Wa Nationality

In the past, the Wa people in different regions had different self proclaimed. Generally speaking, the Wa people in zhenkang and Yongde call themselves "WA"; The Wa people in Gengma, Shuangjiang, Cangyuan and Lancang call themselves "Ba Rao" or "Bu Rao"; The Wa people in Ximeng and Menglian call themselves "a WA", "a wa Lai" and "Le WA".

Han, Dai and Lahu also have different names for wa. For the Wa Nationality in zhenkang and Yongde, the Dai nationality is called "La" and the Han nationality is called "I". For the Wa Nationality in other areas, the Han nationality, Dai nationality and Lahu nationality are collectively referred to as "a WA" or "Yu WA". "Yuwa" can be divided into "big Yuwa" and "small Yuwa". The "big Yuwa" refers to the Wa Nationality in Ximeng and other places; "Xiaoyu WA" refers to the Wa people in Cangyuan, Shuangjiang, Gengma, Lancang, Menglian and other places. "Yuwa" is a Dai language, which means slave. Calling "Yuwa" means derogatory and insulting.

After the founding of new China, it was determined to be called Wa nationality according to the wishes of the majority of the people.

The origin of the Wa nationality is widely spread with the myths and legends of Sigangli. According to the interpretation of the Wa people in Cangyuan, "Si Gang" is "gourd" and "Li" is "out", which means the person who comes out of the gourd; According to the interpretation of the Wa people in Ximeng, "Si Gang" is "stone cave" and "Li" is "out", which means "people come out of the stone cave". Although the Wa people in different places have different interpretations of "Sigangli", they all regard a wa mountain as the birthplace of mankind. This shows that the Wa people have lived in awashan for a long time, or they are the earliest local residents. "Sigangli" may be the Wa People's memory of their ancient cave life.

In the works of the pre Qin period, such as Shanhaijing, Zhushu chronicle and Guoyu, there are records of the family name of "Fuke". In the book of the later Han Dynasty, it is also recorded that "in Yongchang County, there was a fluke outside and a fluke inside". "Fuke" is very similar to the voice of Wa people calling themselves "Balao". Yongchang County is governed in Baoshan, Yunnan Province. The South and west of its jurisdiction are the distribution areas of Wa German ethnic groups. "Fuke" is probably the ancestor of all ethnic groups of Wa German branch.

In 109 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up Yizhou County, which reached the vast area of today's Baoshan City. At that time, the ancestors of the Wa, Bulang and De'ang ethnic groups west of the Lancang River were under the control of the Western Han Dynasty. In AD 69, Yongchang County was established in the Eastern Han Dynasty, including the wa distribution areas of today's Lincang City, Pu'er City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. In Yongchang County, there are AI prison people living. According to the relevant records in the annals of Huayang and the book of the later Han Dynasty, Yongchang County at that time was an area where ethnic groups lived together, including chuanxiong, daner, min, Yue, PU, jiuliao, Li, naked Pu and so on. Ailao people do not refer to a nation. They should be the general name of all ethnic groups living in Ailao Mountain area, including the ancestors of Wa nationality.

During the Tang Dynasty, the Lancang River and Nujiang river basins in Yunnan were mixed areas of various nationalities, with many ethnic names. According to the records of Manshu and the book of the new Tang Dynasty, Wang Juzi, Wang Waiyu, Pu Ziman, kapok Pu, chikoupu, golden teeth, embroidered feet, embroidered faces, Xun Chuan, and so on. Among them, the names of Wang, Wang Ju Zi and Wang Waiyu are basically the same or very similar to the self proclaimed "WA" of the Wa nationality.

During the Yuan Dynasty, Pu man lived in the southwest of Yunnan, which is recorded in the history of the Yuan Dynasty, the new history of the Yuan Dynasty and the annals of Yunnan. Pu man is divided into "cooked Pu" and "raw Pu". "Shupu" is distributed in Baoshan, Changning, Fengqing and Yunxian; "Raw Pu" is distributed in the south of "cooked Pu". The distinction between "cooked Pu" and "raw Pu" reflects the imbalance of social development among wa German ethnic groups. From its distribution, "raw Pu" mainly refers to the Wa nationality.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was a lawsuit against company commander Meng. Zhenkang Yuyi Prefecture and Mengding Yuyi prefecture were set up in other areas where Wa people are distributed. Later, Gengma Xuanfu division was set up in Mengding Yuyi Prefecture, which still belongs to Mengding Yuyi Prefecture. The Qing Dynasty followed the Ming system with slight changes.

After the British annexation of Myanmar in 1885, the aggression was directed at Yunnan. Under the pretext of the Sino Myanmar border issue, Britain has continuously sent armed personnel and missionaries to sneak into the AWA mountains to check the terrain, draw maps, carry out various conspiracy activities, and even incite the Wa people to secede from the motherland. In 1887, Zhili hall was established at the edge of the town, governing Menglian, Ximeng, Lancang and Cangyuan. During the period of the Republic of China, Cangyuan and Gengma set up governance bureaus, and zhenkang, Shuangjiang and Lancang (including Menglian and Ximeng) were changed into counties.

AVA mountain area is a very rich place. Britain has long coveted the rich silver and aluminum mines in Banhong and banlao. In January 1934, Britain openly occupied the mining area by armed forces, creating the famous "Banhong incident". The leaders of Banhong and banlao tribes invited more than a dozen tribes around to plagiarize cattle and form an alliance, organize armed forces, and vowed to drive the British invaders out of the country. The Han, Dai, Lahu, Yi and other ethnic groups in Jinggu, Lancang, Meining (now Linxiang District), Shuangjiang, Gengma and other places formed a "Southwest Frontier people's Volunteer Army" of more than 1400 people to support, which made the aggressors feel embarrassed. However, the Kuomintang government succumbed to the pressure of British imperialism, forced the demobilization of the volunteers and suppressed the resistance of the Wa people. In 1936, the king of 17 wa tribes headed by Ban Hong issued a letter to the motherland and compatriots, solemnly declaring that awa mountain "Since the ancient ancestors, hundreds of thousands of households in the wa mountain have been pacified by China and firmly guarded the frontier... I would rather be a river of blood than a slave to the British Empire, that is, I have a gun, a crossbow, a silver, a woman and a child, and my head can be broken. I will never change my heart... I am willing to break my head rather than be a cow and horse of the British Empire. I will stick to it to the end." The awe inspiring voice of the Wa people was echoed by public opinion throughout the country and finally thwarted the banditry of British imperialism.

During the Anti Japanese War, in order to resist the invasion of Yunnan by the Japanese invaders, the Wa and people of all ethnic groups actively supported the Anti Japanese forces in Southwest Yunnan with human, material and financial resources, and organized "gengmacangyuan detachment", "awashan guerrilla detachment", "awashan special zone self defense detachment" and "Banhong self defense detachment" In 1944, they cooperated with the Anti Japanese forces to attack the Japanese aggressors in Banhong, banlao and other places, recover the lost land and expel the Japanese army from Mengding.

In the central area of awashan mountain, although the private ownership of means of production has been established, it still retains the remnants of the original rural commune. Each village has a certain geographical scope, including one or several natural villages. Generally, 10% to 20% of the arable land of each village is publicly owned by the village. Most of the arable land, production tools, houses, livestock, weapons and household appliances are owned by individual families and individuals. Private land can be occupied, used, inherited, transferred, mortgaged and sold for a long time. All members of the village community can cultivate the land publicly owned by the village community. On the basis of this ownership, village members produce with individual families as units.

Due to the different stages of social development in Wa areas, people's relations in production are also different. The Wa people in Ximeng have the relations of breeding, changing jobs, borrowing seeds, employment, debt, slave storage and tenancy. Co planting is a co farming relationship composed of two families. Both sides produce seeds and labor force equally, produce together, and distribute products equally. No matter where the land is owned, there is no compensation. Changing jobs is a temporary relationship of mutual assistance in busy farming season. Borrowing farming means that farmers with less cultivated land borrow land for farming from farmers with more cultivated land. The relationship between employment and debt is common. In the former, the employer and the employer are mostly related; In the latter, the debt relationship was mainly mutual help and exchange of needed goods, and later gradually became an exploitative relationship. Although the relationship between slavery and tenancy still exists, it is not common.

Due to the uneven wealth, there are rich people who have food and clothing, hire workers and lend money; "Kupulai", a medium-sized household that grows and eats by itself or basically enough to eat; The "Census" of poor households who lack food and clothing and borrow money to help workers and the "official jueke" of slaves. The Wa people in Ximeng have social differentiation due to their different possession of means of production, but this differentiation has not reached a fixed and obvious degree, nor has it developed into a specific class of a class society, but is in the process of forming a class society.

The production level in the edge area of awashan mountain is generally more advanced than that in the central area. Iron agricultural tools are widely used, and the proportion of paddy field has reached more than 20% of the total area of cultivated land. Dry land farming technology is also relatively advanced, and digging ploughing and sowing has replaced slash and burn farming. The production relations in such areas are characterized by large tribal leaders who enjoy political privileges and have the nature of some feudal lords. Banhong tribe in Cangyuan County can basically be regarded as a typical example of this kind of area.

Before the founding of new China, the social economy of feudal lords in Banhong area had a history of about 100 years. The "Banhong king" enjoys the highest ownership of the land in the tribal area, and the Wa people attached to the land are his subordinate people. In the concept that people have formed, everything in Banhong area, including land, mountains and rivers, and even tigers, elephants, deer and leopards in the forest, belongs to the "king of Banhong". Although people's economic relations in production also take the forms of seed combination, job change, seed borrowing, employment, debt, tenancy and so on, their nature is different. For example, exploitation factors have emerged in the hybrid relationship; Employee employee relationship is common; The debt relationship is quite serious, more than 60% of farmers borrow, and the rich class exploit farmers with usury to varying degrees.

The significant difference between the Wa Nationality in zhenkang and Yongde and the former two areas is that there are more paddy fields and concentrated land occupation. Relying on the advantages of land and other social wealth, landlords and rich peasants exploited the vast number of farmers by renting land, hiring workers and usury, which has long entered the stage of economic development of feudal landlords.

Before the founding of new China, due to the imbalance of economic development, there were differences in social organizations in Wa areas.

The Wa people in the central area of a wa mountain are still scattered in villages. Village is a regional, economic, political and military unit. To a certain extent, it has the nature and organizational form of the primitive rural commune developed from the patriarchal clan commune. Each village often includes several small villages. Each village generally includes several families and individual families with different surnames. The villages have a certain geographical scope, members have certain rights, obligations and common religious activities, and wolang, headman and MoBa jointly manage political and religious affairs. Wolang may have been the head of the clan at first, and then gradually evolved into the leader of the village. Wo Lang is generally hereditary and has great authority to manage religion, politics and all other affairs in the village. However, on the eve of the founding of new China, the scope of authority has been narrowed. Although it is nominally the leader of the village and enjoys a certain prestige, it actually only manages some religious affairs. The leader is a democratically elected political leader of the village members, provided that he is rich in economy, good at speaking and handling affairs, fair and brave, etc. In the decades before the founding of new China, due to the emergence of "Zhumi", that is, the rich class, the leaders began to enjoy some privileges, manage some important affairs of the villages, and play an important role in the political activities of the Wa nationality. MoBa is a wizard who presides over religious activities. Mobado is an old man who knows many things and has a certain prestige among the masses, which has a certain impact on the social and political life of the Wa nationality.

The common affairs of the village, such as fighting, foreign disputes and headhunting, are settled by the "head meeting", and some things have to be discussed and handled by the "village people's meeting". The village has unwritten customary law, which treats village members equally. The scope of treatment includes divulging village secrets, not participating in collective action, theft, debt, marriage, etc. For the treatment of violations of customary law, at least they will be reprimanded, compensated and apologized by the leaders and the masses, or they will be copied, expelled or executed.

Before the founding of new China, due to the influence of the concept of blood revenge, there were many armed battles among wa villages in Ximeng. The feud of our ancestors is not forgotten by our children. It is often extended for several generations before it can be solved. When fighting, all adult men have to participate. It is forbidden by customary law to participate without participating. At least they are condemned by public opinion, and at worst they are subject to material punishment. Sometimes, after certain conditions are agreed, the enemy stronghold also makes reconciliation. The two sides agreed on the time and place to hold a reconciliation "hand washing" ceremony. The leaders or magic bars of both sides toast each other, give each other cow ribs that show one heart, and plant a stone. They will no longer be enemies in the future.

Banhong area, commonly known as "Banhong tribe", is equivalent to the scope of Banhong, banlao and mangka townships (towns) in Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County. More than 100 years ago, Banhong area was still a scattered small tribe. The Hu family originally lived in Shaoxing (now Myanmar), and later moved to Banhong, controlled to some extent by the nanbantou people "Dabo". After the development of Hu family and Banhong village, there were contradictions and struggles with Nanban. Ban Hong first defeated the powerful Fugong tribe and stipulated that the people of Fugong should work and serve the Hu family of ban Hong every year. The Hu family can plant the land of Fugong at will. Then, ban Hong defeated Nanban and stipulated that the people of Nanban should farm land for the Hu family; When someone in the Hu family dies, they want Nanban people to dig graves, carry corpses and bury them; The Hu family can also plant the land in Nanban. This is how the subordinate and dependent relationship between villages and between tribes is established by force. The Hu family then conquered the surrounding Jiaoshan, LAOCHANG and other villages. When other villages and tribes saw the great potential of ban Hong, they all surrendered one after another. Before the founding of new China, the area under the jurisdiction of Banhong officials surnamed Hu was known as the "land of gourd king". In this area, King Banhong is the supreme ruler, under which there is a complete set of management organization and personnel specialized in management. King ban Hong is a hereditary system, which is generally inherited by the eldest son. The first Banhong king was Daben. Daben biography is located in the eldest son Hu Yushan, and Hu Yushan biography is located in the eldest son Hu Zhonghan. When Hu Zhonghan died, his son was young and was represented by his brother Hu Zhonghua. In 1954, Hu Zhonghua was "appointed" as king Banhong. Wang Banghong is assisted by "Da Huo" (yamen), Bo Meng, La Meng, gang head, steward, etc., and his close relatives and officials assist in handling government affairs.

The Wa people in Yongde, zhenkang and other places have been ruled by Dai chieftains since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Before the founding of new China, the Baojia system of the Kuomintang government was also implemented.

In December 1949, the Wa people and the people of all ethnic groups in Yunnan were liberated together. As the AWA mountain is located in the frontier, the situation is more complex. In 1951, the Central Ethnic delegation went deep into the wa mountain area to convey the party's deep concern for the Wa people and the people of all ethnic groups, publicize the party's ethnic policy, help the Wa people solve the urgent problems in production and life, and lay a foundation for the implementation of the regional ethnic autonomy policy in the wa area. Menglian Dai Lahu Wa Autonomous County was established in June 1954; Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County was established in October 1955; Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County was established in February 1964; In March 1965, Ximeng Wa Autonomous County was established; In December 1985, Shuangjiang Lahu wa Bulang Dai Autonomous County was established.

For a long time, WA, Han, Dai and Lahu have lived in the same area, and their economic and cultural exchanges have promoted their development. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Han miners successively entered the AWA mountain area to mine silver and settled here. In the early Qing Dynasty, more poor working people of the Han nationality came here. In the Maolong silver factory opened by Wu Shangxian, a Shiping man, in the area of Banhong and banlao tribes, there were as many as twenty or thirty thousand miners. Mainland businessmen also come to do business. In 1800, the Qing government closed the Maolong silver factory for fear of "gathering Dingfu and breeding trouble". Soon, Han people opened mines and built factories in Yongguang area of Ximeng. Such large-scale mining and plant construction had a great impact on the Wa people. Because the Han people brought the technology of iron and rice planting, the Wa people in this area began to forge cast iron, smelt silver, plant paddy fields and use cattle.

Before the founding of new China, due to different historical conditions and close relations with other ethnic groups, the level of social development was uneven. The Western League in the central area of a wa mountain and a small number of Wa people in Cangyuan and Lancang are still at the end of primitive society or the transition stage to class society; The Wa people in Gengma, Shuangjiang and most areas of Cangyuan, Lancang and Menglian in the marginal area of awa mountain have basically developed into a feudal lord system because of the deep influence of Dai people or the rule of Dai chieftains; The Wa people living in zhenkang, Yongde and other places have a close economic and cultural relationship with the Dai and Han people. They accepted the advanced culture of the Dai and Han people earlier and have been in the stage of economic development of feudal landlords.

The Wa people in zhenkang and Yongde have a high level of agricultural production, more paddy fields, and their production technology is close to or basically the same as that of the local Han and Dai people. In the marginal area of awa mountain, agriculture is quite backward. It mainly grows dry valleys and small red rice, followed by rice, buckwheat, corn and beans. The iron production tools used include plow, plate hoe, spear, shovel, machete, long knife, etc. The central area of awa mountain is even more backward. Due to the lack of iron smelting technology, iron raw materials rely on foreign input. Therefore, there is a shortage of iron agricultural tools. There are also a certain number of bamboo and wood agricultural tools, such as rake, mortar, pestle, seeding barrel, etc. Plows are not used in some places, and animal power is not widely used.

Cultivated land can be divided into dry land and paddy field. Dry lands are mountainous areas, and farming is very extensive, including "slash and burn" and "digging and ploughing". "Slash and burn" is to cut down and dry the thatched trees on the wasteland full of thatched trees, burn them down, use ashes as fertilizer, and use spears and shovels to dig pits without plowing. The land cultivated by slash and burn usually needs to be rested after two years. "Digging and ploughing seeds" is to cut down the thatch trees, dry them in the sun, set them on fire, dig or plough the soil with a hoe, and then sow seeds. Generally, the land sown by digging plough should be planted continuously for three or four years before taking turns. The proportion of the two is basically half, and some places are all "volcanic land" without ploughing or digging.

There are basically no water conservancy facilities in the paddy field. The "thunder sounding field" can only be ploughed and raked in the rainy season. The slope is large and the field hills are narrow. In the central area, the number of paddy fields is very small. Harvesting methods are also relatively primitive, mostly cutting and threshing. Threshing is mostly rubbed with feet, and the collected grain is stored in the big bamboo tube. The yield of paddy field is generally 2250 kg per hectare and that of dry land is about 1125 kg per hectare.

Wa people have gender and age division in labor production. During spring ploughing, men cut down the thatched trees on the wasteland, dry them in the sun and set them on fire. They dig holes with spears, shovels or bamboo tips. Women and children then light seeds, cover soil, and harvest and pound rice. The utilization rate of labor force is not high. In the central area of awa mountain, frequent village religious activities, production death days and tribal fighting take up almost half a year.

In most areas of awashan mountain, handicraft industry has not yet become an independent production department. There are iron making, bamboo weaving, textile, wine making, betel nut making, etc. most of them are for household consumption, only during the slack season.

Wa women can twist and spin threads by hand. They don't need a loom. They use a set of bamboo and wood tools to weave cloth. They can weave about one foot wide and one meter a day. The woven tube skirt and tube handkerchief (satchel) are for their own use. The sideline industry is not very developed, including raising livestock, collecting and hunting, which is mainly to make up for the lack of food.

It took only a few decades for the AWA mountain area to form a barter primary market. The so-called "smoke club", which first appeared in Ximeng, emerged with the needs of opium production. Mainland businessmen exchanged salt, tea, tobacco, pepper, thread, cloth and cattle for opium. The way of transaction is mainly barter. After the founding of new China, opium cultivation has been eradicated.

faith

The Wa people have three kinds of religious beliefs: primitive religion, Buddhism and Christianity.

primitive religion

Primitive religious belief is the most characteristic and universal belief of Wa nationality; Buddhism and Christianity have not been introduced into wa areas for a long time, and believers are only Wa people in some areas.

The Wa people believe in the immortality of the soul and the animism of all things. In their ideas, human beings, mountains, rivers, plants, animals and all natural phenomena that they cannot understand, such as wind, rain, lightning and so on, all have souls, or ghosts and gods. In the Wa people, ghosts and gods are not distinguished. They all refer to the soul in the concept. Wa people believe that people's life, old age, illness and death are related to their soul. Through the generalization and extrapolation of human nature, it is easy to believe that all things and phenomena in nature have souls and are dominated by an incomprehensible force, thus forming the natural worship or primitive religion of all creatures.

The Wa people most worship the "muyiji" God and regard it as the highest god "ghost" who dominates and creates all things on earth. The Wa people carry out large religious activities such as pulling wooden drums, cutting ox tails and Hunter head sacrifice, which are held to worship it. Near each Wa village, there is a dense forest with towering trees. The Wa people call it "longmeiji", that is, "ghost forest land". The Wa people believe that the sacred forest is the place where "muyiji" exists. People can't break into the sacred forest and move every plant, stone and soil in the sacred forest. Otherwise, they will be punished by the gods. So far, the sacred forests in many wa villages have been well protected. Some have become scenic forests, and some are still used as taboo places. Shenlin in Wengding village, Mengjiao Township, Cangyuan, a woodland in nanzazhai, Nuoliang Township, a primeval forest in the northeast of DanJia Dazhai, DanJia Township and a banyan forest in Nanban village, Banhong township are all forbidden areas that can not be broken into.

Another important god believed and worshipped by the Wa people is "ayi'o", which is enshrined on the wall on the left of the fire pool of ghosts and gods in the house. It is regarded as a male ancestor and is worshipped by all families with men. Whenever you encounter major events, such as marriage, childbirth, death, childbirth, building a house, accepting adopted children and so on, you should sacrifice it and pray to it.

In order to get the blessing of ghosts and gods, WA religious activities are very frequent. Every year, the whole village's sacrifice begins with sacrificing water ghosts to pray for good weather, followed by a series of activities such as pulling wooden drums, cutting cattle tails, plagiarizing cattle, hunters offering grain and praying for a good harvest. Headhunting custom is a remnant of primitive society, which has been preserved for a long time due to backward production. With the development of social productivity, this backward custom has been abolished.

Buddhism

The Wa people believe in Buddhism, including Han Buddhism and Southern Buddhism. Han Buddhism was introduced from Dali to Yanshuai and Shanjia villages in Cangyuan a hundred years ago. Few people believed before the founding of new China. Southern Buddhism has been introduced into the wa area for about a hundred years. It was first introduced to ban Lao in Cangyuan, and then to ban Hong, Mengjiao and other places. Before the founding of new China, more than 20000 Wa people believed in Southern Buddhism.

Christianity

Christianity was introduced into the wa area in the early 20th century. Yongweili, a pastor of the American Baptist Church, spread Christianity in Lancang and Shuangjiang in 1905. Yongweili and his descendants rented and bought land, built churches and preached, so that Christianity gradually spread among Lahu and wa. Before the founding of new China, there were more than 20000 Wa people who believed in Christianity, mainly distributed in Cangyuan and Lancang.

Architecture

Most wa villages are built on hillsides or hilltops. Houses are built according to the mountain, regardless of direction, from high to low. The scale of a village is more than 100 households, and more than a dozen households are small, generally around 100 households.

In terms of materials, there are mainly bamboo and wood structures and civil structures. In terms of architectural style, there are mainly two kinds of "dry column" buildings and "four wall floor buildings". The Wa people in Cangyuan, Ximeng, Menglian, Lancang and Shuangjiang are mainly bamboo and wood structures, which are "dry fence" buildings. They are generally divided into upper and lower floors, with people living on the upper floor and no shelter on the lower floor. They are used as livestock stables or stacking farm tools and sundries.

The Wa people have the habit of helping each other when building houses, which can generally be completed on the same day.

Big headed people and rich people can build "big houses", which is marked by special wood carvings on the houses. There are horned ox skulls on the walls, which symbolize wealth. The form and furnishings are the same as those of ordinary houses. There are three fire ponds: host, guest and ghost. The main fire pond is used for cooking. Most of the Wa people in zhenkang and Yongde are four wall floor houses built with adobe, brick and tile. They are also divided into two floors. The upper floor is occupied by people and the lower floor is filled with farm tools and sundries.

diet

Wa people take rice (rice) as their staple food, and also eat small red rice, corn and beans.

Meat is mainly domestic livestock, including cattle, chickens and pigs. Wild boars, muntjacs, nine section beavers, pheasants and birds are hunted during the slack season. There are many kinds of vegetables, including bamboo shoots, green vegetables, cucumbers, winter melons, peppers and wild vegetables.

The diet of Wa nationality is relatively simple. They generally eat rotten rice. Generally, they eat two or three meals a day. In the past, WA people used to eat with their hands. Now they use chopsticks and spoons.

Wa people like to drink wine. They boil small red rice and mix it with wine medicine for fermentation. After about half a month, they put it in a bamboo tube and mix it with cold water to form water wine. Wa people have the saying that "no wine is not polite and words do not count".

Wa people also like to drink bitter tea, smoke grass tobacco and chew betel nut.

Clothes & Accessories

Wa's costumes vary from place to place.

The traditional men's clothing of the Wa Nationality in Ximeng is a collarless jacket. The trousers are short and fat. They wrap their heads with black or red cloth. The neck of young men is mostly decorated with bamboo rings or rattan rings. Women wear black collarless short clothes, straight tube folding skirts around the lower circumference, silver hoops or bamboo hoops on their heads, silver collars and multiple strings of beads as chest ornaments, several rattan rings on their waist and neck, and they also like to wear multiple silver bracelets and large earrings.

The men's clothing of the Wa Nationality in Cangyuan is a round neck jacket with short and fat trousers wrapped around their heads with black or red cloth. Women are beautiful with long hair, wear silver or aluminum earrings and collars, wear round neck, narrow sleeves and right Lapel short clothes, with several rows of silver bubbles on the chest, and wear a straight skirt with a variety of patterns.

The wa costumes in Yongde and zhenkang are basically the same as those of the local Han nationality.

Travel

Roads are important facilities for people to communicate with each other and with foreign countries.

Due to the influence of economic development level and the limitation of natural geographical environment, the roads in Wa villages are mostly incomplete and irregular, which are formed naturally with the change of house arrangement. Most of them are earth roads and random stone roads, which are bumpy and difficult to walk.

There are generally 3 to 4 roads to go out from the village "forever", depending on the convenient access of each village, most of which are small trails.

family

The Wa people take the monogamous family as the basic production and consumption unit of society. Most property is inherited by young children, and women have no right to inherit. Polygamy is allowed by society.

The Wa nationality uses the father son name system when naming, which is characterized by "reverse push and reverse connection", which goes back to their ancestors by themselves. For example, "sanbiri birisson", which is two generations in a genealogy, in which "sanbiri" indicates that "sanbiri" is the son of "birisson", and "birisson" also indicates that "Biri" is the son of "song". Although the two generations are connected, it only refers to "San" and "Biri", but it indicates the generation of son, father and grandfather.

etiquette

Respecting the elderly is the moral code of all nationalities, and the Wa nationality is no exception. The wa proverb "grana glayan" means "filial piety is ceremony", which reflects the important moral norms of the Wa people. Wa people are proud of respecting their elders and filial piety to the elderly, and respect their words and behavior. If the elderly lose their labor force, their children will bear the maintenance expenses or produce labor on their behalf. After the old man died, there was also a gift of death.

Due to the hardships of ethnic reproduction and the backwardness of medicine and health, life is fragile and precious in awashan. Therefore, WA people pay special attention to the care and upbringing of children. Wa proverb "gramograhong" means "love is ritual", which is mainly reflected in the love and upbringing of children. In the process of Wa children growing up, their parents will hold two childcare ceremonies when their children are full moon and when their children are five years old. Later, they will take their children to various banquets to learn "a wa theory", so that they can understand that a better life depends on labor. In daily life, WA people taboo beating and scolding children, because it will not only hurt children's body, but also scare away children's soul.

calendar

The Wa people created a simple calendar. There are 12 months every year. The first month of the year is marked by some natural phenomenon. Arrange production, religious and other activities according to the monthly climate and other conditions.

literature

Wa literature belongs to folk oral literature, including myths and legends, stories, fairy tales, fables, proverbs and so on. Through various literary styles, the Wa people show their aesthetic concepts, moral concepts, religious beliefs and customs.

The myth and legend of Sigangli, which is widely spread in the wa area, is a well-known oral literature of the Wa people, including the formation of heaven and earth, the emergence of animals and plants, the origin of mankind and nationality, the origin of language, etc. The myth of Sigangli integrates Wa's social production, life experience, national history, literature and art, national relations and customs. It is an "Encyclopedia" integrating Wa's traditional culture.

Among the wa folk legends, "the legend of Cangyuan cliff painting", "the legend of headhunting and valley sacrifice", "the legend of the new rice Festival" and "the origin of water and wine" have the most national characteristics and cultural connotation.

Among the wa stories, the stories of orphans and animals have the most regional cultural and national characteristics. The story of orphans has a broad social foundation and is the product of the specific social and historical stage of the Wa nationality. Representative stories include orphan Yanya, orphans and fairies, etc. Animal stories are full of strong life atmosphere and strong regional cultural characteristics. Representative works include proud tiger, a hundred birds build a house, yellow cattle, buffalo and leopard, why cattle eat grass and plough, etc.

Wa people are rich in fairy tales and fables. Representative fairy tales include Yan GA and the Dragon Girl, brother Niu, a winning tiger, counting stars, etc. Representative fables include shy bamboo, love beautiful red deer, stone rock, wind and white flowers, pond water and mountain spring, etc.

Wa proverbs are the accumulation and summary of Wa People's production and life experience. They not only show the Wa People's life attitude and moral quality, but also reflect the Wa People's philosophy of life. They have strong vitality and appeal. Such as "the land is not planted with long grass, people are not diligent and hungry", "a bamboo is not a canopy, it is difficult for a person to succeed", "a tree should be upright and upright, and a person should be kind-hearted", "the dry land is wide, there are many wastelands; girls are white and lazy", and so on.

Painting and carving

Most of the Wa's paintings and carvings are closely related to the Wa's myths, legends and religious beliefs. Painting is generally reflected in the wood wall of the "big house", drawing portraits and animal images, mostly simple and primitive; In addition to the human and bird statues carved on the ridge of the "big house", the human and ox head are also engraved on the ox horn fork and wooden drum with the symbol of cow sacrifice to ghosts, but they are rough and simple.

In addition, the family of Cangyuan cliff paintings is generally considered to be the Wa nationality. On the 15 cliff painting points, more than 1000 patterns can be identified. The painting pigments are mixed with hematite powder, animal blood and colloidal plant liquid. The composition of Cangyuan cliff painting is concise, with various figures and animals, reflecting the hunting, grazing, villages, war, dance and other contents of the ancestors in Cangyuan cliff painting area.

music

The characteristics of Wa music are mainly primitive, simple, beautiful and healthy. It is unique for its simple tone and rough style.

Songs are folk songs, including labor songs, love songs, religious songs, memorial songs, celebration songs and children's songs; The musical instruments used include Koumi, piccolo, hulusheng, single string piano, wooden drum, elephant foot drum, copper plutonium, hairpin, etc.

dance

Wa dance has a wide range of themes, simple and straightforward dance style and enthusiasm. The main dances include circle dance, wooden drum dance, house building dance, Chung Dui dance, hair swing dance, elephant foot drum dance, bamboo pole dance, etc.

Among them, the wooden drum dance and hair flick dance show the profound heritage and strong national characteristics of Wa culture, which is well-known at home and abroad.

festival

The traditional festivals created by Wa people mainly include new Fire Festival, sowing Festival and new rice Festival.

The new Fire Festival is a wa New Year Festival, full of the color of "leaving the old and welcoming the new". Every December of the lunar calendar or January of the following year, each family in the village extinguishes the fire in the fire pond under the command of the elderly, holds a ceremony of "sending the old fire", and then goes to Shenshan to get new fire by "drilling wood for fire", and takes it to the elderly's home to burn into a fire, and then each family takes the new fire back for use. According to the Wa people, the new Fire Festival is the end of disaster, hunger and disease, and the beginning of auspiciousness, food and clothing and health.

The sowing Festival is held before and after March 15 of the lunar calendar every year. Before sowing seeds, the leader should first summon the elders of the village to kill chickens to read divination, select an auspicious day and offer sacrifices to Gu soul. After that, all families begin to sow seeds in the fields. At night, everyone ate and drank water and wine around the fire pond, then went to the square to sing and exchange notes, praying for good weather and a good harvest.

The new rice Festival is held in the middle of August of the lunar calendar every year. When the grain began to ripen, the leader summoned prestigious elders to agree on a auspicious day. Before the festival, young men in the village build roads and bridges, while women clean and wash clothes. On the day of the festival, each family went to the fields to pick a few ears of grain and unified them to the head family hosting the festival. Then they killed chickens, slaughtered pigs, filtered water and wine, and cooked glutinous rice. After the rice was cooked, the head read a toast and watched the chicken divination. Everyone began to eat, drink water and wine to celebrate the harvest. When night fell, men, women, old and young gathered in the square to sing and dance.

In addition, the Wa people in Sipai mountain of Gengma have the Youth Festival, and the Wa people in Banhong and banlao of Cangyuan have the tribute elephant Festival. With the communication of national culture, WA also has Han traditional festivals such as Dragon Boat Festival, Mid Autumn Festival and Spring Festival.

In 2003, Ximeng Wa Autonomous County created a new wooden drum Festival. In 2004, Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County created the Sigangli carnival.

marriage and love

In the past, WA men and women could communicate freely before marriage, which was called "string girls". Young men and women gathered in groups of three or two to sing love songs, and those who liked them gave gifts. After love talks, if both men and women are willing to combine, they can conclude marriage, but it is up to their parents. When getting married, the man should give the woman a bride price, which is called "nanny money" and "buy girl money", and the latter can delay the delivery.

The Wa People's prohibition of intermarriage with the same surname is a strict law in the Wa People's marriage. The so-called "same surname" is a collective of people with blood relationship from the same ancestor. In terms of the reality of Wa nationality, it is a family. In the past, the Wa nationality was particularly popular in the form of Uncle marriage, and intermarriage with foreign nationalities was rare.

funeral

Wa People's funeral customs are mainly earth burial, with cremation, wild burial and other relic customs.

Wa people divide human death into "yongmeng Mu" (good end) and "yongzaoao" (ferocious death).

Those who die normally, such as old death, illness and death, and those who die at home are "yongmeng Mu", and those who die accidentally, such as knife, gun, water, fire, suicide, dystocia and those who die in other places are "yongzaoao". A husband who dies during his wife's pregnancy is also regarded as "yongzaoao".

The Wa people have obvious differences in the funeral customs of the two kinds of death. The "yongzaoao" and "yongmengmu" cannot be in the same cemetery, nor can they carry out funerals of the same scale and form.

Each village in awashan has two cemeteries, one for those who bury "yongmengmu" and the other for those who bury "yongzaoao". The two cemeteries are about one kilometer west of the village. The cemeteries of "yongmengmu" are above and the cemeteries of "yongzaoao" are below, separated by a certain distance.

In Wa's funeral custom, eggs are sometimes used to choose tombs. The eggs are thrown up on people's heads and let the eggs fall. If the eggs are broken, it means that the dead are willing to be buried there. If they are not broken, they need to choose another one until the eggs are broken. Wa

The family cemetery truly reflects the nature of public ownership. No matter where the deceased chooses the cemetery, they have no "right of possession". If the deceased is buried in the same place, they still have the freedom of choice.

The simplicity of Wa village cemeteries may be a typical example of nations in the world.

Moreover, the Wa People's traditional burial customs do not erect steles, raise graves, or hold tomb sweeping and worship activities.