Lahu is a mountainous ethnic minority in the southwestern part of China's Yunnan Province with a long history. They call themselves "Lahuna", "Lahusi", "Lahupu", etc. In Lahu language, they call the tiger "Lah". In Lahu language, tiger is called "Lah", and the food roasted by fire is called "Hu", "Lahu" means "eating tiger meat roasted by fire". Lahu" means "eating tiger meat roasted by fire". As of 2000, the population of Lahu was 453,705. Lahu is mainly distributed in Yunnan Lancang River east and west sides of Simao and Lincang two areas, in addition, Lahu scattered in Ximeng, Gengma, Jingdong, Jinggu, Zhenliu, Mojiang and other places.
The Lahu have their own language. The Lahu language belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Lahu people have long been closely interacting with the Han and Dai people, and they can mostly use both Chinese and Dai. In the past, some of the Lahu used the Latin alphabet script created by western missionaries, and in 1957, the Pinyin script was created on the basis of the original alphabet.
Lahu ArchitectureThe traditional housing of Lahu is called palapa, which is generally square, symbolizing the owner's solid status and stable life. It is divided into two floors: the upper floor is divided into bedrooms and guest rooms, and there is a fire in the center of the guest rooms, and the fire in the pond stays all year round; the lower floor is not walled, and is used to pile up sundries and raise chickens. There is a balcony outside the building, which is used for drying grains or keeping cool.
Lahu ClothingThe traditional clothing of Lahu is very ethnic. Lahu people love black, in their eyes, black symbolizes auspiciousness, beauty, dignity and generosity, Lahu clothing is most characteristic of women's clothing.
Lahu men wear collarless right lapel tops and pants with wide pants, wrapped in black turbans. Lahu women wear long robes with high slits, with colorful geometric blocks or strips of cloth around the collar and on both sides of the slits, and snowy silver bubbles embedded in the collar and lapels.
Lahu Food CustomsThe Lahu are mainly agricultural, and their crops are mainly rice. Historically, they were known for their expertise in hunting tigers.
The diet of Lahu has its own ethnic characteristics, and the way of dietary customs is unique. Lahu to rice as the main food, followed by corn, potatoes, beans, buckwheat and so on. Lahu people get up every morning to spring rice, now spring now cooking. The rice is cooked in earthen pots or wooden tremblers. Vegetables include radish, green vegetables, melons, beans, and chili peppers. The Lahu people are accustomed to drinking mountain spring water, regardless of adults and children.
The Lahu people are also accustomed to using bamboo tubes to burn their rice, which not only maintains the flavor of the raw materials, but also has the fragrance of the green bamboo, which is very delicious. Lahu people also use bamboo tube tea, bamboo tube tea production method is: after the new tea rubbing and frying, put the green tender bamboo tube compaction, and then put into the fire side of the baking dry, and then cut open the bamboo tube, take out the tea can be. It is a mixture of mellow tea aroma and rich bamboo aroma, is the Lahu distinctive flavor of the beverage.
Lahu Marriage CustomsLahu young men and women are free to fall in love, and part of the Lahu area is practiced by the woman to show her love to the man. The wedding ceremony is held in the woman's house, and the man lives in the woman's house, or the man joins the family for three years. But most of the Lahu area by the male side to show love, the wedding held in the male family, the night of the wedding man with tools to the woman's home to live for three days, but also some of the three years into the family.
The Lahu people marry with tea as the bride price, called "tea ceremony". After men and women determine the date of marriage, the male party to the female party to send tea, wine, salt, meat, rice, firewood, etc. as a bride price, of which tea is never less. Folk often say: "no tea can not be considered married." On the wedding day, the groom, accompanied by the matchmaker and partner, brings tea and tobacco to the bride's house, and the relatives and elders in the village come to the bride's house to drink tea and smoke to express their congratulations. When Lahu young men and women hold a wedding, they must also point a pair of homemade beeswax lamps to symbolize light and happiness.
Lahu FaithLahu religious beliefs are mainly manifested in the primitive nature worship and ancestor worship. The Lahu believe that everything has a spirit attached to it, and that the sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, lightning and other phenomena in the natural world are all dominated by gods, so they worship these natural phenomena and natural forces.
In addition, Lahu also believe in Buddhism, and in recent years there are Christianity, Catholicism, Lahu area, but not many people believe.
Lahu Funeral and Burial Practices
The Lahu attach great importance to funeral and burial. The traditional burial method is cremation. At the funeral, women carry the objects used by the deceased before leading the way, and send them to the collective cremation plant for incineration. In some places, earth burials are also used, and there are collective cemeteries. Within three days of the funeral, the family should eat with the chopsticks made of Penny branches to show their condolences; the whole village stops production for one day to mourn.
Lahu TaboosLahu also has many taboos, such as the first, fifteenth and thirtieth day of the month in the morning not spring rice, not plow. Lahu people are not allowed to foreigners into the village on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and guests living at home or close to the edge of the village are not allowed to go, but treat them with good wine and meat, and release them after the festival.
When the host kills a chicken to treat the guest, the guest cannot take the initiative to take the chicken head to eat, if the host takes it to the guest to eat, the guest has to accept it, and shall not excuse himself or transfer it to others. Lahu prohibits the beating and killing of dogs, and so on.
Lahu Expanded Tower FestivalThe grandest festival of the Lahu people in the southern part of Yunnan Province. It is held from the first to the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar every year.
Every year after the fall, the Lahu people began to prepare for the New Year's Day. In addition, there is also cleaning, Lahu women do some symbol of the sun, the moon, the stars of the handle, the sacrifice of the sun, the moon and the stars, and hope that the next year the wind and the rain, but also the spring good glutinous rice put on the plough and rake, hoe, machete and other agricultural tools, so that they *** enjoy the happy, and thank them for the labor they have paid in the past year. After the completion of everyone clean and bathe, ready for the next day's food.
New Year. At that time, the elders sing a toast for the younger generation and tie the red thread. The second stage of the festival is held from the ninth to the eleventh day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Due to the men hunting or expedition out, can not return home on schedule for the New Year, women in order to engage in the labor of men and then the "small year", so there is a big year is the female year, small year is the male year said, in the night of the first eight, each family began to spring put put, as the festival food. At that time, the whole village village people gathered together, held jumping "take God seed" activities. Local people call the twelfth day of the first month "full year", meaning that the festival is basically over by this day. The third stage is from the 13th to the 15th day of the first month. During this period, Lahu people, from every household, kill pigs and chickens, honor the gods and ancestors, entertain friends and relatives, and people dance in a circle with beautiful music. Lahu Qingming FestivalThe Lahu Qingming Festival is almost the same as that of the Han Chinese, with activities such as sweeping tombs on the day of the festival.
Lahu Dedication of the Valley
A traditional festival of the Lahu people, it is a folk festival of the Bitter Cong people of the Lahu sub-clan in Yunnan Province, and is held every year after the dry valley has been sown.
At that time, the local Lahu farmers have come to the field to sacrifice the earth valley. First, they put rice, salt, wine and other offerings on the fence, presided over by the parents, and performed the rituals of sacrifice to pray for a good harvest, and after the sacrifice, they returned home to sacrifice again. In the indoor incense on the wine, salt, rice, grain and other offerings, will be some thatched grass, chicken feathers tied to bamboo poles, and inserted in the indoor ground, prayed by parents, in order to seek a bumper harvest, prosperous people.
Lahu Torch FestivalLahu traditional festival. It is held on the 24th day of the 6th lunar month every year.
There are two legends about this Lahu festival. One says that a long time ago, in the mountain where Lahu people live, there lived a good man and an evil man, the evil man specialized in eating people's eyes, and the good man specialized in helping people. Later, the good man placed a pair of horns made of beeswax on the head of a goat that had no horns. At night, the good man lit two candles, and the goat ran up the hill, running around like countless torches, thus scaring the evil man away, and people finally got peace. This day happened to be the 24th day of June, so people celebrated the Torch Festival on this day every year. There is also a legend that the god of the sky, Ursa, wants the Lahu people to make offerings to it every year, and the resourceful and brave Lahu people Zhanu Zabei led the people to resist, thus angering the god of the sky, who made the sky dark and hid the sun, the moon and the stars and other things that can shine. The darkness of the sky and the earth people can not plow the land, Zhanu Zabei taught people to use pine and beeswax tied to the horn of the oxen lighting plowing, the crops still grow well. In order to honor Zanu Zabe, people hold this Lahu festival.
On the day of the festival, Lahu families will kill chickens and prepare a sumptuous dinner. Every family also lights candles made of beeswax or beeswax. Young men and women sing and dance around the dancing fire to celebrate this traditional Lahu festival.
Lahu Ancestor Sacrifice Festival
Lahu folk religious festivals are held from the 13th to the 15th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar every year.
At that time, each family indoors on the side of the God's table set up a bamboo scorn table, which according to the deceased ancestor's card position banana, pineapple, peaches, pomegranates and other offerings a number of copies, and kill chickens to offer rice, burning incense and paper, the ritual of sacrifice, please ancestors return home for the festival. The rituals are presided over by the parents, praying for the ancestors to return home for the festival. On the evening of July 15, Lahu households again held a grand sacrificial ceremony, and after the sacrifice, the offerings were moved to a secluded place outside the village to be poured out, and the festival was declared over.
Lahu New Rice FestivalLahu traditional festival in Yunnan Province. The festival is held from the end of July to the beginning of August every year, the exact date is not certain, whoever's family first ripe grain, who will be the first to celebrate the festival.
On the day of the festival, the master should hang the ears of grain on the front door, and friends and relatives from near and far should come to congratulate the master with gifts, and the master should prepare a banquet for the guests. The Lahu people also prepare wine, chicken and other foods to worship their ancestors and gods during the festival. They should first offer new rice to the temple gods, then sacrifice to the family gods and sky gods, and finally let the animals eat the festival food. In the evening, various activities are held on the Lahu walled village. The whole village, young and old, concentrates in the yard of a certain house or on the sunbathing ground, where young men and women play the reed-sheng and dance. Lahu young men and women also take this opportunity to look for their favorite objects. Lahu old people are sitting on the bamboo floor, *** to catch up on family life.
The Lahu Haba Festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. The Lahu believe that the moon god has divided the annual farming season for people. Therefore, when the moon is full on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, people hold a ceremony to sacrifice the moon. At that time, the moon is sacrificed with new grains and new rice and fresh melons. The meaning is to let the moon also taste the beauty of life on earth. When the moon rises, all the men, women and children of the village will gather in the square and bow to the moon by the headman and the prestigious old man in the village. After the ceremony, people perform various activities in the square. The person holding the reed-sheng blows the guiding music, and all the reed-shengs in the village play together, and the crowd forms a circle holding hands with the rhythm of the music, and dances a joyful dance of the reed-sheng until daybreak. In the meantime, the elderly can meet in a family building to drink, young men and women can take this opportunity to the bushes to talk about love. And married young men and ***, but must from the beginning to the end of the dance as the main force, can not be cold because of the rest, more can not be halfway quietly left, has been insisting on the dawn. Lahu Dragon Boat Festival