Before the marriage, the Yi people in Xiaoliangshan practiced strict endogamous marriage, endogamous marriage, exogamous marriage, preferential marriage of aunt and uncle (aunt and cousin), and the transfer of the house system, etc. Now, the young people of the Yi people have the right to marry each other, but they are not married to each other. Now, the Yi young men and women are free to marry, but no matter free love or parents, there are four procedures: matchmaking, betrothal, welcoming the bride, and returning to the door.
The small Liangshan Yi girls before the age of 15, wearing a red and white two-color skirt, comb is a single braid, generally at the age of 15, we must raise a child a called "Shaan Lal" ceremony, that is, to change the skirt, comb the double braid, pull the ear line, marking the woman has grown up, you can talk about love. At this time, the girl should wear red, blue, white, black and other contrasting three- or four-connected floor-length dress, single braid combed into a double braid, wearing embroidered colorful flowers on the head, but also will be worn in childhood ear of the old wire pulled off, replaced with silver glittering earrings. Young men and women of the Yi ethnic group socialize mainly through torch festivals, weddings and funerals, and some traditional gatherings. Whenever a party has a fancy for their lover, they will take the initiative to approach and stand not far away from each other, take out their mouth strings and play to please each other through the subtle and smooth music melody. Once the other party receives the secret message of love, they will also quickly take out their own strings to play. After a number of secret encounters, the two parties agree on a time to go back and tell their parents. After the old man's permission, a good day will be chosen, and the man's family will invite an elder to go to the woman's house with a jar of wine on his back to tell her about the marriage.
When a Yi girl reaches the age of 17 or 18, she will be baptized as an adult. Mothers and female elders choose an auspicious date and time, burn incense and bring clean water to wash the girl's body, and then the female companions, who have been waiting for her, start to change the white dress she wore when she was a child and put on the black dress that symbolizes a grown-up woman, and say some words of praise and blessing as they do so. Then they sent her to live in the girl's room, which had been specially built for her, so that she might begin to socialize with the lads.
When the marriage to a certain extent, the matchmaker led by a young man or his brother, with gifts, on the agreed date to go to the woman's home to see the pig's guts betrothal. According to the rules, this day, the woman's family to kill the pig to take out the pig's gallbladder show to glossy full for good luck, shriveled and shriveled for bad. However, it is mostly a formality, mainly to meet and say goodbye. At the same time, the host family cooks the pig's liver and puts it on a plate for the man's guests. After the male guest has eaten half of the roasted liver, he puts a pre-prepared gift on the art plate, and the matchmaker lifts the plate over his head and respectfully presents it to the woman in charge. Afterwards, the woman went to the man's home to further agree on the marriage, except for not paying the bride price, the rest of the activities and the man to the woman's home is more or less the same.
On the day of the wedding, the man's family invited two young men who are brave and agile, prepare horses to carry gifts to meet the bride. The female walled village girls in order not to let their partners easily be picked up outside the village, they made every effort to meet the bride threw water, most of the water into a drenched chicken, and was urged to stay at their fun. That night, friends and relatives of the bride's family gathered together, chanting and singing ancient songs, and the party went on all night long. The next morning by the bride's cousins or sister's husband will be the bride on the back of a horse (there have been back to the in-laws), and by the bride's brothers, uncles, uncles and other family members of the bride to send the bride. Three days before the bride began to diet, to send the family team are men, to the pride of many. The bride to the man in front of the door, until after sunset, before entering the door. Before entering the door, by a person holding a wooden tray containing mutton, raising coarse coarse and wine, in the bride's head around a circle, to show that life after marriage is rich. Then, the bride is carried into the house on the back of the bride's back. The host family in accordance with the order of the first guest after the host to distribute dope meat and mang robe, after the meal and then toast, at the same time the host and guest song.
In the past, the small Liangshan Yi men and women after marriage, the woman is to return to her mother's home for a few years, and then by the in-laws to lead back. And led to the in-laws, the wife has a long time to avoid her husband, deliberately about female companions in the next door neighbor to stay, and often change position, do not let her husband know their own place of residence. When encountering her husband's sneak attack, she is scratching and pinching, to drive her husband out of the house, such as the groom can be made on the body, especially the conspicuous hands and face to leave blood and claw marks, only to show the chastity of the bride's decency. And the groom will not be the bride's disobedience and thus resentment, on the contrary, more of his wife's chastity, love, and so the use of a variety of means to the bride "subdue".
According to the study, the Yi people this kind of peculiar marriage customs, is the ancient Yi livestock worship and the legacy of the practice of marriage. Livestock is a symbol of wealth, "look at the gall bladder" is actually to observe each other's livestock is prosperous and healthy, "look at the gall bladder betrothal" reflects the legacy of the primitive animal husbandry worship. Ancient robbed more in the dusk at sunset, so there is a bride must be in the sunset into the custom of the men's home; meet the bride in the women's home encountered by the water splash, cupping and so on, this is the resistance to the robbers; welcome to send the bride to back the bride and line, especially across the river wading in the water by no means to let the bride clothes and shoes stained with water, and also to guard against being robbed by the women's light-hearted measures to throw themselves into the water. Do not fall husband's family wedding customs, is consciously protect the health of young people and their offspring of a custom, is a solution to the evils of early marriage and early childbearing in the old days of powerful measures. The study of these marriage customs can reveal the historical trajectory of the transition of human beings from matrilineal clan society to patrilineal society.