The Brief Analysis of Walking Marriage

【摘要】： "Abstract：There are hard-working Mosuo people living happily in accordance with their customs. They are the only ethic group who have been reserved the matriarchal clan for so many years， especially the Azhu marriage customs. This passage focuses on the origin， the explanation and the influence of the walking marriage.

【Key words】： walking marriage; customs; norms

I.The origin of the walking marriage.

How does the Mosuo people come into being？ The Mosuo is the only living matriarchal population in China. It is said that there are about 15000 Mosuo people who are mainly distributed in the Lugu Lake area at Ninglang County in the northwest Yunnan. There are studies showed that the Mosuo was derived from an ancient tribe Maoniu Qiang， which is a branch of Di-Qiang group. They were originally lived in northwest China and migrated to southwest China about 2700 years ago. And then they are classified into the Naxi. However，most of the Mosuo hold the view that they are a unique ethnic group or should be a branch of Tibetan instead of the Naxi. Because they believe that they have the stronger cultural similarity with the Tibetan not the Naxi.

There’s a fairy which is about how the “walking marriage” came into being. It was said that there was a beautiful intelligent godness named Graham who was admired by so many gods. However， it’s really a pity that they could only meet her once a year. One day， Graham had a date with a god and they knew each others’ minds. They made a lot of sweet talk till the dawn. But the god must left before the dawn according to the rules of the heaven. Due to the long talk， the time was so limited that the god mounted a horse in a hurry. But his heart couldn’t get rid of his beloved Graham. One step forward and look back twice， then he stopped suddenly at the ridge of a mountain. Unfortunately， an accident happened， the horse stumbled and left a deep hoof print under the ridge. And Graham cried heavily and her tears gathered into the hoof print and then it became the Lugu Lake. After saw this， the god scattered a handful pearls to the lake， the crystal clear pearls became little islands immediately. From then on， they began to had a date at night and left before dawn， and then it evolved into the “walking marriage”.

II.The explanation of the walking marriage

1. The former stage of walking marriage

In the traditional custom， the Mosuo children are supposed to be in the adult hood when they are 13 years old. On the Lunar New Year’s Day， there’s an adult ceremony in which girls are dressed up by their mother and then their mother usually say sentences”The little birds begin to fly， you should learn to fly by yourself. You are an adult now， don’t play with little kids anymore.” At the same time， the boys are dress up by their uncle. After this ceremony， the children are allowed to take part in any kind of social activities. But they can only get a walking marriage in about 9 years. When the girls are about 19 years old， they are supposed to live in a sweet room which is demonstrated on purpose.

During the age of 13 years old to 16 years old， it’s the Ogle stage， and when they are in the age of 16 to the age of 19， it’s the stage in which the girls and boys sing songs and dance to each other. After the age of 19， they begin to walk secretly. And if they have babies， they can get walking marriage formally.

2.The walking marriage

They don’t stay alone during the daytime， and they can only meet each other on the party or other social activities. And they usually sing and dance to express their admiration to the one they love. If a man like a woman he will make an appointment with the woman， at the mean time， they will create a secret password for the man’s coming to the sweet house. At this time， the man is called ”Azhu” to the woman， and the woman is called ”Axia” to the man. The man will go to the woman’s sweet house at night. However， the man can’t go to the room from the front gate， in stead， they are supposed to climb to the room from the window. And the woman will not open the door until the man give the correct answer. After this， they will close the window， implying that they’re dating and please do not disturb. Then the man must leave before the dawn. It’s rude for the man to leave after the dawn or the elders’ getting up.

When the man get the walking marriage formally for the first time， the man shall bring some tea， food or other things to the woman’s family together with a person who is the matchmaker or one of his family members. And the woman’s family usually hold a big party to entertain them. During this time， the woman’s family will give out the gifts and foods to their relatives to show that their daughter has a “Azhu”. If the new couple have son or daughter， he or she belongs to the woman’s family， so he or she lives with the mother. The man don’t need to live in the woman’s house and has no need or responsibility to bring up the baby.

On the third day that the baby comes to the world， the baby has to take a shower which is called “da san zhao”， and then the uncle give a name to it. The baby will be showed around in the neighborhood. The grandmother of the baby will bring lots of gifts such as pork， mutton，chicken and even articles of daily use for thanks and live in the woman’s house for three days. One month later， there’s a birthday party for the little baby. On this party， they will admit the genetic connection between the man and the baby.

3. The reasons for why the walking marriage being

There are three reasons. The first is that the Mosuo matriarchal society is not

completely collapsed and the outside influence is also weak. The second is that the social productivity is backward， not forming individual ownership. Females are still the main force to seek for the life materials. The blood knot makes the traditional concept deeply root. The last one is that the upper officials are not against the A Xia marriage.

4.The view on walking marriage

The man and woman in the walking marriage keep a pure love view， it’s the love that maintain this relationship. If they don’t love each other anymore， they don’t connect with each other. From this point of view， the walking marriage is thought to have high freedom. Also both of them have equal status in this relationship. They nearly don’t have the complicated economic， obligation and right dispute. So this kind of relationship last longer than other marriage.

The Mosuo people have their own moralities and norms which play more important role in their marriage. So the promiscuous marriage doesn’t exist in their ethic group. The walking marriage has free love setting up on the moralities and norms. There’s no marriage registration， but their relationship is fixed during their walking. After a "period of time， if they have personality clash between each other， both the man and woman can put forward to end up the relationship. The male can say he will not come again or he would not visit the woman for a long term， so the engagement will be

canceled. If the woman wants to end the relationship， she can let the man not come again or refuse the man to enter the house. No matter the man or the woman know "another part find A Xia during the period of their relationship， he or she usually send "a burlap bag with burning coals， pepper or chicken feather to warn or break off the relations. If the man or woman is willing to apology， he or she will send a package "for the apology， so that they can make up the relationship.

III.The forms of Mosuo people’s marriage

With the development of the society， there are three forms of Mosuo people’s marriage. They are living-apart marriage， living-together marriage， monogamous marriage.

1.Living-apart marriage

It is also called “walking marriage” which is different from the common marriage in our country. In this marriage， there’s no family which is made up by male and female， in stead， the male and the female don’t marry each other. The man usually live in the woman’s room at night and return his own house before the dawn. Their babies are bring up by the woman’s family， and the man don’t have the responsibility to bring up it， on the contrary， he has to bring up the children which belongs to his sisters. In this family， the son or daughter has the responsibility to support his or her mother， grandmother， uncle and aunt in his or her mother’s side expect their father.

2.Living-together marriage

When a man and a woman have a long relationship， they don’t live in their original family anymore， they usually live together in the man’ or woman’s family. And both of them have the responsibility to bring up their children. Besides， they also have the responsibility to bring up their sisters’ children. If they put forward to end up the relationship， they usually move back to their original family， and their children can go together with the woman or the man under their negotiation.

3.Monogamous marriage

This form of marriage is similar with other ethic groups.

This three forms of marriage lead to three kinds of families. The first one is maternal family form. All the family members are maternal members， and their procession and living fee are distribute by their mother. In this form of family， the uncles act as the father. The second one is double family， this form of family is made up by father and mother， and the children are support by their parents， also they are supposed to support their parents. The third one is paternal family， this form comes from double family after several generations of maternal family.

IV.The influence of the walking marriage

The walking marriage lead to their deeply mother complex， esteem to the women and the admiration of their uncles. As for the women， they learn to be brave， independent. Also they form the ability of excellent management in charge of the family， and the strong responsibility to their family. As for the male Mosuo people， they are usually enthusiasm， simple and unadorned.

The walking marriage also have great influence on modern walking marriage， the two have commons and also differences. Any forms of marriage has the necessity to exist， anyone should not judge other marriage only from his or her own perspectives.

V.Conclusion

The Mosuo people’s walking marriage has changed a lot under the impact of modern culture. It keeps changing this years. The Mosuo people’s form of marriage changes from absolutely walking marriage to monogamous marriage and other forms of marriage. It passes from the Han Dynasty with it own advantages， principles and admiration. So it should be judged fairly， any forms of marriage have the reasons to exist for so long time. And it is the only maternal family last in our country， it should be protected for our culture. It is one important part or maybe the most valuable part in our culture.

Reference：

[1]常慧青，潘運.摩梭人的“走婚”及其影響下的女性心理[J].魅力中國，2013（14）.

[2]吉龍華.走近走婚的摩梭人[J].創造，2002（2）.

[3]沈明.淺談摩梭人的婚姻史[J].四川民族學院學報，2015，24（6）：35-37.

[4]王婷.近十年來關于摩梭人走婚習俗研究綜述[J].環球人文地理，2015（10）.

[5]項玲，張道遠.少數民族婚俗文化旅游資源及保護性開發策略研究——以摩梭人婚俗為例[J]. 石家莊學院學報.2004，16（3）.

[6]余珊珊. 淺析母系氏族文明的延續———瀘沽湖的走婚形式[J].當代旅游.

張穎.奇特的摩梭走婚[J].劍南文學：經典閱讀，2012（5）.

[7]趙蘊晗，張穎，陳發展，王繼塋，趙旭東，王朝昕. 摩梭中學生心理健康狀況與父母婚姻模式關系的研究[J]. 中華行為醫學與腦科學雜志，2013，22（4）.

[8]Ma Jianhe. A Walking Marriage tribe in the Grand Canyon[J].Glamour Traditons.