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Strong tie to eagles among Tajik
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TAJIK, which means “the one who wears a crown” in the Tajik language, is often called the “eagle of the high mountain” since most people in the ethnic group live on the Pamir Plateau and their emotional tie to eagles dates to ancient times.
With a population just over 50,000, 60 percent of Tajiks live in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The rest are scattered in counties like Shache, Zepu, Yecheng and Pishan, where ethnic townships have been built.
Though their population is relatively small, the Tajiks’ history can be traced to 2000 BC, when their ancestors lived in the Congling area (Pamir Plateau). From the 16th century to the 19th century, many Tajik people in Shikenan and Wahan in the west and south of Pamir moved eastward to Taxkogan, escaping the oppression of the local lords. These immigrants soon merged into the locals, and a small number of Uygurs and Kirgizs also mixed into the Tajiks.
The Tajiks are the only group who speak Iranian languages in China. Tajiks in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County speak the Sarikoli language and the others speak Wakhi, but they have no written script. Tajiks used Persian before the 1930s and then changed to Uygur writing. Most young Tajik people today use Chinese and Uygur for writing.
Islam is the ethnic group’s religion, but their religious activities and organization system are not very rigid. Affected by Islamic traditions, the Tajiks don’t eat pork, horse, donkey or dog.
Most Tajik festivals are religiously based. The Lantern Festival is one of the traditional Islamic festivals celebrated in the first two days of the fourth month of the Islamic calendar. Families will prepare torches coated with butter and erect a sand dune inside their rooms. On that day, every family member will light two torches and plug them into the sand.
Embroidered cotton-padded hats are essential for Tajik girls for the cold weather in the highlands of Pamir. Purple, gold and red are their favorite colors. If going out, they will also add a large square scarf, usually white, to the top of hats. Brides like red ones and girls prefer yellow ones. Big earrings and colorful dresses are also among their favorites.
Men prefer to wear tall lambskin hats lined with black velvet and leather suits, which enable them to cope with the cold in winter. It will be regarded as impolite if anyone takes off his hat during a conversation.
As the “eagle of the high mountain,” Tajiks have a very close connection with eagles and regard them as symbols of heroes. Their “eagle dancing” folk dance is basically an imitation of eagles’ circling and sailing. This ethnic dance was recognized in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage on May 20, 2006.
The “eagle flute,” made of the wing bone of eagles, is the favorite musical instrument of Tajik people. It produces a clear, sonorous and resounding sound.
Due to their semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral lifestyle, Tajiks live in square and flat-roofed stone houses in autumn and winter. They move to felt tents or mud huts in the herding season of summer. The houses’ roofs are slightly arched to hold rainwater, and stables are constructed for livestock, kitchen and storehouses.
Foods are different, depending on where people live — wheaten food in rural areas, meat and milk in pasturing areas. Milky tea is the daily drink.
Tajiks attach great importance to etiquette. Kissing is their meeting etiquette. Men of the same generation will kiss each other’s hand back and the minors kiss the elders’ hand back while the elders kiss their foreheads and eyes. Women of the same generation prefer to kiss their faces and the minors will kiss the elders’ palms. Men usually shake hands instead of kissing with women.
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