Li Nationality

Li nationality, the earliest resident of Hainan Island, belongs to the Li language branch of Zhuang Dong language family of Sino Tibetan language family. Most Li people can also speak Chinese. In the past, Li people did not have their own national language and commonly used Chinese. In 1957, with the help of the party and the government, they created Li language based on Latin letters, and their belief is still in the primitive religious stage.

Li people mainly live in Lingshui, Baoting, Sanya, Ledong, Dongfang, Changjiang, Baisha, Qiongzhong, Wuzhishan and other counties and cities in Hainan Province, and the rest are scattered in Wanning, Danzhou, Tunchang, Qionghai and other counties and cities in Hainan Province, as well as Guizhou Province.

According to the sixth national census in 2010, the total population of Li nationality is 1463064.

There were many different views on the ethnic origin of Li Nationality in the past. After the founding of new China, Chinese scholars, based on literature records, combined with a large number of archaeological, linguistic and ethnological materials and previous research results, most people believe that the Li nationality developed from the ancient Yue nationality, especially the Luo Yue, a branch of the "Baiyue".

Since the 1950s, a large number of Neolithic cultural sites have been found in the Li inhabited area of Hainan. From the analysis of the cultural nature of the unearthed cultural relics, they should belong to the same cultural system as the Neolithic culture with distinctive Baiyue cultural characteristics found in Guangdong and the southeast coastal areas, especially the primitive cultural relics found in Qinzhou, Guangxi and Zhanjiang, Guangdong. In addition, as an important feature of Baiyue culture, bronze drums were unearthed on Hainan Island after the Ming Dynasty. After the founding of new China, many bronze drums were also found in Li nationality areas, which are basically the same in shape as those found in Guangxi.

From the perspective of language family, Li language and Zhuang, Buyi, Dong, Shui, Dai and other languages derived from the ancient Yue nationality belong to the Zhuang and Dong language family of the Sino Tibetan language family. They have significant common characteristics in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, indicating that they have a close origin relationship with Zhuang, Buyi, Dong, Shui, Dai and other nationalities.

Many characteristics of the living customs of the ancient Yue people, such as haircut tattoo, chicken divination, nest residence, etc., can be found not only in the historical documents of the Li ancestors, but also in the real life of the Li people in Hainan. For example, the tattoos of Li women, the Ganlan boat house in the Nankai area of Baisha, and the chicken divination are all relics of the ancient Yue people. In terms of marriage customs, Li, Zhuang, Dong and other nationalities have the custom of "not leaving their husband's house". Li's "playing longboudoir" is also similar to Zhuang's "playing public house" and Dong's "sitting sister".

According to archaeological materials, it can be inferred that the ancestors of the Li nationality settled in Hainan Island 3000 years ago during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties and lived in the primitive matriarchal clan commune. At that time, people lived on hills and platforms close to rivers and used stone axes, stones, shovels and other tools to carry out primitive hoe farming, hunting, fishing and other production activities of "cutting down and burning up". Collection also played a very important role in the life of Li ancestors. From the large number of unearthed pottery pieces, the shapes of pottery are diverse and large, which shows that the handicraft of making pottery was quite developed at that time. The excavation of stone and ceramic spinning wheels shows that people at that time had mastered the original textile technology. Some relics can be found in historical documents and modern ethnological investigations about the matriarchal clan commune system of Li nationality. According to the documents of the Song Dynasty, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Wang erniang, the "commander of 36 caves" of Li women in Qiongshan County, was "the head of Li,... When erniang died, the woman could continue her career". It was also recorded in the documents of the Qing Dynasty that when disputes occurred within the Li Nationality in the past, they could be calmed down as long as women intervened or mediated.

This situation still existed before the founding of new China. For example, when there was a mechanical struggle between maozhidong and maodaodong, the widow came forward to mediate; When armed fights took place in Maogui Township, women were used as messengers to convey espionage. It reflects that in the period of matriarchal clan commune in primitive society, women played an important role in agricultural production and were respected by people in the society. The marriage custom of "not leaving the husband's family" retained in the traditional society of Li nationality may be the residue of dual marriage in the period of matriarchal clan commune. In the central area of Wuzhishan, Li women used to go back to their mother's house to live with their brothers and parents after their husband died. If a woman wants to "drive out ghosts" when she is ill, she must pray for the "ancestral ghosts" of her mother's family. When she is ill, she must be carried back to her mother's family, buried in her mother's public cemetery after death, and the relics of the dead belong to her brothers. It may be a remnant of the kinship of the matriarchal clan commune. Strictly abide by the habit of intermarriage between different blood groups. Some areas are also used to taking the names of animals and plants, such as Buffalo and plantain, as the title of the same blood group. These may be the remnants of clan exogamy and totem belief in the primitive society.

About before the Qin and Han Dynasties, Han people had been to the northern coastal areas of Hainan Island to engage in business, agriculture and fishery production. They and the Li people jointly developed the treasure island of the motherland and developed economic and cultural exchanges between the two peoples. At the turn of Qin and Han Dynasties, Qin Longchuan ordered Zhao Tuo to occupy Lingnan, establish himself as the king of Nanyue, govern Nanyue and "serve the king of Baiyue". Its power and influence should extend to Hainan Island. In the first year of Yuanfeng in the Han Dynasty (110 BC), after Fubo led his troops to settle South Vietnam, the Han Dynasty officially began to set up zhuya and daner counties on Hainan Island. Ma Yuan, general Fubo of the Eastern Han Dynasty, led his troops to the South China Sea, Fuding zhuya and resettling zhuya county. The establishment of the county system in Hainan Island by the Han Dynasty strengthened the rule over the Li people and objectively made the relationship between Hainan Island and the mainland closer.

In the Liang Datong Middle School of the Southern Dynasty (540-541), Yazhou was reset because more than 1000 local bureaucrats (including Li ancestors) in daner were "attached" to Mrs. Xian. Mrs. Xian was an outstanding political leader of the southern Vietnamese in the 6th century. At that time, southwest Guangdong, Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island were under her jurisdiction. In the early Sui Dynasty, Mrs. Xian led her subordinates to the Sui Dynasty and made meritorious contributions to "harmonizing and collecting Baiyue". Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty also gave her 1500 households in tangmuyi, Linzhen county (now Sanya City). As Mrs. Xian is committed to the cause of national unity and national unity, she not only has a close relationship between the Central Plains and Hainan Island, which is conducive to the consolidation of the central government, but also has a certain impact on promoting the social and economic development of Li nationality.

In the Tang Dynasty, five prefectures and 22 counties of Qiong, ya, Wan'an, Dan and Zhen were established on Hainan Island, strengthening the rule of the Central Dynasty over the Li area. The residential pattern of Li and Han has gradually evolved from "Han in the north and Li in the South" to "Han outside and Li inside" (basically until the 1950s). In the Tang Dynasty, the agricultural production of Hainan Island developed greatly, and the tropical biological resources were gradually recognized, developed and utilized. The specialties of Hainan, such as hawksbill, five-color rattan, panbanbu, incense, sugar and beads, were loved by people in the Central Plains, and many of them were imported as "tribute" or commodities into the middle place. Therefore, in the coastal areas of Hainan Island where Li and Han live together, there has been a phenomenon of "taking the rich as the hero, merging the rich and the rich, serving the poor and weak, and not avoiding capture and plunder". However, the social development speed of the vast mountainous areas inhabited by Li ancestors is still quite slow, and the original backward situation and socio-economic structure have not changed much.

In the Song Dynasty, a large number of Han population migrated to Hainan Island for various reasons. They worked hard with the ancestors of Li nationality, which greatly promoted the development of Hainan Island and Li society, and further improved the level of productivity. Both agricultural and handicraft production have made remarkable progress, and commodity transactions in the form of barter between Li and Han are quite frequent. In terms of agricultural production, the agricultural production technologies and tools in Danzhou are no different from those commonly seen in the Central Plains, and water conservancy and irrigation are developed. The introduction of rice seeds in Zhancheng can seed in summer and harvest in autumn, increasing the yield. Local ramie can be harvested four times a year. Li women "work and spin, get colorful Chinese soil, remove five-color silk and kapok, pick and weave it into a single curtain, and pure kapok and gibbet as cloth". The "Li Brocade", "Li Dan" and "Li curtain" woven by Li women are bright in color, beautiful and applicable, which are highly appreciated by people in the Central Plains. The aloes, betel nuts, red rattan, rosewood and other specialties produced in Litong are also exported to the mainland through the trafficking of Han businessmen. With the development of social productive forces, the degree of feudalism in some areas of the Li nationality has also deepened than in the past, and some rich upper classes have slaves. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a Li "leader" named Fuhu in Qiongzhou, and "border officials tasted ten of their slaves and maidservants". In the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan government also set up local officials in Li areas and used the upper leaders of Li to rule the working people, which marked the new development of Li society after the 12th century. Of course, social development is also unbalanced. In many so-called "Shengli" areas, social and economic development is still relatively backward.

It is particularly worth mentioning that the experience of Huang Daopo, a famous weaver in Chinese history, vividly reflects the long-standing close relationship between the Li and Han nationalities. When Huang Daopo was young, she wandered to Yazhou (now Sanya City), where Li ethnic women taught her textile techniques such as wrong yarn, color matching, heald, pulling flowers and so on. After living in the Li nationality area for 40 years, Huang Daopo returned to her hometown Wunijing (now Huajing Town, Shanghai) during the reign of yuan, yuan and Zhen (1295-1297), and taught the local working women a set of textile technology she had learned from the Li people. She also carefully reformed and made into a hand-operated mixer, a thick string bow and the most advanced pedal spinning wheel in the world at that time, which could spin three yarns at one hand, which greatly improved the work efficiency of cotton ginning, cotton springing and cotton spinning. Huang Daopo applied Li's textile tools and technology to cotton textile in combination with local silk weaving technology. The quilt, mattress, belt and Yue (towel) are made of flowers, grass, birds, animals, broken branches, Tuanfeng, chess games and other patterns. They are beautiful and picturesque, and are very popular. For a time, the cotton fabrics produced in Songjiang area are sold all over the country, The textile level in Chinese history has been further improved. Huang Daopo's outstanding contribution to the development of China's cotton textile technology reflects the diligence and wisdom of the people of Li and Han, condenses the close friendship between the people of Li and Han, and jointly writes a glorious chapter of unity and friendship in China's textile history.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the mode of production in the feudal society in Li areas had occupied a dominant position. In the Li ethnic area near the Han District, the social economy and culture of Li ethnic group have made great progress, and the exchanges between the people of Li and Han ethnic group are becoming more and more frequent. The agricultural development level of Li nationality has been consistent with that of local Han nationality. Rice is cultivated twice a year. Iron farm tools imported from Han area, such as plow, hoe and sickle, are widely used. Some areas also master the advanced irrigation method of automatic water transportation by bamboo crown block day and night. Regular market trade developed. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Danzhou had "markets" in local cities and "fairs" in villages and towns. Cattle, betel nuts and coconuts produced in Li areas became important goods imported into the mainland.

With the deepening of feudalization, during this period, the land in most Li areas has been highly concentrated, and the exploitation of land, cattle rent and wage labor has been very serious. Not only did the feudal dynasty occupy the fields in the Li area as "tuntian" and "guantian", but the local local officials and houses also cruelly oppressed and exploited the Li people. It aroused the great dissatisfaction of the Li people and stimulated the continuous Li peasant uprising. Only the Li Nationality Area in the hinterland of Wuzhishan still retains the residual co farming organization of the original commune.

In 1840, after the Opium War, Western powers forced China to open Haikou (then known as qiongzhoukou) as a "trading port". A large number of opium, cotton yarn, kerosene and other foreign goods flooded Hainan Island. Local specialties such as cattle, puzzle and betel nut produced in Li areas were also plundered and exported cheaply by Western businessmen. This has made the commercial capital of Hainan Island active. Not only fairs engaged in commodity trading have appeared in the relatively backward Li inhabited areas in the past, but also enterprises specializing in commodity production have been established in some areas, such as salt farms and rubber farms. These activities stimulated the development of local commodity economy and objectively destroyed the original natural economic foundation and farmers' family handicraft industry in Li minority areas. At the same time, the deepening of Western missionaries also introduced Christianity and Catholicism into Li areas. During the Guangxu period in the late Qing Dynasty (1875-1908), Feng Zicai supervised the military affairs of Quan Qiong. After suppressing the people's uprising of Li and Han, Feng formulated 12 articles of association of "Fu Li", paying more attention to the economic production and development of Li nationality. Most of these measures could not be implemented because of the corruption and demise of the Qing government.

After the establishment of the Republic of China, Dr. Sun Yat Sen specifically designed the strategy and method of building Hainan Province in 1923 and advocated the development of Hainan. In 1933, the then Guangdong provincial government appointed Chen Hanguang as the "Fu Li" commissioner and established the "Fu Li Commissioner Office" in Hainan. Although the real purpose of Chen Hanguang's "Fu Li" is to "suppress the Communist Party", his work has also played a positive role objectively, such as opening up roads, establishing schools, setting up industries, teaching planting and handicraft technology, changing customs, Li Han intermarriage and so on. In particular, his proposal to the Guangdong Provincial Government in early 1935 to delimit the territory of Li on the island and establish Li County led to the formal establishment of Baoting, Ledong and Baisha counties, which effectively developed the Li area of Wuzhishan.

In order to resist the exploitation and oppression of the reactionary rulers of previous dynasties and the reactionary upper class of the nation and seek the right of national survival, the Li people have launched a full-fledged resistance struggle since the Han Dynasty. In 87 BC, in order to resist the excessive collection of the governor of zhuya, the ancestors of the Li nationality revolted and attacked and killed the governor Sun Xing. In the Tang Dynasty, the heavy burden of taxes and tribute and the harassment of corrupt officials aroused the resistance of the Li people. In the early years of Qianfeng (666-667), the Li people captured Qiongzhou city. In the fifth year of Xiantong of Yizong (864), the Li people's uprising led by Jiang phosphorus broke out again.From the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, the Li people revolted on a large scale, that is, as many as 18 times. Among them, the uprising led by Wang Juqi of Qiongshan in the Southern Song Dynasty, the uprising of the Li people of Jiyang army in response to Chen Gongfa and Chen Mingfu of the Han nationality, and the uprising led by Wang Ma, Wang Liuju and Wang Guanfu of the Yuan Dynasty were large-scale.

In the Ming Dynasty, among the more than 30 uprisings of the Li people, 14 were large-scale. In the 14th year of Hongzhi (1501), Danzhou Funan snake uprising was the most powerful, "three prefectures and ten counties responded to the wind", which dealt a heavy blow to the rulers of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1699, the Li people in Qiongshan County revolted and broke through many military strongholds of the Qing government in Li areas. In July of the 13th year of Daoguang (1833), more than 1000 poor farmers of Li and Han nationalities led by Li Yayi of Danzhou Li nationality and Jiang Fengzhang of Han nationality carried out an armed struggle against usurers, Han landlords and profiteers, which dealt a heavy blow to the rulers of the Qing Dynasty.

After the Opium War in 1840, the invasion of imperialist forces aggravated the suffering of the people of Li and Han nationalities. The people of Li and Han nationalities launched many heroic and unyielding struggles against imperialism and feudalism. In the winter of the eleventh year of Guangxu (1885), the people's armed forces of the Li and Han nationalities in Lingao and Danxian revolted and persisted in the struggle for more than a year. In the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897), more than 4000 Li people in duogangdong, Yazhou, after severely punishing the pawns of the American imperialist church who often did evil, set off a massive anti imperialist and anti feudal struggle, which wrote a glorious chapter in China's modern revolutionary history.

During the great revolution, the Communist Party of China carried out revolutionary work on Hainan Island. In June 1926, the QiongYa local committee of the Communist Party of China was established in Haikou, and then Party organizations were rapidly established in the northwest and Central South of Hainan Island, and mass revolutionary organizations such as trade unions, peasant associations and women's associations were established in Lingshui and other counties. In 1927, the Party established revolutionary armed forces on Hainan Island and once liberated Lingshui County. On December 16, 1927, Lingshui County Soviet government, the first county-level Soviet regime in Hainan Island, was established in Lingshui County, and opened up a rural revolutionary base. At the same time, QiongYa local committee of the Communist Party of China was changed to QiongYa special committee of the Communist Party of China. Soon, the "QiongYa workers' and peasants' revolutionary army" (later changed to "QiongYa workers' and peasants' Red Army") was established.

During the agrarian revolution, many Li areas established worker peasant democratic regimes and expanded the revolutionary armed forces. In Qiongzhong, Baoting, Lingshui, Yaxian (now Sanya) and other Li areas, rural revolutionary base areas were established, and peasant associations, militia, Youth League, women's associations, relief associations and other organizations were established to carry out a vigorous agrarian revolution. In the winter of 1936, the CPC QiongYa special committee sent some party members and revolutionary cadres to the areas inhabited by Li and Han nationalities in Changjiang and Thanksgiving (today's Dongfang City) counties in the west of Hainan Island to carry out the Anti Japanese and national salvation movement, mobilize the masses and organize the first Anti Japanese attack team of the people of all nationalities in Chang and Gan areas.

After the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of QiongYa reached an agreement on cooperation against Japan, forming an anti Japanese national united front. In 1938, QiongYa workers' and peasants' Red Army was reorganized into "the independent brigade of the people's Anti Japanese Self Defense Corps in the 14th command area of Guangdong Province" (hereinafter referred to as "QiongYa Anti Japanese Independent brigade"), and Feng Baiju was the captain of the independent brigade. On February 10, 1939, the Japanese army invaded Hainan Island on a large scale. Everywhere they went, they burned, killed, raped and committed all kinds of evil. The people of Li and Miao Nationalities suffered unprecedented disasters. The Anti Japanese Independent brigade formed by the people of all ethnic groups on Hainan Island, which is rich in revolutionary tradition, launched fierce resistance in TANKOU, south of Haikou City, sniped at the aggression of the Japanese invaders, and greatly inspired the Anti Japanese fighting spirit of the people of all ethnic groups on the island.

When the Japanese invaders madly invaded Hainan Island, the Communist Party of China led the people of all ethnic groups to go deep behind the enemy and carry out extensive guerrilla warfare. It has successively established Anti Japanese Democratic base areas in more than 10 townships at the junction of Qiongshan and Wenchang counties, Meihe area where Li, Miao and Han people live together at the junction of Lingao and Chengmai counties, and the junction of Danxian county (now Danzhou), Baisha, Wanning, Lehui (now Qionghai), Baoting and Lingshui counties. The people of Li, Miao and Han nationalities in the base areas enthusiastically joined the army. In March 1939 alone, at the junction of Changgan and Ledong, more than 300 Li and Han youth participated in the Anti Japanese guerrillas and launched the Anti Japanese war.

After the Japanese army occupied Hainan, a large number of people of the local authorities of QiongYa of the Kuomintang retreated to Baisha County, the hinterland of Wuzhi Mountain. Not only did the military expenses bring a heavy burden to the local Li and Miao people, but also the Kuomintang army wantonly killed Li and Miao villagers. All these made the Li and Miao people understand that only by taking up arms and driving the Kuomintang diehards out of Wuzhi Mountain can the Li and Miao people have a way out. In June 1942, Wang Yi, the reactionary leader of the Kuomintang, lured the Miao people in Qiongzhong down the mountain under the pretext of issuing the so-called "citizen's card", madly fired machine guns, and collectively slaughtered more than 1000 Miao people. This heinous crime has further aroused the strong resistance of the people of all nationalities in Lebanon and Miao. In August 1943, under the leadership of Wang Guoxing, Wang Yujin and Wang Zhengcheng, more than 2000 people of Li and Miao Nationalities in Hongmao and other places of Baisha County first raised the banner of righteousness, and all localities responded one after another. The number of uprising people increased to more than 20000, driving the Kuomintang government and army out of the border areas of Baisha, Baoting and Ledong counties, annihilating more than 300 enemies and seizing a large number of weapons. Baisha uprising provided favorable conditions for the establishment of Wuzhishan base area and played an important role in the history of Hainan people's revolutionary struggle and the history of China's ethnic minority revolutionary struggle.

In the spring of 1944, the original independent brigade of the people's Anti Japanese Self Defense Corps was renamed QiongYa people's Anti Japanese guerrilla independent column (hereinafter referred to as QiongYa column). By the time of the victory of the Anti Japanese War, QiongYa column had grown to more than 7000 people and liberated 3 / 5 of the island.

In 1946, the Kuomintang Chiang Kai Shek army launched a brazen attack on the Baisha liberated area. Under the leadership of the CPC QiongYa special committee and the support of the people of Li and other nationalities, QiongYa column smashed the enemy's crazy attack again and again. In the summer of 1946, according to the instructions of the Party Central Committee, the CPC QiongYa special committee decided to open up Wuzhishan base area, including Bai, Bao and Le counties. In June 1948, Bai, Bao and Le counties were completely liberated. The Communist Party of China led the people of all ethnic groups to carry out the anti bandit and anti hegemony and land reform movements, vigorously trained Ethnic Cadres and improved the people's material and cultural life. This greatly mobilized the revolutionary enthusiasm of the local Li people. Together with the Han people, they actively joined the army and killed the enemy bravely. In 1948 alone, more than 4000 Li youth participated in the QiongYa column. The Li people organized stretcher teams and transport teams to follow the troops around Hainan Island. Through long-term revolutionary struggle, a large number of Li cadres have thrived. They led the masses in an arduous struggle. By September 1948, they had liberated more than 70 towns and vast rural areas on Hainan Island and annihilated more than 5000 enemy troops. With brilliant achievements, the Li people welcomed the Liberation Army South and liberated Hainan Island in the spring of 1950.

"He Mu system" is a unique production and social organization of Li nationality. "He Mu" is a free translation of Chinese. Li language is called "Wen Mao", which means "family". In the past, it was generally called "Weng Tang Wogong" or "Weng Tang Da", which means "everyone works together" or "everyone's field". In its original sense, it may be a more primitive family commune. A Hemu includes several families, each family has a blood relationship, and later non blood members gradually participate. The main means of production (mainly land) in Hemu is uniformly operated by Hemu, and all members of Hemu work together and are equally distributed according to households.

The productivity level of "he Mu" area is lower than that of the general areas of Li nationality. Production is carried out in the unit of he mu. All wooden harrows or bamboo harrows are used, and iron agricultural tools include plows, hoes, hook knives, shovels, hand twist knives, etc. The quality of the plow is poor and the plowhead is small. The hand twist knife is a harvesting tool. When cutting rice, it twists and cuts ear by ear. Trample the mud with cattle, and then transplant seedlings. The planting of "Shanlan rice" (upland rice) accounts for about 20% of the sowing amount of rice. There are many taboos in production. In case of cattle day, cattle cannot be used to plough or rake the field; On chicken day, women can't pull out seedlings; Snake day and horse day cannot plough, rake, sow, harvest, etc. The division of labor between men and women is more strict. Men are responsible for plowing, raking, soaking seeds, sowing, irrigation, picking rice, preventing animal damage and burning mountain fence fields. Women manage seed selection, seedling transplanting, weeding, harvesting and sowing mountain fence rice seeds. Simple cooperation is popular in labor. Everyone works together regardless of type of work and severity. The annual output of rice per mu is only about 120 kg. Hunting is generally carried out in the village as a unit, and the catches are evenly distributed according to households in the village.

From the relationship among the members of Hemu, Hemu can be divided into two types: one is based on blood ties, which is composed of paternal relatives and even a few maternal relatives; The other is the participation of non consanguineous foreign households in addition to relatives. The proportion of these two types of combined Mu varies from place to place. The general rule is that the larger the scale of Hemu, the more it belongs to the latter type. On the contrary, the smaller the scale, the more types of pure blood.

Each mu has a mu head, and the other members in the Mu are Mu people. Mu tou Li is called "fearing elegance", which means "the old man ploughing the first field road", and is filled by the oldest and oldest person. Mu Tou is responsible for managing the collective production and distribution of he mu, and performing some religious rituals in production with his wife. Mu tou's wife is mu tou's assistant in managing women's production activities. Mu Tou is also the leader of a natural society. In addition to leading the production and distribution of he mu, he is also responsible for all major matters within the mu or between he Mu and he mu, such as handling and safekeeping public property, disputes inside and outside the Mu and receiving foreign households. Mu Zhong generally obeys, but has no mandatory power. Mu Zhong can take the initiative to divide or withdraw mu. When dividing mu, Mu head can get more land as usual.

Within the whole mu, the relationship between mu head and Mu people and even between mu people is basically equal (except for outside). In addition to distributing more products according to traditional habits, Mu head is in an equal position with Mu people in other aspects, such as equal participation in collective labor, bearing common expenses, common defense against external attacks and equal enjoyment of rights. In addition, the traditional habit of mutual assistance and cooperation is retained. With the influence of the political and economic forces of the feudal dynasty and the feudal landlord economy, Mu tou began to make use of his position to obtain some privileges in distribution, seize the traditional grain reserved with religious nature and public domination as his own, and arbitrarily increase the amount of grain reserved to turn it into exploitation. At the same time, foreign households are the object of exploitation. A few mu tou colluded with the government and took up the posts of general manager, League director, sentry officer and Township Mayor to oppress and exploit Mu people. The traditional forms of CO farming, equal distribution, mutual assistance and cooperation have been used by Mu tou as a means of ruling and exploiting Mu people.

Before the founding of new China, more than half of Hemu had absorbed non blood related foreign households "Longzi" in addition to blood related members. Dragon cubs all rely on others because of life difficulties or debt repayment. Some also rely on politics to seek "protection". The person to be trusted is called "dragon hero", and "dragon hero" is called "wofan" in Li language, which is literally translated as "being rich", which means "being master"; "Longzi" is called "wova" in Li language, and its literal translation is "to be a poor man", which also means "to be a long-term worker". In Hemu, the vast majority of Longgong are Mu heads, but mu heads are also reduced to other Mu Longzi. Individual Mu people can also accept Longzi. As for Longzi, they are completely foreign households. When concluding the relationship between the Dragon Duke and the Dragon cub, we should cut arrows and make a contract. Most of the Dragon cubs live at home, generally have personal freedom, own a small amount of land and cattle, and often give gifts and provide some labor to the Dragon Duke. Some Longzi moved to Longgong Hemu. They were not free and had low economic status. They were responsible for heavy labor and were exploited by Longgong.

The form of possession of means of production in Hemu area is very complex. The occupation of cultivated land is divided into three types: public ownership per mu, several households in a mu and one household. Mu of public cultivated land is left over by our ancestors. Several families and one family buy paddy fields, and dry fields are reclaimed by themselves or hired workers. The proportion of all kinds of possession varies with different regions and mu. Generally, there are no or few blood relatives of foreign households. In the mu, the possession of cultivated land is mostly public, followed by several households, and then owned by one household. On the other hand, in the mu with more foreign households, the cultivated land is mostly owned by several households, followed by one household, followed by the public ownership of mu. In individual mu, the cultivated land is occupied by the first private family or several brothers of the family. The public cultivated land no longer exists, and a large number of foreign households have no soil. The possession of cattle is generally dominated by one private household, followed by several households, and the public ownership of Mu is no longer dominant. No matter which form of occupation, most of the cultivated land and cattle are handed over to Hemu for unified management and use without compensation. However, the owner is free to rent, mortgage, buy and sell, and is inherited by the paternal line. However, when a member of Hemu loses his cultivated land and cattle due to natural and man-made disasters and other reasons, and it is still insufficient to cope with it, other relatives have the obligation to sell their fields and cattle to help them compensate. Therefore, the ownership of the so-called private ownership in Hemu is limited and can not be fully realized.

In addition to cattle farming, the tools used in agriculture, handicrafts, fishing and hunting are completely owned by each family. With the existence of private cultivated land and cattle, the phenomenon of land sale and pawn in Hemu area is becoming more and more common. The tenancy relationship occurs between Hemu and Hemu, between Hemu and individuals, and even between individuals. Land rent is mainly a living rent system in which the real land rent is divided into half and half. Cattle leasing is more common than buying and selling. The loan relationship also occurs within and between Hemu, and some Hemu are also exploited by employees.

With the emergence of the exploitation relationship and the free sale of land and cattle, the possession of means of production within and between each mu is increasingly unbalanced. At the same time, the internal product distribution mode of Hemu is becoming more and more complex. Each household is the unit or several households work together to produce within a hectare. The products obtained or the land rent and cattle rent obtained from renting land and cattle belong to that household or several households, and are not distributed within a hectare. The income from the collective production of Mu Tou is distributed by Mu tou. In addition to deducting the seeds, "rice mother" (only mu tou's family can eat, which cannot be transferred or sold, but can be used to relieve the poor households in Mu TOU), "keeping new rice" (before harvest, Mu tou's wife first cut back more than ten pieces of rice to cook and make wine. After Mu tou's husband and wife eat for one day, all mu tou's people come together the next day), "wine making grain" (about ten catties of rice are controlled by Mu tou, and all members of Mu will drink together after rice transplanting is completed), "public grain" (the quantity is uncertain, which is controlled by Mu tou, and is used to entertain guests, marry members, build houses, and some are used to relieve grain shortage households within mu), and the rest is distributed equally by households (some areas also take care of the population) In some areas where there has been polarization between the rich and the poor and class differentiation, Mu tou often distributes more rice under various excuses.

According to the different nature of production relations inside and outside Hemu, it can be roughly divided into two types: one is that there is no exploitation relationship within Hemu, which is basically a relationship of CO farming and mutual cooperation. The status between mu head and Mu people and even between mu people is equal. Most of these Hemu are composed of pure blood relatives, and some of them also have foreign households, but few of them. Some Hemu Although there is no internal exploitation relationship, there has been an exploitation relationship between mu head and people outside mu, and between he Mu and he mu. The other is that he Mu has been exploited internally or externally. Mu head has exploited and oppressed many "Dragons" in mu or people outside mu, and the traditional joint farming of Mu has only left a body.

The internal production relations of the Mu system are quite complex, but from the analysis of the basis of the Mu system organization, the social status and role of "Mu head", the ownership and use of means of production, common labor, equal distribution and separate consumption, the essence of the Mu system is a primitive patriarchal family (family) Co farming cooperative organization. Although there are objective factors such as polarization between the rich and the poor and even exploitation within the cooperative Mu system, this can only show that this primitive organization is on the verge of final disintegration with the development of productive forces and social changes.

In today's Wuzhishan, Baoting, Qiongzhong and other places, before 1949, there was still a characteristic grass-roots social and political organization, namely "Dong", which originally meant "a certain area where people live together" There have long been records about the Li nationality's cave organization, especially after the song and Yuan Dynasties. There are many records about the cave. The cave can be divided into large and small. Under the large cave, there are several small caves; a small cave is generally composed of more than two natural villages. There are strict boundaries between the cave and the cave, which do not invade each other. The cave and the cave generally maintain friendly relations and become a marriage group, but because of some interests, such as Boundary reclamation, fishing and hunting, logging, rattan picking, etc. often lead to disputes and armed fights between caves. Blood ties are the organizational basis of caves. Each village cave has one or more village heads and cave heads, which is called "AoYa" , it is generally held by elders or eloquent people, who are responsible for maintaining order and mediating disputes. For major events, a whole cave meeting should be held to solve them. With the development of economy and the strengthening of feudal rule, the organization of the cave has become a tool of feudal rule. During the period of the Republic of China, the big and small cave heads became "League directors", township, Baotou, Jiachang, etc.

As early as March 1949, according to the instructions of the Party Central Committee, the CPC QiongYa district Party committee established the "QiongYa minority autonomous region administrative committee" in Maozhan Township, Baisha County (now Maoyang Town, Wuzhishan City), which was the earliest national autonomous regime established in Hainan. On July 1, 1952, Hainan Li and Miao Autonomous Region (renamed Autonomous Prefecture in 1955 according to relevant laws and regulations) The formal establishment of the people's Government marks the formal implementation of China's system of regional ethnic autonomy in Hainan's ethnic areas. In December 1987, according to the decision of the central government, Hainan was established as a province, Hainan Li and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was abolished, Sanya was upgraded to a prefecture level city, Dongfang, Ledong, Lingshui, Baisha and Changjiang Li autonomous counties and Qiongzhong and Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous counties were established, and the original autonomy was decided Cities and counties under the jurisdiction of the prefecture continue to enjoy various preferential policies in ethnic minority areas. In March 1997, Dongfang Li Autonomous County withdrew from the county to build a city. In addition, in 1987, during the comprehensive work of withdrawing districts and building townships (towns) in Hainan, combined with the actual situation of scattered ethnic minorities in Hainan, a total of 12 ethnic townships (towns) were established in Hainan.

Before the founding of new China, there was still a significant regional imbalance in the social and economic development of Li nationality. In the areas accounting for more than 94% of the total population and total area of Li nationality, they are roughly the same as the local Han nationality, and they are in a semi colonial and semi feudal society. The feudal landlord economy was relatively developed, but the development level of agriculture and handicraft industry was slightly lower than that in the Han area. Iron agricultural tools such as plow, rake and shovel have long been used, but they are not common. Farmers generally use wooden rake to rake the field. Agricultural production is mainly rice, in which there are more drylands for one species and less paddy fields for two species. One plough and one rake, do not pay attention to middle tillage and weeding, and rarely apply fertilizer. The annual output per mu is only about 150 kg. The planting of "mountain fence rice" (upland rice) is more extensive. The mountain forests are cut down and burned, and the holes are poked for planting. After two or three years, the wasteland will be abandoned and another land will be burned for cultivation. "Shanlan rice" accounts for about 5% of all rice sowing. Handicraft, breeding and commerce are also underdeveloped.

In the hinterland of Wuzhishan (now Wuzhishan City) at the junction of Baoting, Ledong and Baisha counties, there is still a "Hemu" system with a strong residue of the original commune system. At that time, there were 26 townships with more than 13000 people, accounting for about 3.73% of the Li population (360000). The productivity level of "he Mu" area is lower than that of the general areas of Li nationality. Production is carried out in the unit of he mu. All wooden harrows or bamboo harrows are used, and iron agricultural tools include plows, hoes, hook knives, shovels, hand twist knives, etc. The quality of the plow is poor and the plowhead is small. The hand twist knife is a harvesting tool. When cutting rice, it twists and cuts ear by ear. Trample the mud with cattle, and then transplant seedlings. The planting of "Shanlan rice" (upland rice) accounts for about 20% of the sowing amount of rice. There are many taboos in production. In case of cattle day, cattle cannot be used to plough or rake the field; On chicken day, women can't pull out seedlings; Snake day and horse day cannot plough, rake, sow, harvest, etc. The division of labor between men and women is more strict. Men are responsible for plowing, raking, soaking seeds, sowing, irrigation, picking rice, preventing animal damage and burning mountain fence fields. Women manage seed selection, seedling transplanting, weeding, harvesting and sowing mountain fence rice seeds. Simple cooperation is popular in labor. Everyone works together regardless of type of work and severity. The annual output of rice per mu is only about 120 kg. Hunting is generally carried out in the village as a unit, and the catches are evenly distributed according to households in the village.

In the early days of the founding of new China, the party and government carried out democratic reform in ethnic minority areas and led the people of all ethnic groups in Hainan to eliminate bandits and oppose hegemony. In particular, the land reform has completely changed the unreasonable land system and solved the land problem that poor farmers have long longed to solve. After the founding of new China, a large number of water conservancy facilities such as Songtao Reservoir, Shilu reservoir and Daguangba Hydropower Station have been completed, and agricultural infrastructure has been gradually improved; The use of iron farm tools in the 1950s, the implementation of the "eight character constitution" of agriculture in the 1960s-1970s, and the continuous adoption and promotion of advanced agricultural production technology; After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, especially since the establishment of Hainan Province, the establishment and improvement of agricultural science popularization network, the cultivation of rural scientific and technological talents, the construction of improved seed breeding system, the introduction of new modern agricultural technologies, etc. It has changed the backward situation of agricultural technology in Li nationality areas, and agricultural production has developed by leaps and bounds.

While solving the problem of food and clothing, the Li people also adjusted measures to local conditions, vigorously developed the characteristic agriculture of tropical fruits, tropical crops and winter melons and vegetables, which greatly widened the way to get rich. Banana, mango, litchi, longan and other tropical fruits have gradually formed a base, large-scale and commercial production trend in Li nationality areas; Tropical cash crops such as rubber, coconut, cashew nuts, sisal, coffee and southern medicine have become advantageous industries in Li nationality areas; More than 200 varieties of winter melons and vegetables such as winter melon, hairy melon, melon, beans, tomatoes and peppers have been planted. In addition to supplying local products, they are also exported outside the island and exported to Hong Kong and Macao.

faith

Li traditional society has not yet formed a complete religious system and is in the stage of primitive religion.

Li people believe that everything has spirit, and totem worship, nature worship and ancestor worship are popular. Witches engaged in religious activities are called "Taoist masters" and "mother mothers". They generally do not leave production and preside over activities such as sending ghosts and divination when necessary. In addition to the great influence of Taoism in Li society, the influence of Buddhism, Christianity and other foreign religions is limited.

Li people generally believe in witchcraft and believe that witchcraft can make people sick and die. Those who are falsely accused of practicing this kind of witchcraft are called "forbidden male" for men and "forbidden mother" for women. Before the founding of new China, "public prohibition" and "mother prohibition" were often discriminated against and feared by others.

There are many traditional taboos of Li nationality, involving life, production, childbirth, festivals, funerals, marriage, religion, hunting and so on. After the founding of new China, great changes have taken place in this regard.

Clothes & Accessories

The traditional costumes of Li nationality have rich cultural connotation and obvious differences among dialect areas (especially women's costumes). In history, they have been an important symbol to distinguish different blood groups and tribal groups.

In traditional costumes, Li women often wear straight collar, collarless and button less blouses. In some places, they wear through head blouses, tube skirts of different lengths, hair tied behind their heads, bone hairpins or silver hairpins, embroidered headscarves, earrings, collars and bracelets.

Men's traditional costumes are usually tied at the front or back of the head. The coat has no collar, open to the chest and waist cloth (hanging), and some mobili men's coats are no different from women.

The traditional tattoo custom has been maintained among a small number of living elderly women in Kazakhstan, Qi, Mobil and Runli.

diet

Li people usually eat three meals of solar eclipse, mainly rice. "Shanlan" fragrant rice is a specialty of Li District.

Meat tea and fish tea, which are made by mixing raw fish and meat with fried rice flour, adding a little salt and sealed in pottery pots, are the characteristic flavor foods pickled by Li family.

Li men like tobacco and wine.

Betel nut is a favorite of women. When eating, it is wrapped with a kind of green Trichosanthes leaf with shell ash. After eating, the lips are dyed red.

Architecture

Most of the traditional houses of Li nationality are simple thatched houses. In the hinterland of Wuzhi Mountain, they live in traditional boat shaped houses. The boat shaped houses are framed with bamboo and covered with thatched grass, and the floor is made of rattan or bamboo, about half a meter from the ground.

language

Li language and ancient Yue language have many common characteristics in grammatical structure. Li language obviously retains the trace of ancient Yue language using inversion in grammar, that is, the structural way in which modifiers are placed after the central word. In yuejueshu by Yuan Kang of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is recorded that "Zhu Yu is an official of salt, and the more people call Salt Yu." "Zhu Yu" is a combination of two nouns, and the latter modifies the former, which is the main feature of Li grammar. Volume 3 of the annals of Qiongzhou Prefecture by Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty also contains that in Li language, "the upper part is empty but the lower part is real, such as" chicken "is called" broiler ", and" before the county "is called" before the county ".

Li language belongs to the Li language branch of the Zhuang and Dong language family of the Sino Tibetan language family. It has close kinship with the Zhuang language, Buyi language, Dai language, Dong language and Shui language of the same language family, and has common characteristics in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.

In phonetics, the initial consonants are simple and the vowels are complex. Each syllable has an initial consonant, and there is no syllable with a real vowel; In terms of grammar, the word order is basically the same as that in Chinese, but the inverted grammar after the attribute is often used, such as "big brother" as "big brother" and "white horse" as "Ma Bai". In the three language branches of Zhuang Dai, Dong Shui and Li of Zhuang Dong language family, many basic words are cognate words, such as water, fire, chicken, dog, pig, field and arm, which have corresponding initials, vowels and finals.

literature

Li's oral literature is rich, and folk stories and ballads occupy a very important position.

In these folk literature, such as Hercules, Luhuitou, brave fighting and dragging, Gan gongniao, Wuzhishan immortal and so on, they all have distinct national characteristics. Through literary and artistic forms, it praises the heroes in people's ideals, records the deeds of the working people conquering nature, depicts the local customs of the Li nationality, and expresses the love and hatred of the Li people.

Almost everyone of the Li people can sing folk songs. They can touch the scenery and express their feelings. They take folk songs as their Lyric tools. There are five or seven common sentences in folk songs. They have a variety of expression methods, pay attention to rhythm and rhythm, and are easy to be sung.

music

Li's music and folk songs are inseparable. Singing methods include solo, duet, ensemble, chorus, etc. There are many tunes, both beautiful and lyrical and passionate. It reflects the simple, optimistic, upright and resolute character of the Li people.

Folk musical instruments include nose flute, mouth bow, water flute, Dongxiao, etc. The nasal flute is played through the nostrils. It is soft and low, suitable for lyricism. The mouth bow is made of thin bamboo or copper. When playing, use your fingers to move the bow with free rhythm. The water flute has a crisp tone and a loud volume.

dance

Li's dances include Qianling double knife dance, firewood dance, Chung rice dance, etc. It has a strong flavor of national life.

For example, in "firewood dance", two parallel long sticks are arranged on the ground, several feet apart, and then several wooden sticks or bamboo poles are held by several hands, which are horizontally erected on them, and the dancers jump between them. With the fast and slow rhythm, they perform various actions with a bright and lively mood and a warm and humorous atmosphere, which is loved by the majority of Li people.

marriage and love

Monogamy is widely practiced in marriage of Li nationality.

After the founding of new China, some old customs have been gradually abolished.

funeral

Li nationality generally implements burial, and burial customs vary according to different regions and dialects.

In the hinterland of Wuzhi Mountain, when people die, they fire a gun to report the funeral. Men are buried in the clan public cemetery in their own village in a single wooden coffin. Women married from other villages need to be carried back to their mother's house to take care of the funeral and buried in their mother's cemetery.