1. Marriage
The marriage of the Water Tribe follows the traditional customs and abides by the principle of not marrying a person of the same bloodline, or marrying a person of a different clan with a different surname. "Parents' orders, matchmakers' words" is still the mainstream of the marriage of young men and women in the aquatic area.
The fish is the totem worship of the water tribe. Fish are often used as tokens and sacred objects in marriage customs. When the marriage is concluded, in Libo, Jiuchian and other places to ask the matchmaker to propose marriage, the man's mother quietly wrapped a few small dried fish placed in the bottom of the bamboo basket containing gifts. The mother of the woman received gifts, but also the first to check the bottom of the basket whether there is a small dried fish. If she agrees to the marriage, she accepts the gifts and the dried fish.
2, diet
The aquatic vegetarian, only avoid the meat of livestock and animal oil, do not avoid aquatic fish and shrimp and so on, and fish for the most valuable offerings and hospitality delicacies. Mourning vegetarian, not only to express the dead mourning remembrance and filial piety family respect and sympathy, but also to maintain the clan emotion, enhance and improve the cohesion of the important symbol of the clan.
Therefore, there are fish, shrimp, mussels and crabs made of flour mixed with vegetable oil as model offerings of aquatic products, and in some cases live fish offerings to the grave, and in some cases, fish eggs should be scattered in the sealing soil of the new grave and other customs.
3, funeral
The main features of the funeral customs of the water tribe are: many taboos, thick burials, long sacrifice, long sacrifice. The funeral of the Water Tribe focuses on the cultural connotation of the beliefs of ancestor worship, deity worship and nature worship.
Funeral mourning activities, the conditions of blowing rushes, dancing, singing, acting lanterns, playing dragons and lions, making all kinds of paper flag umbrella cover, etc., objectively become an important activity of the aquatic folk arts and crafts, cultural exchanges, men and women to socialize, gatherings and entertainment.
4, language title
Daily interactions, people inherited the virtues of respect for elders, respect for the elderly. Daughters-in-law in the village, who see the older grandparents, is commonly referred to as Gong, milk, see the parents of the older generation, is commonly referred to as parents. After marriage and childbearing, it is customary to call the child by his or her name as father of so-and-so, mother of so-and-so.
5, hospitality etiquette
The water tribe is heavy on wine and cigarettes and light on tea. Guests come, to try to entertain, general guests to meat dishes, important friends and relatives to kill chickens and ducks to entertain, VIPs are killed piglet hospitality. After being seated, chopsticks are first dipped in a drop of wine and placed on the table to show respect to ancestors and gods before enjoying the meal. It is an important etiquette of the Shui ethnic group to honor guests with chicken and duck heads.
China.gov.cn - Shui ethnic group