Information on ethnic customs in western China

The western region is a region where ethnic minorities gather in China. There are 44 of the 55 ethnic minorities in China, namely: Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Buyi, Manchu, Dong, Yao, Bai, Hani, Kazak, Dai, Yi, Wa and Lahu.

I. Tibetans

(A), etiquette and taboos

1, diet

(1) Tibetans don't eat donkeys, mules, horse meat or dog meat. Generally do not eat fish and shrimp (some Tibetan areas eat fish), chicken, duck, goose and its eggs, and do not eat seafood. Don't try to persuade them to eat. Because according to Tibetan tradition, cloven-hoofed animals should be eaten, other animals are considered evil, while chickens, ducks and geese have five claws and are odd, so they should not be eaten.

The old woman doesn't eat the meat slaughtered that day.

(2) When making a toast, the guest must first dip a little wine bomb in the air with his ring finger, three times in a row, to show his sacrifice to heaven, earth and ancestors, then take a sip gently, and the host will fill it in time, then take another sip and then fill it up, even three times. When filling it up for the fourth time, it must be gulped down.

(3) When eating, don't eat, bite or drink loudly. When eating milk residue and yogurt, avoid using chopsticks and burning milk residue.

(4) When drinking buttered tea, the host pours tea, and the guests must hold it in front of the host to drink it. Don't send and receive things with one hand. When the host pours tea, the guest must pour the tea bowl forward with both hands to show respect.

Step 2 live

(1) When receiving guests, whether walking or talking, always put the guests or elders first, and use honorifics, such as adding the word "la" after the name to show respect and kindness, and avoid calling them by their first names. You should bend your knees and smile when welcoming guests. Sit indoors, don't look around, sit cross-legged, don't straighten your legs and point your feet at people. When accepting a gift, you should take it with both hands. When giving gifts, bow your head and raise your hands above your head. When offering tea, toast and cigarettes, offer them with both hands and don't put your fingers into the bowl.

(2) It is forbidden to spit in front of others, and it is also forbidden to spit and clap your hands on others' backs.

(3) When entering Tibetan tents and bedrooms, don't step on the threshold. After entering the Tibetan counting room, men sit on the left and women sit on the right. They are not allowed to sit together. No whistling or singing love songs in the house; Don't touch the Buddhist altar in other people's homes, and don't ask questions casually; Avoid women standing and squatting on the stove; The host and guests sit in the first place on the fireplace, only sitting on the plate or kneeling; It is not allowed to cross the fire pit casually; Don't put sundries on the shrine.

(4) Tibetan families are forbidden to enter the house when there are patients or women giving birth. All the doors are marked. Some make a fire outside the door, some stick branches or wooden poles at the door, and some stick red strips of cloth. Please don't go in when outsiders see this sign. There are critically ill patients at home or the family is not smooth. Put the green branches and cypress leaves outdoors or draw red lines on stones, or stab them with stones to show that they refuse guests.

(5) Celestial burial is a common funeral method for Tibetan people. For celestial burial, there are many taboos among the people, including prohibiting strangers from watching it.

(6) Avoid throwing bones into the fire. Don't kill cranes, geese, eagles, eagles, crows, domestic dogs, domestic cats, etc. Avoid defecating where cows, horses and sheep are tied. Don't use Tibetan paper as toilet paper or wipe things.

Second, Yi people

(A), etiquette and taboos

1 Life

Yi people hate being called "Old Yi Cell" and "Man Zi" most, and they think this kind of address is the biggest insult to them.

When visiting Yi people's homes, you should sit above or on the right side of the pot farm (that is, the fire pit), not below or on the left side of stacking things and sleeping. Don't step on the pot, and don't jump off the pot and the piled firewood. When Yi Jia has a patient, avoid saying things like death or injury; Avoid saying "kill pigs" and say "catch pigs" or "take pigs"; Avoid using praise words such as "fat", "beautiful" and "heavy" for babies; Avoid whistling at night; No matter men or women, avoid crossing the fire pond; Slaughter goats on the wedding day; Avoid burning buckwheat in the guest seat; When the burnt buckwheat shell is taken out of the pond, it is strictly forbidden to turn it over immediately and pierce it with a stick. Avoid putting hoes and axes together; Avoid carrying hoes or axes on your shoulders in the house; Pregnant women should avoid combing the bride's hair and sewing her wedding dress. It is forbidden to touch the man's "Buddha", and offenders will slaughter sacrifices and drink alcohol to make amends.

Step 2 prescribe diet

Yi people are sincere and hospitable. Whenever there are guests, they will entertain them with wine. "Three drinks" is the etiquette for Yi people to receive distinguished guests.

The first kind of wine is Lanmen wine, that is, when the Yi people welcome guests at the door, they play trombone, suona, Qin Yue, singing and dancing, and sing "welcome guests". When the guests get off the horse, the dressed Yi girls will hold a glass of wine. If there are leaves in the glass, it means that the guests are required to sing a wine song on the spot.

The second kind of wine is blessing wine, that is, toasting guests from afar with two cups at the banquet and toasting Song at the same time. Wine songs have ready-made tunes, warm and high-pitched tones, and lyrics include traditional words and improvisation. According to the identity of the guests, they sing some words of praise and good luck. The toast song can be sung by one person alone or in groups of several people.

The third kind of wine is the guest-staying wine, that is, when the guest leaves the host's house, the host asks the guest to finish the last glass of wine when he leaves the house. When toasting, trombone and suona play the tune of "Hospitality" at the same time, young men and women sing and dance, and the host sings the wine song of seeing guests off with a glass. The content is to wish the guests happiness and good luck, and to express the host's concern and retention. Guests must drink this glass of wine before they leave. It is the highest etiquette for Yi people to receive distinguished guests and propose three glasses of wine.

Yi people pay attention to the difference between men and women when eating, and their elders are orderly. The elders are seated, the guests are seated or above, and the younger generation can only sit in the square seat. When entertaining guests, good wine and food should be given to the guests or elders first. In some places, women can't eat at the same table as guests. Yi people in Liangshan, Sichuan pay great attention to wine in social activities. There are traditions of "Han people value tea, Yi people value wine" and "it is not a kind of respect to have guests at home without wine". If a guest comes to your house, you should give him a glass of wine first. Even if you don't have time to cook for him afterwards, the guest won't be surprised. Visiting relatives and friends, Yi people can't live without wine everywhere. Bring wine when visiting relatives and friends, and send wine to the wedding.

Livestock, to participate in funeral activities, should also send wine to sheep, while to participate in religious activities is inseparable from wine and livestock.

When the Yi people entertain guests, they are often accompanied by the male host, or let the guests eat first, and the female host waits for the guests to finish eating. Therefore, if you are a guest of the Yi people, you must not eat all the food and wine. When leaving after dinner, guests should send some gifts or leave some money to show their gratitude. When entertaining guests, if pigs are killed, half a pig's head will be presented to the guests together with some meat and buckwheat cakes after dinner. If you kill the sheep, you will give it to the guests after dinner. If you kill a cow, you will send a large piece of meat weighing about 5 kilograms to the cow's hind leg for the guests to take away after dinner. The guest will transfer the female compatriots with the same surname as the guest.

Yi people don't eat horses, mules, dogs, monkeys, crows, snakes and frogs.

Third, the Qiang nationality.

(A), etiquette and taboos

1 Life

When visiting the Qiang people's home, you should walk in from the shrine after entering the door, not from the side where you put your daily necessities, otherwise it will be considered impolite. Don't step over clothes, hats and pillows. Be careful not to sit on them. When sitting around the fire pit, you can't cross the fire pit or step on the tripod with your feet, nor can you bake shoes, socks and clothes on the tripod; Don't beat the three feet on the fireplace with tongs, matchsticks or other instruments, and don't pour water into the fireplace. Qiang people should not touch the idol with their fingers, because they think it will offend God. They avoid touching the objects on the shrine without washing their hands. They must wash their hands before offering sacrifices to God. The bodhisattva spirit tablet enshrined on the roof and the sacrificial vessels used are not allowed to move. When sleeping on the floor, don't put your feet towards the shrine in the corner, and don't hang clothes or other labor tools in front of the bodhisattva. Qiang people avoid tourists coming to their onion gardens, thinking that onions will dry up.

Qiang people avoid people sitting on the threshold or chopping things with knives and axes on the threshold. They are usually not allowed to have their hair cut, combed and shaved in the afternoon, especially in Dai Xiao. Also avoid hanging clothes outside at night.

Qiang people hang cangue sheets or back pockets outside the door when women give birth to avoid outsiders; Hang a red note on the door when there is a patient at home to avoid visitors.

Step 2 prescribe diet

Qiang people are forbidden to throw rice grains at dinner or have residual rice at the bottom of the bowl after dinner. Don't knock on the bowl with chopsticks when eating. Don't put chopsticks in the middle of the rice bowl, because only when it is a custom to "worship chicken feet" will you put a pair of chopsticks in the rice. Don't buckle the bowl upside down on the table after eating, because only after the patient takes medicine will the bowl be buckled on the table to show that he won't get sick and take medicine in the future. Avoid children eating chicken feet, for fear of not writing well at school. Avoid eating with your back to the center of the table, because you can only eat like this when you are dead. When eating, don't put chopsticks on the bowl horizontally, and don't turn the glass upside down, because it's a ghost worship ceremony and it's not good to commit crimes.

When the Qiang people entertain guests, they will bring a plate full of chickens. At this time, only the elders present ate the head of a chicken, and then divined the fortune of the host family from the bones of the head of a chicken. Avoid young people eating chicken heads. They avoid eating vegetables on New Year's Eve, because they are afraid that there will be no meat to eat next year, so they can't have vegetables on the dinner table on New Year's Eve.

Fourth, Bai nationality.

(A), etiquette and taboos

Bai people's hospitality, courtesy before guests is the etiquette of Bai people. The guests came home and entertained each other with wine and tea. The famous "three teas" are the hospitality of the Bai people. However, Bai people think that "wine is full of respect and tea is full of deceit", so they usually fill a glass of wine, but only half a cup of tea, and then continue after drinking. Bai people pay attention to etiquette when eating. When eating, the elders should sit in their seats, and the younger generation should sit on both sides or opposite each other in turn. Younger generations should always add vegetables and soup to their elders.

Visiting friends or patients in Bai people's homes is not in the morning, but in the afternoon and evening. But on the first day of the New Year's Day or the first day of the first month, you can't visit other homes. The fireplace of Bai people's family is a sacred place. It is forbidden to spit in the fireplace, and it is forbidden to cross the fireplace. It is forbidden to stand or sit on the threshold of Bai people's homes. In the hall, don't step on or sit on the table for the memorial tablet, and don't cut anything with a knife on the threshold. Tools used by men should not be worn by women. Bai people are afraid of people who wear mourning clothes and think it will bring impurity to their families.

Bai people in Dali are not allowed to use knives, carry water or sweep the floor on the first day of the New Year. On New Year's Eve, you must get back what you lent to others, otherwise you will not make money and have enough to eat in the coming year. If you borrow something from others, you must return it to others before New Year's Eve. The seventh day of the lunar calendar is Women's Day. Women don't cook, carry water or do other jobs, but entertain themselves. Men's Day is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and men rest. When the Bai people in Nujiang worship their ancestors before dinner on New Year's Eve, outsiders are forbidden to be present. Bai people in Yunlong County are not allowed to wander around on July 30th.

Bai people believe that pregnant women are not allowed to enter Buddhist temples, temples, temples, newlyweds' new houses, the onlookers of the bride and the homes of newborn children. After the Bai people give birth to children (or horses, cows, sheep and pigs), people whose birthdays belong to tigers, cows, sheep and pigs are forbidden to enter. Sprinkle kitchen dust at the gate after giving birth, and idle people are not allowed to enter casually. Babies are also not allowed to enter Buddhist temples, temples, temples, or places where gods and ghosts are worshipped.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) Miao nationality

(A), etiquette and taboos

Miao people pay attention to truth and sincerity, and are very enthusiastic. Most of them avoid glitz and hypocrisy. Host Lu Yu guests don't take the first step, don't walk in front; Use honorifics in conversation; Guests should not call the host "Miao Zi"; They prefer to call themselves "Meng". Miao people should wear holiday clothes to welcome guests; For distinguished guests, wine is welcome outside the village; When the guest arrives at the door, the host will call the door and inform the hostess at home that she will sing and open the door to welcome the guests; In front of the guests, the hostess does not climb the stairs. At the banquet, chickens and ducks are the most precious delicacies, especially the heart and liver. It should be given to the guests or the elderly first, and then the guests will share it with you. The order is first long and then small.

Guests should remember not to eat chicken heads, generally do not eat chicken liver, chicken offal, chicken legs. Chicken liver and chicken offal should respect old women, and chicken legs should be left to children. When you leave the Miao host family, you must say "Wow Zhou" politely, which means "thank you" and thank the Miao family for their hospitality.

In the Miao family, where you can't sit in the ancestral hall, you can't step on the tripod on the kang with your feet.

Don't enter the house when straw hats, branches or wedding and funeral ceremonies are hung on the door; Lu Yu is newly married, so don't go in the middle.

Miao people are forbidden to meet outsiders when they return from the fields for the first time every year. If they meet them, they are forbidden to say hello.

In some Miao areas, it is forbidden to wash and drink rice retort, rice bag and rice basin at any time, and only when eating new rice, to show that the old rice has passed away and welcome the new rice. Washing at any time will wash away the family wealth. It is forbidden for women to sit on a bench with their elders. Do not whistle at home or at night; It is not allowed to tie Miao people when they are frolicking.

During the funeral of Miao family, family members were forbidden to eat vegetables. Nothing in the family can be sold or borrowed within one month after burial.

The intransitive verb Dai nationality

(A), etiquette and taboos

To visit any Buddhist temple in Dai village, you must take off your shoes to enter. Han people like to touch children's heads to show affection, but when you meet a young monk in Xishuangbanna, don't touch his head. After being touched by outsiders, especially women, the young monk treated you as his greatest enemy. And you can't step on the shadow of a monk.

Take off your shoes when you go to Daijia Bamboo House. You can't sit above or cross the fire pit, and you can't move the tripod of the pot.

Generally, Dai's bamboo building has three or four pillars, and the pillar near the fire pit in the middle is Dai's "zenith pillar", so don't rely on it; Outside is the "auspicious column", which can't be relied on; The one behind is the "climbing pole", which can be used to take a shower and change clothes when a family member dies. You can't rely on it or hang things.

You can't just peek at Dai's bedroom. Before liberation, the male guest wanted to be a door-to-door son-in-law, and the female guest wanted to work in his house for three years. Although it is open now, some hosts may show it to you out of affection, but it is always impolite.

In the Dai family, you can't whistle and cut your nails at will.

Be polite when eating, don't rush to eat, don't pick up food under other people's chopsticks, don't beat cats and dogs with chopsticks, add more after eating, and don't end the pot. You can't spit everywhere while eating. You can't chop a chicken first, and you can't eat only one pair of chicken legs.

You can't kick a stool for others to sit on, you can't kick the burning firewood with your feet, you can't add firewood to the stove, and you must burn the big end first.

You can't sit on the threshold of your parents' bed (mostly near the fire pit) and you can't let anyone sit. There is a bottle of "holy water" beside my parents' bed, and no one can move.

You can't sleep in bed with your head facing the door, which is considered unlucky, because your head is facing the door after you die. 7 1

Handbook of religious customs of major ethnic minorities in western China

Clothes are torn and can't be mended with pants, thinking they will be poor; You can't change your coat into trousers; Clothes can't be used as pillows, and pillows can't sit on them.

There is a temple in the Dai village, and there is a sacred tree next to it. You can't pee or tie a horse under the holy tree. Sacrifices such as ghost plaques, ghost baskets, ghost tables and bamboo poles under the tree of God cannot be moved or touched.

In Dai villages, there are platforms made of bamboo or wood, and stakes are erected, which is called "Zhaman", which means "village heart". You can't sit on the steps or tie a horse.

When you meet the sacrificial village, outsiders can't enter the village, and the people in the village can't come out until the sacrificial village is finished.

After the closing ceremony (September 15th in the Dai calendar, the day of the awn seed in the lunar calendar), production is busy, and it is forbidden to fall in love and hold weddings. Only after Eid al-Fitr (Dai calendar1February 15, winter solstice of the lunar calendar) did the social interaction of young men and women become normal.