The Buyi people

A large ethnic minority in southwest China. The Buyi people call themselves "Buyi". Due to differences in dialect pronunciation, there are still different pronunciations in different places. There are various names for the Buyi people in history. In ancient documents, they are mostly called "Zhongjia". In 1953, the state collectively referred to this ethnic group as the "Buyi ethnic group" based on their wishes and self-identification. They mainly live in the two Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefectures, Qiannan Tukunan and Qianxi Tukunan, as well as in parts of Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan. In the past, the ethnic group had no written language and had always used Chinese. In 1956, the Chinese government created the Latin alphabet Pinyin for the Buyi people. The culture and art of the Buyi people are colorful. Traditional dances include "Bronze Drum Dance", "Weaving Dance", "Lion Dance", "Sugar Packet Dance", etc. Traditional musical instruments include suona, yueqin, dongxiao, wooden leaf, flute, etc. Earth opera and lantern opera are favorite operas of the Buyi people. The Buyi people mainly focus on agriculture, mainly growing rice. The Buyi homespun cloth woven by the farmers themselves has long been famous. In recent years, enterprises specializing in the production of Buyi brocade, batik cloth and ethnic craft clothing have been established one after another, and their products are exported to Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe and the United States.

History of the Buyi people

The Buyi people have a long history. The Buyi people originate from the ancient "Puyue people". "Yi Yue", "Yi Pu", "Yi Liao", etc. recorded in ancient books are all different names for the ancient Buyi ancestors. Both "Historical Records" and "Hanshu" record them as the main subjects of the Zangdao Kingdom and Yelang Kingdom in the ancient "Nanzhong" region. The ancient "Luoyue Land" is the area in the present-day Nan and Bei Panjiang and Hongshui river basins, where the Buyi people live today. From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the Buyi people were in a slave society. The feudal lord economy rose during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the chieftain system was implemented during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. After the "return to local rule" in the Qing Dynasty, the feudal landlord economy developed. The social organizations of the Buyi people include the "clan system", "Yilang system", "Zhailao system", etc. They originated from the ancient clan management system and are the inheritance and development of ancient democracy. They also have the characteristics of a class society. Since 1951, autonomous prefectures, autonomous counties and ethnic townships have been established in areas where the Buyi people live together, creating extremely favorable conditions for the all-round development of the Buyi areas.

The Buyi people have their own language. People generally use Buyi language to communicate in their daily lives, and many people are fluent in Chinese. Buyi language belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Based on differences in pronunciation and some vocabulary, it is divided into three dialect areas, namely, the southern Guizhou dialect area, the central Guizhou dialect area and the western Guizhou dialect area (or the third dialect area). 1, 2 and 3 dialect areas). Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Buyi people did not have their own common writing, but there was a kind of text symbols similar to square characters created using Chinese characters or the "Six Books" character-making method that were circulated among the people in various places. They were used to record religious classics, which are called It is a "local custom word" in Buyi language. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Pinyin script based on the Latin alphabet was created in 1957 and has been in trial use to this day.

The Buyi people are known as the "rice people". Sima Qian's "Historical Records" records it as "vertebral buns, plowing fields, and town gatherings." Rice farming has always been its prominent economic feature, and rice farming culture is an important symbol of ancient Vietnamese culture. It is still a prominent cultural feature of production and life of the Buyi people.

Living habits

Buyi villages are close to mountains and rivers, and many ethnic groups with the same surname live together. Generally, there are more than a dozen or dozens of households in one village, and some have hundreds to several households. Hundreds of households. Most of the residential buildings use wood as the main structure, including "ganlan" style buildings, bungalows and slate houses. The slate houses are very local characteristics. Most of the stilt-style "stilted buildings" have three rooms and three floors of bamboo and wood structures. The bottom floor has no walls and uses wood as a fence to keep livestock in. The middle floor is made of bamboo braided around to accommodate people; the upper floor is stacked with sundries. A balcony is built with moso bamboo on the side of the house, leading directly to the floor, where you can enjoy the shade and dry the sun. Most of those who live in Pingba have courtyards with low walls. In areas such as Anshun, Zhenning, Guanling, Puding and Liuzhi, due to the abundance of bluestone, houses are built with stone from foundation to wall, and the roofs are also covered with slate, commonly known as "slate houses". Together with the stone walls of the village and the stone castle on the top of the mountain, a typical stone building complex is formed.

A typical example is Biandangshan Shitou Village. All houses, walls, castles, passages within the village, as well as flat bridges, arch bridges, terraced fields, etc. across the river, are all built with stones; even household utensils, such as dreidels, Mills, bowls, troughs, jars, etc. are also all made of stone, showing the unique ingenuity of the Buyi people.

Folk Literature

Buyi folk literature includes myths, poems, fables, proverbs, etc. Folk music can be divided into three categories: folk songs, instrumental music and opera music. Folk songs include folk songs, whistle songs, drinking songs, big songs, small songs, narrative songs, etiquette songs, etc. Langshao song is a love song sung by Buyi young men and women on the occasion of "Langshao" (also known as "catching the watch" and "sitting on the watch", which is a social activity of falling in love). Musical instruments include bronze drums, gongs, leather drums, suonas, reeds, sister flutes, etc. "Leyou" is a double-reed woodwind instrument with a gentle and affectionate tone. It is often used by young people to express their desire for love. Dances include cymbal dance, transition dance, flower stick dance, weaving dance, pendant dance, etc. There are Buyi opera and Bayin (sitting singing) among the Buyi people, which are mainly popular in the Panjiang Basin. Buyi opera is divided into two categories: "local opera" and "color opera". "Tu Opera" developed from eight-tone sitting singing. The singing style and music of Cai Diao are closely related to Guangxi Cai Diao and Guizhou lanterns. Handicrafts include batik, embroidery, brocade, bamboo weaving, pottery, clothing, etc.

Clothing

Buyi Clothing

The Buyi costumes are very distinctive. The clothes are mostly in green, blue and white colors. Men's clothing styles are basically the same everywhere. They usually wear a headband, which can be either striped or pure blue. Their clothes are double-breasted shorts, usually white inside and green or blue outside, and their trousers are long trousers. Older people usually wear long-sleeved shorts. Or green or blue gown, wearing cloth socks on the feet. The clothing of modern Buyi women varies from place to place. Women wear large-skirted shorts and some wear long pleated skirts. In the Biandang Mountain area where the Buyi people live, girls like to wear short piping jackets, a satin belt, a brocade turban on their head, a turban with thick braids, a brocade pattern and several circles of braids on their forehead, trousers, and Embroidered shoes. Young women wear batik pleated skirts, slant-breasted shorts, and embroidered shoulders. Various floral threads are used to embroider two rows of small square semicircular patterns along the shoulders. Flowers and brocade are thrown on both sides of the collar, and the colors are eye-catching; in the middle of the sleeves It is brocade, with the upper and lower sections made of batik; the hem of the clothes is bordered by about an inch of brocade, and a long embroidered or brocade apron is worn on the chest with a light-colored satin belt; a brocade turban is worn on the head, and a bunch of threads of various colors hang down from the ears. The beard. Married people wear a "gengkao" headdress, which is made of bamboo shoot shells and cloth. It is shaped like a dustpan, with a round front and a square back. During every grand festival or banquet, women still like to wear a variety of silver jewelry such as earrings, rings, necklaces, hairpins, and bracelets.

Marriage Customs

Buyi People’s Marriage Customs

Marriages are independent. When picking up a bride, you should sing to each other, commonly known as singing to sisters. On the night when the bride arrives at the groom's house, there will be an activity of singing purse songs and asking for purses. There is a saying of "one night of purse singing and one night of purse singing". Traditional festivals include March 3rd, April 8th, June 6th, Eat New Festival, July 15th, etc. "March 3" is a grand traditional festival of the Buyi people. Rice plowing begins on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar. They worship the mountain gods, land gods, ancestor gods, and rice souls, and make five-color flower glutinous rice as offerings; young men and women gather in Qianxinan Prefecture. Thousands to tens of thousands of people play mountain antiphons at the "Chabai Song Hall". Many unmarried young men and women get to know each other, fall in love, and become lifelong friends by playing wood leaves and singing antiphonal songs.

Many unmarried young men and women make a lifelong commitment by playing wood leaves and singing antiphonal songs, and then the man will ask a matchmaker to go to the woman's home to arrange marriage. Once the engagement is made, the bride's family will invite relatives and friends to a wedding banquet. Two or three days before the wedding, the groom's family must send half a piece of pork, a rooster and duck, a pot of water, etc. to the bride's family. The bride's family must also kill a pig and prepare a "marry wine" to receive guests. In the past, a bride had to live in her natal family for one or two years after marriage before moving into her husband's family.

Food customs

The staple food is mostly rice. Folks like to use a special cooking utensil "Zengzi" to steam rice into rice. Buyi people generally like to eat glutinous rice, and often regard it as a staple food to improve their lives or adjust their taste. Cold dishes, "frozen meat with moss", "jelly mixed with peas", etc. are the favorite foods of Buyi people. Sauerkraut and sour soup are essential for almost every meal, especially women. There are also blood tofu, sausages and flavored dishes made from dried and fresh bamboo shoots and various insects.

Most Buyi people are good at making pickles, bacon and tempeh. The unique folk pickle "hydrochloric acid" is famous both at home and abroad. Among the meat dishes, dog meat, dog enema and beef soup pot are the top dishes. When slaughtering pigs, the Buyi people are accustomed to put some salt in the blood basin first, and then stir it with the pig blood. After solidification, add chopped green onion, condiments, and minced meat to the water to make soup, and cook it with the pig blood, which is called "activating blood". The best dish for entertaining guests. The Buyi people in Guizhou like to use cattle for cooking during weddings and funerals.

Wine plays an important role in the daily life of the Buyi people. After the autumn harvest every year, every family brews a large amount of rice wine and stores it for drinking all year round. The Buyi people like to entertain guests with wine. No matter how much the guests drink, as long as the guests arrive, wine is served first, which is called "welcoming wine". When drinking, use a bowl instead of a cup, and follow the rules of guessing and singing.

The Buyi people have many traditional snacks, especially the Buyi people living in Yunnan, who are good at making rice noodles, bait cubes, pea flour, rice cold cakes, etc.