The Qiang are one of China's ethnic minorities. The current population is 198,252; the main settlement area is Mao County in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, and the rest are scattered in Wenchuan, Li, Heishui, Songpan and other counties in the state, as well as Damba County in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Beichuan County in Mianyang City, and Shichian and Jiangkou Counties in Guizhou Province.
The Qiang are an ancient people, as early as more than three thousand years ago, there are records of the Qiang people in the oracle bones of the Yin Dynasty. Yandi Shennong's is the legendary founder of China's agriculture, the Jiang surname, is the Qiang people in the earliest turn to agricultural production. They mainly live on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Here, high mountains and deep valleys, lush forests and rapid water, rich in resources, rich in precious herbs, and is a national treasure of the giant panda and the rare golden monkey habitat.
The Qiang people are mainly engaged in agriculture, with animal husbandry as the secondary industry, and hunting and a variety of secondary industries as the auxiliary.
The Qiang language belongs to the Qiang branch of the Burmese language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family (another said to be the Tibetan branch). It is divided into two dialects: southern and northern. Many people know Chinese. There is no written language, and the Chinese language has been commonly used for a long time. The ancestors of the Qiang people, the Danghang Qiang, once created and used the Xixia language. The Xixia documents preserved to this day were not deciphered by a few scholars until the early 20th century.
The ancient Qiang people were one of the earliest developers of the Great Northwest and were a major part of the Xia Dynasty, and the Qiang Fang, a Fang state of the Shang Dynasty, lived mainly in the Gan and Qing areas. Sui and Tang Dynasty into northern Tibet and northern Sichuan. Danghang Qiang in the Song Dynasty built the Western Xia State, and many generals in the Yuan Dynasty came from the brave and warlike Qiang. In the Opium War, there were Qiang soldiers who went to Guangdong and Zhejiang to fight against the enemy. The Xinhai Revolution and the Red Army's Long March were strongly supported by the Qiang people. In the liberation war, the Qiang area had armed struggle against the reactionary faction of the Kuomintang.
Towers towering column southwest
Qiang architecture to towers, stone houses, cable bridges, trestles and water conservancy to build weir and so on the most famous.
The Qiang language towers called "Qiongcang". As early as 2,000 years ago, "the Han Book - Southwest Barbarians biography" has: the white horse in Ran, "according to the mountains to live in the stop, tired of stone for the room, the height of more than ten feet" record. Watchtower built in the village next to housing, the height of 10 to 30 meters, used to defend the enemy and storage of food and firewood. Watchtower has a four-cornered, hexagonal, octagonal several forms. Some up to thirteen or fourteen layers. Building materials are stone chips and yellow clay. Wall base 1.35 meters deep, made of stone chips. Stone wall inside and the ground perpendicular to the outside from the bottom and up slightly tilted. It was built without drawing, hanging lines, or column support, and was entirely based on skill and experience. Building solid and reliable, durable. 1988 in Beichuan County, Sichuan Province, Qiang Township, Yongan Village, found in an ancient castle site of the Ming Dynasty, "Yongping Fort", after hundreds of years of wind and rain is still well-preserved.
According to July 12, 2001 "Sichuan Daily" in Du Lin, Li Binlin article said: in the existing ancient Qiang fortress, Li County Taoping Qiang fortress is the most typical of the historical record, the Qiang fortress was built in 111 BC, more than 2000 years of history. Taoping Qiang fortress outside the 8 fortress door, for the gossip layout, the fortress has 31 channels, all the way to connect the family, everywhere there are dark holes for foreign shooters, for the old time to prevent the enemy to prepare for the war. Walled only 2 existing stone towers, are 9 layers of more than 30 meters. Praised by UNESCO officials, has begun to start the preparatory work for the declaration of the cultural heritage of mankind.
The Qiang dwellings are stone pieces of flat-topped houses, square, most of the 3 layers, each layer is more than 3 meters high. The lowest part of the roof platform is made of wood or stone boards, which extend out of the wall to form the eaves of the house. Planks or slabs on the dense cover tree or bamboo branches, and then covered with loess and chicken manure tamping, about 0.35 meters thick, there is a stream channel to draw water, no leakage of rain and snow, warm in winter and cool in summer. The roof platform is a threshing, sunshine grain, do needlework and children old people play rest site. Some of the buildings are built with a street building to facilitate access.
The Qiang region has high mountains and dangerous water, in order to facilitate transportation, more than 1400 years ago, the Qiang people created the rope bridge (rope bridge). Both sides of the building stone masonry cave door, the door to set up a stone base or large wooden pillars, base and columns on the chain as thick as the arm of the bamboo rope, as many as dozens of roots. Bamboo rope on the wooden boards, set up on both sides of the bridge more than 1 meter above the bamboo rope handrail.
The stack has a wooden stack and stone stack two kinds. Wooden stacks built in the dense forest, paved wood for the road, mixed with soil and stone; stone stacks in the cliffs, the edge of the rock cut holes, inserted wood for the bridge.
Qiang folk stonemasons often go out to work in their spare time. The world-famous Dujiangyan project in Sichuan's irrigation county, now more than 2,000 years old, is still benefiting the people, which unites the blood, sweat and wisdom of the ancient Qiang people.
The Qiang flute has been passed down through the ages
The long history and the long-term closed living environment have preserved a lot of simple and heavy ancient relics in the spiritual culture of the Qiang people. The two earliest forms of literature produced in ancient China are ancient poetry and ancient myths. These two forms of literature still have a great influence on the Qiang people and many excellent works have been handed down. Most of the Qiang men, women and children know how to sing folk songs, with lyrics of four or seven syllables, similar to the four- and seven-syllable poems in Chinese. In terms of content, there are bitter songs, mountain songs, love songs, wine songs, celebration songs and funeral songs. Famous Qiang myths include "The Opening of Heaven and Earth", "The Formation of Mountain Ravines and Flat Dams", "The Creation of Humanity", and "Douanzhu and Mu Sisterzhu", etc. The stories of siblings marrying and shooting down eight suns are said to reflect the life of the Qiang people in the primitive society with twists and turns.
The most famous Qiang musical instrument is the Qiang flute. Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" that "the Qiang flute has three holes". Ma Rong "Flute Fugue" said: "the recent double flute from the Qiang". The Tang Dynasty's "Miscellaneous Records of Music" says: "The flute is also a Qiang music." Yang Chen of the Song Dynasty wrote in his book of music: "The Qiang flute has five holes". This shows its long history. Of course, the Qiang flute's reputation has spread far and wide, and it is not unrelated to the famous poet Wang Zhilu's ancient song "Liangzhou Lyrics" in the early Tang Dynasty. "The Yellow River is far away from the white clouds, a lonely city with ten thousand feet of mountains. The Qiang flute has no need to complain about the willow, and the spring breeze does not pass the Jade Gate." In the past, this song could be recited by young children. If today's poets can write more masterpieces about minority cultures, it will certainly play a positive role in the cultural dissemination and exchange among brotherly peoples. In recent times, the Qiang flute, which has been passed down in the Qiang area of Sichuan, is made of bamboo or bone. The bamboo is oil bamboo from the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, cut into a square shape; the bone is the leg bone of a sheep or a bird. The present Qiang flute is 17 centimeters long and 1 centimeter in diameter, with a single reed, double pipes, vertical blowing, six voices, and many solo performances. The sound is bright and soft, mournful, melodious and lyrical, and the shepherds often play it in the mountains for their own amusement. Ancient Qiang flute is both a musical instrument, but also a whip, because there are "blowing whip" said.
The main folk dances are "Jumping Shalang" (Qiang Pot Dance), "Jumping Armor" (also known as "Armor Dance"), "Jumping Skin Drum", "Lanxi", and "Lanxi". (also known as the Armor Dance), "Jumping Armor" (also known as the "Armor Dance"), "Jumping Skin Drum", and "Lan Gan Shou". The "Jumping Armor" is an ancient traditional ritual and customary dance, which used to be danced at the funerals of generals who had meritorious military service. Dozens of dancers clad in raw cowhide armor, wearing leather helmets with pheasant plumes and wheat poles, hanging brass bells on their shoulders, holding weapons (mostly long knives), and dancing in pairs, roaring to the heavens, mighty and majestic, the courageous, unyielding, bold and open-minded national character is expressed to the fullest, so that the rugged simplicity of ancient folklore leaps to life.
Smacking wine with affection
The history of Qiang brewing is also very long, one of the reasons is that one of the ancient Qiang people first engaged in agriculture. The second reason is that "Yu was born in the Western Qiang", and the saint of winemaking in China, Yidi, was a minister of Yu, and Dukang is a descendant of Yu. All Qiang men have a large amount of alcohol, so although they like to drink a lot, they seldom get drunk and cause trouble. The unique way of drinking is to drink smack wine. Wine is brewed from barley, barley and corn, sealed in an altar, unsealed when drinking, filled with boiled water, inserted with a bamboo pipe, and the people take turns sucking, or each person drinks through a straw, which is why it is called "smacking wine". Drinking more or less, their own amount of fun, never forced to drink forced irrigation. Add water as you drink until the flavor fades. Smack wine is a kind of low-mash wine. Drinking first by the presence of the oldest speak four words and eight rhyming auspicious words, as a "toast", and then according to the age of the youngest in turn smack. The peers drink smack wine together, each person can insert a bamboo tube in the altar, while drinking.
The Qiang people also have "Chrysanthemum Wine" and "Yumai Steam Wine". Children and women often drink sweet wine with honey.
The main festivals of the Qiang people include the "Qiang Calendar Year", the "June Festival", the "Mountain Sacrifice", and the "Fifth Day of May". The main festivals of the Qiang people include the "Year of the Qiang Calendar", the "June Festival", the "Mountain Festival", and the "Fifth of May". If the song and dance in the courtyard, the wine altar placed in the field side; if the party in the bunker, the wine altar placed under the table or wall. Who is tired of dancing in the collective dance, want to drink some wine to rest, who can go to the wine altar next to suck and chat to watch the program.
Wedding wine is the custom of most ethnic groups, and the Qiang are no exception. Qiang in the night before the wedding, both men and women have to host their respective house family elders, *** drink smack wine, known as "eat altar wine".
The Qiang people's wedding is generally a flower night, round, back to the door for three days. The "flower night" refers to the ceremony to welcome the bride, both men and women to be organized, but the focus on the female family, and therefore also known as the "female flower night". During the ceremony, the male's red master (matchmaker and wedding master of ceremonies) will give the "acceptance speech" in Qiang language, which mainly praises the character of both the male and female families and the beauty of the marriage, emphasizing that "fields and properties are not enough to be counted, and only good people are considered good in-laws". The woman's foreign manager to the "reply" said "two families since ancient times are relatives, housing and property do not need to mention, do not look at the bride price to see the friendship, ancient relatives of the old family more intimate". The girl who is about to go out should worship the god of the family, worship the relatives of the family, and hand over a big back pocket shoes made by herself in recent years to the master of ceremonies, who on behalf of the girl thanked her on one side, and gave them to the elders and relatives on the other side. Drinking smack wine and dancing salang until late at night. The "square circle", also known as the "square feast", is a rite of passage for the marriage, the most grandiose. When the bride's father sacrificed to the family gods, the bride began to cry marriage, expressing the parents and relatives of the farewell and attachment. Bride in seven or eight bridesmaids surrounded by out, friends and relatives are in tears, choking tears, and constantly expressed blessings. Mixed feelings of sadness and joy, complex emotions, touching. When the bride went to the groom's village, the whole village was in full swing. First of all, the ceremonial gun several times, followed by firecrackers, the band played a happy tune, the neighbors cheered and jumped. The wedding relatives to the bride and groom's words of advice are mainly "respect for the elderly and love for the young is this, treating people moderately and do not dispute, raising children and raising children to take care of the family, to create a family business rely on hard work. The third day of the "return door", some places called "thank you". Is the bride to return to her mother's home, with the groom to thank the female relatives and friends. The Qiang society is more prominent in the uncle's right, they and other elders of the teachings are: "Now that you have become a family, not like in the past rely on parents. You must work hard and be busy with production, and you must be thrifty to keep the family together. After the luncheon guests leave, the family house family and help to organize the wedding of the evening in the woman's home to feast and dance.
White stone ying ying symbolizes God
Qiang people in the past religious beliefs, the performance of the more prominent is the worship of nature, believe that everything has a spirit. To this day, there are still many remnants of the folk who take the white stone and the cedar tree as symbols of the gods. White stone is a kind of white quartz stone. Early in the morning on the third day of the first month of the lunar year, it is the time for every family to celebrate the White Stone Festival at the same time. In front of the white stone god on the roof of every house, wine and buns and other offerings are placed, and cypress branches are used to light fires and produce smoke to honor the gods. In the village, the smoke drifted, and the night was coming to an end, as if heaven and earth were united, twilight twilight, giving people a mysterious sense of human and divine connection. Qiang people in the mind of the mountain god, goat god, stone king, bodhisattva, cattle king, treasure, etc., are to white stone to symbolize, or white stone statues as the object of worship. Folk saying: "white stone on the road, black stone on the side of the road" shows that they distinguish between black and white, but also shows that the white stone in their consciousness of the high status. The white color represents justice and reasonableness, while the black color represents lewdness and irregularity. The purpose of erecting the White Stone on the roof is to suppress evil with justice and to bless the family with peace. Regarding the origin of honoring the White Stone, folklore says that the ancient Qiang people came to the upper reaches of the Min River, where they now live, and were invaded by the "Gogi people" during their great migration. The Qiang leader was inspired by the gods and used white stones and hardwood sticks as weapons to defeat the enemy. The Qiangs were grateful to the gods, but did not know the image of the gods, so they used white stones as a substitute and worshiped them for generations. When we analyze this phenomenon in a scientific manner, we can see it as a remembrance and reverence for their ancestors, because they created stone tools, which, when combined with hardwood sticks, constituted primitive agricultural tools and weapons, and which were vital to the life of their ancestors. Stones are revered by primitive humans for their hardness and solidity, and have a certain universality in China. Nuwa used colorful stones to mend the sky, Jingwei used stones to reclaim the sea, the legend of "Tarzan's Stone Daredevil", and the cult of boulders in many parts of the south are all examples. The Qiang people build houses with stones, build weirs with stones, and are famous for their skillful masonry, so it is not surprising that they worship the white stone naturally.