 Yunnan is regarded as a microcosm of the multinational China. It has 25 minorities, nearly half of the whole country's total number of 56. Each minority, distributing in different corner of Yunnan Province, has its own customs, history and culture for thousands of years, celebrating their own festivals which are really attractive and fascinating. With such diversity, Yunnan attracts the most people who are interested in ethnic culture and customs. Among the existing 25 minority groups, the Yi, Bai, Dai, Naxi, Zang (Tibetan) etc. are the majority and most famous. They have dependent cultures, customs, languages and histories. Most of them also have their own religion beliefs, including Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism and Muslim. In the past thousands of year, they had co-existed and developed in peace and harmony. At present, many live in over-lapping areas and transracial marriage happens often. Yi People is one of the ancient ones in Yunnan. They are distributed over Chuxiong, Honghe, Ailaoshang and areas of Xiaoliangshang in Yunnan. Their language is a branch of the family of Tibetan and Myanmar languages. Yi lives in a type of house of wood timbers battlement. The fire of fireplace (a hollow dug on the ground) is never put off a year around in their houses. It is the living center of the family so called "Fireplace Culture". Yi people are so forthright, good at drinking, singing and having a felt on the back. The family system is the structure of a husband and one wife forming a small family. They prefer to the black color, so in the history the Yi nobleman was always in black, the white represented the "Wazi" meaning the serfs. The man has a black scarf around the head and a set of black clothes. But the woman is in colorful shining clothes. Yi believes in the Master of Soil and multi-Gods religion. Their main holiday is the "Festival of Torch"(Around in March) which adds great interests on Yunnan tours for many people. Bai People mainly live in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture and others are scattered in Kunming, Yuanjiang, Lijiang and Lanping. Bai People hold the white color in high esteem and call themselves "Baizi", "Baini" or "Baihuo", which means white people. Since ancient times, the Bai people have established a close relationship with the Han and the Yi in the interior or the neighboring regions. After the Nanzhao Kingdom, especially during the Dali Kingdom, all the Bais in different areas became a nationality with similar languages, cultures and economic structures. Now they have their own spoken language that belongs to the Tibeto-Burman Stock of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family. Many Bai people are good at the Han language. They use the Han characters as their writing system. Besides Buddhism and Taoism, the worship of Patron God is most popular. The Patron God Temple can be found in almost every village. Patron God is the Guardian of a village or a region. The Bai people's houses are unique. The typical style is "sanfangyizhaobi" and "sihewutianjing." "Sanfangyizhaobi" refers to three houses on three sides and a decorative screen wall to reflect sunlight to the house. " Sihewutianjing" is a house with a major courtyard and tour small ones at the four corners of the major one .The Bai people's houses are generally decorated with wooden carvings, stone carvings and marble, which add luster to the traditional characteristics of the houses. The Bai people regard white as an honorable color and like to wear white clothes. Men often wear white coats with black vests. Women like to wear white or blue jackets with black or blue vests. Unmarried women like to have a pigtail, or wear beautiful headdresses that show the four famous scenes in Dali, namely the flowers in Shangguan, the wind in Xiaguan, the snow on the top of the Cangshan Mountain and the moon reflected in the Elrhai Lake. The married women coil their hair and wrap it with black or embroidered cloth. The major festivals of the Bai People are the Raosanlin, the Torch Festival, the Patron God Festival and the Shibaoshan Mountain Song Festival. The most important of all is the Third Month Fair in Dali which falls on March 15th on the lunar calendar and lasts 7 days. Naxi People mainly live in Lijinag Naxi Autonomous County, Ninlglang County, Yongsheng County and Weixi, Zhongdian and Deqin counties in Diqing. "Naxi" means people who worship black or a nation. The Naxi people have a splendid culture, of which the most important one is the Dongba language which consists of the only surviving hieroglyphic characters in the world, The Naxi people have their own language, which belongs to the Tibet-Burmese Branch of the Sino-Tibetan language Family (Yi Branch). The Naxi people believe in Mahayana Buddhism, Taism and Lamaism. The famous Lijiang Murals well reveal their attitudes of broad-mindedness and their assimilation of diverse cultures. The costumes of the Naxi men are not very different from those of the Han people. The Naxi women usually wear coats with loose sleeves and buttons on the right, vests, long trousers and pleated aprons. They also wear a goat-felt cape in the shoulders with the pattern of seven embroidered circles symbolizing diligence and hard working. The Mosuo people, a branch of the Naxi nationality, still keep the unique Axia marital custom, and the trace of a matrilineal system can still be seen in this group. Therefore they are called the "Living Fossil" for a study of the development of human family and marriage. The main festivals of the Naxi people are the Bangbanghui Festival on January 15th on the lunar calendar, the Sanduo Festival in February 8th and the live Stock Exchange Fair in March and June. Recommended Yunnan Minority Festival Tour in March Day 01 Kunming Day 02 Kunming / Stone Forest Day 03 Stone Forest / Luoping Day 04 Luoping Day 05 Luoping / Puzhehei Day 06 Puzhehei / Mile Day 07 Mile / Kunming Tour Day 08 Kunming Yunnan Travel Guide – Yunnan Minority Groups is a post from: Traveling China from Traveling China http://www.chinaya.org | |||
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