Wedding Customs
01 · Historical Records
The marriage customs of the Yi people in the Meigu area can be traced to very early roots in the epic. As recorded in the Yi epic "Le'oti" (Hnewo Teyy), the ancestors once passed through a matrilineal society in which people knew only their mothers and not their fathers; Shi'erete, in search of his father, endured many hardships and, under the instruction of Zinishise, took a wife and married, from which time they entered the patrilineal era in which sons knew their fathers. With the marriage system shifting from matrilineal to patrilineal, the wedding likewise became a public announcement of the union of two clans. The Yi marriage rites, represented by Meigu County in the heart of the Liangshan Mountains, have with this antiquity and distinctiveness become a rare cultural landscape.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Yi marriage rites, represented by Meigu County in the heart of the Liangshan region, have, through their ancient and distinctive customs, become a rare cultural landscape. According to the Yi epic "Le'oti" (Hnewo Teyy), the Yi ancestors once passed through a matrilineal social period in which they "knew only their mothers and not their fathers"; Shi'erete, searching for his father, underwent many hardships and, under the instruction of Zinishise, took a wife and married, entering the patrilineal era in which sons knew their fathers. The contracting of a Yi marriage is not merely the individual act of one family; it rises to a collective act involving the whole clan, in-laws, neighbors, and other connections, and is also a process of cultural transmission and reception for an ethnic people. The wedding process is a grand display and performance of Yi culture: whether the oral recitations such as kesi, kezhi, and zuo, in which contestants vie in displaying knowledge old and new; the singing and poetic transmission of the melodious niuniuhuo songs; the tradition of bridal laments expressing sorrow at parting and resistance to arranged marriage; the water-splashing, wrestling, shuque, bride-beating, and bride-fetching ceremonies full of entertainment and competition; or customs such as scrambling for dog food, not settling in the husband's home (buluofujia), and the tugging and pulling on the night of the consummation of marriage — all possess profound historical and cultural connotations, express distinctive folk sentiments, and carry multiple cultural values. With changes in modes of production and ways of life, typical and complete forms of Yi weddings are becoming ever fewer.
Oral recitations at the wedding
Recitations of ancient lore and contests of learning run through the wedding, making it first a contest of speech and then a matter of rite.
The weeping song of parting
The nniuhuo songs voice sorrow at parting while the weeping song voices protest at arranged marriages, holding two feelings at once.
Water-splashing, wrestling and shuque
Splashing water, wrestling and shuque games fill the festive hours; the more water thrown, the closer the two families are held.
Beating the kin and fetching the bride
Before the door is entered the groom's party drums and sings and tumbles about; once inside, the mood turns solemn and the order of rites resumes.
Snatching the dog's food
The bridal party must snatch food set as a hurdle before the match counts, a game that turns the family's trial of the groom into play.
The pulling and teasing of the wedding night
The wedding night keeps a custom of pulling and teasing as relatives crowd in, and the rule against the bride's prolonged return home still binds married women.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
These marriage customs are preserved relatively completely in Meigu, and their content is the most heterogeneous: oral recitations such as kesi, kezhi, and zuo, in which contestants vie in displaying knowledge old and new, rank first; the niuniuhuo poetic songs and bridal laments at the giving away of the daughter come next; the ceremonies of water-splashing, wrestling, shuque, bride-beating, and bride-fetching stand in the middle; and scrambling for dog food, not settling in the husband's home, and the tugging and pulling on the night of the consummation rank last. When a marriage is carried through, the choice of spouse, the measure of propriety, and the restraint and abandon of the newlyweds are all governed by rules — it is at once a grand cultural display of the whole ethnic group and a set of rites that merges two families of different surnames into one.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs · Wedding Customs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The content of Yi marriage customs is extremely rich and distinctive: whether the choice of spouse, wedding teasing, abstaining from food and water, water-splashing, carrying the bride on one's back, competing in kezhi (verbal wit), or bridal laments — these ancient traditions all have wide influence and distinctive value. Protecting and rescuing this ancient custom is imperative.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Anfucheng 04-1986
- Mojinghai 05-3058
- Lan Yugen 05-3059
- Lei Qisong
- Wu Yumei
- Fang Weihua
- Guojinglin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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