ResearchonQiangTraditionsinSichuanProvince

ZengLinxi ZhangXiaochen ShiJiaxin etc

Abstract：The Qiang culture has a long history and is an important part of Sichuan culture.Therefore， our team got close to its folklore by both library research and field research， so that we deeply studied their food culture， traditional activities， important festivals， their own professional knowledge and so on. This paper will give a brief introduction about the folk culture from six aspects， including customs， costumes， food， architectures， songs and dances.

Key words： Qiang; Seasonal calendar; Traditional culture

CLC number：T21.6? ? ? ? ? ? Document identification code：A

1? Customs

The Qiang people's lives are full of daily activities. And in the past hundred years， generally accepted customs have been formed which reflect the characteristics of their ethnic and social belief， and which are important parts of the Qiang's community and history. These customs have covered the periods from birth to capping ceremony to marriage and to funeral. There are also some others about manners with which to deal with people， respectful for friendship and etiquette.

1.1? The Qiang Family and Social Stucture

1.1.1? The Structure

The Qiang's social structure is formed mainly according to paternal blood-relationship， but its whole society is controlled by the maternal one. “Yihuazhi” （議話制， the system of deciding matters by discussion） is an important part of the Qiang's laws and mores. The decisions after “Yihua” （the discussions） play important roles in normalizing the Qiang people's behaviors， judging what is right and what is wrong， administrating and restraining their social life. And in a Qiang family， people usually live with several direct relatives.

1.1.2 “Er Mu Zi Ba” （爾母孜巴） -the System of “Yihuaping” （議話坪）

“Yihuaping” （meaning： deciding important matters by discussion） ， in Qiang language， is called“Er Mu Zi Ba”. Whenever an important matter is to be decided in a Qiang village， all the villagers are called on to discuss and deal with it collectively. The topics for discussion by “Yihuaping” in ancient times were among choosing strong men to be guards， electing the village head， deciding whether to proclaim war against another tribe， etc.

1.1.3? Qiang's “Shibi” （釋比） Presides All Religious Services

In Qiang culture， the one who presides religious services is called“Shibi” （witch-doctor） ， who is an on-production religious man， not a woman. Shibi plays a very important role in productive and daily activities and so enjoys very high social status. He takes care of all such affairs as consecrating the Mountain Deity， redeeming rows， paying worship to gods， choosing lucky dates for marriages， exercising funerals for the ceased and exorcizing ghosts to calm down ones spirits， etc..

1.2? Ethnic Ceremonies with Strong Ethnic Features

Among Qiangs traditional festivals， besides the Spring Festival， Tomb-Sweeping Festival， Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival， which are more or less similar to those of the Hans， there are still such unique festivals as Qiang-calendar New Year Festival and Song Festival， with Mountain Worshiping Festival the grandest in Qiangs blessing ceremony. All these festivals reveal the profound connotation of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

1.2.1? Mountain Worshiping Festival， Making Sacrifice to Gods

Mountain Worshiping Festival is the grandest ceremony for the Qiang people to make sacrifice to Heaven and Mountain Gods that has lasted for thousands of years and is held every summer. It takes the village as a unit and is held in front of a tower built with white stone pieces on the hillside in a solemn and mysterious atmosphere. During the sacrifice ceremony， except for the married women who do not participate， all the people have to bring liquor， meat and bread to the meeting. At that time， a white ram， a red rooster， a jar of wine， 1.5 kg pork， a bucket of highland barley， 6.5 kg noodles made of big steamed bun. In addition， according to the regulations， incense wax， firecrackers， paper money should also be prepared and arranged. Finally， people sit on the ground and taste each others sacrificial food， followed by singing and dancing to their greatest joy after the ceremony which reflects the Qiangs cultural idea of harmony between mankind and nature.

1.2.2? Qiang-Calendar New Year Festival

In the course of development， the Qiang people has summed up the ancient Qiang calendar according to the astronomical signs， the sun， the moon and the stars， and the farming laws. The first day of October of the lunar calendar is Qiang-calendar New Year Festival which has become a day for Qiang people to celebrate their harvest and to thank gods. Every family is busy killing pigs and sheep， and steaming “Wada” （瓦達(dá)， a kind of tripod steamed dumpling made of buckwheat flour， meat and tofu）. Some people also use wheat flour to make sacrifices in the shape of cattle， sheep， chickens， horses， etc. to ancestors. On the day of the festival， all the men and women， the old and young in the village put on their festival costumes and gather in the wild with offerings， liquor and food. The celebration is presided over by the respected old people in the stockade， which is generally composed of sacrifice and entertainment.

1.2.3? Qiang Wedding

The traditional marriage etiquette is complicated and grand， which can be roughly divided into two stages： engagement and marriage. The engagement process is divided into “Kai Kou Jiu” （開口酒） — the man invites the matchmaker to express his affection to the woman， “Xiao Ding Jiu” （小定酒） — to engage， and put gifts on the altar， and “Da Ding Jiu” （大定酒） — to agree on the wedding date and for the bridegroom to feast the guests. During this process， the girl is not allowed to show up and has to hide in the boudoir.

As for the wedding ceremony， it includes three parts， namely “female night” （女花夜） ， “formal banquet” （正宴） and “thank-you guests” （謝客）， lasting for three days where people sing and dance till midnight. On the second day， the host prepares another banquet to thank the guests， which means ending of the whole ceremony. On the third day， the bridegroom and his brothers take wine and meat to the bride's home while the bride's family should prepare “Hui Men Jiu” （回門酒） to welcome them.

1.2.4? Funeral

Qiang is an ethnic group that attaches great importance to funeral with a strong ancient style， of which the funeral dance is quite unique in the ceremony. After the natural death of an old man over 60 years old， it is considered that the dead man has lived over a cycle of sixty years. Thus， it is a kind of happy event to send off the one with a funeral dance.

2? Costumes

2.1? Traditional Embroidery Techniques of the Qiang

Qiang people are good at discovering， creating and expressing beauty in the long term of working， among which embroidery is of great importance. According to the unearthed cultural relics， ancient Qiang people wore shells， animal bones and colored stones as ornaments， and tattooed the clothes made of animal skins and hemp with simple patterns. Besides， they even carved the patterns including dragon， fish， auspicious cloud and frog on the special double-ear jars.

2.1.1? The Significance of Embroidery

Qiang embroidery is the folk handicraft and the artistic crystallization of the traditional culture of this people. It is not only a simple decoration， but also a unique characteristic of the art， which is also the measurement of a woman's intelligence and wisdom and an important symbol used to beautify their owns， to show the feelings and good wishes of the carrier. Whats more， young men and women often use it to express the beautiful love as a token of affection. In a word， it is a combination of art and practicality， which is the materialization and symbol of the pursuit of truth， kindness and beauty by the Qiang people.

2.1.2? The Techniques for Producing Embroidery

Qiang embroidery products are mostly made of coarse cloth and cotton thread with a black background and a white pattern， which are mostly used in headband， apron， ribbon， collar， skirt， vamp， etc. And it has distinct regional characteristics， ethnic style and profound cultural connotation in the application of traditional handicraft techniques.

The embroidery patterns are drawn according to a wide range of objects in the nature. To be specific， trees， flowers， fruits， insects， birds， fish and dragons can all be needled into the products， which usually have very strong symbolic meanings. Phoenix and peony， for example， symbolize harvests.

2.2? Traditional Costumes of the Qiang

In the past， Qiang people in Beichuan County planted ramie， flax or hemp to make clothes. Thus， the basic colors of traditional clothing are white （the original color of linen） ， azure and black.

2.2.1? Mens Clothing

As for men， their clothes， generally are plain and easy and they wear long gowns on the upper part of their bodies with sheepskin jackets or cotton jacket outside， and their calves are wrapped with the woolen fabrics or leggings made of linen or cotton. They are also tied with belts made of cotton， hemp or wool around their waists and carried with them hanging knives， embroidered purses or leather pockets.

2.2.2? Womens Clothing

Qiang women's clothing was gorgeous and colorful， especially for the young married and girls and the basic colors were mainly azure， watermelon red or crimson. And the collars， lapels， sleeves， hems and trouser legs were embroidered with colorful laces， inlaid with plum-blossom-shaped silver ornaments. There were also laces on the clothes of middle-aged and old women， but were less flowery. Their waists were tied with aprons called “Wei Yao Zi” （圍腰子） ， which had colorful patterns and silver buttons on the top. Plus， there was a delicate belt with peach blossom on both sides of their waists.

2.3? The Evolution of Costume

The dress of any people is not static and is always influenced by its surroundings or some other factors. So do Qiang people.

2.3.1? The Costumes Described in Qing Dynasty

In mid Qing Dynasty， there was a painter named Xie Sui （謝遂） ， who spent decades drawing images of various ethnic groups in China and its neighboring countries， named Portraits of Periodical Offering （《職貢圖》） ， which is reserved in the Palace Museum of Taipei and has depicted 301 pictures of all Chinese ethnic groups. Among them， there is one picture called the Pennisetum flaccidum nationality and other ethnic groups in Shiquan Country （《石泉縣青片白草等族》） which depicts the daily costumes of Qiang people in Beichuan more than 200 years ago. In this picture， there is one man and one woman. The man has a beard and wears a straw hat with tassels on the top and four feathers on the right side. And he is dressed in a linen gown with round collar， leggings wrapped around his legs， and a hoe for farming. The woman was dressed in a bun， a garland， an open necked blouse， and a long apron， sitting on the ground weaving. There are also text notes on the scroll to the effect that： The clothes of Qiang people in Shiquan were almost the same as those of the Han people， except that they often wore sackcloth clothes. Men wore hats with feathers on them， and women wore embroidered clothes， short dresses and long skirts with laces embroidered on them.

2.3.2? The Influence of Baima People

What Xie Sui painted is quite different from the clothes of Qiang people today in Beichuan. Although until a few decades ago， Qiang people in Beichuan liked to wear their own woven linen clothes， as Xie Sui said， long skirt is the special costume of the Baima （白馬） people in Pingwu （平武）. It is also the custom of the Baima people to put feathers into their hats. It is speculated that the figure depicted by Xie Sui was probably the Qiang people living in the area of Baicao River. According to The Official Tribute Map （《職貢圖》） ， people there were once under the governance of the Baima chieftain of Pingwu in Ming dynasty， which may have strongly influenced the clothing styles of the Qiang.

3? Diet

Qiang's special diet is the fruits of the wisdom of Qiang people， precisely of Qiang women who have created their own diet culture with the hands， making it an important part of Qiang culture and a sign of the ethnic group Qiang.

3.1? Qiang's Wine Culture

Qiang has a long history of brewing wine， the first reason for which is that one branch of their ancestors first engaged in agriculture. Another reason is that according to the ancient Chinese myths and legends， the forerunners of brewing wine in China were in western Qiang. And the wine is brewed from highland barley， barley and corn and is sealed in the jar. While drinking， people usually add water to the wine until it tastes light. What's more， at the time of drinking， the oldest person on the scene first says four words and eight lines of auspicious words in rhyme as “toast”， and then the guests take turns to drink in the light of age. In addition， they can put a long bamboo tube into the jar and drink it at the same time. As for children and women， they often drink sweet wine with honey.

3.2? Ethnic Specialty Food

3.2.1? Glutinous Rice Cake With Potato

After washing， steaming and peeling， potatoes are pestled hundreds of times to make the white and bright colloid appear. In addition， proper fry walnuts， peanuts， sesame seeds and soybeans are put into the bowl and mashed， and then are mixed into the taro and added some red dates and fresh lilies （washed and the cores removed already）， combining with some white honey and lard and steaming for 40 to 50 minutes. When eating， it is usually accompanied with some white sugar or brown sugar. Amazingly， it is good for the elderly and children.

3.2.2? Pig's Blood Cake

Before killing pigs， a clean wooden or porcelain basin is prepared with five catty of buckwheat flour and five catty of corn flour in it . When the butcher draws out the knife and the hot pig blood gushes out， he uses the basin to catch the blood and mix it at the same time. After that， add some wheat flour， pork， lard oil， ginger scallion， salt， pepper powder， Chinese prickly ash powder， garlic bolt and five spice powder （preferably brine powder） followed by mixing and steaming. When eating， cut a large piece of it into small slices， bake it to be crisp on firewood or in a hot pot， so that it is fragrant and nutritious.

4? Architectures

The style of the Qiang peoples residential buildings are determined by their natural environment and economic conditions. The ancient Qiang people in the northwestern grassland who nomadized made the tabernacles be their living rooms. While those living in the upper reaches of Minjiang River and Fujiang River and living on farming prefer to use the local stone known as the building of residential towers room. According to Book of Later Han， the residents of Wenshan County are living in accordance with the mountain， heaping up stones for the house which reaches the height of more than ten zhang and is called Qionglong （邛籠）. This County in Han Dynasty roughly included today's Aba Prefecture and Beichuan， showing that ， the Qiang prevailed to build houses with stone as early as two thousand years ago. And this stone-built houses， usually comprised of two or three layers， are known as Diaofang（碉房）or commonly known as Zhaifang （寨房）.

4.1? Construction of Diaofang

Qiang people mostly live in the alpine canyon area， where the mountain is steep. Thus， the residents make full use of the local resources and utilize stone pulp to build flat-topped houses which are square， and typically consist of 3 layers， with over three-meter height in each.The wooden and stone slabs at the bottom of the roof terrace extend out of the wall to form the eaves and these slabs are densely covered by trees or bamboo branches， with loess and chicken manure compacting on the top， the whole thickness of which is about 0.5 feet. And there are also some holes to pilot water without leaking rain or snow. Additionally， it is warm in winter and cool in summer to live there. As for the functions of the roof terrace， it is designed for threshing， drying food， doing needlework， resting and playing. And between some of those buildings， there even exist the arcades for people to come and go.

4.2? Evolution to Stilted Buildings

With the development of society， the Qiang gradually abandon the stone Diaofang， and opt for the hanging stilted buildings， but they still maintain a preference for stones. For examples，Baochui， the protecting wall for the house， and the partition wall are built with stone.Nowadays， to build a more spacious house on a smaller foundation， the Qiang people often build two-floor houses on the side of the mountain，extending to the direction of valleys at the same time to connect to a three-floor building， with its second floor paralleling to the latters ground floor， several meters below which on the mountain slope standing a few pillars. Wonderfully，the scenery that the wooden stilted building intersected with green trees and bamboo bushes constructed a harmonious picture of the nature， which is full of the Qiang characteristics. On the ground floor， a one-meter-high wall is usually built with stones to keep livestock， while the second floor， which is flush with the foundation， is used for living and the third floor is often filled with miscellaneous items. And on the second floor， there is a fire pond for heating and a wooden hook that can slide freely above the fire， used to hang the pot or teapot to cook and boil water. Whats more， the fire pond is also a good place to smoke preserved meat.

5? Folk Ballads

Qiang is one of the ethnic groups with the longest history in China. It is， however， also a disaster-stricken people. For thousands of years， endless disasters and misfortunes have helped Qiang people form a strong and upright character. In addition， since the Qiang people have lived in the mountains， the hard working conditions and the isolated environment make them straightforward and optimistic. And both old and young are good at singing and dancing， which greatly helps them to enrich their lives and is also the soul of Qiang people， accompanying their whole lives.

5.1? The Functions of Folk Ballads

Singing songs plays an important part for Qiang people in Beichuan in expressing their feelings and transmitting information. When young men and women communicate with each other， they sing love songs to express their love and yearning. And when meeting misfortune， they sing bitter songs to relieve their depression. Besides， on wedding ceremony， they sing festive songs all night long to praise and bless. When their relatives die， they sing funeral songs to express their farewell and missing; when they celebrate the festivals， they sing drinking songs to liven things up， and when they work， they sing folk songs to relieve their fatigue.

5.2? ?The Characteristics of Folk Ballads

There are many kinds of Qiang folk ballads. If it is categorized by the language of the lyrics， they can be divided into two categories： Qiang songs and Chinese songs. The songs sung in Qiang language are mostly ancient traditional folk ballads， each of which has fixed lyrics and distinctive ethnic characteristics， which is the treasure of Qiang folk ballads in Beichuan. However， since? most of the Qiang people in Beichuan nowadays speak Chinese and Qiangic songs are passed down through word-of-mouth， most of the singers at present can not accurately understand the lyrics. And Qiangic songs are usually sung when dancing. In addition to dance songs， there are also some toast songs of Qiang language.

5.3? ?The Categories of Folk Ballads

According to the different singing styles， occasions， time and objects， Qiang folk ballads can be divided into “Haozi” （號(hào)子）， Red Army songs and new folk songs and so on.

5.3.1? Haozi

Haozi is a kind of song sung by Qiang people in the process of the heavy collective physical work to reduce fatigue and match in step with others for effective labor. Basically， the form is that one? lead the singing and everyone else cooperate with him. And the leader is the conductor of the work， and the others unify the actions by chorusing. It is featured with that it doesn't need to be accompanied by any musical instruments， but need to closely cooperate with work and has strong rhythms. As for the content of the lyrics， it is both appealing and witty and the lead singer improvises the lyrics according to his mood and the needs of the workers at that time. Generally speaking， it has only several basic tunes and the number and sequence of repetitions depend on the whole working process.

5.3.2? Red Army Song and New Folk Song

In fact， Beichuan county is an old revolutionary base. In April 1935， the Red Army entered Beichuan， established Soviet regime at all levels in Beichuan and handed down many Red Army songs. In addition， there are new folk songs that spread among the people in the early 1950s during the Land Reform. From these songs， it can be easily felt with people's fighting spirit in the era of Revolutionary War， love for the Chinese Communist and the Red Army， and infinite joy and pride in liberation. Compared with the ancient ones， these songs have some changes and development in melodies and rhythms， and their styles have become more fresh and bright.

6? Folk Dances

Qiang Folk Dances in Beichuan County mainly include Shalang （沙朗）， Sheepskin Drum Dance， etc. Each of them have different forms and styles， for some are tough and rough， some are calm and slow， others are elegant and graceful.

6.1? Shalang

Shalang in Qiangic language means dancing while singing， which is an entertaining activity performed by Qiang people on festive days and is also the most popular form of dancing. On various festivals or even at ordinary gatherings， young and old come together to dance. As for the dance movements， it is single and easily learned： a skilled dancer leads the group， with men and women in a row， or in a hand-in-hand circle， dancing and singing. Most of the songs are old folk ballads， sung in Qiangic language. Half of the group sings one sentence， followed by the other half repeating it. Amazingly， several different dance pieces can be sung together. But nowadays， the recorded are usually recorded in advance.

6.2? Sheepskin Drum Dance

Sheepskin drum used to be the magic tool of Shibi in Qiang culture. When practicing magic， he dances with sheepskin drums in his hands. The movements are quick and powerful， creating a tense atmosphere of fighting against the devil. Later， this kind of dance gradually evolved into folk entertainment dance， which is now called Sheepskin Drum Dance and is performed by men with bold and unrestrained movements， fully showing the masculinity of males. In some performances， there are women's Hand Bell Dance to company it， making it even more unique.

7? Conclusion

As an ancient ethnic group in western China， the rich and colorful culture of the Qiang deserves to be further explored by more people. Due to space limitations， however， this paper only demonstrates the customs， costumes， diets， architectures， folk ballads and dances. We hope that by reading this article， readers will have some basic knowledge and understanding of the Qiang traditions， and will be motivated to contribute to the protection and inheritance of it.

（責(zé)任編輯：武多多）

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