Distinctive Culture of Maonan Spicing up Your Experience

Maonan nationality， one of the Chinese ethnic minorities， now has mainly inhabited in the Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County in the northwest of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The rest live scattered in Hechi City， Nandan County and Yao Autonomous County of Du’an. Please come and share your days to savor the life of Maonan people in an old-fashioned way.

A taste of Maonan’s daily life

Interestingly， more than 80 percent of the Maonan people share the same surname： Tan. Maonan people with the surname “Tan” believe that they are descended from the inhabitants of Hunan Province that emigrated to Guangxi and married Maonan women. Other frequent surnames found in this ethnic group are： Lu， Meng， Wei and Yan. People with the same surname and from the same clan usually live together in small villages with only a few households.

As for costume， it varies according to gender， age， season， purpose and social status. The overcoat is called Guleban in Maonan dialect； the women’s dress is called Gulebie； children wear Gulejie； the young wear Gulezuo； and the elderly wear Gulelao. According to the season and purpose， winter clothes are called Gunianxiang and Guniantu is dressed in summer. When people visit their friends and relatives， they wear Gubaiban； and when they go to work， they wear Gufeigong.

They all like blue and black clothes which they dye themselves. They seldom have clothes in white or yellow except those for mourning. However， they do not wear mourning clothes to visit others， or the hosts may feel unhappy or even be offended. They pay particular care to their underwear， which they regard as their soul. Women are not allowed to reveal their bosoms and breasts. Women’s clothes are characterized by three rows of black lace. Most of clothes are black and blue with silver decorations and flowers， which are adorable. The girls like to wear small dresses with beautiful embroidery. The women like to embroider shoes， which are usually kept in suitcases. Only when they visit relatives do they wear these exquisite shoes. At home， they wear black shoes. They often wear grass shoes to walk a long distance. Silver decorations are important for Maonan women. Besides earrings， there are silver hairpins， silver chaplets， silver combs and so on. Men’s clothes are similar to the women’s， but do not have lace. Instead， they have five copper buttons. So they are called Guni in Maonan dialect， which means “five buttons on the clothes”. When they dress up， they wrap black headbands around their heads. On one side， there is a fringe which wobbles when they walk. They also wear a waistband， which has a fringe in red， green， yellow， blue and white colors at the two ends.

Speaking of major staples of the Maonan ethnic group， they all enjoy rice， maize， millet， sweet potatoes and pumpkins. Maonan cuisine includes many pickled dishes， of which the most famous ones are known as the “Three Sour Dishes”， namely “Nanxing”， “Wengwei” and “Suofa” （transliteration）. “Nanxing” is pickled sour pork or beef. Pickling “Nanxing” actually is to keep the meat available at any time. In the past， whether the family has “Nanxing” or not is a criterion for its wealth. The brine with the tart flavor is just what “Wengwei” exactly means. In a jar of “Wengwei”， many melons and vegetables can be pickled， such as green pepper， turnip， fresh kidney beans， cucumber and ginger. “Suofa” is spiral shell soup with tart flavor. The soup is nice to go with food and rice. In summer， it can be used to relieve summer heat and cure the acute diseases.

Unique ethnic treasure

Among numerous customs of the Maonan nationality， the Flying Birds Festival on January 15 of the lunar year is the most characteristic and interesting one. A legend has it that there was an old master in the countryside of Maonan Mountain. He had only one daughter， who was clever， deft and beautiful. She was good at weaving one hundred birds with thin bamboo strips and calamus leaves， and thus she was called “the girl of little bird”. Later， she and a guy loved each other， and planed to get married on the lunar New Year’s Day. The old master wanted to test the ability of his future son-in-law. On the New Year’s Eve， he asked the young guy to scatter seeds all over the land on the mountain before it was getting dark. Seeing this， the girl blew towards one hundred birds， and whispered some secret words to the guy. The guy took one hundred birds to the mountain and let these birds fly out and got all seeds back quickly. The guy casted the grain seeds again before it was getting dark. From then on， there was a custom of “flying birds”.

When the festival is around the corner， every household picks the good calamus leaves in advance. On the New Year’s Eve， they weave one hundred birds with calamus leaves， put the dunked fragrant glutinous rice， beans and sesame fillings into the empty stomachs of the birds， and steam or boil them. Next， they fasten the birds onto long sugarcane with a rope， and hang them in front of the burning incense in the central room. The birds include partridge， pheasant， swallow， cormorant， babbler and so on. On that day， every child at home is given one “bird” to satisfy his craving for good food； the women who are married and have given birth to children should go back to their parents’ home for “birds”， with the hope that the children will grow lively and lovely. In front of the hall with burning incense， the offerings should also be laid， including red rice and fruits， wishing one hundred birds don’t eat crops， and guarantee good fortune of another harvest year. Then on January 15， “one hundred birds” are taken down as their meal， which is called “flying birds.”

On that day， Nuo dance is the main form of blessing and entertainment for the locals. Regarded as the living fossil of Chinese dance， the Nuo dance enjoys a long historical origin. In ancient times， people gathered together to entertain themselves and frighten away beasts， which actually was a part of their daily life. Later on， it developed into a kind of ceremony to drive away evils and epidemics. During the festival， dancers wear Nuo masks， follow simple dance steps， and pray for a bumper harvest in the years to come.