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People and Custom |
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Like those
in other Tibetan regions, the major local residents
here are Tibetan. There are also many other
nationalities like Menba, Luoba and Nu whose living
customs differ from each other. The local Tibetan’s
dialect is close to that spoken in Lhasa though;
their dressing style is more like that of the
“warrior at the border”. Both men and women wear “Guoxiu”,
a sort of long shawl and Gongbu hat, which seems to
tell their long national history. But today less and
less people have such hats. The young generations
are fonder of the Shanglin hat learned from
Shangangqulin, Shanna and made of colorful satin.
Another typical traditional dressing is the Gongbu
boot, but it is also out of date now.
The Luoba People consists of over 20 tribes like
Mixinba, Miguba etc in the Grand Canyon area. The
historical record suggests that “Luoba” in the
ancient time referred to those living in Luoyu and
meant “the people from the south”. As a very old
nationality, Luoba has a lot of strange and inviting
customs.
Worship of Procreation
There may hang a one-meter long wooden penis in
front of many Luoba people’s houses with the glans
painted red. Walking inside visitors may also see
such things on the ceiling. The locals are convinced
that to worship the penis can ward off the evil,
bring about prosperities and have a big family.
Eat Grilled Rat Meat While Drinking Wine
The Luoba People often uses the grilled rat meat to
entertain their distinguished guests. This special
dish is made before the guests and eaten with plenty
of spices and the chicken feet grain wine. To show
their hospitality and respects, the hostess kneels
on the ground to fill the cup once it is empty.
Interestingly before serving, she will taste a
little bit of wine on her palm to show that it is
clean and not poisonous. On the dining table fingers
are used to get food directly from the bamboo bowls.
The Soul of Everything in the World: Wuyong
The Luoba People believe that everything in the
world has a soul called “Wuyong” and all their
activities such as wedding, funeral etc. are
associated with soul, Wuyong. Wuyong is ubiquitous
so when people go hunting, they should worship the
God of the mountain; and whenever they are seeding,
plowing or harvesting grain etc they would always
sacrifice for god. The Luoba also have many totem
worships and taboos. For instance, they are not
allowed to hunt for tigers that are deemed to be
their ancestors.
The Mysterious Koradji
There are two sorts of koradji: “Miji” for
divination and “Liubu” for conducting sacrifice
rituals for the God. Miji kill the chicken and get
its liver. From the color, shape and grain of the
chicken liver they tell the future. In addition to
the responsibilities of Mji, Liubu also dance and
sacrifice to ward off the evils for the people.
Whether a Luoba people kill others or get killed, or
unintentionally kill a totem animal, a religious
ritual would be conducted to see off the ghost,
which can bring peace for the whole family.
The Thousand Years Old Taboo
The locals strictly abide by some thousand years old
taboos and below are some important ones: Women are
forbidden to eat chicken; the distiller’s yeast and
foodstuff for brewing should not be touched
otherwise “Wuyong” or the soul will be taken away
and the wine will go sour; before the umbilical cord
is cut off in the childbirth, the husband should
avoid working outside; after being pregnant for
three months one’s husband should avoid touching any
dead body, pig and cattle, and killing livestock.
The Wedding and Funeral Customs
The Luoba People have very unique wedding and
funeral customs. Apart from commercial marriage
(people view this kind of marriage as a piece of
commodity) and marriage determined by one’s parents,
they also adopt the trial marriage. In the trial
marriage, after the husband living in his wife’s
home for a certain period of time (normally three
years), if both sides are satisfied, they will get
married officially; otherwise the man will leave the
woman after paying some economic compensation to
her. As regards funeral customs, besides inhumation
the tree funeral is also popular. The dead is put in
the vine gabion that he used when alive and the
gabion is suspended in the tree sheltered with a
grass tent.
The Menba Folk Customs
The Menba people have a very long history. Around
300 hundred years ago, they migrated from Menyu,
Zhuyu to Motuo and engaged in agriculture, hunting
and fruits picking. Being very advanced craftsmen,
they produced sophisticated bamboo, wood, metal and
stonewares as kitchen utensils or ornaments.
They have religious believes in both primitive
witchcraft and Tibetan Buddhism. In their belief
that the heaven, earth, mountain, wood, insect, wild
animals, bizarre rock and queer trees are all gods.
In a word gods, spirits and demons are ubiquitous
and they are the source of all the human sufferings
and natural disasters. |
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