Chapter Four
Hainan— where the Li Ethnic Group lives
Li ethnic group is not only one of the oldest nationalities in China, but also the earliest natives in Hainan Island as well. As early as 10,000 years ago, the forbears of Li people had labored and lived on Hainan Island. Over the years, the Li people have created rich and varied material and cultural wealth and have formed a historical and cultural legacy unique to their own nationality.
What’s the folk customs of the Li ethnic group? Let’s probe into it with topics below.
The Customs of Li
According to the customs of Li nationality, children, both boys and girls, should not live together with their parents when they reach 12 years old. Instead, they live in small houses put up by the side of their parents’ house or by the side of the village. This is called Longgui in the Li language, which is the place for young men and women playing music, singing in antiphonal style and falling in love.
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| Wedding |
Li nationality follows monogamy. Marriage with blood relationship within four generations is strictly prohibited. Intermarriage is not allowed among members of the same clan. A marriage is based on equality between man and woman with respect shown for both of them. Marriageable young man and woman take the night tour method of courting. For example, singing in antiphonal style and palying Dongxiao (a vertical bamboo flute) and Bixiao (nose flute) to express each other’s tender feelings in Longgui. After they fall in love with each other, they respectively tell their parents to the girl’s home to present an engagement ring. The dowry for the girl includes a cow and two silver dollars and the bride and her mother will each have a suit of jacket and skirt made.
Li people hold impressive wedding ceremonies with exciting wedding procedures. The bridegroom takes a procession band to the bride’s home and escorts her back. The bride’s escorting procession forms a long queue. Crowds of people come from all directions for congratulations at the wedding ceremony and toasting and singing last throughout the night.
Harmony among Li people
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| Weaving |
The Li people advocate equality among men and women as well as the virtue of mutual help. They care for both the elderly and the young. They are also a warm-hearted and hospitable people who keep their promises, In their social contact, the Li people emphasis on affection for one another and courtesy. When a man and a woman come across each other in the street, the man should make way for the woman. When pestilence hits a village, in order to prevent the spread of disease, a branch of green tree leaves is hung up above the entrance of the village informing outsiders not to enter the village. When a Li family gives birth to a child, they hang up a branch of tree at the gate to forbid outsiders from entering the house and whoever violates the rule is condemned by the public.
Li nationality attaches importance to friendship and moral justice. When one family puts up a house, people of the whole village will lend a hand. When a person captures a boar, those who see this will have a share of the pork. The Li people make friends with those of other ethnic groups by becoming sworn brothers or sisters. They entertain their guests by killing chickens and serving wine. One when both the hosts and guests are drunken can they be called true friends.
Houses Style of Li
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| House of Li |
Since ancient times, Li nationality has lived in thatched cottages. After liberation, the Li residences in Tongshi and Nankai of Baisha County still retain balustrade houses. The house is 25 meters long and 9 meters wide with coupled doors. People live in the house with their beds erected above the ground and poultry and animals live under them. Such cottages are very form and will not collapse easily even in time of storm. Living in a balustrade cottage, one feels warm in winter and cool in summer.
Festivals of Li People
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March 3rd Festival
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January 5th of Lunar Month is a festival of Li nationality. In the evening, chickens are killed for a family dinner, an occasion for family members, old and young, gather to discuss production plans for the New Year or other matters of the family.
March 3rd Festival is a traditional holiday of the Li nationality since ancient times. It is a time in memory of ancestors, congratulating the newborn, in praise of life and singing odes to heroes. Because the festival is celebrated on the third day of the third lunar month, hence it got its name. On that day, men and women of Li nationality, in their holiday best, dance, exchange toasts and sing in antiphonal style, making a jubilant atmosphere that prevails throughout the night.
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| Pounding Rice |
In addition, the Li nationality worships cattle as a symbol of good luck and wealth. On the Cattle Day Festival, each family sets up a“cattle spirit treasure basin” and hung an ox horn in the house. A cattle god temple is built in the village. During the Cattle Day in July each year, a ceremony of calling back the spirit of cattle is held. On that day, a cattle pen is built in the village. Cattle are let to drink wine to build up its body. In the evening, people are gathered together playing gongs and beating drums, accompanied with dances to call back the spirit of the cattle. They wish that the cattle would grow into herds and the family become rich. On the Cattle Day, the slaughter of cattle is prohibited.
--Are you interested in ethnic groups of China? Then the folk customs of the Li ethnic group in Hainan will be your ideal choice to seek into the ethnic life of them. Varied and special ways of life styles are laid in their daily life. Why not get close to Li people in Hainan to take a glimpse of them to widen your sights of ethnic people?
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