The Tujia people are mainly distributed in the northwestern part of Hunan Province (Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture), Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hubei Province, Wufeng Tujia Autonomous Prefecture and Changyang Tujia Autonomous Prefecture of Yichang, as well as the counties in Sichuan Province, such as Shizhu, Xiushan, Youyang, Qianjiang, and so on, and they are intermixed with the Han and the Miao ethnic groups. The Tujia have their own language, and the Tujia language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language family, with an undetermined language branch. The majority of the people, due to the long-term intermingling with the Han Chinese, began to use the Chinese language and the Chinese language at an early age. Only in Hunan's Yongshun, Longshan, Guzhang and other areas of settlement, the Tujia language is still intact. This ethnic group has no script and generalizes the Chinese language.
Residents:
The Tujia people love to live in groups, and build houses in villages and cottages, and seldom have single-family houses. The Tujia people take the mountains to build houses, generally for the foot of the building, upstairs people, downstairs off livestock. House building requirements for the back of the mountain, face to the mountain. Generally, there are four rows of three rooms, the center of one of which should be set up the ancestral shrine. The right side of the left and right two rooms to live, mostly two small rooms, called live "small two rooms". In front of the small second room, there is a fire store, and in the center of the fire store, there is a kang, which is used for heating and cooking, and on which there is an iron tripod. There is a kang rack hanging over the kang for drying things in the kang. Especially before the Chinese New Year, it was used to bake bacon and sausage, and now it is still preserved.
Clothing:
Tujia women's clothing is short coat with big sleeves, left jacket open, rolled and set 2-3 layers of lace, lace pants; men's clothing is a pair of lapel short shirt. "Catch the New Year", that is, l ~ 2 days ahead of the New Year, is an important festival. Tujia men wear pipa-breasted tops and wrap green silk kerchiefs around their heads. Women with left lapel coat, roll two or three lace, the sleeves are relatively wide, under the rimmed pants or eight skirt, like to wear a variety of gold, silver, jade ornaments.
Customs:
Men and women love each other through songs to get married. There is a "crying marriage custom" custom. Women start to cry 7-20 days before the wedding, crying marriage songs are "female crying mother", "sister crying sister", "scolding the matchmaker" and so on. At first, they sing softly, and the closer they get to the marriage, the sadder they become. Until the crying mouth dry tongue noise, eyes red and swollen. They are good at crying marriage as a measure of women's talent and virtue.
The Tujia people practiced cremation before the Tusi system. Tusi system period to this day, the burial, the funeral is organized by the Secretary presided over by the old man, the old man of the soil rituals of the deceased, the day window spinning wheel spinning upside down three times, chanting to send the dead across the sky bridge on the heavenly court. Then pretending to be dead, around the "Ha Ha Taiwan" circle out, the children of the deceased to follow the Secretary for crying and mourning, the Secretary for singing funeral songs, blowing horns, when the artillery in the sky, crying and singing and wailing, extremely sad, lasted a few days and nights. Then will be loaded with the remains of the coffin carried up the mountain to be buried. Reform to the Republic of China period, the Tujia funeral by the Taoist priests to preside over the corpse after three, five, seven days, by the Taoist priests according to the master of the family to do different levels of the dojo, there are "small ten king", "big ten king", "overnight Su Tang There are names such as "Little Ten Kings", "Big Ten Kings", "Overnight Sodang", "One Mast", "Two Masts", "Seven Masts" and so on. Generally, the dojo fulfills the specific operation procedures such as getting off the willow bed, opening the way, recommending the dead, handing over animals, getting cooked, scattering flowers and solving problems, solving lamps, burning coffins, resigning the spirit and sweeping the hall. The relatives of the deceased put on hemp and filial piety, follow the Taoist priests to perform funeral rites, but also invited people to sing filial piety songs to mourn the deceased. After the founding of New China, Tu Lao Si, Taoist priests to stop the activities to open memorial services to sing funeral songs instead of Taoist.
Religion:
Influenced by the Han Chinese in religion, mainly superstitious ghosts and gods, worship ancestors. These gods are not their own. In the past, there were sorcerers to exorcise ghosts. Some places believe in Taoism. Every New Year's Day, we have to pay great tribute to our ancestors, and on the first and fifteenth day of the year, we also have to pay small tribute. The food for ancestor worship includes pig's head, doughnut deep-fried noodle cakes, poi, chickens and ducks, and five grain seeds. In some cases, before each meal, first use chopsticks to clip a small amount of vegetables inserted in the rice on the silent moment, said the deceased ancestors please eat first, and then they began to eat, the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar for the sacrifice of the king of the soil, each village should be set up to swing the hand of the hall, will be the pig's head, fruits and other offerings placed in front of swinging the hand of the hall. October first day of the winter festival, slaughtering chickens and ducks for a feast. In addition, the Tujia people also honored the God of the stove, the God of the land, the God of the grains, the God of the boar, in the repair of the house when the sacrifice Lu Ban, the offerings in addition to meat and wine, but also a large rooster.
Eating habits:
Tujia usually three meals a day, usually eat two meals at leisure; spring and summer farming, labor intensity is greater when eating four meals. Such as rice-planting season, the morning to add a "morning", "morning" is mostly made of glutinous rice dumplings or mung bean flour snacks. It is said that the "morning" meal to eat dumplings have a good harvest, good luck. Tujia also like to eat oil tea soup. Daily staple food in addition to rice, the most common to the baguette rice. Sometimes also eat beans and rice, poi and deep-fried noodle cake is also the seasonal staple food of the Tujia people, some even eat until planting rice seedlings, the past red camas in many areas has been treated as a staple food, and now is still some areas of the winter after the regular food. Tujia cuisine to sour and spicy as its main feature. Every family has a sauerkraut jar to pickle sauerkraut, and almost every meal is made with sauerkraut. Soybean products are also very common, such as tofu, tempeh, soybean leaf skin, tofu milk and so on. Especially like to eat with residue, that is, soybean grinding fine, slurry residue is not divided, boiled and clarified, plus vegetables cooked can be eaten. Folk often put beans rice, rice plus baguette soup together with the slag to eat. Tujia drinking, especially in the festival or hospitality, wine is essential. Among them, the common ones are sweet wine and smack wine made from glutinous rice and sorghum, with low degree and pure flavor. Typical food: the Tujia people love to eat food such as poi (patty cake), bacon, oil tea, etc., as well as combined vegetables; deep-fried noodle cake; mung bean flour (rice flour); deep-fried poi.
Culture:
The Tujia people love to sing songs, and there are love songs, marriage songs, hand-wringing songs, labor songs, pan songs, etc. The "hand-wringing dance" is the most important dance in Tujia. The "hand-waving dance" is a popular ancient group dance, including hunting, military, agricultural, banquet and other aspects of more than 70 movements. It is associated with ancestor worship and begging for a good harvest. No matter what kind of grand party, it must be danced. The "Waving Hands" starts on a single day of the lunar calendar and lasts for an odd number of days. Generally three days, five days, seven days. Generally on the ninth day of the first month of the lunar calendar or the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, the number of participants are tens of thousands of people. The rhythms are distinctive, the movements are beautiful, simple and have a strong flavor of life. Epic poems and mountain songs are the most famous. Tujia literature is most famous for narrative poems, mountain songs and the Pendulum Song sung during the Pendulum Dance. Pendulum hand song has big pendulum hand song and small pendulum hand song, big pendulum hand song has epic nature; small pendulum hand song is mostly bitter song, love song, is a lyrical work. They have strong national characteristics and unique mountainous and rural flavors. The long narrative poem Jinji is a combination of four lines of folk songs, sung by men and women, it is a love story as the main line, reflecting the broad social life.
Life:
Mainly engaged in agriculture, handicrafts, embroidery, weaving is more famous, the earth flower pavement cover is particularly famous. In the development of economy and culture, it is more influenced by Han Chinese, but it also retains its own characteristics. The "golden tung oil" of western Hunan and the "dam lacquer" of western Hubei are famous products in China and abroad. "Xilan Kapu" is one of the wonders of Tujia ethnic crafts. It is also known as "flower-playing cover", which is a kind of Tujia brocade. With its unique craftsmanship and wonderful composition is listed among the top five brocade in China.
Festivals:
The Tujia people celebrate April 8, June 6 and Tujia New Year as the main festivals. The most grand is to have the Tujia year, commonly known as over the "rush year", that is, rushed in the Han Chinese New Year the day before the big year for the Lunar New Year, the small year for the Lunar New Year on the twenty-eighth.
The main activities of the New Year.
New Year's Eve is the grandest and longest-lasting festival of the Tujia people, starting from the Lunar New Year on the 24th day of the Lunar New Year and ending on the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar New Year. The time before New Year's Eve is spent preparing for New Year's Eve, and basically every family makes their own bacon, sausages, and patties (a few families buy them even though they don't make them themselves).
After entering the month of Lunar New Year, Tujia families start to prepare for the New Year. At this time, people who work and study outside the home have to come back home in all directions to reunite. The schedule for the whole month of Lunar New Year is as follows: killing the New Year's pig, smoking bacon, grinding tofu, making poop, and frying fried rice, etc. These are all part of the Tujia New Year's celebration. These are the typical activities that characterize the Tujia New Year's Eve.
(1) New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve
Lunar New Year's Eve is called "New Year's Eve", New Year's Eve is the day of New Year's Eve, and it is also the most lively and happy day of the year for the Tujia people. Tujia people "reunion year" quite pay attention to: first, family members must be all, children, no matter how far away from work or study, have to rush home to eat a reunion dinner. Second, Tujia people reunion all must be seated at the same time, to be the elders of the family to the yard after the reunion firecrackers, into the seat to say a few words of celebration, the reunion dinner before the official start. The general preparation of the New Year's Eve dinner is the woman in charge of the family, the man is generally responsible for helping to burn the fire, but now generally do not burn firewood, so the men are to help play the hands, or paste the spring scrolls, playing cards, or even simply watch TV what.
After New Year's Eve, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the Tujia people start to pay homage to the New Year on this day. Tujia people take the first month 15 as the last day of the New Year, this day, in addition to not yet finished the New Year's home, usually in their own homes, the family together to eat dumplings. On the first day of the New Year to pay homage, "the first day to pay homage to the God, the second day to pay homage to the father-in-law", the first morning of the parents' home to pay homage to the New Year, pay homage to the father-in-law's home only after the New Year.
(2) over the Lantern Festival on the night of the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, after eating dumplings on behalf of the "reunion", the Tujia people's year to the last large-scale activities: "play the dog" - a kind of entertainment and religious colors with the bonfire party and tease the seven sisters, The "Mawdog" - a bonfire party with entertainment and religious colors, and the "Seven Sisters", "Pai Pai Liang", "Dragon Lantern" and "Lion Dance".
As the saying goes, "The fire on the 30th night, the lights on the 15th day of the first month". The children are most looking forward to the night of the first month of the fifteenth, because that night all the families have to shine the rows of light. When night comes, adults and children light up rows and rows of candles in front of and behind their houses, flickering in the breeze, which is very beautiful. The most lively time to play dragon lanterns is on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. After a hearty dinner, the dragon dancers will visit every house in the countryside and dance for a while in front of every family's house, while the people watching will play with the dragon dancers. Then they move to the river bank for the grand "dragon burning ceremony". People with homemade long bamboo tube filled with black powder, each person to take a few, lit on the dragon's head and tail burning, the sparks look very brilliant, the dragon dance people are trying to avoid. After many rounds, until the dragon's head and tail were completely burned out. It was a spectacular scene! The sounds of laughter, gongs and drums, and firecrackers make the year end in a lively atmosphere. After the fifteenth day of the first month, the year is over, signaling the start of a new year of spring plowing.