| Population and Distribution
The Tujia ethnic group, having a population of 5,704,223, mainly
live in compact communities in the Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
in western Hunan Province and Enshi Tujia Autonomous Prefecture
in Hubei Province. There are also some scattered in Shizhu, Xiushan,
Qianjiang and other counties in Sichuan Province.
History
The Tujia people called themselves "Bizika", which means
"native dwellers".
Although their name suggests that they are natives, their exact
origin is still uncertain. Some people trace their ancestry to the
ancient "Ba" people while others claim they come from
the Wuman, who moved to western Hunan from Guizhou Province. There
are also some that believe that they came from Jiangxi Province
at the end of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The only thing we can
be sure of is that the Tujia ethnic group had come into being by
the early Five Dynasties period, around the year 910.
Language
The Tujia people have their own language which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman
group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. They have no written
script and the language of the Han people is in common usage. The
language of the Miao ethnic group is also used.
Economy
The area inhabited by the Tujia people is mostly highland with
an altitude ranging between 400 and 1500 meters. Blessed with a
mild climate and rich waters, this area provides ideal conditions
for the development of forestry, agriculture, fishery and stock
rising. Tujia people grow a variety of crops including wet rice,
wheat, maize, and sweet potatoes. Other profitable cash crops include
sugar beets, ramie, lacquer, cotton, tea, etc. This area also abounds
in various timber resources, rare medicinal herbs, minerals, aquatic
products and giant salamanders.
Art
Tujia women are good at weaving. "Xilankapu," also known
as "Knitting Floral Bedclothes", is the masterpiece of
the Tujia crafts. Woven on a simple wooden machine, this kind of
brocade, thick and durable, simple but gorgeous, is reputed to be
one of the three most famous brocades in Southwestern-China. According
to the custom of Tujia nationality, the Tujia girls will start learning
knitting with colorful threads when at the age of eleven or twelve.
Young ladies should have their own "Xilankapu" as dowries
at the time of marriage.
Diet
The Tujia people normally have four meals per day during the busy
season and two during the idle seasons. Their staple foods include
rice and corn. Bacon, glutinous rice cake and rice ball are their
favorite food. In the past, the sweet potato was taken as the main
food but today it is only used as the preserved food for the winter.
The Tujia people like to eat chili, peppers and spice. They also
like drinking and the wine they use is mostly home-produced.
Residence
The Tujia people have usually built their villages at the foot
of a mountain or on the lower slopes near a water source. The members
in a village belong to the same clan and their village is named
after the surname of the clan.
Square in shape, the Houses of Tujia people are made of wood or
a combination of wood, stone, and brick. Houses are usually two
stories, using the ground floor for storage of supplies and livestock
and the second floor as family living quarters. The central room
on the second floor is where ancestors are enshrined and worshipped.
This is also the place for family activities and entertaining guests.
The bedrooms are often on the left of the central room while the
kitchen is on the right.
Fashion
The Tujia costumes are made of cloth they weave with their own
hands. They like the colors black and blue the best, using bright
colorful embroidery on the hems and scarves.
Traditionally, Tujia women like to wear loose jackets and long
skirts. Their jackets are always buttoned down on the left side
being trimmed with lace and having short, broad sleeves. They often
coil their hair up and wear a cap or wrap it within a cloth. They
often wear various ornaments such as necklaces, earrings, and wrist
and ankle bracelets.
Tujia men wear short jackets with many buttons in front and wind
red or white cloths about their heads. The traditional hand-woven
"xitong" cloth with intricate designs is the main material
used for clothing.
Religion
The Tujia people have various beliefs which include shamanism,
Taoism, ancestral worship, and earlier beliefs involving ghosts
and evil spirits.
Besides which the Tujia people also have their unique White Tiger
Worship. The white tiger occupies an important status in the mind
of Tujia people and the Tujia people call themselves "offspring
of White Tiger". As the story goes, in remote antiquity, Bawuxiang,
the forefather of the Tujia ethnic group was chosen as the headman
of the Wuxing tribe, popularly known as the "Granary Monarch".
The Granary Monarch led his men to Yanyang by water and killed the
cruel goddess of the Yanshui River. Then they settled down and the
Granary Monarch gained the respect and esteem of his people. Later,
the Granary Monarch died and his soul turned into a white tiger
and was raised to the skies. From then on Tujia people deified the
white tiger and piously worship it every now and then. Nowadays
a statue of a white tiger can be found in the main hall of each
family.
Social Life
The Tujia people are good at singing and dancing, and they use
song and dance to tell epic sagas and creation myths, expressing
love and grief.
The Tujia have a popular dance named Baishou dance (Hand dance).
It is a traditional mass collective performance of the Tujia people.
It has a history of over 500 years and was originally a dance of
triumph. This dance, now with its seventy ritual gestures that represent
war, hunting, farming and other aspects of life, is popular at the
New Year's festival, the Lunar New Year and other festive occasions.
Another popular dance is the "Maogusi" dance. "Maogusi"
means grandpa in Chinese. It is an old dance for commemorating the
exploits of ancestors. The dance often needs 15-16 participators,
of which the head is an elder called "Babu Father" and
the others being juniors. When they perform this dance, the body
of the members, including their faces, will be packaged with straw,
couch grass and leaves. There are five plaits made of palm leaves
on their head with four of the plaits bent down slightly and hanging
from four sides.
"Maogusi" dance is unique in its forms and contents.
Local dialects will be used through the performance and the appearances
of the actors are funny and humorous. They advance and retreat in
quick short steps, or go down on their knees and shake their bodies,
or jump and swing from right to left, quivering all over. They shake
their heads and shrug and the couch grass rustles. This is in imitation
of the straightforward manners of the ancient people.
The "Maogusi" dance often lasts six nights. It is an
integration of singing, dancing and drama, and it is a native drama
for deity. This form is seldom seen in other nationalities and is
called the "Living Fossil" of the ancient culture.
Festivals
The "Diaonian Meeting," "Zhongwu Holiday" and
"Guozu Festival" are the three most important holidays
the Tujia people celebrate in a year.
Diaonian Festival, also named Gannian Festival, is the Spring Festival
of the Tujia people. It comes one day earlier than the New Year's
Eve of the Han people and is the most ceremonious festival of the
Tujia people. During this festival the Tujia people will carry out
many activities celebrating the festival. These activities will
last several days, perhaps even more than ten days.
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