Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture is the largest Yi Autonomous Prefecture in the country. It is located in the southwest of Sichuan Province, starting from the Dadu River in the north, Jinsha River in the south, Zhaotong, Yunnan in the east, and Garze Prefecture in the west. The autonomous prefecture governs 17 counties and cities. , covering an area of ??more than 60,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 4 million. The Yi ethnic group, the main ethnic group in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, calls itself Nuosu, Nisu, Nasu, Luoluo, Sani, etc. Its wedding customs are extremely unique and interesting.
Engagement
Engagement is called "Wu Rang Mu" in Yi language. It is the main sign that both parties have officially entered into marriage. As a proverb of the Yi people goes: "The ancestors' spirits can be played with, but the marriage cannot be played with." Once the engagement ceremony is held, both parties will no longer be able to renege on the engagement. The engagement ceremony involves splashing water, wiping pots with smoke, and killing pigs and sheep. When the man's messenger was about to arrive, the woman's family called the neighbor women, hid buckets and basins of water, and smeared black pot smoke on their hands, waiting for the arrival of the guests. When the betrothed guests arrive, women from all directions flock to them, pouring water on the guests and wiping smoke from the pots. The guests must act brave and tenacious, cover their heads with clothes or rags, and move forward bravely in the face of the "storm and rain". , breaking through the girls' defense lines and rushing into the house. The girls would chase after them, follow them into the house and splash around, making all the guests look like drowned rats, and all the white faces turned into black faces. . When splashing water and wiping pot smoke, guests cannot be angry, and guests and hosts can attack each other.
After pouring water and wiping the pot with smoke, toast the guests with wine and roast meat (called "She Fu Ze" in Yi dialect). The host respectfully brought the wooden plate with roasted meat and wine glass to one of the guests with both hands. The guest also extended his hands to accept it, thirsty for wine first and then tasted the roasted meat. You can finish the wine in the cup, but you cannot finish the meat on the plate. Because if you can drink, you are a hero, if you can eat meat, you are a bear. After the guest drank wine and tasted the roasted meat, he took out the money from his bag and put it on the wooden plate. The money put on the plate is the "Wu Rang Ze" (engagement gift). It is usually an odd number, but more often it is a "nine" number, such as nine thousand nine hundred yuan, nineteen thousand nine hundred yuan, etc. "Nine" means "ancient" in Yi language, and "ancient" means long-lasting and solid. Therefore, the Liangshan Yi people like the number nine. In addition, the Yi people also like "four", which is considered unlucky, in weddings. For example, the bride price is 40,000 yuan, and the engagement time is at four o'clock, etc., because "four" means "er" in Yi language. "Er" means "want", that is, the man really wants the woman, and he will treat her well in the future and only want her for the rest of his life.
During the engagement ceremony, the wedding date must also be set. Generally speaking, the wedding date is determined by the man, but the woman’s opinion must be listened to. It mainly depends on the zodiac signs and discord of both parties. Bimo must be asked to calculate the date. .
Before marriage
The Yi people are ashamed to relieve themselves (especially between opposite sexes). When a woman gets married, it is a man who gets married and sends her off. During the wedding, there is a requirement to relieve oneself in full view of the fathers and brothers. A few days before the wedding, the bride must fast and only eat one or two eggs every day, drink a few water, or eat a small piece of buckwheat cake. She must also abstain from water on the wedding day. According to the custom of the Yi people, the longer the bride reduces food, the more polite and perseverant she will appear. In addition, regardless of whether you really want to get married or not, you must show a sad look. It is better to cry when the wedding day is approaching. If a girl seems happy and carefree before getting married, and does not know how to eat in moderation, she will be ridiculed and criticized.
Welcoming the bride
On the eve of the wedding, the groom’s family sends two smart and brave people to serve as "line wood" to bring gifts and the bride's wedding dress money to the bride's house to explain the intention of the proposal. . The girls in the woman's village stored water for waiting, set up obstacles everywhere, poured water on them, and wiped pot smoke on them, and they would not stop until the two of them looked less like humans than ghosts.
In the evening, the bride’s sisters all come to accompany her. When the bride cries, the female companions also cry and sing. Especially when bidding farewell to their parents, they complain about the pain of marriage and cry and make speeches. It is sad and touching, and it is hard to leave. From this, a number of popular songs such as "Crying Marriage Song", "Jia Da" (Keep it), "Song of Curse Matchmaker" and so on were derived.
The next morning, the bride's family invites a woman with many healthy children to comb and dress the bride's hair. After combing her hair, she puts on earrings, a headdress, a hood, and a new dress and colorful skirt. When the rooster crows, the bride is rushed to sit under the fruit tree in front of the house. They hold tree sticks and water basins in their hands, ready to beat up the bride-to-be who comes to touch her.
At this time, an elf representative sent by the man, surrounded and protected by other people, tried his best to touch and kiss her despite being unable to fight back or scold him. As long as they touch the colorful veil on the bride's head, the bride is considered to be a member of her husband's family. At this time, the "defense battle" is stopped, and everyone surrounds the bride and starts to go on her way. The bride's relatives and neighbors are all present, ranging from a dozen to dozens or hundreds. In the local dialect area, all the people who send relatives off are men, and there are no women. This has been the case since ancient times. In Shicha and Yinuo dialect areas, a small number of women participate in sending off relatives. The Yi people in Liangshan usually walk when sending off their brides. Only the bride or the seniors sending off their brides can ride a horse. It can be said that they travel through mountains and rivers, and the journey is dusty. If the nieces of the bride who live along the way know that the bride is passing by, they will receive her on the road, make fried rice for the bride, and toast the bride-to-be. This is a kind of etiquette, a kind of wish, and a kind of family affection.
What is very special when welcoming a bride is that there will be a farce of snatching the bride, but this time it is not at the bride’s house, but on the way. Robbery has a performance component. It is lively, festive, and peaceful. It is a form of marriage expression for the Yi people. On this day, the newly dressed bride is sent halfway by her mother's family, while the groom's family grabs the bride on the way, and the woman's family, relatives and friends symbolically catch up behind her. A marriage handover ceremony. Marriage robbery is not only a form of respect for the woman, but also an ancient form of marriage among the Yi people.
Wedding banquet
When the bride-to-be team arrived near the groom’s home, they stopped to rest. The groom’s side, men, women, old and young, came to greet him. The groom's family will send a eloquent person to bring a little money, cigarettes, wine, a little salt, and a sheepskin to greet the guests, offer cigarettes, and toast to the guests. Then, the send-off team will send a few strong young men to the groom's house. "Grab the meat to eat." These young men swaggered to the door of the groom's house, walked to the person in charge of distributing the meat, and stood in front of him. The girls on the groom's side stood in line opposite, waiting for the man in charge of dividing the meat. After handing a basket of steaming meat to the hands of the young men, the girls rushed forward, surrounded the young men, and tried their best to snatch the meat from their hands. The young men resisted with all their strength and protected the meat in their hands from them. For a moment, they were fighting in a melee, twisting into a ball, laughter, shouts, and cheers intertwined together, which was earth-shattering and the atmosphere was extremely lively.
After all this was over, the bride and the wedding team entered the house. After the bride enters the door, an old woman with prosperous descendants blesses the bride with wine and fried food, and then combs her loose hair into double braids, ties it up with a red headband, and coils it above her forehead. Then the wedding banquet begins. At the wedding banquet, everyone eats beef, sheep, and pork, and drinks bowls of wine. Seven or eight people sit in a circle and sit on the floor. The bride and the young man who carries the bride dine together, and no one else is allowed to dine with the bride. After dinner, the host and guest drink together, compete in songs, exchange proverbs, guess riddles, etc. They often stay up all night and then stop after they have exhausted their fun.