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Library>Culture ABC>Folk Way>Ethnic Food

Lhoba

The Lhoba ethnic minority mainly lives in the Luoyu area in southeastTibetinSouthwest China. At present, it is an ethnic minority with the smallest population inChina. It was officially recognized as a single ethnic group in August 1965. The Lhobas are mainly engaged in agriculture. They also hunt
and do well in archery.

The diet of Lhobas has the unique features of their own. Maize flour and flour rolls are their staple food. Lhobas drink buttered tea. No matter male or female, they love eating chili, smoking and drinking maize wine. They also drink a special kind of yogurt water in the summer.

Roasting is the most common way of food processing for Lhobas. All foods, no matter vegetables or meat, can be roasted.

Lhobas are a hospitable people. Before inviting guests to dinner, the host will first drink a cup of wine and taste every dish to show his sincerity and the edibility of food. Then the host invites the guests to eat. No matter how much dish the host brings on the table, the guests must eat it up.
Otherwise the host will think you dislike it or dishonor him.

Lhobas use rat meat to entertain honorable guests. They seldom cook it for ordinary guests. If the host’s family hunts a prey, the guests will share a portion like the family members. If a woman gives birth to a baby, relatives and friends will visit and offer congratulations, and send an arrow as
a gift.

It is also one of the traditional customs of Lhobas that, if a family entertains guests, the neighbors will also come to help. They will not come with empty hands, but with some food such as a bottle of highland barley wine, a piece of butter, a block of roasted meat or a string of cheese, etc.

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Library>Culture ABC>Folk Way>Ethnic Costumes

Tatar

Men of Tatar ethnic minority group often wear an embroidered white shirt with a black short waistcoat or a black gown, black trousers and a cat with black and white embroidered patterns. Young men prefer a peaked cap. In winter, Tatar men wear black hat made of curly fur and long leather boots;
herdsmen usually wear a kind of leather shoes made by themselves.

The women like white, yellow and purple dresses inlaid with pleated edges. They wear colored caps decorated with beads, and large veils over the caps. They adorn themselves with all sorts of ornaments such as earrings, necklaces of red beads, fingerings and brooches, etc.

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Library>Culture ABC>Folk Way>Ethnic Marriage

Dongxiang

Influenced by the Islamism, marriages of Dongxian ethnic minority is basically decided by parents while the young pair have no chance to talk with each other face to face before wedding. In most cases, the matchmaker serves as the person to convey messages for the young pair.

Generally, the bridegroom’s family first sends a matchmaker to the bride’s family to propose a marriage. After the bride’s side consents, the groom’s family should present a ceremonial gift, which is generally composed of severaljin(1jin= 0.5 kg) of refined tea and several pieces of clothes. Then
comes the official engagement procedure, i.e. delivering betrothal gifts. At the appointed time, the groom, his father, uncle, the matchmaker together with the attending guests altogether will take the betrothal gifts to the bride’s house.

Betrothal gifts fall into two categories: one category includes tealeaves, brown sugar, cakes, etc.; the other includes clothes, cash, earrings, bracelets, etc, which have been set in earlier discussions. In some mountainous areas of Dongxian ethnic minority, there are the practice of sending
steamed buns as betrothal gifts to indicate a bumper harvest next year for the bride’s parents and the daughter-in-law.

On the day of the wedding ceremony, the bridegroom and the party to escort the bride to the groom’s house comes to the bride’s family. An imam reads the marriage testimony. It is by then that the marriage is officially acknowledged by the society. Before the reading of marriage testimony, a
ceremony of accepting the bride-price will be held. According to the current economic condition of the groom’s family, both sides have a discussion and make a bargain. And the bride-price is finally determined by the imam.

When arriving at the main gate of the bridegroom’s house, the bridegroom’s brother in the escort must carry in his arms the bride down from the carriage and into the courtyard. At the climax of the wedding ceremony, people also tease the bridegroom’s father or uncles by wiping pan ashes to their
faces, dressing them in sheep fur-lined coats with inside out, tying small bells to their waists, putting ragged hats on their heads and symbolically tying up their hands and feet or forcing them to ride the donkey inversely. This is called “making fun of the father-in-law”.

Smashing pillows in the rough horseplay at weddings is extremely interesting. In the nuptial chamber, some young fellows smash pillows that they have prepared beforehand towards the veiled bride sitting at a corner of thekang(bed-like place for sitting in countryside), and lady friends of the
bride try to protect the bride form a defense line by catching the pillows and smashing them back, laughing and shouting. Then, the lady friends pull away the bride’s veil to unveil her appearance to all the people, then open the box cage to display valuable dowry. By then, it is already midnight
and the bridegroom and bride then enter the bridal chamber to have a nice sleep.

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