Introduction to the Lisu people
They first lived in the Jinsha River Basin at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan, and then gradually moved to the Nujiang area in western Yunnan and settled down. The Lisu people are a unique ethnic group in Yunnan. They mainly live in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture and Weixi Lisu Autonomous County in Yunnan Province. The rest live scattered in Lijiang, Baoshan, Diqing, Dehong, Dali, Chuxiong and other states and counties in Yunnan and Sichuan. Xichang, Yanyuan, Muli, Dechang and other counties. ?The Su people are descendants of the Di Qiang people, a branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family. The Lisu people have their own language, which belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The original script was very imperfect, and a new script based on the Latin alphabet was created in 1957. ?The Lisu folk literature is rich and colorful. Myths and legends such as "Genesis" and "Our Ancestors" are valuable materials for studying the ancient history of the Lisu people, and they are also treasures in the treasure house of Chinese folk literature. His poems pay more attention to rhythm and order. Some pun poems often cleverly contain metaphors with fresh artistic conception, which is the most prominent feature of Lisu poetry. The Lisu people are mainly engaged in agriculture. Their marriage is monogamous. ?The costumes of the Lisu people are very distinctive. Women wear embroidered tops and linen skirts, and like to wear red and white beads, corals, shells and other accessories; men wear short clothes, linen coats, a sword on the left waist, and an arrow bag on the right waist. , the Lisu people are good at singing and dancing, and get married every time they harvest. During hunting and house-building seasons, they have to sing and dance to their heart's content. The Lisu people believe that all things have animism and worship the ancestral light. Traditional festivals include Kuashi Festival (New Year), Knife Festival, Harvest Festival, etc.
The Lisu people like to sing and sing. There is a saying that "you can't do it without eating salt; you can't do it without singing." Folk songs are simple and touching, with rich melodies. Traditional dances are mostly group dances, some imitating animals, and some expressing production and life. Traditional musical instruments include pipa, kuxian, four-stringed instrument and reed.
The Lisu people are mainly engaged in agriculture, growing corn, rice, buckwheat, etc. The Lisu people believe in primitive religion and worship nature. Some also believe in Christianity and Catholicism.
History of the Lisu Nationality
The Lisu Nationality originated from the ancient Qiang people who migrated south, and they belong to the same ethnic origin as the Yi people. The name of their clan was first seen in writings in the Tang Dynasty. The historical records of the Tang Dynasty are called "Lisu Liangman" or "Liman", "Shiman" and "Shunman", all of which belong to "Wuman" and are distributed in the vast areas such as today's Sichuan, Yunnan Yabijiang River, Jinshajiang River and Lancang River. Zone; during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it was mostly ruled by the feudal lords of the Naxi people in Lijiang. In the middle of the 16th century, due to the enslavement of the Mu clan chieftain of the Naxi tribe and the threat of war, a large number of Su people, led by their leader Kuo Mubipa, migrated to Nujiang and other areas in northwest Yunnan. From the 17th to the 19th century, this ethnic group migrated many times after the failure of the uprising, and some of them entered Myanmar; some moved to Laolai, Thailand, etc. Migration continued until the Qing Dynasty. In the course of history, the Lisu people have merged with the blood of many other ethnic groups.
Lisu music
There are about 470,000 Lisu people, mainly distributed in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous County in Yunnan Province and Xichang in Sichuan Province. They have their own language and writing based on the Latin alphabet. The Lisu people believe in many gods and worship nature.
The Lisu people have beautiful narrative poems and folk songs. The folk songs are especially rich in tunes. Some are high-pitched and passionate, some are low and sentimental. Their impromptu singing is full of appeal and brings people to the villages of the Lisu people. .
Lisu Etiquette
Lisu Festivals
? The Lisu people use the natural calendar to divide the year into There are 10 seasonal months including the flower blooming month, bird singing month, mountain burning month, hunger month, gathering month, harvest month, wine cooking month, hunting month, New Year celebration month and house building month. The main traditional festivals include New Year's Day, Harvest Festival, Torch Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Knife and Pole Festival. ? ?
Koshi Festival (New Year's Day) is the largest folk festival and is held once a year. The Chinese New Year is also the day to celebrate the new year, to eat and brew water and wine, and to pray for a good harvest. Every family will hang a part of the indica rice cake or glutinous corn cake they pounded for the first time on the tree as a sacrifice. A small bowl is given to the dogs, because according to folklore, dogs bring grains to the world; in some places, the first-time pounded cake is fed to cows to thank the cows for helping humans cultivate the land. On the first day of the New Year, the whole family gathers for dinner and drinks Tongxin wine together. ?
Harvest Festival? Harvest festivals are mostly held between the ninth and tenth months of the lunar calendar every year.
The biggest activity of the Harvest Festival is that every family makes wine and tastes new things. Some people even go directly to the fields to harvest and cook wine at the same time, accompanied by singing and dancing. They often stay up all night to enjoy themselves. ?
The Sword and Gun Festival is held every year on the eighth day of the second lunar month. It is said that the Sword and Gun Festival was established to enable the Lisu people to have the spirit of "dare to climb mountains of swords and brave seas of fire."
The Lisu people have their own calendar. January of the Gregorian calendar is their New Year month. Due to different local habits and calendar naming methods, the New Year time is also inconsistent. According to the Su people in the Nujiang area, the New Year is celebrated from approximately December 5th to the 10th day of the first lunar month of the next year. At that time, men, women and children will wear new clothes, carry out wine jars, kill sheep and give gifts to each other. The boys took out their beloved pipa, the girls dressed up particularly beautifully, and people gathered together, talking and laughing with each other, singing and dancing in a joyful atmosphere. Activities such as antiphonal singing, "Guozhuang" dance, and crossbow shooting competitions were also held. The Lisu people call the New Year "Yoshi" festival. The length of time varies from place to place, and even from village to village. Some celebrate it for ten days, and some celebrate it for fifteen days, but generally the "Yoshi" festival is celebrated during the "New Year"
The Lisu people are good at singing and dancing. Everyone, regardless of gender, old or young, can sing and dance. They especially like antiphonal singing. Especially during the Chinese New Year, the singers can perform antiphonal singing for several days in a row. After liberation, the Su people in Hushui, Gongshan and Yunlong areas still had the habit of organizing hot spring antiphonal songs. Every year during the Chinese New Year, they would bring their New Year's food, carry cooking utensils on their backs and rush to the 12th place north of Liuku, the capital of Nujiang Prefecture. Participate in the "Tangquan Song Contest" at the hot springs 1km away. At that time, there will be many tents and crowds of people beside Zhuoquan. Famous singers from all over the country will perform again, and beautiful and moving songs will come one after another. Even late at night, the songs are still echoing around the roaring bonfire. This annual "Tangchizhai Song Festival" lasts for more than ten days.
The crossbow shooting competition is also an important part of the Lisu people’s New Year Festival. While people gather to sing and dance, young and middle-aged men often take out their beloved crossbows, place a target a hundred steps away, and compete with each other. ability. For the Su people, crossbows are indispensable. Almost every household has one, and every man is proficient in it. The crossbow is made of wild mulberry or other hardwood, and the crossbow string is made of beef tendon. Generally, the crossbow used by young men requires a lot of force to be stringed, so it can be called a strong crossbow. Crossbow arrows are made of bamboo or hardwood. In order to increase the power of the crossbow, the Lisu people often coated the arrowheads with the juice of highly toxic plants such as Scutellaria sinensis.
Due to different regions, L-year activities are also different in different places. Some people will first feed salt to the cattle during the New Year to show respect for the cattle’s hard work for a year; some will plant a pine tree at home. Let it represent the mountain god and offer wine and meat as a sacrifice; some people will scoop out a small spoonful of the New Year's food for the dogs to eat first before people eat and drink, because they believe that the seeds of the grains in the world are the seeds that dogs have gone through all kinds of hardships to fly to the heavenly palace. Come, so we must first commend the dog for this great contribution.
In addition to celebrating the "Yu Shi" festival, Lisu generally celebrates other unified festivals. In some areas of Nujiang, it is held during the tenth month of the Gregorian calendar (the drunken month of the Su natural calendar), after the harvest of grain. The Harvest Festival is celebrated within half a month. On the occasion of the festival, every village cooks wine and kills pigs, gathers to eat, drink, sing and dance, day and night.
Marriage customs of the Lisu people
When young men and women hold weddings, both men and women must prepare a banquet. When the woman arrives at the door of the man's house, the man will also set up a banquet at the door and treat the accompanying guests to drinks. After the wedding, the bride and groom exchange bowls and chopsticks to express respect and love for each other in the future.
Lisu Tribe Clothing
? Lisu Tribe men generally wear long or short linen shirts, knee-length black trousers, black turbans on their heads, and leather arrow bags on their backs. and a machete, and wears a coral earring in his left ear. Men of the Lisu ethnic group in Dehong wear long knives, shell collars around their necks, hand-sewn flower bags decorated with small red and green pompoms on their backs, and white leggings. Women mostly wear long pleated skirts, and some also wear black trousers and aprons, wrap their heads with green cloth, carry hand-sewn bags on their backs, and wear "Oh Le" made of white clam shells and red and white coral beads. Some are colorful, some are elegant and very distinctive.
Lisu people’s diet
The Su people generally eat three meals a day. I am still used to the one-pot cooking method, that is, when cooking, put the rice into the pot and cook it, changing the water twice in the middle. When the rice is almost cooked, add green vegetables and cabbage until the vegetables are rotten. Usually, we rarely cook alone. After the porridge is cooked, the whole family eats around the firepit.
Rice used for cooking porridge usually includes corn and buckwheat. Since there is less rice cultivation, rice is only used to make porridge during festivals or when receiving guests.
The Su people living in Lijiang like to eat Yin corn rice. The so-called Yin corn refers to corn bags that are just ripe in autumn. After removing the leaves, boil them in boiling water and then dry them in the shade. When eating, rub the corn kernels out, pound them with wood to remove the skin, add green beans, pig heads or pork chops and cook over low heat to make a delicious dish. Most of the Su people like to eat popcorn made from popped corn.
The sources of meat for the Su people include pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens raised at home and hunted muntjacs, blue sheep, mountain donkeys, bison, hares, pheasants and fish from the river. Most of the ways to eat it are to rub the meat with salt, put it in the fire pit and grill it before eating.
Common vegetables include vegetables, cabbage, radish, taro and various melons, vegetables, potatoes, supplemented by oranges, peaches, red roses, pears, vegetables and other fruits. Since lacquer oil is abundant in the area, all dishes are cooked with lacquer oil. Such as fried chicken in lacquer oil, stewed chicken in lacquer oil, boiled sweet wine eggs in lacquer oil, etc. Sweet wine boiled in lacquer oil is considered to be an excellent food for pregnant women to replenish their deficiency.
? Every family of the Su people keeps bees, ranging from 4 or 5 groups to more than a dozen groups. Every autumn, every family makes wine. In addition to corn and sorghum, they also like to use barnyard grass as raw materials. And tare wine is the best. When making wine, first mash the raw materials, steam them and then put them into jars and seal them. After 10 days, you can unpack them and make a drink. The alcohol content is not high, light and mellow, and it has the effect of quenching thirst and refreshing people.
The Su people like to drink a kind of hemp seed tea. When making hemp tea, first put the hemp seeds into a pot and roast them to yellow color over low heat, then mash them and put them into boiling water to cook for 6-7 minutes. Remove the residue and put the soup into the pot, add salt or sugar and boil it before drinking. Hemp seed tea is white and can be as intoxicating as drinking too much. The Susu people in the Gongshan area, influenced by the local Tibetan lifestyle, also have the habit of drinking butter tea.
Typical foods: lacquered wine, boiled piglets, pig trotters and pearl porridge, etc.
Buildings of the Lisu people
According to the traditional habits of the Su people, houses must be built within one day, otherwise it is considered unlucky. In order to ensure that the house is built within one day, the owner must rely on the cooperation of family, relatives, friends and village neighbors, which is called "Wazhao" in Su language. A few days before building a house, the owner of the house will notify all relatives and friends. All the building materials are collected in advance, and then the wizard is asked to choose an auspicious day. At that time, all the invited relatives, friends and neighbors will work together, and it will be completed within one day. The owner of the house entertains relatives and friends who help him depending on his economic conditions.
The buildings in some places are relatively simple, basically small bamboo buildings. The people living upstairs are usually divided into two compartments by bamboo fences. There is a fire pit in the center of the two rooms with a tripod for cooking and roasting. At night, the whole family sleeps around the firepit, where a fire is lit all year round. When a guest comes, the host will let the guest stay by the firepit. The lower part of the bamboo building is generally used for raising cattle, pigs and other livestock, and the surrounding area is a garden where fruits, vegetables and the like are grown.
This bamboo house of the Su people is simple and practical. It can prevent moisture and animals, and is easy to move and build. A Hsinchu building must also be built in one day, otherwise it is considered unlucky. During construction, local materials were used and the whole village helped. Once the Hsinchu Building is completed. "The men, women, old and young in the village came to congratulate them, and the host entertained everyone diligently. He put out all kinds of food and poured water and wine to express his gratitude to everyone. The men, women, old and young in the whole village drank and sang and danced to their heart's content.
Damn The buildings of the Su people in Lijiang and other places are mostly all-wood structures, which are built with square timbers about one or two meters long and covered with wooden boards. The Su people also build houses with earthen wood and brick and wood structures.
Customs of the Lisu people
The Su people in the Nujiang area have the custom of taking a spring bath. At that time, most young people take a spring bath. Men and women bring their own luggage, food and utensils to bathe in the hot spring. Three days before or three days after the beginning of summer, the water of Xiulan River in Lijiang will become muddy. It is said that it contains a lot of minerals and drinking it can cure stomach problems. Cooking with the water of Xiulan River will make the rice red in color and fragrant and delicious. You will also take a steam bath after bathing, which can cure rheumatism. During the bathing period, everyone has a picnic together, which is a large-scale outdoor hunting picnic among the Su people. .
? In weddings and funerals, the Su people slaughter sheep (or cows) and pigs when entertaining guests. Pork, mutton (or beef) are willing to be cooked in a pot if there are distinguished guests. , but also cook suckling pigs to serve, piglets that have just been weaned for two months are the best.
When entertaining guests, you must eat separate dishes. During the meal, the host and guests sit on the floor. The meat is shared and the leftovers can be taken away. For some Su people in Fugong, when guests come over, the host often puts walnut kernels, ginger, pepper, garlic, etc. into a bamboo tube and mashes them, then puts them into a wooden bowl and adds salt to entertain the guests. ? The Su people's drinking style when entertaining guests has the most distinctive ethnic characteristics. When drinking, two people hold a bowl of wine, put their arms around each other's necks and shoulders, and open their mouths together so that the wine flows into the mouths of the host and guest at the same time, which is called "Tongxin Wine" , this is often used when close friends meet.
When a mother is giving birth, outsiders are not allowed to break into the room, especially those armed with knives and arrows. It is forbidden to step on or move the tripod on the fire pit in the house, and it is not allowed to be splashed with spit and nasal mucus, and it is not allowed to use your feet to replace it. Add firewood to the tripod with your hands; avoid hurting spiders; during the funeral, relatives, friends and fellow villagers of the deceased are prohibited from eating chili peppers, otherwise it will be considered disrespectful to the deceased.