History of the Zhuang Nationality:
The Zhuang Nationality is a nation with a long history and splendid culture. Modern ethnology and historical circles generally agree that the Zhuang ethnic group developed from a branch of the Yue people in Lingnan, China in ancient times. It has close origins with Xiou and Luoyue in the Zhou Feng period, Liao, Li, and Wuhu in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and Tong (Chong, Li) people, Hao (wolf) people, and native people after the Song Dynasty. The Zhuang people are in the same line as Xiou and Luo Yue among the Baiyue people. From the Han Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty, the Zhuang people areas continued to actively or passively accept Chinese language and culture. In today's Zhuang areas, there are some surnames that are "stronger than the local music", such as The Lu family in Panyu, the Xian family in Gaoliang and Hepu, and the Ning family in Qinzhou are called "one hundred surnames", each of which is dominant in its own area. In the Tang Dynasty, Lingnan Road was divided into East and West Lingnan Roads, and the Five Government Envoys were set up in Guangzhou, which was divided into five administrations. Among them, Gui, Yong and Rong are all the settlement areas of Zhuang ancestors. During the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, the central dynasty strengthened its rule over the Lingnan region. It established prefectures and counties, sent officials and officials, and collected tributes. The central dynasty implemented the Jizhou and county system in the Zhuang areas and appointed famous Zhuang people to manage it as chieftains. This tribe. However, the central government's indifference and the chieftain's excessive expropriation brought a heavy burden to the Zhuang people, which made the Zhuang people unbearable and resisted many times. The "Huangdong Barbarians" uprising in Xiyuan in the Tang Dynasty, the Nong Zhigao uprising in the Song Dynasty, the Fujiang peasant uprising in the Ming Dynasty, the hundreds of years of uninterrupted uprisings in the Qing Dynasty and the vigorous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement all started in this area. However, all the uprisings were suppressed and failed. The Zhuang people have made great contributions and sacrifices in the fight against the invasion of French colonists, the Revolution of 1911 and the Anti-Japanese War. The Zhuang people have a glorious revolutionary tradition.
Diet of the Zhuang people:
Daily vegetables include green vegetables, melon seedlings, melon leaves, Chinese cabbage (Chinese cabbage), Chinese cabbage, rape, mustard greens, lettuce, celery, spinach, mustard Indigo, water spinach, radish, bitter hemp, and even bean leaves, sweet potato leaves, pumpkin seedlings, pumpkin flowers, and pea seedlings can also be used as vegetables.
The Zhuang people are not allowed to eat any poultry and livestock meat, such as pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, goose, etc. Some areas do not eat dog meat, while others love to eat dog meat.
The Zhuang people like to hunt and cook game and insects. They have done a lot of research on the dietary therapy of Panax notoginseng. The use of Panax notoginseng flowers, leaves, roots and whiskers in cooking is very distinctive.
The Zhuang people also brew rice wine, sweet potato wine and cassava wine, which are not too high in alcohol content. Rice wine is the main drink for festivals and entertaining guests.
The architectural style of the Zhuang people:
The houses of the Zhuang people living in dam areas and near towns are mostly brick and wood structures, with whitewashed exterior walls and decorative patterns on the eaves. For the Zhuang people who live in remote mountainous areas, most of their village houses are tile-roofed houses or thatched houses with civil structures. The architectural styles generally include semi-stilt style and full-ground dwelling style.
Zhuang costumes:
Zhuang costumes mainly come in three colors: blue, black and brown. Zhuang women have the habit of growing cotton and spinning. Spinning, weaving and dyeing are a cottage industry. The cloth woven from self-grown and self-spun cotton yarn is called "jiaji". It is thick, solid and wear-resistant, and then dyed in blue, black or brown. Daqing (a kind of herbaceous plant) can be used to dye blue or cyan cloth, fish pond dye can be used to dye black cloth, and diosphorus can be used to dye brown cloth. Zhuang people have different costumes. The clothing of men and women, and the headwear of men, women and unmarried women have their own characteristics.
Zhuang people’s taboos:
The Zhuang people are taboo about killing animals on the first day of the first lunar month; young women in some areas are taboo on eating beef and dog meat; the first three days after a woman gives birth ( In some cases, it is forbidden for outsiders to enter during the first seven days); it is forbidden for women who have given birth to children who are not yet one month old to visit the house. When boarding a bamboo house of Zhuang people, you usually have to take off your shoes. The Zhuang people are taboo against people wearing bamboo hats and carrying hoes or other farm tools entering their homes. Therefore, when you go outside the Zhuang home, you must put down the farm tools and take off your hats and hats. Fire ponds and stoves are the most sacred places in Zhuang families. It is forbidden to step on the tripods and stoves on the fire ponds. When young Zhuang people get married, it is taboo for pregnant women to participate. Pregnant women are especially not allowed to see the bride. In particular, pregnant women are not allowed to enter the maternal home. If there is a pregnant woman at home, a sleeve branch or a knife should be hung on the door to show taboos. Anyone who accidentally breaks into a maternal home must give the baby a name and give the baby a set of clothes. A chicken or corresponding gift can serve as the child's godfather or godmother.
The Zhuang people are a rice-growing people and they love frogs very much. The Zhuang people in some places have a special "frog respect ceremony". Therefore, when going to Zhuang areas, it is strictly forbidden to kill frogs or eat frog meat. Whenever floods or other major disasters occur, the Zhuang people will hold ancestor worship activities to pray for the dragon to provide relief. After the ceremony, a monument was erected at the entrance of the village to prevent outsiders from entering the village.
The culture and art of the Zhuang people:
The Zhuang people are good at singing. The area around Youjiang is called "Huan", the area around Zuojiang is called "Shi", and the area in northern Guangxi is called " "Bi" and "Huan" both mean singing folk songs. There are regularly held folk song gatherings called song fairs. Song fair dates vary from place to place. The third day of the third lunar month is the most solemn. More than 10,000 people participated in the Dashan Song Fair. The content includes invitation songs, begging songs, exciting songs, antiphonal songs, polite songs, recommendation songs, pan songs, order songs, farewell songs, love songs, send-off songs, etc.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Zhuang people already had dances. For example, the Chongtang dance was based on pounding rice and was accompanied by the sound of percussion. In the Song Dynasty, there were shoulder pole dance, tea picking dance, shrimp fishing dance, spring cow dance, etc.
The male dance is vigorous and powerful, while the female dance is graceful. This dance has been passed down to this day. Around the Qing Dynasty, drama began to appear among the Zhuang people. One is Zhuang opera, Shigong opera and puppet show sung in Zhuang language; the other is song and dance drama developed on the basis of folk songs and dances. Zhuang Opera is divided into "Beilu Zhuang Opera" which is popular in Tianlin, Xilin and Baise areas. Under the influence of Yunnan Opera, it was formed on the basis of the folk rap and folk art "Bench Opera" and absorbed the singing and accompaniment of Yunnan Opera. The musical instruments include the Zhuang people's horse bone Hu, gourd Hu, Konoha and the Han people's flute, sanxian and erhu. The "Nanlu Zhuang Opera" popular in the Qingxi and Debao generations is based on the Ma'ai local opera and influenced by the Yi opera to form a singing and singing opera form. In addition to Hu, wen gongs, martial gongs, big cymbals, small cymbals, erhu, sanxian, flute, drum and bangzi are also used in Yi opera.