[Guangxi 3rd Days] Another matriarchal society: Dong Qing Shui Village vs. Xin Qing

I know that Lugu Lake in Yunnan is a country of daughters, where women dominate. I didn't expect Dongqing Water Village in Guilin to be also a small matriarchal society.

The tour guide said that Dongqing Water Village is a targeted poverty alleviation project. Now many young people from the Dong nationality have gone out to work, and all those left in the village are uncles and aunts.(In Chengyang Bazhai, I have found that the people singing welcome songs on Fengyu Bridge are middle-aged and above, and the people watching the parking lot are also uncles in their fifties and sixties.) If this continues, the traditions and cultures of ethnic minorities will be lost. The government has introduced relevant policies to create tourist attractions and let educated young people in the village serve as commentators to promote national culture.

So we created this Dong cultural theme scenic spot. It mainly displays various Dong-style buildings, Dong songs and dances, Dong silverware and Dong rural customs. This is the only tourist attraction in Guilin with the most Dong minority characteristics; the main attractions include: large stalactite display hall, Dong cultural display corridor, Dong Village Yingbin Square, Dong Village Building, Dong Township Characteristic Street, Water Song and Dance Theater, Dong Silver Workshop, etc. The most representative Three Treasures of the Dong are Dong Song, Wind and Rain Bridge, and Drum Tower, which will make you amazed!

As soon as we arrived at the scenic spot, there were tour guides from the scenic spot who took over the work of tour guides.

There are quite a few tourist teams who come here every day. We are group No. 46. The person who takes us to visit is a beautiful woman. When someone calls her Amei, she corrects her: "My husband will be unhappy calling me Amei. Just call me 46 sister-in-law!" Then she took the silver comb from her head and said to us: "No, this is the sign. We married women of the Dong nationality put a silver comb in their hair (the silver comb appeared for the first time)."

She led us all the way to explain, walked through the wind and rain bridge, and came to a square. There was a large silver pot hanging in the air in the square, with a huge water column flowing out of the spout. Many people were ready to take photos. She told us to come back and take pictures again, because going in to take pictures will leave them blessings, and coming out to take pictures will bring them home; Walking through the Dong people's sacrificial square, she told us not to take pictures, as it would be unlucky to take pictures... It turns out that the Dong people have many customs.

Walking into the Dong village, you will find handsome and beautiful Dong people playing musical instruments very hard on the stage to welcome you.

Visiting the Dong Folk Museum, sister-in-law 46 said she couldn't take photos and secretly photographed a silver phoenix crown.

Sister-in-law 46 said that she had photographed the unlucky sacrificial square, and I only heard her say this after taking it.

At the bridge of Fengyu Bridge, three Dong women and men sang and held up a cup of rice wine for you to drink, saying it was a welcome wine.

On the Dong family singing platform, two women and a man are singing, welcoming tourists everywhere!

Ms. 46 said that their place is the second longevity township in the country (the first is Bama), with an average life expectancy of 84 years.

In an open pavilion room, sister-in-law 46 greeted a Dong woman with hair on her head and asked her to stand up and put her hair down. The woman's hair was one or two meters long and black and shiny, making her envious of us. sister-in-law 46 said that we fermented it with rice washing water and boiled it to wash our hair.

46 Sister-in-law said: The more than 700 families living here moved down from the mountains, and the government allocated them houses to live in. After a while, she took us to a house and told us that this was her home. There was a wooden shelf above the middle of the house. She said it was for bacon smoking.

There are large and small houses. She asked us to guess what conditions the government allocates houses based on? Some people say that those with more people will have more shares. Aunt 46 said: This is one of them. More importantly, whoever has more daughters will have a bigger house. We are a matriarchal society here, and women are the eldest. Having daughters makes money, and having sons means losing money.

We asked: Do you give birth to money-making goods or money-losing goods?
She replied: I gave birth to two money-losing children, so my mother-in-law was very unhappy.
We said: Keep living!
She said: Yes, we have no birth restrictions and continue to have children. The reason why our house is big is because my mother gave birth to five money-making children. In my parents 'house, only my mother's words are effective. No one listens to my father's words. In my family, I keep my words, but my husband's words are useless. Our marriage is for men to marry out, and we marry men in. I envy matriarchal society too much.

She also said, don't call a man "hubby". If you call him husband, you will betray him. Hubby = old confession, but if you call him "Lao Guai", the more you call him, he will become obedient, and the more you call him, the more obedient he becomes. Dong women really tame their husbands.

At sister-in-law 46 's home, she poured 52-degree white wine into a porcelain bowl and a silver bowl respectively to let us smell the difference. Some people said that the wine in the porcelain bowl was pungent, and the wine in the silver bowl was softer. This is the role of silver ions.

She also called two group members to help the male group members comb their hair in public and help the female group members scrape their hair. The tool used was the silver comb on her head (which appeared for the second time). Strive to exaggerate the benefits of silver on human health. In her hand, the silver comb is very useful. It is very important to use a silver comb to comb your hair. If there is any problem with the body, you can comb which acupuncture points to comb, such as poor liver, insomnia, rich bags, etc. The acupuncture points for combing your hair are different. She also helped a female group member scrape, also using a silver comb. Now she has applied some vegetable oil to her neck, such as olive oil and rapeseed oil, but she can't apply animal oil, so she started to scrape with the back of the comb. After a while, the group member's neck turned red. Aunt 46 said: If the moisture is heavy, the part being scraped will be red; if the liver and gallbladder are not good, the part being scraped will be purple-black...

For all activities at sister-in-law 46 's home, including her demonstration of scraping with a silver comb, she stated in advance that she would not allow photos.

I deeply feel that this is really a magical silver comb! I have seen it in Yelin Ancient Village in Hainan, and I have seen it again here. Is it to copy relevant scenic spots to help ethnic minorities get rid of poverty and become rich?

All of this reminds us that the Dong silver they have here is the best silver. The silver in the treasury is handmade for them. For government-supported projects, there are no fakes. One fake will pay 10, ranging from 25 yuan to 30 yuan per gram, and there is no discount at all. Then they took us to the supermarket.

There are people making silver products on site outside the hypermarket.

There were people crowded with silver jewelry, silver bowls, silver cups and silver combs. There were more than 1000 combs (the third time it appeared), and a silver water cup ranged from more than 2000 to 3000. You couldn't even go out from the original entrance. There was a sister guarding there and pointed you where you should go. I heard a tour guide say to look at the shape of the footprints on the ground to find the exit. Only then did I realize that the footprints on the ground pointed you to another hypermarket. It was winding. There are handicrafts, food, and clothes. You have to read these things before you can get to the exit. What a strategy!

The silver comb swayed in front of me, and it appeared many times intentionally. Several group members took it home, but I remained firm.

After leaving the supermarket and moving freely, I took some photos of Dong customs. Red lanterns were hung high in every household, and pictures came.

This teapot can be found in many scenic spots. From down Changbai Mountain to Dongqing Water Village in Guilin, I am visually tired.

Matriarchal society is the beginning of human society. The modern Dongqing Water Village style that has persisted to this day tells the original intention and love. Although women have become money-making by marrying men and giving birth to daughters, and call their husbands "old and obedient", the ones who support the family and push the matriarchal clan forward here are women. Fight in the wave of the market economy and promote silverware scraping and acupuncture points to seek truth. This detail may reproduce the original spirit forged by the female family in matriarchal society. When society is no longer matriarchal, in thousands of years of historical cycles, tiger flies are rampant from time to time. This may be because the original intention, true spirit and spirit of the matriarchal period are missing!

Yan Shu, a poet of the Northern Song Dynasty,"Telling the Love of Love and the Fragrance of Lotus, Golden Chrysanthemum":

"Hibiscus, gold and chrysanthemums are fragrant, and the weather is looking for Double Ninth. The autumn scenery in the remote village is picturesque, and the mangroves are sparse and yellow.
The water is thin, the blue sky is long, and the road is vast. With high vision, when the swan geese come, they will think endlessly."

Dong Qing Water Village expresses its true feelings, but it is also infinite consideration!

（2429 2020/12/18）