eat tea and oil cakes. When the hair is ripe, each person will have a bowl, then eat the noodle soup and cook it after eating. You can also use discounted things and food instead.

Dongxiang people are also very polite, hospitable, respect the old and love the young, and pay attention to hygiene. The old man lives upstairs. In dining, the old people don't eat, and the younger generation is not allowed to start work. Except for elderly women, women generally don't eat at the same table as men. Guests need to take off their shoes when they get on the kang, but women don't. Dongxiang people generally don't eat with guests, but only stand on the edge of the kang to show their respect for guests. Male guests are served by the host and female guests by the hostess. Dongxiang people maintain good bathing habits because of their religious relationship. There are "big nets" and "small nets". "Xiaojing" washes her face every day and keeps her hands, feet, mouth, face and nostrils clean. "Dig a well", once a week, and keep the whole body clean. Before festivals, people usually take a bath.

In terms of taboos, Dongxiang people abstain from pigs, dogs, horses, mules and donkey meat for religious reasons and avoid talking about pigs; Do not eat animal blood; It is forbidden to bring dirty things into cemeteries and mosques; Avoid joking about food; Avoid topless in front of people; Don't pass cigarettes and toast. After death, people are usually buried in the ground, and it is advocated to bury quickly and put less.

Social customs and habits

Dongxiang nationality still retains the traditional marriage custom of respecting the concept of "Ahajiao". The so-called "Ahajiao" is the residual form of clan or family. An "Ahajiao" includes hundreds of elderly people who are related by blood and have the highest seniority, which is called "taking charge". Men and women belonging to the same "Ahajiao" cannot get married, and offenders will be condemned. Widows remarry, and relatives of the same generation are preferred. Arranged marriages are the mainstay. Men and women can get married at the age of 16 or 17, but now more and more men and women get married according to the legal age of our marriage law. The wedding has a religious atmosphere.

Dietary customs

The basic diet of Dongxiang nationality is mainly wheat, highland barley, corn, beans and potatoes. Usually, people's pasta types are Dongxiang people's hand-grabbed mutton: "steamed bread, noodles, oily incense and so on." The most famous "Lashiha" ("Lamian Noodles" or "Daoxiao Noodles"), fried oil incense, "Ga Chicken Baby" and hand-grabbed mutton are important foods for entertaining guests. Among them, eating "baby chicken" is very particular. All parts of the whole chicken are divided into 13 grades, and the "chicken tail" is the most precious, which is usually given to the elderly or distinguished guests at the dinner table.

Dongxiang people like to eat side dishes, and every family has a small stone mill. Dongxiang people eat potatoes three times a day. Potatoes can be eaten as both a dish and a meal. Boil, burn, roast and stir-fry, especially in winter and spring. Dongxiang people also like to make highland barley noodles into "pot collapse" or "Qiongguo steamed buns" as their staple food.

Dongxiang people are warm and hospitable, and it is the traditional etiquette of Dongxiang people to treat guests with chickens. Dongxiang people are very particular about eating chicken at banquets. Usually they divide all parts of the chicken into 13 grades and eat the parts of the corresponding grade according to the generation. 13, the tip of the chicken (the tail of the chicken) is the most noble, and generally only the owner and the elderly are eligible to enjoy it.

Dongxiang people are unique in making "stack sheep" meat. Generally, the whole lamb is cooked in water and steamed in a pot. Killing sheep and eating wool is a form of improving the life of Dongxiang people. There is a local proverb that "the hair that comes first smells better than the meat that comes later". Dongxiang people are also good at making stack mutton into broth mutton, which is delicious and nutritious and suitable for all ages. Dongxiang people like to drink Ziyang tea and Maojian tea. Tea is usually indispensable for every meal. Most of them use bowls to make tea, and some use small teapots. Bowl cover, also known as "three castles", consists of a tea cover, a tea bowl and a chassis seat.

marriage customs

Dongxiang wedding is influenced by Islam, and parents basically have the final say. Young men and women are not allowed to meet and talk, and most of them pass messages among Dongxiang girls. Generally, the man first invites the matchmaker to the woman's house for matchmaking. After the woman agrees, the man will send a "tea list" as a gift. After that, the formal engagement formalities will be performed, that is, the bride price will be given. At that time, the man, his father, uncle, matchmaker and his accompanying guests will take the bride price to the woman's house.

There are two kinds of bride price: one is tea, brown sugar, cakes and so on. The other is clothes, cash, earrings, bracelets, etc. With the prior consent of the matchmaker. In some mountainous areas of Dongxiang nationality, there is also the custom of sending steamed bread in engagement. The man's family grinds the wheat harvested that year into white flour and steamed it into steamed bread, each about 1 kg. Put turmeric on the top of steamed bread in advance and cut it slightly with a knife. After steaming, the top of the snow-white steamed bread is like yellow flowers, which indicates that the in-laws will have a bumper harvest in the coming year.

On the wedding day, the groom and the wedding team came to the woman's house. Please ask the imam to read the marriage certificate. Only in this way can marriage be recognized by society. In front of the groom's house, the bride will be dismounted by her brother who saw her off and entered the yard. Friends and relatives get together to sing "Harry" to congratulate them. One of the guests called "Harry" first, and everyone clapped their hands or arms in response, bent their legs into a riding posture and turned around. The lyrics are improvised by the guests, and the contents are mostly praise words such as handsome groom, beautiful bride, love between husband and wife in Dongxiang and never parting.

At the climax of the wedding, people jokingly paint the face of the groom's father or uncle and other elders black, put on sheepskin coats, tie bells around his waist, break hats on his head, symbolically tie his hands and feet, or ride a donkey to let him "show up". This is called "playing the father-in-law". Dongxiang people have many interesting wedding customs, such as beating pillows on their wedding night. On the wedding night, playful boys took pillows already prepared and threw them at the veiled bride on the corner of the kang. The girlfriends who guarded the bride formed a line of defense, threw pillows and cried with a smile. The scene is very lively. Then, the girlfriends took off the bride's veil, "appeared" to everyone, opened the box and showed their precious dowry. At this time, in the dead of night, the bride and groom will fall asleep in the bridal chamber.

Welcome etiquette

Dongxiang people have a tradition of paying attention to etiquette and hospitality. Being a guest there is like a distinguished guest, and the elders have to go out to meet them. If they are Muslim guests, they should greet each other, and then let them enter the gate in turn according to their seniority and age. Guests must take off their shoes on the kang, with the host and guest in the middle to show the first place, and the rest sit on both sides according to their seniority and age. The host offered a bowl of tea first, which was very delicate. It is covered with exquisite porcelain of flying dragon flowers. Tea is fragrant, with white sugar or rock sugar added. The host continued to add water to the guests politely. After drinking tea for a short time, we will serve the guests fried oil incense or baked oil cakes and invite them to taste.

When the host receives the distinguished guests, he usually doesn't go to the kang to drink tea and eat with them, but stands on the ground to boil and pour water to serve the guests. The host does not sit or eat himself to show respect for the guests. After tasting sesame oil or cakes, the following "Lahaha" will increase the appetite of the guests. "Lahaha" is Lamian Noodles of Dongxiang nationality or a long noodle cut with a knife. The noodles in the bowl are well arranged, wide and symmetrical, so even polite guests should eat two bowls. In addition, eating "chicken baby" is a feast for Dongxiang people to entertain guests. Dongxiang people are very particular about eating chicken. After the chicken is slaughtered and cooked, it is divided into thirteen pieces, and the appropriate share is required. The tail of a chicken is the most valuable and must be eaten by the oldest or most distinguished guests. This is the greatest respect for the guests. The male guest is accompanied by the male host, and the female guest wants the male host to sit with him.

Dongxiang people entertain guests and eat meat with their hands. There is a unique way of eating meat called "peace". First of all, know which one sells sheep, then determine the time and introduce a good host of tea and rice. After the sheep is cooked, the knife hand will divide all parts of the sheep fairly and reasonably, and match the fat and thin. Even the tail of sheep from big to small should be properly divided according to the number of visitors. First, the elders will "eat" (eat), and then everyone will sit around the kang table to drink tea and eat meat. In the process of eating mutton pilaf, the host also served Shantou incense and rice, and sincerely invited the guests to enjoy it. When entertaining guests, it is impolite to avoid calling famous guests by their first names, but using their ancestors' place names, village names or other honorifics. No matter how many guests there are, the host always puts the guests' shoes away when greeting them carefully. When the guests get off the kang; The host bent down to take the shoes, providing convenience for the guests. When the guests say goodbye, the host will humbly say, "The tea and rice are not ripe, please don't laugh." And let the guests bring some local products from home to taste.