Folk customs tour

on January 20,2015

Before 8:00 in the morning, Master Xia was already waiting for us in the hotel lobby and agreed to leave at 8:00. After discussing and communicating with Master Xia last night, we optimized the itinerary plan. Today's trip is a folk customs tour: visit and learn about the "Dai", the largest ethnic minority in Xishuangbanna; the "Jino", the 56th ethnic minority in my country; and the Kemu people, who are classified as the Bulang people.

We left on time at 8:00. Due to the time difference, it was not yet bright and it was raining lightly. The car left the city and entered the national highway. The road conditions were good and arrived at Jino Village at about 9:30.

Jinuo Shanzhai is located in Babozhai, Jinuo Township, northeastern of Jinghong City, with an east longitude of 100°53 33 "and a north latitude of 21°53 11". The average temperature is 18-20℃. It is 23 kilometers away from Jinghong, 6 kilometers away from Mengyang, and 3 kilometers away from Jinuo Township Government. This is the Jino Traditional Cultural Reserve in Xishuangbanna Prefecture. It is the only tourist attraction in the country that displays Keno culture in the most comprehensive and concentrated manner. It is the most important window to understand Keno culture.

The Jino people are an ancient minority. Keno is a national name. In the past, it was often transliterated as "You Le" in Chinese, which means "following behind my uncle". It is extended to "the nation that respects my uncle." In June 1979, it was recognized as the ethnic group and became the 56th ethnic group in China. The Jino people call themselves "Keno", which means "descendants of their uncle" or "a nation that respects their uncle." It is mainly distributed in Jinuo Township, Jinghong County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and the rest are scattered in the surrounding mountainous areas of Jinuo Township, with a total population of only more than 20,000. Mainly engaged in agriculture and good at growing tea. The Keno language is used, which belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibetan-Burmese family of the Sino-Tibetan family. It is a nation that directly stepped into socialist society from the end of primitive society.

The rain had stopped when we arrived at the Keno Village. Master Xia bought us tickets and asked us to follow the tour guide. Several groups of individual tourists gathered together to follow a Jino boy (who was actually 28 years old) and began a tour of the Keno Mountain Village.

The entrance of the Jino Village is shaped like a drum, which is the mascot of the Jino people.

When entering the village, the first thing that caught our eyes was the cow skull covers scattered on the roadside and trees. According to the tour guide boy, when he reaches the age of 18, the Jino boy must kill a cow with his own hands before he can be considered an adult. The cow's head is hung on a tree or placed on the roadside. We asked the tour guide: Did you kill a cow when you were 18 years old? Afraid? The tour guide replied: I was very scared at the time, but there was no way out, so I had to bite my head. Because he was small and weak, he stabbed the cow twice before reaching the fatal point. Although he said he was very listless at the time, we agreed that he was very brave. After all, he was an adult cow. Think about whether we had the courage to take a knife and stab a cow when we were 18 years old.

Walking along the steps towards the mountain, in front of the statue of a man and a woman, the tour guide introduced that they were their ancestors. The man was named Ma Hei and the woman was named Ma Niu. Ma Hei and Ma Niu were brothers and sisters. Due to the flood, Manu and Ma Hei's mother put them in a big drum to avoid disaster. In order not to prevent their nation from dying out, Manniu and Ma Hei decided to reproduce. Because they are close relatives, their descendants have poor brains. For the sake of eugenics, intermarriage with foreigners is now allowed.

Because he is a "descendant of his uncle", his uncle has the final say in the Jino people. If you want to marry a Jino girl, you must have your uncle's consent. It is useless to deal with the girl's parents. At the same time, the drum also became the mascot of the Jino people.

A folk house called "Zhuobafang" on the mountain is used to show the daily life of "descendants of uncle". The local houses are all built of wood. These wooden houses are all made of square wood with corners, because snakes cannot climb up. The first floor is the warehouse and livestock breeding area, and the second floor is the bedroom and living space. "Zhuobafang" displays colorful national costumes, daily necessities made of bamboo, etc., bedrooms and working rooms.

In the working room, several women are weaving bright soil cloth. There are also some descendants who chat around the brazier eating melon seeds to show off their leisure living conditions.

A room full of corn is not a granary, but for mice. The local elderly firmly believe that the food is brought by mice, so these corn is a tribute to the mice.

Walking out of the "Zhuobafang", there was a performance of Jino youth folk songs and dances, and at the same time, they tasted roast pork and sweet corn for free. In a square, Jino youth sang and danced, and finally interacted with guests to push the performance to a climax. At the same time, the tour of the Keno Shanzhai was coming to an end.

After leaving the hospitable Keno youth, they headed down the mountain. On the way, there were some small performances such as breathing fire and tasting local Pu 'er tea and rice wine. Although it wasn't long, I basically understood the customs of the Jino people and learned that she was the 56th ethnic group in my country.

At 12:00 noon, I bid farewell to the Keno Stronghold. After 45 minutes of driving, we arrived at Manjing Village in Menghan Town. Dai people are the most populous ethnic group in Xishuangbanna, and Manjing Village is just one of many Dai villages.

The Dai people call beautiful women "Shao Duoli" and handsome men "Cat Duoli". Later, it evolved into women calling it "Shao Duoli" and men calling it "Cat Duoli".

Manjing Village currently has more than 100 households and a population of more than 1000. They used to be slaves of Dai kings, weaving tables, chairs, jewelry, etc. for the palace. The movies "Evil Debt" and "Jade Guanyin" were filmed in this village.

As soon as we entered Dai Village, a "Shao Duoli" received us and took us to her house. According to her introduction, there are 14 "Shao Duoli" in her village who are as cultured and can speak Mandarin. As receptionists, they introduce the customs and customs of the Dai people to tourists every day, without having to go up the mountain to cut rubber or farm. Reception of tourists from morning to night every day without salary or bonus. The government will arrange people to do the farm work at home. They all serve the village and promote Dai culture.

The houses of the Dai people are similar to those of the Jino people. They are all warehouses on the first floor and livestock are raised, and the second floor is a living space. The difference is that the Jino people look more primitive.

The house we went to seemed to be not very rich and dilapidated from the perspective of its buildings. The house number is not bad, number 88.

Go to the second floor, take off your shoes and enter her living room. The decoration is very simple, and the appliances inside are quite outdated compared to Shanghai. Asked if it was possible to take photos, he replied no, and said that guests were not allowed to enter the bedroom.

We sat on small stools around a small table covered with flannel, listening to this "Shao Duoli" slowly introducing the local customs and customs of the Dai people. The most profound impression is that the Dai marriage customs are exactly the opposite of those of the Han people. Dai people are people who marry into a woman's family and must work in a woman's family for three years before formally marrying. Men's dowries range from tractors and motorcycles to household appliances, etc., so men are losing money. When a girl was born locally, she celebrated for three days by killing pigs and cattle. When she gave birth to a boy, she couldn't bear to set off a single firecracker.

As soon as the boy was 9 years old, he was sent to a temple to become a monk. If he did not become a monk, he would not be able to marry. In the temple, the little boy has to learn Tai script, scriptures, astronomy and geography, handicrafts, etc., and will return to secular life by the age of 18. The Dai people have their own characters, which are passed down to men but not to women, and can only be learned in temples.

Although the girl can speak Dai language, she cannot write and does not know Dai language. But girls can go to school to learn Chinese, go to high school, go to college.

This village was opened to the public in 2005. In order not to lose the silverware making process, the government specially approves 5 tons of silver wool per year to make various silverware pieces for the elderly in the village for tourists to choose from (valuable ones).

This "Shao Duoli" lifted the flannel on the small table, and a dazzling array of silver ornaments were displayed in front of us, including practical bowls, chopsticks, exquisite small pendants, fancy hair clips, thick belts, etc. While listening to the introduction of "Shao Duoli", I carefully looked at the craftsmanship of making these ornaments. Unfortunately, there was no plan to buy silver jewelry during this trip. I could only say sorry to "Shao Duoli" and left her house after donating 5 yuan per person in her family's "merit box". Although there was not much time, I basically understood the customs and conditions of the Dai people.

After leaving the village, Master Xia took us to eat Dai flavor. To be honest, it's okay to eat once.

At 2:00 p.m., we arrived at Rainforest Valley Park. Said to be a park, it is actually an exhibition site to introduce and understand the customs of the Kemu people. It was opened to the public in 2006.

The Kemu people (Baidu) are a ethnic group in the Indochina Peninsula of Asia. It is mainly distributed in Yunnan Province, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. It belongs to the South Asian type of Mongolian race. Kemu is spoken, belonging to the Mon-Khmer language family of the South Asian family.

There are about thousands of Kemu people in China. The Kemu people have always regarded themselves as Dai people and adopted Dai names. But in terms of language or customs, the Kemu people are different from the Dai people. It was not until 2009 that the Kemu people were classified as the Bulang people. In fact, the Kemu people have little relationship with the Bulang people. Differences between cultures made the Kemu people unable to adapt to the national identity of the Bulang people for a while. They still called themselves "Kemu people" or "Bulang Kemu people".

At the entrance to the park, every tourist, including tour guide, must follow the customs of the "Kemu people" and apply "Guanyintu" mud on their faces, cheeks or forehead, otherwise they will be attacked by the Kemu people.

Our tour guide is a young girl in her 20s with two stripes painted on her face. According to her, she would wipe it every time she entered it. If she didn't wipe it off from morning to night, it would turn into a big face.

The tour guide introduced as he walked that the Kemu people would shout "Hooha" when they greeted you, and you would also have to respond to "Hooha". Don't shout it backwards."Hooha" means to compete with him. Throughout the mountains and forests, the sound of "hooting" came one after another.

We walked not far along the path leading up the mountain when we saw a gram of wooden figures roaring past our heads, swinging from tree to tree. It shows that the Kemu people have the habit of living in trees and the skills of picking fruits and hunting animals.

Walking further forward, a group of Kemu girls stopped us and asked us to dance hand in hand with them, demonstrating the Kemu people's hospitality and ability to sing and dance.

Further up, some simple huts were built along the road, some elderly people and children, to show the daily life of the Kemu people.

There is a simple bridge built between trees on this mountain for tourists to experience the fun of walking in the virgin forest.

Finally, we arrived at a simple stage to watch the Kemu people's song and dance performances. The guys and girls on the stage are probably invited from the foot of the mountain, because they are not the same type of girls we danced hand in hand just now.

At the end of the performance, the organizer invited a calligrapher to come on stage to splash ink. The ink was then auctioned off on the spot, starting at 200 yuan, but only one person raised his hand.

After watching the performance and auction, I went down the mountain. Ask the tour guide where the Kemu people really live, and answer that the nearest one is to walk the 8mile mountain road. On the way down the mountain, there was a Kemu people performing walking barefoot on broken glass and cutting off their feet with a knife.

Among the bamboo forests beside the mountain road, bamboo tubes painted with various colors are hung. The tour guide introduced that this bamboo tube contained placenta. The Kemu people intermarried with the same ethnic group and gave birth to poor children in all aspects. They placed the placenta in the bamboo tube to pray for blessings.

Through introduction and simulated viewing, I felt that the Kemu people were backward and primitive. It is reported that the government has invested a lot of money to save the endangered ethnic group. Currently, there are only a few thousand "Kemu" in China. I think if there are more "Kemu" in the future, will the "Kemu" separate from the Bulang people and become the 57th ethnic minority in my country-the Kemu people?