Raosanling

Also known as "Raosanling", it started in Nanzhao. It was originally a ritual of ancient religious sacrifices and later gradually evolved into cultural, sports, entertainment and outings for the Bai people. The event is a national grand event. Every year from the 23rd to the 25th of April in the lunar calendar, the Bai people around Erhai Lake gather in red and green teams to participate in the event, hanging colorful silk, gourds, mosquito brooms, and Wearing fans and towels, one person sang the lead and the other beat the beat, followed by a man and a woman, singing tunes, beating the king's whip, playing the three-stringed qin and the yueqin, singing and dancing, from the eastern foot of Cangshan Mountain to Qingdong, Xizhou and Jinhe. Visiting the three capitals along the road is "going around the three spirits". The Three Spirits refer to the three capitals of Buddha, God and Immortal.

Ta Ge of the Yi Nationality

Ta Ge, also known as Ta Ge, is more popular in Weishan, Nanjian, Yangbi and other counties. It can be roughly divided into animal dances that simulate animal postures. There are two categories of fun dances to express emotions. Generally, songs are performed at weddings, funerals, and national festivals. The dance steps are mainly at the feet, including stepping, kicking, stomping, lifting, kicking, jumping, etc. You can dance and sing at will. Compile lyrics and add fixed lyrics. Possessed and harmonious, free and easy, when intense, enthusiastic and unrestrained, emotional. The tune of the Dage is composed of two parts played by the gourd sheng and the bamboo flute, which are combined with the Dage tune sung by people to form a three-part Dage music. The musical effect is very strong. This special harmony, in It is rare among other Da Ge.

At the same time, "Three-day Street", "Torch Festival", "Butterfly Festival", "Flower Festival", "Shibaoshan Song Festival", "Water Splashing Festival", "Flower Boat Race", "Yao "Sea Hui", "Yutan Hui", "Chrysanthemum Hui", "Benzhu Festival", etc. are also famous folk customs in Yunnan.

Bai Customs

Bai men in the Dali area mostly wear white double-breasted tops, lace black-collared jackets, white or blue wide trousers, and white buns on their heads. Embroidered shoulder bag. Bai women wear white shirts, bright red, blue or light blue collared jackets, trousers made of gray-blue or green fabrics with embroidery and lace corners, embroidered shoes on their feet, and waistbands embroidered with patterns such as flowers and birds. Embroidered short apron.

Bai weddings are lively and complicated, usually lasting three days. The wedding day is called "the wedding day", the first day is called "stepping on the shed", and the day after is called "the individual guest". Among them, the first two days are more distinctive. On the night of "stepping on the shed", you have to sing "bench opera" at the groom's house.

The architecture of Bai folk houses in Dali area has unique local style and ethnic characteristics. Most of the Bai folk houses are closed buildings. The courtyard wall opposite the main house is usually built into a screen wall. The scale of the screen wall is well proportioned and the appearance is very beautiful. . In addition to paying attention to the exquisite shape, the screen wall also pays great attention to decoration, making the screen wall appear more elegant and beautiful.

Mosuo Customs

The Mosuo, known as "Mosha" in ancient times, are one of the indigenous ethnic groups in Ninglang. Their origins belong to the ancient nomadic "Yak Qiang" in my country. The special social and geographical environment has enabled the Yongning Mosuo people to retain their unique and magical customs and etiquette. The legendary family marriage pattern of the Mosuo people on the banks of Lugu Lake has become the most mysterious and attractive matrilineal cultural wonder in this ancient land in the East, forming a confusing and distant dream. When the children of the Pumi and Mosuo people reach the age of 13, they must hold a coming-of-age ceremony.

The Mosuo people still retain the matrilineal marriage form of human beings. There are two forms of Axia marriage popular among the Mosuo people, namely Axia exogamy and Axia cohabitation marriage. The Mosuo people worship nature and believe in gods. They believe that everything in the heaven and earth, the sun, moon, water, fire, wind, rain, thunder and lightning are controlled by the gods. Therefore, they have gradually formed various forms of sacrificial methods over a long period of time.

Mosuo people’s New Year celebrations are divided into big year and small year. The Little New Year is celebrated on the 12th day of the 11th lunar month every year. Villages drink and eat meat, sing and dance carnivally, and herders receive preferential treatment. The whole family will give gifts such as pig fat, sausages, eggs, and dada to the herders. They also tie a red cloth on the tail of the livestock to mark the new year. Herders go to the mountains for picnics to worship the mountain gods, praying for abundant water and grass and prosperity for their livestock in the coming year. The Chinese New Year is celebrated on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month every year. Two green pine trees should be planted in front of the main house in the yard, and pine branches and colorful prayer flags should be placed on the roof. Boiled pig heads are served on the table as offerings to ancestors and gods, and young people engage in activities such as wrestling, playing on swings, folk songs, and folk dances.

Their traditional festival is the Mountain Turning Festival. Every year on the 25th day of the seventh lunar month, the Mosuo people by the lake dress up and go to the "Gem Goddess Mountain" to worship.

Benzhu worship

Benzhu worship is a universal religious belief unique to the Bai people. "Benzhu" is the owner of the local area, that is, the protector of a village or a certain region.

The Bai people have a long history of belief in their own master. Each village holds grand festivals to worship the Lord every year, which is one of the major religious activities in the village. It is said that this day is the birthday of the Lord, and the worship time varies from place to place. The gods worshiped in different places are also different. There are gods worshiped by nature, heroes worshiped as gods, rulers of Nanzhao and Dali and their relatives, Nanzhao generals, etc.

Folk marriage customs

"Axia Marriage"

The Mosuo people living by the Hugu Lake still follow a custom of "a man will not marry a woman, but a woman will not marry him". The custom of "walking marriage". The Mosuo people call this kind of marriage "Axia marriage" ("Axia" means an intimate couple). After an adult man and woman fall in love and establish an "Axia" marriage relationship, the man goes to live in the woman's home at night and returns before dawn the next day, and each lives and works at his own home.

The length of the "A-Xia" relationship depends on the feelings of both parties. Women occupy a dominant position in the family in production and childbirth. Children take their mother's surname and blood relationship is calculated according to their mother. This kind of "matrilineal family" and "Asha marriage" customs still exist on the earth, and they are called the living fossils of early human marriage.

Robbery or escaping marriage

Robbing or escaping marriage was a custom of the Naxi people in Lijiang before liberation. A man and a woman have feelings for each other through love and have made a private decision for life. However, they are opposed by the woman's parents, or they are worried about the objection of the woman's parents, so the man and woman resort to the practice of snatching the bride or running away from the marriage to get married. In ancient times, some of the reasons for kidnapping or running away marriages were that the woman's family had difficulty in life and was unable to provide a large dowry. Of course, this custom no longer exists today.

Coming of Age Ceremony

Mosuo and Pumi children must hold a coming of age ceremony when they reach the age of 13. The ceremony is always held in the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, and takes place under the two pillars below the fire pit in the main house of the home. The column on the right is the female column, and the column on the left is the male column. The boy stands under the male pillar and the girl stands under the female pillar, with one foot stepping on pig fat and the other on a grain bag, symbolizing inexhaustible food all year round. The girl is dressed in beautiful dresses, hair and accessories by her mother. The boy was given a sword by his uncle. After the coming-of-age ceremony, you are considered an adult and can participate in various social activities.

Fighting on the wedding night

The Yi wedding in Xiaoliangshan is quite special. On the night of the wedding, the newlyweds have to fight fiercely. The bride should poke the groom with bamboo sticks and catch the groom with her hands, leaving blood marks on the groom's hands and face to show the bride's chastity and dignity.

Yunnan’s “Eighteen Eccentrics”

Yunnan Province has many ethnic groups, and each ethnic group has its own unique social structure, lifestyle, and customs. The "Eighteen Yunnan Monsters", which are widely circulated and have many versions, are also a manifestation of Yunnan's national customs to a certain extent.

One version goes like this: "Eggs are sold on skewers with straw, rice cakes are cooked with bait cubes, three mosquitoes stir-fry dishes, stones grow to the sky, and straw hats are taken off to use as pot lids. Wear the same clothes for all seasons, there are many old ladies who are good at farming, bamboo tubes can be used as hookahs, pocket ponies are capable, grasshoppers can be used as food for wine, good melons and vegetables are produced all year round, good cigarettes are smoked but not sold, thatch is sold well at home and abroad, and there are no trains The car is fast, the man takes the baby when he goes out, the cave can compete with the fairyland, everyone loves the rice noodles that cross the bridge, and the flowers bloom all year round." This jingle reflects the colorful ethnic customs of Yunnan to a certain extent.

Three-course tea

Three-course tea was originally a courtesy for the kings to entertain generals and ministers during the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms. Later, the recipe spread to the people and became a way of entertaining guests.

Three courses of tea are one bitter, two sweet and three aftertaste. Bitter tea is made from Xiaguan Tuo tea and is brewed in a small tea cup. It is bitter and astringent and has a cooling effect. Sweet tea is made from milk fan, walnut kernels, brown sugar and Gantong Mountain green tea. It is fragrant and sweet when you drink it; Aftertaste tea is made of honey, tea, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger slices and cinnamon. It tastes spicy and slightly sweet, and has an endless aftertaste. The three teas are like the three flavors of life. Three courses of tea are served to the guests one after another, and the Bai girl raises the cup to her eyebrows with both hands to show respect. During the dinner, small dishes of red and green silk, peanuts, candied fruits, preserved fruits, etc. were brought. While sipping tea, guests enjoyed ethnic song and dance performances. "Pinching the Bride", "Song of the Golden Flower", "Octagonal Drum Dance", "Love Song Duet", etc. have become the cultural repertoire of the three-course tea.

Lisu Nationality

The ancestors of the Lisu Nationality belong to the "Xi" (the name of xi county, now called "Yuexi") and "Kunming" in western Yunnan during the Han Dynasty, and belong to the Di Descendants of the Qiang ethnic group. About the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1558), under the leadership of the leader Mu Biba, they crossed the Lancang River and crossed the Biluo Snow Mountain to reach the Nu River. This was used as a base for survival and reproduction. Some of the clans gradually moved south along the west bank of the Nu River to Mangkuan. Within the territory; some clans moved westward from Fugong and Lushui to areas along the national borders such as Tengchong Datang. Later, some clans that migrated to the Datang area in Tengchong crossed the Gaoligong Mountain and entered the Lujiang River.

The Lisu language belongs to the Yi language of the Tibeto-Burman family of the Sino-Tibetan language family and has written characters. Many people among the Lisu people can also speak Han, Yi, Dai, Bai, De'ang, Miao and other ethnic languages. The Lisu language often borrows vocabulary from Han, Yi and Dai. During the Republic of China, missionaries used Latin letters to create the Old Lisu script with deformed phonetic pronunciations. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, linguists helped the Lisu people create a new alphabet using Latin letters.

The Lisu people are divided into "Hua Susu" and "Black Susu". Most of the Lisu people in Gaoligong Mountain belong to the "Hua Susu". It is mainly distributed in the alpine mountainous areas, mid-level mountainous areas and low-heat valley areas on the east and west banks of the Nujiang River between the Nushan Mountains and the Gaoligong Mountains. It is concentrated in 27 natural villages in Lujiang and Mangkuan in the east of the Gaoligong Mountains. Most of their surnames are Ma, Yu, Ou, Hu and Mi.

Before liberation, they often lived in the jungle of Gaoligong Mountain, leading a nomadic life of hunting and slash-and-burn farming. They make a living by growing cereals and buckwheat, and hunting birds and wild animals for food. There is a popular saying in the local area: "The Dai people do not go up the mountains, and the Susu people do not go down the dams." Most of the Lisu people live in mountainous areas. In order to meet the most basic survival needs, they must open up wasteland on the slopes with relatively harsh natural conditions. They also improved their lives and exchanged for some necessary daily necessities through hunting. Their living quarters are generally relatively simple, mostly thatched houses with simple bamboo and wooden structures. Some live in caves that are damp all year round, and some live in shacks along the cultivated land, and they are constantly relocated with the rotation of the cultivated land.

The Susu people rarely form villages or villages, with only three or five families forming a village, and most of them live alone without neighbors. After liberation, most people lived on opposite sides of mountains and dams, creating a situation where one village had two places, one household had two pots, and they were busy all year round. With the change of the situation, the life of the Lisu people has improved and stabilized, and their living quarters have also changed greatly. Most of them are tile-roofed houses with earth and wood structures. The richer ones have also built spacious and bright buildings, breaking the The crowded and crude housing habits of the past.

The Lisu people are not only an industrious, brave, simple, honest, straightforward and cheerful nation, but also one of the most hospitable and trustworthy people. No matter how poor his family is, he is always hospitable and likes to make friends. Regardless of relatives, friends or passers-by, when you arrive at a Susu home, you must be entertained with tea and food. If you don't eat, it will be regarded as disrespectful to them. There is a saying among the Lisu people that "If the mountain does not turn around, whoever goes out can carry the house on his back." The Lisu people are outspoken and will not beat around the bush. When interacting with the Lisu people, as long as you don't cheat and keep your word, they will give you their heart and soul. If you have bad intentions, cheat, and are not trustworthy, then he will never want to continue to associate with you.

Flowers to eat in Yunnan

In Yunnan, which is like spring all year round, the flowers that bloom in all seasons are not only ornamental plants, but also popular dishes on the table, with almost every kind of edible Flowers are associated with a recipe. If you go to Yunnan without eating cauliflower, your trip will be in vain.

There are about 2,500 kinds of wild ornamental plants in Yunnan. Many flowers are edible, such as the fiery red kapok, the fragrant jasmine, the clean and elegant orchids, the graceful magnolias, and the rhododendrons that bloom all over the mountains and plains. They are all the beauties of edible flowers. It can be said that it is "beautiful and delicious", and Yunnan people are reluctant to let the flowers fall in spring. Brothers from the 26 ethnic groups in Yunnan all have recipes about flowers. They love flowers and seem to feel that they must eat them to express their inner love. According to relevant data, their history of eating flowers dates back more than a thousand years. Every spring, men, women and children of all ages rush to the mountains to pick wild flowers while singing folk songs. After picking the flowers, they are dried, pickled, and stored in cans for later use. .

The Lahu people living on the banks of the Lancang River are also a people who live on flowers. Flowers are not only a delicacy in their dishes, but also a symbol of their life. The Lahu people have a long history of eating flowers, almost throughout their entire historical development period. The Miao people go to Huashan Mountain, which is actually a flower-collecting mountain. There is a song that says, "Pick a hundred flowers and make them into dishes to entertain your future wife." This shows the status and dignity of cauliflower.

The Naxi people believe that plants with white flowers are tonic to humans. Cauliflower is both a vegetable and a good medicine. Camellia has the effect of cooling blood and is a good medicine for vomiting blood and intestinal wind; honey flower has the effect of dispelling wind and improving eyesight; green bud alpine is a good medicine for warming the stomach and strengthening the spleen. Opening an atlas of Chinese herbal medicine, flowers alone account for more than half, and more than half of the flowers often appear on the dining tables of various ethnic groups in Yunnan, enriching the food culture of the Red Earth Plateau.

The Dai people are a nation that is proud of flowers. In their eyes, a flower is worth more than a gem, and a fallen flower will cause ripples in their kind hearts. In restaurants opened by Dai people, nine out of ten recipes will have the shadow of flowers, and each dish of cauliflower has a very nice dish name. There are red camellia petals in "Goose Blood Agate", and in "The Goddess Comes to Earth". Mixed with the fragrance of Tangli flowers, there are many budding orchid stamens in the "Earthly Palace". Once, my literary friend and I came to the beautiful and rich Lianlangba, and enjoyed a flower feast in a bamboo railing-style restaurant, enjoying the unique flower-eating culture of the Dai people.

Traditional Dai cuisine is mostly famous for its sour and spicy taste. It is eaten mainly with cold salad, supplemented by green seasonings. However, Dai’s cauliflower emphasizes natural flavor, complete color and fragrance, and focuses on vegetables. Therefore, when we surround the abundant cauliflower, we seem to be facing a condensed spring garden, red like blood, white like jade, yellow like gold, blue like diamonds, almost all colors are in bamboo. They gathered at the woven dining table. The recipes include stir-fried beans and rice with kapok, sour and pickled flower flower soup, cold Tangli flowers, cold raw white flowers with spicy sauce, boiled banana flowers, camellia glutinous rice porridge, and stewed cactus flowers with eggs... Face to face The table is full of cauliflower, which is really hard to bear to start with. This is the most unique and gorgeous banquet I have ever seen.