Respect for elders is a traditional virtue of the Bai people. When you see an old man, you should take the initiative to greet him, say hello, make way, give up your seat, serve tea, and pass the cigarettes. After getting up, the first cup of morning tea should be honored to the old man. When you eat, you should let the elderly sit on the table, and let them move the chopsticks first. They do not swear in front of the elderly, and they do not stub their legs. In some mountainous areas of the Bai people, each member of the family has a relatively fixed seat, with the male elders sitting on the upper left, the female elders on the upper right, and the guests and juniors sitting on the lower and left sides. The fire pit of a Bai family is a sacred place, and it is forbidden to spit water into the fire pit or to cross over the fire pit. It is also forbidden to sit on the threshold of Bai people's house. It is forbidden for women to step over the tools used by men. It is forbidden to enter the family with a filial paw, which is considered to bring uncleanness to the family.
The Bai people are an ethnic minority with a long history and culture on the southwest border of China. It is mainly distributed in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, Lijiang, Bijiang, Baoshan, Nanhua, Yuanjiang, Kunming, Anning and other places, and Bijie in Guizhou, Liangshan in Sichuan, Sangzhi County in Hunan Province and other places are also distributed. According to the Fifth National Population Census in 2000, the population of the Bai people was 185,806,063, and they speak Bai, which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The vast majority of the residents speak their own language, and the Chinese language is commonly used. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, "Bo Wen" (Bai Wen) was used, which is known as the "White Reading of Chinese Characters". The Bai people use Chinese characters to write, but they have their own language and rich and colorful literature and art. They are good at agriculture and salting azaleas. Three-way tea is a traditional way of drinking tea when the Bai people in Yunnan Province entertained VIPs.
The Bai are an ancient people, and have a relationship with the ancient Qiang people. As early as the 1st century AD (Han Dynasty) before the distribution of the Erhai area. In the 2nd century A.D., Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up counties here, and in the 3rd - 4th centuries A.D., due to the war, many Han Chinese had taken refuge in the Bai area, and some of them were integrated with them; a large number of people of various ethnic groups moved to the Erhai area from the eastern part of Yunnan in 715 A.D. were integrated into the Bai. there were a number of Han Chinese who were in the area before and after the 14th century and then were integrated into the local Bai people. Later, some Yi and Achang people were also integrated into the Bai. Especially in the period of the Dali State, the Bai people will form a largely with *** with the language and culture, close to the economic level, the settlement is relatively fixed in ancient times, after the Tang Dynasty, the Dali subjugation to the central government, by the mainland Han culture, more economic impact, agriculture, handicrafts and commerce have further development. To the Yuan Dynasty, this place has been a very prosperous city. Dali beautiful scenery, pleasant climate, in this beautiful and fertile land, hard-working, brave Bai people with their long history, developed culture. Colorful local customs attract many travelers. Dali Bai people have a long history and developed culture. 1253, the Yuan Dynasty established a province in Yunnan and set up Dali Road and Heqing Road in Dali area. The Ming Dynasty changed the name to Dali Prefecture and Heqing Prefecture and implemented the policy of land reorganization. The Qing Dynasty continued to inherit this policy from the Ming Dynasty, but appointed a number of native officials and native priests in the remote mountainous areas.
The Bai people live in houses of mixed structure of wood and brick. Favored, revered white, there is a "love to be pretty, a filial piety" (i.e., white clothing) said. Men wear seven to nine feet white turban, white lapel top, white pants, white socks. Women wrap their heads in brocade or embroidered flowers and wear a white blouse, a blue or black collarless coat, and blue pants. Women wear a bun with a flowery handkerchief, silver jewelry, and embroidered shoes. The Bai people have always practiced monogamy, and before the founding of the People's Republic of China, they had arranged marriages and listened to "parents' orders" and "words of matchmakers". There are also "finger for marriage". There was also the custom of not marrying someone with the same surname. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has changed its customs to free love and marriage. The childless can be recruited to the door, the eldest son with the mother's name, the second son with the father's name, called "return to the clan". Funerals are relatively simple and earth burials are practiced. Their festivals include the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, which are the same as those of the Han Chinese. In addition, there are two other grandest festivals. One is the Ancestor Festival, also known as the Winter Solstice Festival. Every year on the winter solstice, men, women and children from all villages, dressed in costumes, gather at the ancestral hall, kill pigs and slaughter goats in honor of the Lord, hold a song contest, jumping on the battle drums, unusually lively. Another is the "Catch the meeting". The period varies from place to place, from one to October are, also are dressed in national costume, held ancestor worship, singing, dancing and other large-scale activities, but also for the exchange of agricultural and sideline products, commercial activities. The number of people reaches thousands.
The Bai people mainly believe in the Lord and Buddhism. "The Lord" refers to the content of the ancestral gods, natural gods and heroes of God and other multiple meanings. The Bai people have rich folk music, dance, opera and handicrafts, Bai music, melodious, melodious tunes, feelings are very rich. Their handicrafts are very exquisite and chic, famous for their wooden carvings, and in the house gates, temple characters, bridges and pavilions, etc., the carvings of dragons and phoenixes show the exquisite handicraft techniques. Women's picking flowers, embroidery patterns change infinitely, there is a wealth of imagination.
The Bai people have always attached importance to learning culture, not only colorful folk literature and art, but also written literature. Traditional folk literature has poetry, stories, legends, folk songs, fairy tales, Minyao and proverbs. Especially colorful folk myths and legends, such as "Creation", "source", are rich in imagination and the accumulation of practical experience in life, after hundreds of years of transmission and continuous artistic processing, so that it is easy to understand, concise language, rigorous structure, rich in content. It is rich in content. It reflects the production, life, development and change of nature of the ancestors of the Bai people, as well as the change of the history of the nation and so on. It has high literary and historical value. Its folk songs, ballads and nursery rhymes are also full of ancient and simple philosophy, reflecting the traditional morality of the Bai people in dealing with interpersonal relationships and the positive philosophy of life. Its mountain songs, folk songs are also colorful, there are four or seven lines, three or five lines of the rhyme, before and after or up and down, most of the content reflects its production, life. There is a strong national character.
Etiquette taboos
1, etiquette and taboos in daily life
Bai hospitality, the first guest after the host is the Bai hospitality etiquette. Guests at home, to wine, tea and hospitality. The famous Three Way Tea is the Bai's hospitality. But the Bai people pour tea generally only half a cup, pouring wine need to be full cup, they believe that wine full of honoring people, tea full of deceiving people. By the Bai people's hospitality, you should say sound Norwegian you (thank you) to express your gratitude and appreciation.
Respect for elders is a traditional virtue of the Bai people. Seeing the elderly should take the initiative to greet, greetings, make way, seat, tea, hand cigarettes. The first cup of morning tea after getting up should be honored to the old man first. When you eat, you should let the elderly sit on the table and move the chopsticks first. In front of the elderly do not swear, are not allowed to stilt legs. In some mountainous areas of the Bai people, family members each have a relatively fixed seat, generally male elders sit on the upper left, female elders sit on the upper right, guests and juniors sit on the side and above. The fire pit of Bai people's home is a sacred place, taboo to spit inside the fire pit, forbidden to cross from the fire pit. The threshold of the White family is also taboo to sit. The tools used by men, women are forbidden to cross from above. Family taboo wearing a filial pall to enter, that will give the family with unclean.
2, festivals and rituals in the etiquette and taboos
March Street is a grand festival of the Bai people, the festival time for the annual lunar calendar March 15 to 20 days. In addition, the Bai people and the Han Chinese, the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar to the tenth of the Spring Festival every year, the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar for the Festival of Ancestors. There are many ceremonial taboos for the Bai on New Year's Day. The Bai in Yuanjiang County prohibit killing during the annual March Meeting or the Tianzi Temple Festival. The Bai in Dali are not allowed to move knives, pick water, splash water or sweep the ground on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Nujiang Bai people on the New Year's Eve before dinner ancestor worship, taboo outsiders in the regular New Year's Eve, to borrow to others to get back, otherwise the next year to find money is not good, food is not plentiful. Therefore, borrowed things from other people's homes, must be returned to others before the New Year's Eve. The seventh day of the Lunar New Year for the Women's Day, women do not cook, do not carry water, and do not do any other labor, but to play; Lunar New Year for the Men's Day, men rest. Yunlong County, the Bai people, July half of this day is not allowed to people walking around.
3, marriage and funeral, childbearing etiquette and taboos
White women are pregnant, to tie the hinged double house apron, and the head of the page folded at the waist as a sign of happiness. When outsiders see them, they should pay attention to protect them. If a pregnant woman is injured by mistake, she must be guaranteed the safety of the mother and child after delivery. Some places of the Bai people, pregnant women can not enter the bride and groom's cave. After the baby falls to the ground, who is the first to step into the door of the mother's home, who is stepping on the birth. The Bai people believe that who step on the birth, the future child's temperament will be like who. The Bai people are most jealous of filial piety to step on the birth, so after the baby was born, the family should immediately use quicklime to spread three arcs in the doorway, and wrapped in the threshold of a gabion. If it is a boy, but also in the gabion under a straw shoe, some also nailed to the door on the bottom of a cauldron fence, to show the taboo. Inadvertently broke into the maternal home, you must send a bowl of fresh thick rice soup, brown sugar, eggs, sweet white wine and a pot of pig's feet stewed leek root to the mother to eat. The morning of the third day after delivery, the maternal home to invite congee rice guest or called diluted rice guest. To the Bai people's home to do congee rice guest, to use a bamboo basket with eggs, brown sugar, children's clothes and hats, etc. to go to congratulate. Dali, Jianchuan area of the Bai people, women after childbirth, the host should ask the first guest into the home to eat the egg dumplings, guests can not refuse, otherwise the host will be angry.