The Customs of Bouyei Ethnic Minority

Even something as commonplace as building a house is imbued with symbolic customs in Bouyei culture. First, a specialist will be invited to select an auspicious place to build, ideally a location beside a mountain and a river. However, the house should not only back onto mountains but should also face them, and the shape of these mountains is particularly important.

The mountains behind the house should look like guarding lions, defensive dragons, or nobleman riding on horses, while the mountains in front ideally must look like dragons fighting over jewellery, dragons playing with pearls, a thousand horses returning to their stables, or the God of Longevity rising up. Luckily, the area where the Bouyei live is surrounded by strangely shaped Karst mountains so, even if your chosen mountain doesn’t exactly look like two dragons arguing over a silver necklace, you can just say it does!

bouyei dragonA propitious day will then be chosen to erect the house and one month before this day a carpenter will prepare the house’s structure. When the day finally comes, a sacrifice will be made to Lu Ban, the God of Carpentry. The main beam, which is decorated with red silk, will then be carried from the father-in-law’s house to the building site and accompanied by an orchestra, as well as a team of acrobats. In other words, this beam gets a grander entrance than most celebrities! Once the beam has been fixed, a singing and dancing ceremony will take place, followed by a feast. After the festivities, a shrine dedicated to the family’s ancestors and the Kitchen God will be positioned in a central part of the new house.

In some Bouyei communities, an annual ceremony known as “inviting the dragon” is still practised. Before the ceremony, villagers will gather offerings for the dragon in the form of food and wine. Then a local priest, known as a Bumo, will sit down and recite the appropriate prayers. Once he has finished, the village chief will carry two eggs and bury them at the foot of two posts. In Bouyei culture, the yolk of an egg symbolises gold and the white signifies silver, so overall the egg represents wealth. Thus, while the eggs are being buried, the villagers all sing: “Keep the gold and silver that we bury, and don’t let anyone take it”. It may not be the most spectacular gift in the world, but at least the dragon can have a decent omelette!

bouyei funeralFunerals in Bouyei communities are notoriously complicated procedures. Once a person has died, their relatives bath them, comb their hair, and dress them. The corpse is then placed on a bed, where friends and relatives can pay their last respects. The funeral begins with a priest performing a ritual where he asks the dragon to help the deceased’s soul on its way to the underworld. Then a bull is slaughtered and its meat is shared by everyone except relatives of the deceased. The Bouyei believe that this bull will help the soul of the deceased plough fields in the underworld, although we dread to think what kinds of crops they grow down there!

Finally the priest will conduct an “opening the way” ceremony, where he indicates the passage that the soul must follow in order to reach its ancestors. The priest will then lead the funeral procession to the grave site accompanied by the sound of horns and drums. Paper money and incense is burned in honour of the deceased before they are buried and the burial is punctuated by the sound of a bronze drum, which will be beaten three times a day after the burial. The Bouyei believe that this will help carry the soul to its ancestors, as the belief that the bronze drum can communicate with the underworld is widely spread throughout China and Asia. After three years, the person’s remains are disinterred and the bones are placed in a clay urn for reburial.

There are also a number of taboos in Bouyei culture. For example, the first time thunder is heard each year, it is forbidden to do any type of farm work for several days; a woman must never return to her parents’ home to give birth; and the corpse of anyone who has died outside must not be carried back into their home.

Marriage Customs of the Bouyei Ethnic Minority

 

bouyei wedding 01

Under the feudal system of the past, a Bouyei youth’s love life entirely depended on the discretion of their parents as almost all marriages were arranged. Fortunes appear to have changed for the Bouyei, as now they are largely allowed to marry for love! Nowadays fairs and festivals provide the perfect opportunity for unmarried men and women to mingle, sing songs together, and find a suitable partner.

If a woman is attracted to a man, she will often throw a ball to him made of silk strips, which she will have embroidered herself. This indicates that the man is free to pursue her and, if the man returns her affections, he will ask her on a date. Bouyei men are no strangers to romance, as these dates are almost exclusively spent singing love songs! After several of these songful dates, the couple will usually announce their engagement.

There is also a popular folk tale in Bouyei literature about how women should choose which man to marry. First a young woman must sew seven bags, each about ten inches long, with large fabric handles. She must then fill each bag with a different grain; one with long grain rice, one with glutinous rice, one with millet, one with rice bran, and so on. After preparing all these bags, one could even say the woman had become a cereal filler!

At an appropriate time, the girl would then pitch the bags out to her suitors, or suitor if she wasn’t all that lucky, and ask them to pick one up. The man who selected the bag full of rice bran was the one she should marry, as this was the gods’ way of indicating he was a diligent and honest man. Though this custom isn’t taken seriously, it is sometimes still practised today as a bit of fun.

bouyei wedding02Bouyei weddings are two or three day affairs with much singing, dancing, and delicious food. The Bouyei often marry very young and it is commonplace for children as young as twelve to already be married! However, directly after the wedding the wife will return to her parents’ home and this arrangement usually carries on for 3 to 5 years, but can be extended to 7 or 8 years!

The wife will only go to live with her husband on one of three conditions; when her parents decide; when she becomes pregnant with her first child; or when she elects to wear a special hat known as a jiagu[1]. Customarily, once the jiagu has been worn, the wife must return to her husband’s home, so women are sometimes the target of sneaky hat attacks!

In the area near Mount Biandan, Guizhou province, they practice a custom every year during April, August or September where the man’s mother and sister, or two of his female relatives, will bring a chicken and a jiagu to his wife’s home. While they are there, they will sneakily try to unclasp her hair and put the jiagu on her head! If they are successful, she must return with them to her husband’s home. If not, they have to try again another time. In some cases, it is also acceptable for the husband to simply creep up on his wife and un-braid her hair. We’re not sure how all of these sneaky customs came to be, but we can’t imagine it inspires much trust between husbands and wives!

 

[1] Jiagu: A special headdress made by wrapping decorative fabric around a bamboo shell-shaped frame.

 

Traditional Dress of Bouyei Ethnic Minority

bouyei dress 04

From dragons and fish to mountains and rivers, the motifs embroidered on the Bouyei’s traditional dress are deeply symbolic and all harken back to their religious beliefs. Young Bouyei men tend to wear short, long-sleeved jackets that button down the front accompanied by long trousers, with scarves made of black or lattice cloth wrapped around their heads. Their clothes may seem somewhat underwhelming, but the Bouyei women’s superior fashion sense more than makes up for it!

bouyei 02Their traditional dress is incredibly varied and depends on what region they live in. In Guizhou they can roughly be split into four styles: Northwest, Southwest, Central, and Eastern. In the Northwest, the women prefer a short black jacket that is secured on the left side by a band rather than buttons. This jacket will be beautifully decorated at the cuffs and on the front with batik[1] patterns, and is complemented by a pleated skirt made of batik cloth. This is accompanied by a turban and glittering silver jewellery. And, if you want to know whether that pretty Bouyei girl is married or not, just look at her apron! Unmarried women will wear a plain apron, while married women wear aprons that have been embroidered with a floral pattern.

The Central-style is characterised by long, green trousers and an abundance of silver ornaments, including hairpins, earrings and bracelets. Women who live in the Southwest will either wear trousers with a long-sleeved blue jacket or a coat with a long, pleated batik skirt. The sleeves, front, and shoulders of the coat are normally bedecked with either batik or embroidery, making the Southwest-style the most elaborately decorated of them all!

bouyei dress03Finally, the long term contact in the East with the Han ethnic majority has meant the Eastern-style differs very little from the Han traditional dress. Here the women wear a dress and trousers, both trimmed in lace, accompanied by a turban. In Zhenning County, Guizhou province, the Bouyei women sometimes wear a special type of hat known as a jiagu. This hat is made by wrapping batik fabric around a bamboo shell-shaped frame but only certain women are allowed to wear it.

Unmarried women will braid their hair and then partially or fully cover it with a black, embroidered turban. However, only when a married woman has returned to her husband’s home and given birth to their first child will she wear the traditional jiagu. In Bouyei culture, husbands and wives can remain separated after their wedding for up to 8 years! So it’s unsurprising that this special hat means so much to them.

Once a married woman has put on the jiagu, she must officially leave her parent’s home and go to live with her husband. Many married girls enjoy continuing their free lifestyle and so refuse to wear the jiagu, much to the chagrin of their husbands. So these women are often the target of tricky surprise attacks!

bouyei dress 01Every year, during April, August or September, the man’s mother and sister, or two of his female relatives, will bring a chicken and a jiagu to his wife’s home. While they are there, they will sneakily try to unclasp her hair and put the jiagu on her head! If they are successful, she must return with them to her husband’s home. If not, they have to try again another time. In some cases, it is also acceptable for the husband to simply creep up on his wife and un-braid her hair. So next time you’re looking for a date in a local bar, just try popping a hat on the girl’s head!

 

 

[1] Batik: A cloth-dying process whereby a knife that has been dipped in hot wax is used to draw a pattern onto the cloth. The cloth is then boiled in dye, which melts the wax. Once the wax has melted off, the cloth is removed from the boiling dye. The rest of the cloth will be coloured by the dye but the pattern under the wax will have remained the original colour of the cloth.

 

Diaojiaolou

According to legend, when the first ancient pioneers set out from northern and central China in the hopes of discovering and populating southern China, they came upon a number of difficulties. In the mountainous forests of south China, they met with fierce beasts, venomous snakes, and a myriad of unpleasant insects. In spite of this adversity, they managed to settle a colony in the south and set fires around the colony in order to deter wild beasts. However, the people continued to be plagued by vicious snakes and deadly scorpions, until one of the tribal leaders, an old, wise and well-respected man, came upon an idea for a building suspended on wooden stilts. The colony built these tall dwellings and soon they were safe from the dangers of the creatures below.

These were the first diaojiaolou, a dwelling popular among several of the ethnic minority communities throughout southern China. The word “diaojiao” (吊脚) in Chinese means “hanging feet” and “lou” (楼) means “building”, so diaojiaolou literally means “hanging feet building”. They are so named because of their unusual appearance. The history of the diaojiaolou stretches back over 500 years and they are widespread throughout Yunnan, Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan province but differ in appearance depending on the ethnic group who built them.

Diaojiaolou 02Diaojiaolou are rectangular or square wooden buildings built in the ganlan–style. A ganlan-style building is any building that is supported by stilts or wood columns. Diaojiaolou are typically two to three storeys high. The upper floors are held up by thick wooden stilts, which give the building an unsteady appearance. These stilts are further reinforced by stone blocks at their base, meaning diaojiaolou are in fact very stable. Even if one column is destroyed or one stone block is removed, the building will still stand firm. These buildings are a masterpiece of ingenious carpentry, as oftentimes they are made using no nails or rivets. The structure and stability of the building depends on groove joints, which hold the wooden beams and columns together perfectly.

The ground floor is made up primarily of the supporting columns and often does not have any walls. This floor tends to be used as a kind of stable for livestock or as a storage space for firewood and farming equipment. The second and third floors will be used as living spaces, although occasionally the top floor will be used as an extra storage space. The top two floors will have verandas or balconies, which are used to dry clothes. Some diaojiaolou built by wealthier families will have attics or annexes to provide more space.

Although the original legend behind the diaojiaolou may seem farfetched, it touches upon one of its main benefits. The key to its popularity is that, in ancient times, these stilted buildings would provide protection from wild animals, and nowadays they continue to provide protection from venomous snakes and insects that are still prolific throughout China. The cool breeze blowing through the windows of the upper levels acts like a kind of natural air conditioner, meaning these buildings also help prevent humidity-related diseases common in southern China. In the south of China, the level of humidity on the ground during summer is almost unbearable and potentially dangerous, so elevated living spaces are particularly important. These stilted houses are also designed to survive most natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes.

On top of these safety benefits, diaojiaolou also offer some unique benefits that help improve the quality of life for their inhabitants. Their stilted design means they can be built on mountainsides or across bodies of water, so they were often used to colonise previously uninhabitable areas of China. Since the upper floors are particularly high up, they receive more natural light than the ground floor. In the past, this allowed inhabitants to easily work on their craftwork inside and nowadays, because they are naturally well-lit, many diaojiaolou do not have electrical lighting on their upper floors. These upper floors also act as a vantage point, so farmers have a broad view from which to survey their land.

The Miao, Dong, Zhuang, Yao, Tujia, Bouyei, and Shui ethnic minorities have all incorporated diaojiaolou into their architecture and villages. Although the basic style of each diaojiaolou is the same, there are variations between those of different ethnic minorities.

  1. Miao Diaojiaolou

miao diaojiaolouThe Miao people have a reputation for living in mountainous areas and thus diaojiaolou make the perfect dwellings. Miao diaojiaolou spread up the sides of mountains and are built on very steep gradients. They are usually built by the villagers using local fir wood. The front of this type of diaojiaolou is held up by pillars but the rear of the house is suspended on wooden poles, making it level with the mountainside. This gives the Miao diaojiaolou their distinctive “hanging” appearance. The Miao villages of Basha, Xijiang and Langdeshang in Guizhou province have particularly stunning diaojiaolou. Xijiang is the largest Miao village in the world and has the widest showcase of Miao diaojiaolou.

  1. Dong Diaojiaolou

Dong diaojiaolouMost Dong villages are at the foot of a mountain or hill and all Dong settlements will be near to a stream or river, so stilted diaojiaolou are useful for building up the mountainside or building over the water. Since the Dong diaojiaolou are not built on a steep gradient, the “hanging” aspect of the upper floors is not as pronounced as it is in Miao diaojiaolou. Dong diaojiaolou are aesthetically magnificent, as the Dong people are skilful carpenters and love to adorn their buildings with intricate carvings of flowers, wild animals and mythical creatures. If you want to see the Dong style of diaojiaolou, we recommend visiting the villages of Zhaoxing and Xiaohuang in Guizhou province. Zhaoxing’s architecture is particularly spectacular, as it contains five Drum Towers of differing styles.

  1. Zhuang Diaojiaolou

zhuang diaojiaolouThe exterior of the Zhuang diaojiaolou does not look dissimilar to that of the Dong diaojiaolou. However, the key difference is the interior, as they have a shrine at their centre which is used for ancestor worship. They also usually incorporate separate bedrooms for the husband and wife, which is an archaic Zhuang custom. The Zhuang villages of Ping’an and Guzhuang have wonderful diaojiaolou. Guzhuang village has the largest number of Zhuang diaojiaolou in China and some of these buildings date back over 100 years, making them some of the oldest diaojiaolou in the country.

  1. Yao Diaojiaolou

yao diaojiaolouThe Yao ethnic minority tend to live on flat land so Yao diaojiaolou are usually short and have wooden stilts of even heights. In some cases, the ground floor of a Yao diaojiaolou may have walls. The cluster of Yao villages near the Jinkeng Rice Terraces in Guangxi province is the perfect place to admire this style of diaojiaolou. One of these villages, known as Dazhai, even has some diaojiaolou that now function as hotels!

  1. Tujia Diaojiaolou

In contrast to the Miao people, the Tujia people prefer to live near mountains but close to or sometimes even over rivers or streams. Thus you’ll find that many Tujia diaojiaolou are either placed directly on the waterfront or hang over the water. The Tujia believe that these stilted houses embody the coexistence of God and man, so the designs of their diaojiaolou often reflect this. Tujia diaojiaolou are hard to come by, since the Tujia people are slowly abandoning their old settlements and assimilating into modern Chinese culture. The Tujia Folk Customs Park in Zhangjiajie, Hunan, is a large scale replica of a traditional Tujia village and features Tujia style Diaojiaolou. However, if you want a more authentic experience, we recommend visiting the Tujia village of Shuitianba in the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hubei Province.

  1. Bouyei Diaojiaolou

bouyei diaojiaolouThe Bouyei people are renowned more for their unique stone houses than for their diaojiaolou. Their diaojiaolou, though no less magnificent, are relatively typical and have few distinguishing features. The fame of the Bouyei stone buildings has tragically overshadowed their diaojiaolou and thus Bouyei diaojiaolou are difficult to find. Located about 21 kilometres away from the city of Guiyang, Zhenshan village in Guizhou province has a mixed community of Bouyei and Miao people, with Bouyei making up about 75% of its population. Though most of the buildings in Zhenshan are made of stone, a few are made of both wood and stone in the diaojiaolou style. Alternatively, some of the Bouyei villages near the Nanpan River in Yunnan province contain several diaojiaolou.

  1. Shui Diaojiaolou

shui diaojiaolouThe Shui dwellings are not typical diaojiaolou and so are often referred to as “woodpile dwellings”. This is because the stilts on the ground level are very short and the ground level will usually have walls, meaning the house looks kind of like a woodpile. Shui diaojiaolou will only ever have an odd number of rooms, since there is a taboo on even numbers in Shui culture. There are some small Shui villages in Guizhou province is the perfect place to admire these quaint little “woodpiles”.

Join a tour with us to explore more about Diaojiaolou: Explore the Culture of Ethnic Minorities in Guizhou

Sanbao Dong Village

sanbao

Long ago, it is said that there was once a huge lake in Rongjiang County, with three rivers running into it. In each river there lived a dragon and, every so often, the dragons would gather in the lake to play. One year, there was a thunderous monsoon that rained for nine days and nine nights, raising the water level of the rivers and disturbing the three dragons. The thunder became louder and louder, until eventually one deafening crash scared the three dragons so much that they all swam into the South China Sea, leaving behind only three precious treasures. When the Dong people’s ancestors arrived, they found each of the treasures and settled three villages there, as it seemed like an auspicious location. The three villages then came to be known collectively as “Sanbao” or “The Three Treasures”.

Magical though this story may seem, there are actually about 19 small villages that make up Sanbao, with three main villages, known as Shangbao, Zhongbao, and Xiabao, being acknowledged as the treasures. When you live in a place called “The Three Treasures” and your village isn’t one of them, I can’t imagine it does much for your confidence! Overall Sanbao boasts about 2,500 households and a population of over 13,000 people, making it the largest Dong village in China. So, unless you’ve seen any Dong villages sprouting up near you lately, this means it’s probably the largest Dong village in the world.

Duliu River SanbaoThis cluster of villages is just 5 kilometres from Rongjiang City and lies along the banks of the Duliu River. Sanbao is flanked by stunning banyan trees, many of them over 300 years old, which stretch for over a kilometre along the river’s banks. Most of them were planted during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and, after hundreds of years of uninterrupted growth, their roots and branches have intertwined lovingly. A cobbled path winds its way around these banyan trees, dubbed “Flower Street” by the locals, and at the end stands a statue of a man named Zhu Feng and a woman named Lang Mei, the veritable Romeo and Juliet of Dong folklore. When even the trees are embracing, you know that love is in the air!

Aside from these marvellous natural wonders, Sanbao is resplendent with stunning architecture, including a series of drum towers that have earned it accolade over the years. The magnificent Chezhai Drum Tower was built during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and it has remained undamaged for over 130 years, in spite of having been built without the use of nails or rivets. It towers in at 15 metres (50 ft.) in height but is tragically no match for the village’s local behemoth! The Sanbao Drum Tower, which was built in 2001, is over 36 metres (118 ft.) tall and holds the Guinness World Record for largest drum tower in the world. Though it’s not physically as large, this makes it taller than Buckingham Palace!

Alongside these spectacular architectural achievements, the village also boasts nine temples dedicated to the goddess Sa Sui. She is one of the most important deities in the Dong canon and her temples serve as perfect examples of the elegance and decorative quality of Dong architecture. In a place this scenic, you’ll soon realise why they named it “The Three Treasures”. Let’s just hope the dragons don’t decide to come back!

 

Join our travel to enjoy the fantastic Dong performance in Sanbao Village: Explore the culture of Ethnic minorities in Southeast Guizhou

Sanjiang

Sanjiang

With the stunning Rong River, Xun River and Miao River winding their way through its mountainous expanse, the name Sanjiang or “Three Rivers” is particularly befitting to this county. Located in the north of Guangxi, Sanjiang refers to both the county and county-level city, which lie on the border between Guizhou to the northwest and Hunan to the northeast. The city acts as a central hub between these three regions and is constantly alive with the hustle and bustle of travellers making their way across southern China. It is the capital of the Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County and thus over half of its population is made up of ethnically Dong people.

The city was established in 1105 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and is itself relatively unremarkable, as it is made up primarily of concrete high-rises and modern shopping districts. However, this modernity is punctuated by several Dong-style buildings, including the city’s very own drum tower. Though most of these structures were built relatively recently and were artificially aged, they are none-the-less beautiful and provide a stark contrast to the contemporary new builds. In most places, it’s “out with the old, in with the new”, but in Sanjiang it seems to be “out with the new, in with the old-looking”!

In the western part of the city, locals still hold vibrant markets where traders offer anything from fresh vegetables and handmade clothing to live chickens and discount microwaves! These markets are an organised chaos of food stalls, clothes merchants, haberdashers, fortune tellers, and the occasional street dentist. So if you need your tooth pulling out and have a loose heel on your shoe, but don’t have time to go to two places, the Sanjiang market is the place for you!

duliu river SanjiangSanjiang County encompasses several Dong villages and plays host to over 60 ancient theatrical stages, 120 wind-rain bridges, 200 drum towers, and 500 historical sites. The magnificent Wind-Rain Bridge in Chengyang, just 18 kilometres from Sanjiang City, is considered the most well-preserved of its kind, while the Mapang Drum Tower in Mapang Village, about 28 kilometres from the city, is a true masterpiece of Dong architecture that dates back to the Qing Dynasty. Yet perhaps one of Sanjiang’s greatest claims to fame is its newly built Bird’s Nest, which was designed to ape the strange beauty of its Beijing counterpart.

This architectural monolith was completed in 2010 and can be found in Guyi Town, just outside of Sanjiang City. Towering in at 27 metres (89 ft.) in height, with a diameter of 80 metres (262 ft.), this colossal stadium was built by local Dong people in their own architectural style and, like their drum towers and wind-rain bridges, was miraculously constructed without the use of nails or rivets. Dove-tailed joints are all that keep this arena together and each of its corners is bedecked with a beautiful carving of a bird; a symbol of luck in Dong culture.

Though this building may appear ancient, it seamlessly combines contemporary and traditional features in its performances. Numerous singing and dancing performances take place within its walls and are accompanied by modern lighting and sound. On the third floor, there are 66 exhibition rooms with displays about Dong folklore, customs, festive outfits, and works of art. One painting in particular, which was made by 20 local farmers and took two months to accomplish, is over 125 metres (410 ft.) long and is considered the largest of its kind in the world. After all, when it comes to art, sometimes size does matter!

 

Enjoy the amazing landscape in Sanjiang County on our travel: Explore the culture of Ethnic minorities in Southeast Guizhou

Dongba Culture Museum

dongba musuem

The Naxi ethnic minority have thrived in Yunnan for centuries and their complex yet fascinating Dongba culture is evidence of this. Dongba culture refers primarily to the written language, sculpture, artwork and architecture related to the Naxi religion known as Dongba. What makes Dongba culture so fascinating is that it encompasses the only known hieroglyphic writing system still in use; Dongba script. This script is made up of over 1,400 characters and symbols that are unique to the Naxi people. The Dongba Culture Museum is home to over 10,000 antiques, including more than 2,400 Dongba relics, making it the foremost institute for the preservation and research of Dongba culture. With its wonderful mixture of indoor, outdoor and live exhibits, the museum is sure to enliven as well as enlighten your day.

The Naxi people have lived in a number of towns scattered throughout Lijiang for centuries and thus played an instrumental role in commerce along the Tea-Horse Road. They prospered by selling their locally grown tea and handmade embroidered silk, which enabled them to build up a legacy and culture that many other ethnic groups of similar size weren’t able to achieve. This also meant that, as part of the major trade route, they came into contact with a myriad of other Asian cultures, from the Chinese Bai ethnic minority to traders from as far away as India. This intermingling of other, diverse cultures with their own has resulted in the captivating history, clothing, artwork, writing system and architecture that you can find in the museum today.

The museum is only about 300 metres from the back entrance to Black Dragon Pool in Lijiang Old Town, making it the perfect stop on your day out in Lijiang. It was founded in 1984 and built in the style of a traditional Naxi courtyard house. Its architecture is particularly stunning, with a charming arch and wide open spaces that allow it to host a myriad of exhibitions that even the largest indoor museums couldn’t dream of.

Within the indoor exhibits you’ll find many of the artefacts that have come to make the museum famous, such as Naxi paintings, Dongba holy books, religious sacrificial tools, and traditional festival clothing. The open air exhibits provide access to beautiful replicas of Naxi architecture throughout the ages, from ancient caves and wooden nest buildings to modern-day homes. Some of these dwellings look so cosy that you may be tempted to settle there but be forewarned, they have no central heating or internet access!

At set times during the day, local Naxi people descend upon the museum and re-enact Dongba religious rituals, such as the mystifying “sacrifice to heaven” ceremony, as part of their live exhibits. These performances are sure to take you back to a time when ancient elemental deities held sway over earth and shamans wrote their glyphic, unfathomable holy books, powdered herbal poultices for the sick and engaged in rituals to appease the gods. Just don’t interrupt a shaman at work, or you may end up as their next sacrifice!

Thus far, the Dongba Research Centre in Lijiang has managed to translate over 1,500 volumes of Dongba script. They have provided researchers with great insight into the history, culture and religion of the Naxi people, and this information has been passed on to visitors in the form of various introductions and exhibitions throughout the museum. With only about 30 Naxi people left in the world who can still write Dongba script, we recommend you head to the museum as soon as possible or risk missing out on this mysterious culture.

Dali Prefecture Museum

Dali bai museum01

With a history stretching back over 4,000 years, it’s no wonder Dali was the first city in Yunnan to get its own museum. The Dali Prefecture Museum, known to most by its ridiculous long official name of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture Museum, was established in 1986 and is free to enter so long as you provide proof of ID. The museum was built in the Bai ethnic minority architectural style, meaning that the building is a cultural relic in of itself. China’s wonderful tradition of “living” museums, where interactive exhibits delight visitors, is what makes them unique and the Dali Prefecture Museum is no different. From its tranquil open-air gardens to its March Celebration activities, this museum is far too lively to start gathering dust anytime soon!

The exhibition halls are all based on the Bai concept of “three rooms and one wall screening, four joints and five courtyards”, which is how most Bai homes look. The first half, “three rooms and one wall screening”, refers to the structure of the main house, which will usually have one main room, two side rooms and a “shining wall” that faces west so it reflects light back into the house at sunset. The second half, “four joints and five courtyards”, refers to the four courtyards in the corners of the house that join the four walls together and the fifth courtyard that sits at the centre. Having adopted this layout, the museum is satisfyingly symmetrical and is permeated by lush cypresses and looming pine trees. The building has been described as a work of art in of itself, and is definitely worth seeing even if you don’t fancy going into the museum.

The Nanzhao Kingdom (738-902) and the Dali Kingdom (937-1253) once ruled over Yunnan and made Dali their capital. Under their reign, Dali prospered as a trade hub and became instrumental in the dissemination of Buddhism throughout the country. This makes Dali Prefecture Museum unique, as its one of the only places where you can find cultural relics from either of these ancient kingdoms. The museum is the central institution in Dali when it comes to conducting research and excavations, amassing collections, and holding exhibitions. This means that, although it is still relatively young, it has managed to accumulate over 7,000 articles for display. So, if you spent just 30 seconds looking at each object in the museum, you’d need two and a half days to get through them all!

Dali bai museum02The museum is made up of twelve exhibition halls, eight of which are open throughout the year. These include exhibitions of paintings, stone carvings and cultural artefacts from the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms, articles of fine marble, chinaware, and bronze relics, items related to Bai folk customs, and historical relics from the Cultural Revolution. While many of the exhibits focus on the founding and history of the Nanzhao and Dali empires, the Bai folk customs exhibition features stunning traditional clothes and craftworks from the Bai ethnic minority and the Modern Revolutionary exhibit tells the story of the patriots who passed through Yunnan during the Long March[1].

Amongst the 7,000 artefacts owned by the museum, several of them are considered priceless. They are the only relics of their kind in the world, so be careful not to press on the glass cases or you’ll be paying for it your whole life! After all, how could you put a price on stunning bronze ornaments dating back to the Warring States Period (c. 476-221 B.C.) or earthenware horses from the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD)? From the many marble statues of Buddha through to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) golden cap inlaid with shimmering rubies and sapphires, the museum is a banquet of colourful delights that are sure to caress and satisfy the senses.

We recommend visiting the museum from March to June, as the resident camellias will be in bloom and the March Celebration activities will be taking place. Walking through the exhibits, each one more luxuriant than the last, you’ll undoubtedly start to feel like an Emperor strolling through his palace. Just be sure not to start barking orders at anyone, or you might get yourself thrown out!

 

 

[1] The Long March (1934-1935): The famous path that the Red Army of the Communist Party took to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party). Mao Zedong led the retreat and his participation was instrumental in his subsequent rise to power.

Chengyang

Chengyang is a wonderful little cluster of villages just 18 kilometres away from the city of Sanjiang. The eight villages, known separately as Ma’an, Pingzhai, Yanzhai, Chengyang-Dazhai, Pingpu, Pingtan, Jichang and Guandong, are predominantly inhabited by the Dong ethnic minority. From lofty Drum Towers to elegant Wind-Rain Bridges, their vibrant culture shines amongst Guangxi’s karst mountains. This farming community is punctuated by fields ripe with tea bushes, bubbling brooks winding past misty mountains, and wooden structures of all shapes and sizes. With eight magical places vying for your attention, you’ll be spoilt for choice!

Yet the main draw to this scenic area is Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge, which was built in 1912 and is now over 100 years old. Though there are hundreds of wind-rain bridges in the area, this one is considered the most magnificent. It is also known as Yongji or Panlong Bridge and is made up of 2 platforms, 3 piers, 5 pavilions, 19 verandas, and 3 floors, giving it the appearance more of a palace than a bridge! It spans nearly 65 metres (211 ft.) in length and was miraculously built without the use of nails or rivets. The local Dong carpenters simply used dove-tailed joints to hold this amazing structure together and managed to accomplish the whole project without the use of blueprints!

In true Dong style, the villagers of Ma’an also hold performances twice every day. The Dong ethnic minority are well-known for their harmonious grand choirs and watching one of these performances represents both an audible and visual feast, from the soulful folk songs of the town elders to the dazzling festive outfits of the local girls. If you happen to be hiking through this cluster of villages, you may even come upon an impromptu performance in a local drum tower. Just be sure to give the villagers a small tip, otherwise the next song they sing might end up being “The Foreign Cheapskate”!

Join our travel to visit Chengyang: Explore the culture of Ethnic minorities in Southeast Guizhou

Bouyei Ethnic Minority

Bouyei Ethnic Minority

From the thundering waters of the Huangguoshu Waterfall to the sparkling stalactites of the Dragon Palace Cave, the Bouyei people’s ancestors were wise enough to settle the fertile plains of Guizhou over 2,000 years ago! There are currently nearly 3 million Bouyei people living in China, making them the 11th most populous of the 55 recognised ethnic minorities. Though they predominantly live in Guizhou province, small communities can be found in the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan and the country of Vietnam.

The Bouyei language is of Tai origin and is very closely related to that of the standard Zhuang language. It was originally accompanied by a writing system that incorporated and adapted Chinese characters. Tragically this writing system has since been lost, but a new writing system was developed in 1985 that uses the Latin alphabet. So even if you don’t understand the Bouyei words, at least you’ll recognise the letters!

The Zhuang and Bouyei both trace their ancestry back to the ancient Luoyue people and their language, behaviour and customs are very similar to that of the Luoyue. Before the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Zhuang and Bouyei were classed together under the term “alien barbarians” and appeared to be the same ethnic group. However, over time they migrated to different parts of China, developed their own unique cultures and, by the year 900 AD, they were recognised as separate ethnic groups.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), the Bouyei and several other ethnic minorities suffered greatly under a landownership system that gave power and wealth to landlords but deprived the working class. Eventually this led to the Nanlong Rebellion in 1797, which resulted in many Bouyei people immigrating to Vietnam.

Bouyei villageNowadays Bouyei people traditionally live in settlements near mountains and rivers. As a rule, most villages will have no more than 100 households and the village entrance is usually flanked by a banyan or camphor tree, as they are considered to be sacred. The Bouyei believe that these trees protect the village and bring the villagers good fortune. So next time you’re a bit down on your luck, you may want to consider planting a tree!

In many Bouyei communities the people live in a style of wooden building known as a Diaojiaolou. These are two-storey dwellings that are suspended on stilts, with the ground floor being used for storage and the upper floors being used as living spaces. However, the Bouyei villages near the Huangguoshu Waterfall, particularly Chengguan Town in Zhenning County, are particularly famous for an ingenious style of stone house.

These stone dwellings are made without using cement and are built by simply layering specially cut flagstones in such a way that they create a natural, stable framework. In some cases even the roof will be made out of carefully placed stone sheets! Only the rafters will be made from wood and oftentimes-even furnishings, such as tables, stools, bowls, and cisterns, will be carved from stone. So you could say the Bouyei never made it out of the Stone Age!