"The' daughter country' did exist in history, and now some villages have preserved the ancient custom of the' daughter country' to this day." Ren Xinjian said. Ren Xinjian is a researcher at the Institute of History, Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, and deputy director of Sichuan Kangzang Research Center. After long-term research and on-the-spot investigation, he found that the area from Danba County to daofu county, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province today is the center of the eastern female country recorded in the Book of Old Tang Dynasty. Is the Oriental Daughter Country the legendary "Daughter Country"? According to the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty (volume 197) and Biography of Nan Man in Southwest China, "Dongnvguo, also known as Xiqiang, is called Dongnvguo because there is a daughter country in the West Sea. Women are king. It is connected to Maozhou and Tangut in the east, and to Yazhou in the southeast, separated by Luo Nvman and Bai Langyi. Its territory is 9 days from east to west and 22 days from north to south. There are more than 80 large and small cities. " According to Ren Xinjian's explanation, according to the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, the journey of the Eastern Women's Country is 22 days from north to south and 9 days from east to west. If you rode 40 kilometers or walked 20 kilometers in the past day, the country of the East Woman will cover 400 kilometers to 800 kilometers from north to south and 180 kilometers to 360 kilometers from east to west. According to historical records, the buildings in Dongnvguo are towers, with the queen living in a nine-story tower and ordinary people living in a four-or five-story tower. The queen wore a satin dress with a blue fur collar, and the skirt swept the golden flowers all over the floor. The biggest feature of the oriental girl country is that it values girls over boys. Kings and officials are women. A man can't be an official in the imperial court, but can only serve in the military outside. The will of the queen in the palace is conveyed to the outside world through female officials. Oriental daughters have queens and deputy queens, and talented people are recommended within the ethnic group. When the queen died, the deputy queen succeeded to the throne. Generally speaking, the family is dominated by women, and there is no relationship between husband and wife. In the family, the mother is respected. She is in charge of the distribution of family property and dominates all family affairs. Did the country of oriental women disappear in history? Old Tang Shu recorded the oriental girl country in great detail, but after the Tang Dynasty, the records of the oriental girl country in history books were almost interrupted. Is it just a flash in the pan? Ren Xinjian said that during the Xuanzong period of the Tang Dynasty, the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and local governors was good, and local governors expanded from the Yarlung Zangbo River to the Dadu River. However, in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Tufan became tense. After 100 years of war, the Tang Dynasty gradually recruited some ethnic minorities from Tufan to the mainland. At that time, the Tang Dynasty moved eight ethnic tribes from Minshan Gorge to Dadu River for settlement. Among these eight tribes, there is a tribe led by the Queen of the East Woman Country. At that time, the Queen of the Oriental Girl Country appeared in front of the court and was awarded the title of "Doctor Yin Qing Guanglu". Although it is a virtual post, it has a high grade, equivalent to the current provincial and ministerial officials. Later, in the late Tang Dynasty, the local governors gradually became powerful and invaded the east of Dadu River many times. The Tang Dynasty organized troops to fight back. In the jagged war, these remaining tribes in the eastern daughter country adopted a two-faced attitude to protect themselves. Later, the Tang Dynasty gradually declined until it split, and local governors gradually perished. After the collapse of local governors, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau once ruled by them returned to the primitive tribal times. After the split of the Tang Dynasty, there was no unified management. Later, during the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the rule over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was very weak, and there was basically no historical record. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the toast system was perfected. However, some tribes left behind by the Oriental Daughter Country are influenced by foreign cultures because they are close to the transportation hub. After the Queen's death, they did not retain traditional customs, and gradually evolved into a patriarchal society, while some tribes still lived in deep mountains and valleys, retaining traces of matriarchal society. Why can the custom of Dongnvguo be preserved to this day? Ren Xinjian believes that with the development of social process, this area still retains traces of matriarchal society, which is to meet the needs of local production environment. This area is located in the middle of mountains and valleys, with poor production conditions and scarce land and products. If monogamy is practiced, the son will split up and form a small family after marriage, which is simply unbearable for the local economy and the distribution of production materials is not enough. Moreover, it is located in a closed deep mountain canyon, almost isolated from the outside world and not easily influenced by other cultures. Professor Wan Jianzhong, a folklore expert at the College of Arts of Beijing Normal University, also believes that a certain productivity is compatible with a certain social system. In this backward and relatively closed place, the labor intensity is not great, the residents are self-sufficient, the advantages of men have not been fully exerted, and women hold the economic power and the right to speak. In addition, there is a deep social psychological factor, maintaining the matriarchal clan system, which shows people's nostalgia for the past social form and social structure. Zaba still retains the ancient custom of Dongnvguo. According to Ren Xinjian's investigation, the historical Dongnu country is located in the Yalong River, Dajian and Xiaojinchuan, tributaries of Dadu River, where Sichuan, Yunnan and Tibet meet, and now it is also a famous female cultural belt. "Zaba is probably one of the remaining tribes in Dongnu, and it still retains many characteristics of the matriarchal society in Dongnu." Ren Xinjian said. Zhaba used to be a district, but now there are 7 townships, 5 townships in daofu county and 2 townships in Yajiang County, with a total population of nearly 10,000. Ren Xinjian found that women are the center of the family and are in charge of family affairs such as property distribution, which is similar to the "women are king" in the eastern daughter country. Some families have more than 30 people, and everyone is unmarried. Men are uncles at home, women are mothers at home, and the tallest old mother dominates everything at home. "This is obviously the remnants of matriarchal society. After the impact of modern society, it is not exactly the same as the original matriarchal society, but only retains some basic characteristics. " Ren Xinjian said. Zaba people still practice walking marriage. Through the party between men and women, if the man takes a fancy to the woman, he will snatch things from her, such as handkerchiefs and pendants. If the woman doesn't reply, she agrees. At night, the woman will light a lamp by the window and wait for the man to appear. Zaba people live in a watchtower about ten meters high. Young people must put their fingers into the cracks in the stone and climb up the watchtower step by step. In addition, the windows in the room are very small, and there is a beam in the middle. Even if the young man climbs the watchtower, he has to lean sideways to get in, just like performing acrobatics. This process requires good physical strength and flexibility, which is actually a choice of survival of the fittest. The next day, as soon as the rooster crowed, the young man left, and they had nothing to do with each other since then. This person can come every day, once every few months, or never come again. The relationship between them is called "one plus one", which means partners. The woman can have many "wedding dresses" at the same time, but there are also very few girls who have only one "wedding dress" all their lives, and they are married to the old. After the woman gives birth to a child, "Jiayi" generally does not adopt and does not have to bear any responsibility. The child is raised by the woman's family. But strangely, local children generally know who their father is.