SOCIAL LIFE

NO. I CUSTOMS AND RELIGION OF THE CHIANG GRAHAM II

I. SOCIAL LIFE

NO. I

CUSTOMS AND

RELIGION

OF THE CH lANG — ^GRAHAM

^3I

22.

4 * K * ^- T T

^tfe

& « ^t ^ E

^{'^^}

From

the distance I seethe finemaidenasa small speck.

I cannot bear tothinkofembracingherto

my

bosom.

I call to

my

lover, havemore courage.

Although the scale weight is small, it canweigh a thousand catties.

(Thefirsttwolinesare sung bya man,the lasttwo bya

woman

encouraginghim.)

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^{'1^}

m u m

^{'<^^}

r.XU&&^'A _* ^ ^{4± ^± ^E}

^Iffl

^

The groom is the north star in the sky.

The sister (thegirl singing) isthe heartofthewood-vine inthe backgarden.

The twoare sitting in the (vacant) air.

When

we meet

we

mustbecarefullestpeoplesee.

(Sung byagirl oryoungwoman. Itimplies thatit is

dangerous for thembecause they

may

befound out.) IV.

SOCIAL CUSTOMS

or do Other

work

in their homes. Talking

and

singing are

main

pastimes of those

who

tendthe flocks

on

themountains.

While

gathering

wood

in the forests, people

from

different

homes

often

work

together, chatting

and

singing songs.

When

carrying loads several people are likely to stop at a convenient place to rest, chat,

and

smoke.

During

the first lunar

month

families invite friends

and

relatives to feasts

where

they eat, talk, smoke,

and

drink tea

and

wine.

A

popular

amusement

at such times is "playing lion."

Two men,

covered with an imitation lion's skin, pretend to be a lion

and

dance about

and

fight with a

man, who

isalways victorious overthelion.

At

funerals

and weddings

thereare feasts,

and

people of all ages meet, eat, drink tea

and

wine, smoke,

and

talk. People often

go

to

market

together, visiting as they

walk

or stop to rest. Neighbors oftenvisiteachother

on

thehousetopsorintheirhomes.

The

writer has heard of

no

social dances except those near Li-fan

There

is a taboo against using the funeral dance on

any

other occa- sion. In 1933 ^{the writer} witnessed an evening of dancing at Chiu- tzu-t'eng.

The

dance lasted several hours.

There was

a line of 12

women on

theright

and 6 men on

theleft. First the

men would

sing a line or sentence of a song, dancing as they sang, then the

women would

dance

and

sing the

same

line.

Then

the second line

would

be sung,

and

so on.

As

the

men

or the

women

danced rhythmically to- gether, they

swayed

their

arms and

bodies

from

side to side,

making

graceful stepsinunison, stampingthefeet, quicklyloweringthebody,

and

turning completely

around

^together while singing one sentence.

There was

a large jug of

wine from which

the dancers

drank

fre- quently through small

bamboo

tubes.

When

the

wine became

low, water

was

poured into the jug, so that the

wine became weaker and

weaker. Since this dance is

common among

the Chia-jung,

whose boundary

is only about 7 miles

from

Li-fan,

and

^it is not practiced in

most

oftheCh'iangregion,it

seems

safeto

assume

thatthe Ch'iang near Li-fan learned this dance

from

the Chia-jung. It should be emphasized that dancing

among

the Ch'iang is never

two by

two, a

man

with a

woman. The men and women

are opposite each other,

and

first the

men,

then the

women,

dance in unison.

Some

of the songs have been learned

from

previous dancers,

and

others are im- provised. It is believedby the Chinese that such singing

and

dancing has been learned

from

the Chia-jung

and

the Hsi-fan

^^

^within

thelast

40

^{years.^^}

29Report on research in western Szechwan, The Chinese Ministry of Educa-

tion, p.24, 1943.

NO. I

CUSTOMS AND

RELIGION

OF THE CH lANG GRAHAM

₃₃

When

people quarrel

and

fight, friends exhort

them and

try to

make

peace. If they are not successful, they

may go

to the local Ch'iangleader or

headman, who

is appointed by the Chinese govern- ment. If again they are not successful, the case

may

be tried in the Chinese

yamen

orcourt.

2.

ENGAGEMENTS

Among

the Ch'iang,

engagements

^are family affairs.

The

family of the

man

chooses thegirl or the

woman whom

he is to marry,

and

the

engagements

are

made

through

middlemen

orgo-betweens.

When

the

two

familieshave agreed, a refusal

by

eitherof the

young

people

is not expected.

The main

consideration is the value of the girl or

woman

as a

worker

to the family of the

groom. The

writer heard of a 12-year-old

boy who was

married to a girl of 26.

She was

an excellent worker.

Engagements and

marriages are very expensive to the families of the grooms,

and

often they have to

borrow money.

Every

Ch'iang

man

or

woman

^getsmarried sooner or later.

There

is considerable flirting

and lovemaking among

the

young

people.

Many

of the

"mountain

songs" are songs in

which

love-

making

is encouraged.

If a

young man and

a

young woman

fall in love

and want

to get married, it is necessary to get the consentof their families,

who

will endeavorto

make

the

engagement

through go-betweens.

Sometimes, but not always, the horoscope is consulted. If it indi- cates that the marriage will be unlucky, the

engagement

is not con-

summated.

Always,

when an engagement

^is

made,

the family of the

groom must

agreetogive valuable presents to the family ofthebride.

These

varyindifferent places,

and

withdifferent familiesinthe

same

locality.

In 1933 ^{the writer}

was

toldthat near

Tung-men-

wai

and Mu-shang-

chai the family of the

groom must

give the family of the bride a pig'shead, a couple of jugsof wine, pork, shoes, stockings,

and

^other

things.

At

Ts'a-to in 1941 he

was

told that the gift should include a piece of pork, 3 jugs of wine, 2 large pieces of bread, incense, candles, etc.

At

Ta-ho-p'ing-chai he

was

told that the gift should include 8 rolls of cloth, black or blue but not white,

24

^{catties of} pork, 2 large

wheat

^biscuits, _{3 jars} of wine, i large

wheat

cake called inChinese a

kuo

k'wei, i pair of earrings, i pieceof brass wire,

and

i

pairofputtees.

The

objects,theamount,

and

thevaluevary according tothe abilityof the groom's family togive.

Men and women

mingle freely, talk,

and

sing

"mountain

songs"

when working

ⁱⁿ the fields.

At

night in the

homes

they sometimes

husk

corn

and

singsongs

and

talk untilthe

wee

hoursof the morning.

Sometimes

in the songs they ridicule each other,

and

sometimes they

make

love,

A man and woman may

^secretlygive each other presents such as cookies, cloth, shoes, or embroidery.

When two

lovers can- not

marry

in this life, one

may

give the other a lock of hair as an expression of the

hope

that they

may

be married during a future incarnation.

The woman's husband

does notobject unless they

commit

fornication.

The

following notes

on

Ch'iang

engagement

customs are taken

from

a publication of the Chinese Ministry of Education:

^^

Engagements

are

made by

parents through go-betweens, usually while those

becoming engaged

^are very young.

Sometimes

parents

make engagements

for children while their mothers are pregnant

and

the children still unborn. If both children born are males, they will be regarded as brothers; if both females, as sisters;

and

if one

isagirl

and

the other a boy, theywill be engagedto be married.

Go-betweens do

not give presents to the family of the girl until afterthey

become

engaged.

When

they

go

totry to

make an

engage- ment, they take

money

with them. If the girl

becomes engaged

to the

young man

in question,thenthego-betweens

buy wine and

giveit to her family. After a half a month, the groom's family

buys more wine and

gives ittothegirl's family. This

wine

is called

engagement

wine.

The amount

of

wine

given varies with the size of the girl's family.

The number

of containers of

wine

also varies, but it

must

be

an

even

number,

foreven

numbers

are lucky

and odd numbers

are unlucky.

Among

other things that are given are pork, sugar, rock candy,

and money. The

girl's family gives a feast to friends

and

relatives,

and

^the

engagement

^isregarded ascompleted.