The story appears on

Page A16

July 13, 2014

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sunday » Now and Then

Lahu — China’s ‘hunting tigers’

THE Lahu people of southwestern China’s Yunnan Province have long been known as the nation’s hunting tigers, due to their nomadic tradition in ancient times.

With a population of 485,966, most of the Lahu are currently scattered around the Lancang Lahu Autonomous County and Menglian Dai and Lahu Autonomous Counties, while others live in the Simao, Lincang and Xishuangbanna regions.

The Lahu people are said to be the descendants of the ancient Di-Qiang clan who lived as nomads. In the 8th century, after the rise of the Nanzhao regime in Yunnan, they were compelled to move south. By no later than the beginning of the 19th century, they settled in their present-day locations. Influenced by the feudal production methods of neighboring Han and Dai peoples, the Lahu people gradually turned to agriculture. They live in subtropical hilly areas along the Lancang River, where the land is fertile and suitable for planting rice paddies, dry rice, maize, buckwheat and sisal hemp. Found here are also valuable medicinal herbs like pseudo-ginseng and devil pepper.

Bamboo tools are quite essential for the Lahu cooking style, as they help retain the pristine flavor of the ingredients and add the fragrance of fresh bamboo. Boiled rice in bamboo container and baked meat in between bamboo strips are among the most common Lahu cuisines. Tea baked in bamboo wares, known as the “lazhaduo,” is also popular.

A Lahu saying goes as “Lahu’s pepper, Han’s oil,” which means treating guests with food without pepper in a Lahu family is as rude as treating guest to food without oil in the Han culture. Therefore, pepper is very likely to be found in every course on a Lahu family’s dinner table.

Boiled chicken porridge with a strong flavor is a must course for honored guests in Lahu tradition, but plain boiled chicken porridge might indicate a cutting off of relations.

The head of the family is entitled to fill his bowl first, followed by the guests. Then the other family members will do it in turns by age.

Lahu people usually eat non-glutinous rice on most days of the year, while stickier glutinous rice is consumed during the New Year celebratory period, which usually lasts eight to 12 days.

Lahu villages are mostly built in thick woods or bamboo forests on hillsides with a gate and sharp bamboo stakes surrounding as fences. Tiled houses are found in some areas, but there are more thatched cottages.

The traditional Lahu people are polytheist. Their “super god” is called Exia and is believed to be the creator of the universe and mankind, and governs the fortune of people. It is said that Exia lived in a forbidden place in the depth of mountainous forests, unable to be reached by non-Lahu people.

Mahayana (a sect of Buddhism that teaches social concern and universal salvation) was introduced into the Lahu areas and soon became widespread in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Some Lahus today also follow Christianity or Roman Catholicism.

The Lahu people’s language belongs to the Tibetan-Burma group of the Sina-Tibetan phylum. Woodcarving used be a major way of passing messages in the old days, and based on those messages the present Lahu language was written and became unified in 1957.

The Lahu people like dressing themselves in black. The men wear black scarves or edgeless round black hats, black collarless jackets and baggy black trousers. The women dress in long robes with strips of colored cloth and shining silver decorations on the collars. They also accessorize in turbans that are about 3 meters in length with one end falling down toward the waist.

The Lahu people describe themselves as “a nation born within calabash.” As recorded in the long epic “Mupamipa,” 50 couples hid themselves in 50 calabashes in the face of a big flood in ancient times. One of the calabashes reached the 2,000-meter-high plateau when the flood faded. A couple came out of the calabash and became the ancestor of the Lahu who lived there ever after.  Calabash plays an important role in the Lahu culture. Lusheng, made of calabashes, is the Lahu’s favorite musical instrument. Young Lahu men often play the lusheng and sing songs to express their affection for the women.

There is also a lusheng dance, where participants hold hands to form a circle, leaning forward and backward, crouching and jumping in an excited manner, while playing the lusheng.

The Spring Festival, or Kuota, falling on the first day of the first month in the traditional lunar calendar, is the grandest festival. There is usually a nine-day celebration for the Kuota Festival in Lahu villages. On the first morning, the young Lahu people rush for the “new water” as a tradition. It is believed that the purest water can be obtained only on the first day of a new year, and by collecting such water first, people can gain good fortune for the whole year. The “new water” is used as a sacrifice to the ancestors, then is offered to the elderly in the family for face washing.

Dancing parties are held at every village. People in traditional costumes sing and dance throughout the night, praying for a better year.

No visitors are welcomed to the Lahu village on the first day of Kuota, and the Lahu people will not visit their friends and relatives until the second day of the new year.


Lahu

Population: 485,966 (2010 national census)

Distribution: Lancang Lahu Autonomous County and Menglian, Shuangjiang Autonomous Counties, Simao, Lincang and Xishuangbanna regions.

Language: Lahu language

Religion: Polytheism

Food: Rice, maize and buckwheat




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend