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The Mosuo (; also spelled Moso, Mosso or Musuo), often called the Naxi
among themselves, are a small
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
living in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
's
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
and
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
provinces, close to the border with
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
. Consisting of a population of approximately 40,000, many of them live in the Yongning region, around
Lugu Lake
Lugu Lake () is located in the northwest of the Yunnan plateau, with the middle of the lake forming the border between the Ninglang County of Yunnan Province and the Yanyuan County of Sichuan Province. The formation of the lake is thought to have ...
, in Labai, in Muli, and in Yanyuan, located high in the
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
().
Although the Mosuo are culturally distinct from the
Nashi, the
Chinese government
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mili ...
places them as members of the Nashi minority. The Nashi are about 320,000 people spread throughout different provinces in China. Their culture has been documented by indigenous scholars
Lamu Gatusa
Lamu Gatusa (Gaofeng Shi) is an associate professor at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, in Kunming, Yunnan, China. He is also a writer, and a three-time winner of China's Minority People Literature Award.
His studies have focused on his own ...
, Latami Dashi, Yang Lifen and He Mei.
Introduction
The Mosuo are often referred to as China's "last
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
society."
The Mosuo themselves may also often use the description ''
matriarchal
Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property.
While those definitions apply in general E ...
'', which they believe increases interest in their culture and thus attracts tourism.
[Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association (2006)]
The Mosuo: Matriarchal/Matrilineal Culture
Retrieved on: 2011-07-10. However, the terms ''matrilineal'' and ''matriarchal'' do not reflect the full complexity of their
social organization
In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and social groups.
Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, s ...
. In fact, it is not easy to categorize Mosuo culture within traditional Western definitions. They have aspects of a matriarchal culture: women are often the head of the house, inheritance is through the female line, and women make business decisions. However, unlike a matriarchy, the political power tends to be in the hands of males.
For instance, a man named Ge Ze A Che is the political leader of Luoshui village. However, according to an article by NPR, there was once a time when the political leaders of Mosuo villages were in fact female. The anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday has argued that the Musou should be considered a matriarchy. Further, scholars have argued that while matrilineal arrangements are the normative pattern, domestic arrangements still vary geographically and by family circumstance.
Lifestyle
Daily life
Mosuo culture is primarily agrarian, with work based on farming tasks such as raising livestock (yak, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry) and growing crops, including grains and potatoes. The people are largely self-sufficient in diet, raising enough for their daily needs. Meat is an important part of their diet and, since they lack refrigeration, is preserved through salting or smoking. The Mosuo are renowned for their preserved pork, which may be kept for 10 years or more. They produce a local alcoholic beverage made from grain, called ''sulima'', which is similar to strong wine. Sulima is drunk regularly and usually offered to guests and at ceremonies and festivals.
[Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association (2006)]
The Mosuo: Daily Life
Retrieved on: 2011-07-11.
Local economies tend to be barter-based. However, increased interaction with the outside world brings greater use of a cash-based trade system. Average incomes are low (US$150–200 per year), causing financial restrictions when cash is needed for activities such as education or travel. Electricity has been introduced in most Mosuo communities, but some villages still lack electric power.
[
Mosuo homes consist of four rectangular structures arranged in a square, around a central courtyard. The first floor houses livestock, including water buffalo, horses, geese, and poultry. The main cooking, eating and visiting areas are also on the first floor. The second floor is commonly used for storage and for the bedrooms.][
]
Role of women
As soon as a Mosuo girl becomes old enough, she learns the tasks that she will perform for the rest of her life. Mosuo women do all the housework, including cleaning, tending the fire, cooking, gathering firewood, feeding the livestock, and spinning and weaving.[Kingdom of Women: The Matriarchal Mosuo of China (2007, 54 min.) Films for the Humanities and Societies] In the past, due to isolation, Mosuo women produced all their own household goods. Today, due to increased trade with surrounding villages and cities, it is easier to obtain goods. Nevertheless, some Mosuo women, especially those of older generations, know how to use looms to produce cloth goods.
Role of men
According to some, men have no responsibility in Mosuo society—they have no jobs, rest all day, and conserve their strength for nighttime visits.[.] However, Mosuo men do have roles in their society. They help to bring up the children of their sisters and female cousins, build houses and are in charge of livestock and fishing, which they learn from their uncles and older male family members as soon as they are old enough.
Men deal with the slaughter of livestock, in which women never participate. Slaughtered pigs, in particular, are kept whole and stored in a dry, airy place that keeps them edible for up to ten years. This is especially helpful when harsh winters make food scarce.
Matrilineality
Mosuo families tend to trace their lineage
Lineage may refer to:
Science
* Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor
* Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...
through the female side of the family. Occasionally, in fact, they may not know who the father of a child is, which does not carry stigma as in many other societies, but is considered embarrassing. Children belong to and reside within their mother's household and have access to its land and resources.
Matriarch
The matriarch (''Ah mi,'' or elder female, in Chinese) is the head of the house. The ''Ah mi'' has absolute power; she decides the fate of all those living under her roof. In walking marriages, Mosuo women are responsible for much of the work done around the house and financial decisions. The matriarch also manages the money and jobs of each family member. When the ''Ah mi'' wishes to pass her duties on to the next generation, she will give this female successor the keys to the household storage, signifying the passing on of property rights and responsibility.
History
An important historical fact often missed in studies of the Mosuo was that their social organization has traditionally been feudal, with a small nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
controlling a larger peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
population.[Hua, Cai. ''A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China.'' Asti Hustvedt, trans. New York: Zone Books, 2001.] The Mosuo nobility practiced a "parallel line of descent" that encouraged cohabitation, usually within the nobility, in which the father passed his social status to his sons, while the women passed their status to their daughters. Thus, if a Mosuo commoner female married a male serf, her daughter would be another commoner, while her son would have serf status.
Chuan-Kang Shih argued that matrilineality and "walking marriage" (''tisese'') is a primary institution of family, sex and reproduction, and marriage is secondary. As Shih argues, marriage, as different from ''tisese'', was introduced into Mosuo society through contact with other ethnic groups during the Yuan and Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
empire-building process.
Adoption
If there are no offspring of one sex, it is common for a child from another family to join an adoptive household.[.] Such a child might come from a large family, or one too small to continue. Children raised in this sense are genealogically linked to their new households. They are treated as equal family members; in some instances, adopted females become the matriarchs of their adoptive families.
Walking marriages
One of the best known aspects of Mosuo culture is its practice of "walking marriage" (走婚 zǒu hūn in Chinese), although this practice remains poorly understood. Walking marriages are the most prominent form of marriage in Mosuo culture; however, it is not unheard of for women in Mosuo culture to marry outside of their culture, therefore participating in marriages other than walking marriages. In a walking marriage, both partners live under the roof of their respective extended families during the day; however, at night it is common for the man to visit and stay at the women's house (if given permission) until sunrise. Therefore, they do not technically live in the same household, but they are free to visit when granted permission. Children of parents in a walking marriage are not raised by their father. The brothers of the mother (maternal uncles) in the marriage take on the responsibilities of the father since the father is not typically around during the daytime. Due to the separation of the father and mother, it is crucial for the uncle(s) to play a large role in the development of the child.["Matriarchal/Matrilineal Culture." Matriarchal/Matrilineal Culture. Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association, 2006. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.]
Shih (2010) offers the most sophisticated anthropological account of Mosuo practices of sexual union. "All on-going sexual relationships in Mosuo culture are called "walking marriages." These bonds are "based on mutual affection." "When a Mosuo woman or man expresses interest in a potential partner, it is the woman who may give the man permission to visit her. These visits are usually kept secret, with the man visiting the woman's house after dark, spending the night, and returning to his own home in the morning." After the birth of the child, the man has no moral, cultural, or legal obligation to take care of the child. However, the child will be raised with adequate care and attention. The overwhelming support from the woman's extended family allows both the man and woman to engage in sexual relations with whomever they please.
General practice
"The Mosuo have large extended families, and several generations (great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc.) live together in the same house. Everyone lives in communal quarters, and there are no private bedrooms or living areas, except for women between certain ages (see the section on "coming of age", below) who may have their own private rooms."
"While a pairing may be long-term, the man never lives with the woman's family, or vice versa. Mosuo men and women continue to live with and be responsible to their respective families. The couple do not share property. The father usually has little responsibility for his offspring." However, this does not mean that men can wipe their hands free of responsibilities and spend every night participating in shenanigans. After work, they are obligated to go home and help raise their nieces and nephews. The children rely on the collective effort of the extended family rather than that of the biological father.
"A father may indicate an interest in the upbringing of his children by bringing gifts to the mother's family. This gives him status within the mother's family, while not actually making him part of the family."
Matrilineal society
Unlike other cultures, women in the Mosuo society dominate the household and family. They are responsible for housework, agricultural duties, and taking care of children. In a walking marriage, the ancestral line is most important on the wife's side of the family and the children of the couple reside and belong to the wife's family household. Considering women are responsible for most domestic jobs, they have a larger role in the walking marriage and are viewed with more respect and importance in this society.
Husbands in walking marriages have a much less involved role than wives. The husbands in these relationships are generally the figures who are in charge of all religious and political decisions for the family.[Gong, Binglin, Huibin Yan, and Chun-Lei Yang. "Gender Differences in the Dictator Experiment: Evidence from the Matrilineal Mosuo and the Patriarchal Yi." SSRN Electronic Journal (2010): 1-25. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.] Regarding the family responsibilities, the father or husband in the family does not have nearly as many responsibilities regarding the family as the wife does. In fact, the male relatives of the mother's side of the family, such as uncles and cousins, are generally the "father figure" to the husband's children. The mother's brothers occupy a central role in the household. Their roles include disciplining children, caring for them, and supporting the children financially. Since the husband and wife live with their separate immediate families, they help take care of the families' children and issues regarding their household. Even though fathers are involved in their sister's children's lives, they are not necessarily involved in their biological children's life. In walking marriages, the involvement of a father in his child's life is optional. If a father decides to be involved in the upbringing of his own biological child, he can bring gifts and help with work around the woman's household. This relationship can be performed regardless if the woman and man are still in the walking marriage and it gives the man a type of "official status" among the family without being fully involved.
Advantages to a walking marriage
Other than the child receiving exceptional care and attention from the extended family, there are many inconspicuous advantages for participating in a walking marriage. For example: divorce is never an issue because the man and woman are not legally bound together, thus sharing very few of the same responsibilities. There are also never any disputes over who owns custody of the child since the child belongs to the mother's extended family and takes the mother's last name. In the case of a parent's death, the child still has a prodigious amount of care and affection from the extended family.
Myths and controversies
Outsiders often believe the following myths:
Mosuo women have many partners
"While it is possible for a Mosuo woman to change partners as often as she likes, few Mosuo women have more than one partner at a time. Anthropologists call this system "serial monogamy
Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyga ...
." Most Mosuo form long-term relationships and do not change partners frequently. Some of these pairings may even last a lifetime."
But, in other anthropologists' views, it is a more recent change, "in the face of political campaigns and cultural integration with the Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
", and "previous generations often continued with multiple partners even after a child was born. Some older Na report having upwards of 30, 40, even 50 partners throughout their lifetime" and despite these changes, "notions of exclusivity are not entrenched, and the Na language has no word for 'jealousy'."
Fathers of children are commonly not known
"The large majority of women know their children's fathers; it is actually a source of embarrassment if a mother cannot identify a child's father. But, "unlike many cultures which castigate mothers and children without clear paternity, Na children induce no such censure". The father of a child born from a walking marriage will not see his child during the day, but rather at night time. The father doesn't play as large a role in the development of the child. "At a child's birth, the father, his mother and sisters come to celebrate, and bring gifts. On New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
, a child visits the father to pay respect to him and his household. A father also participates in the coming-of-age ceremony. Though he does not have an everyday role, the father is nevertheless an important partner."
Customs
Coming of age
The coming-of-age ceremony, which occurs at the age of thirteen, is one of the most important events in a Mosuo child's life. Before this ceremony, Mosuo children all dress the same and are restricted from certain aspects of Mosuo life, particularly those that involve religious rites. Also, a child who dies before this ceremony does not receive the traditional funeral. Once they come of age, girls are given their skirts, and boys are given their trousers (thus, it is called the "skirt ceremony" for girls, and the "trouser ceremony" for boys).
After coming of age, Mosuo females can get their own private bedroom, called a "flowering room"; and, once past puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...
, can begin to invite partners for "walking marriages".
Hearth
This is the center of the household. It combines the worship of nature, ancestors, and spirits. Behind the hearth is a slab of stone (called ''guo zhuang'' in Chinese) and an ancestral altar where Mosuo household members leave a food offering. They do this before each meal, even when having tea.
Funeral
Death is the domain of men, who make all funeral arrangements. It is the only time men prepare food for family and guests. Usually, every family in the village will send at least one male to help with the preparations. Dabas and Lamas are invited to recite prayers for the deceased. Mosuo believe that if a spirit does not have assistance of a Daba, it will be lost. Without Lamas, a spirit will not be able to attain reincarnation. Caskets are small and square, with the deceased's body placed in the fetal position so that it can be reborn in the next life. During cremation, a decorated horse is led around the fire, which Mosuo believe will help carry the deceased's spirit away. Afterwards, friends and family gather to pay their last respects and wish the deceased an easy journey to their ancestral land.
Dogs
While some Asian cultures practice the custom of eating dogs, this is strictly forbidden to the Mosuo. In Mosuo culture, a myth describes that long ago, dogs had life spans of 60 years while humans had life spans of thirteen years. Humans felt their life span was too short, so they traded it with the dogs in exchange for paying homage to them. Therefore, dogs are valued members of the family. They are never killed, and they most certainly are never eaten. During the initiation rites into adulthood, Mosuo adolescents pray before the family dogs.
Religion
Religion is a major part of Mosuo life. It is made up of two coexisting beliefs: their own syncretic faith called Daba and the influence of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
.
Daba
Daba has been a part of Mosuo culture for thousands of years, handed down through generations by word of mouth. It functions as a repository of most of the Mosuo culture and history. It is based on animistic
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hum ...
principles and involves ancestor worship and the worship of a mother goddess: "The Mosuo are alone among their neighbors to have a guardian mother goddess rather than a patron warrior god".[Mathieu, Christine. ''A History and Anthropological Study of the Ancient Kingdoms of the Sino-Tibetan Borderland – Naxi and Mosuo'', ''Mellen Studies in Anthropology'', Vol. 11, 2003.]
The primary tasks of the priest (or shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
), also called ''daba'', are to perform exorcisms and assist deceased spirits. Priests drink alcohol until they go into a trance and can converse with these spirits. Since the Mosuo have no written language, there is no religious script, nor is there a temple. All Daba priests are male, and they live in their mother's house with their brothers and sisters. When not pursuing their religious duties, they engage in everyday tasks such as fishing and herding.[On the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions Systems in Dabaism and Dongbaism and on the analysis of the two writing systems according to an innovative interpretation, cf. XU Duoduo. (2015). A Comparison of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions Between Dabaism and Dongbaism. ''Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies'', 3, 2: 61-81 (Links: 1]
academia.edu
2
Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies
.
On a day-to-day basis, Daba plays a far smaller role in the lives of the Mosuo. The daba is mostly called on to perform traditional ceremonies at key events, such as naming a child, a child's coming-of-age ceremony, a funeral, or special events such as the Spring Festival. The daba is also called on to perform specific rites if someone is sick.
A cultural crisis is emerging. Due to past Chinese government policies, which made being a Daba priest illegal (this policy has now ceased), there are very few remaining dabas, most of whom are old men. This leads some Mosuo to worry that Mosuo history and heritage may be lost when the current generation of Dabas are gone.
Buddhism
Buddhism has started to play a larger role in their culture in recent years. Today Tibetan-style Buddhism is the predominant religion, but it has been somewhat adapted to Mosuo society. Like the Buddhist population of Tibet, both lay and monastic Buddhists among the Mosuo eat meat. Mosuo lama
Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...
s offer prayers of thanks and prayers for the dead, offer basic religious and secular education to young children, and counsel adults. In families with more than one male child, one will most often be sent to be a monk.
The Mosuo even have their own "living Buddha", a man said to be a reincarnation of one of the great Tibetan spiritual leaders. He usually lives in Lijiang
Lijiang (), also known as Likiang, is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of and had a population of 1,253,878 at the 2020 census whom 288,787 lived in the built-up area (metro) made of Gucheng ...
, but returns to the main Tibetan temple in Yongning for important spiritual holidays. Many Mosuo families will send at least one male to be trained as a monk, and in recent years, the number of such monks has increased quite significantly. The current Mosuo Living Buddha died of old age in April 2011.
In most Mosuo homes, a statue of some Buddhist deity can be found above the cooking fire; the family will usually put a small portion of whatever they are cooking in the fire, as an offering to their deity. Tibetan Buddhist holidays and festivals are participated in by the entire Mosuo community.
Economy
The Mosuo are primarily farmers. Subsistence is mostly based on agriculture. Farmers work "seven hours a day and seven months a year". In the past, they cultivated oats
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
, buckwheat
Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as '' Fago ...
, and flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
exclusively.[Hua, Cai. ''A Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China'', p. 40. Asti Hustvedt, trans. New York: Zone Books, 2001.] This changed under Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
influence at the end of the nineteenth century. Since then, these farmers have also cultivated, among other things, corn, sunflowers, soybeans, potatoes and other vegetables such as pumpkins and beans. Potatoes were their main staple for a while until the mid-twentieth century when they began growing rice, which today makes up more than half of annual production. In recent years, subsistence for some Mosuo has shifted dramatically from agriculture due to a thriving tourist industry
Mosuo also keep a variety of livestock. Since the early twentieth century they have raised buffalo, cows, horses, and goats which originated from Han and Tibetan regions. However, their preferred stock is pigs. Pork plays several important roles in Mosuo society. It is fed to guests, is the obligatory offering at funerals, and used as payment or reimbursement. Hua (2001) insists that it is "a kind of currency and... a symbol of wealth".
Once a year, regions of Mosuo males gather for a livestock fair. They travel for miles on buses, horses, or foot to attend. Here men sell and trade livestock to supplement household incomes.
The Mosuo fish on Lake Lugu
Lugu Lake () is located in the northwest of the Yunnan plateau, with the middle of the lake forming the border between the Ninglang County of Yunnan Province and the Yanyuan County of Sichuan Province. The formation of the lake is thought to hav ...
and also set land-based fish traps; however, they do not use motorboats, and catching fish in open water using their very primitive gear is not easy.
Language
The Mosuo speak Na (a.k.a. Narua), a Naish language (closely related to Naxi), a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
. Although there is no question that the language of the Mosuo and that of the Naxi are closely related, some Mosuo speakers resent the use of the language name Naxi, which is commonly used to refer to the dialect of the town of Lijiang
Lijiang (), also known as Likiang, is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of and had a population of 1,253,878 at the 2020 census whom 288,787 lived in the built-up area (metro) made of Gucheng ...
and the surrounding villages. A more adequate name is Na, used in several linguistic publications. The name "Narua" is used in the Summer Institute of Linguistics' inventory of languages, Ethnologu
Narua
A collection of audio recordings is available online, and a trilingual glossary has also been posted online. Two book-length descriptions of the language are available, as well as several research articles.
Yongning Na, which is spoken in Yongning township, Lijiang municipality, Yunnan, China, has been documented by Jacques and Michaud (2011).
Script
Like other Chinese, the Mosuo today use Han script for daily communication. The Tibetan script
The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system (''abugida'') of Brahmic scripts, Indic origin used to write certain Tibetic languages, including Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese language, Sikkimese, Ladakhi language, Ladakhi, Jire ...
may sometimes be used for religious purposes.
The Mosuo also have their own native religion, called Daba, which uses 32 symbols. "They follow a "primal" belief system. However, the head ritual specialists of the Daba religion, who are called daba, have advanced beyond the stage of spirit-possessed shamans, and also are in possession of a number of sacred texts. Therefore, these practitioners should be categorized as a type of priest." However, there are currently efforts underway to develop a written form of the Mosuo language.
Intercultural exchanges
The Han are the ethnic majority of China, one of the 56 ethnic groups of China
China's population consists of 56 ethnic groups, not including some ethnic groups from Taiwan.
The Han people are the largest ethnic group in mainland China. In 2010, 91.51% of the population were classified as Han (~1.2 billion). Besides the ...
. In the Yongning region during the Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. the Mosuo integrated many Han ideals. The Mosuo also accepted Buddhism and adapted it to fit their values. Neither the Cultural Revolution nor trade between different cultures fundamentally changed Mosuo beliefs. But recently, Mosuo society has been rapidly changing.
Modernity
With improved technology, there are better roads and transportation. Young Mosuo men and women use these modes to leave their villages and find employment in neighboring cities. Television has brought the ideas of the modern world and an image of a more affluent lifestyle. Also, men have begun to take jobs independent of the household and earn their own income. Older Mosuo fear emerging property conflicts as a consequence. Care for the family, with younger children generations leaving the villages, is also a concern.
Tourism
Mosuo living near Lugu Lake inhabit an aesthetically pleasing region. Photographers, television crews, writers, and artists are drawn to their homes. This increased attention has also brought tourists. Tourism is primarily domestic and typically occurs as a part of organized tour groups to view a culture that seems "exotic". Tourism has influenced kinship and parenting practices, with Mosuo residing in areas where tourism is prevalent being less likely to adhere to strict matrilineal norms.
Films
There are many documentaries made about the Mosuo, in English and Mandarin, and there has even been a film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...
dedicated to some of them. Most films perpetuate the myth that women run the society, some even claiming that men have no say in political or household matters and do not work.
* "Without Fathers or Husbands" (1995, 26 min., Royal Anthropological Institute). Made by Chinese born, French educated anthropologist Cai Hua. It does not make claims about matriarchy.
* "A World without Fathers and Husbands" Eric Blavier (2000, 52 min.)
* "The Ladies of the Lake: A Matriarchal Society" (20 min.)
*'' Elsewhere'' (2001)
* ''Mosso, the Land of Free Love: The Last Matriarchy'' (2006, 50 min.)
* ''Mosso, the Land of Free Love: Walking Marriage'' (2006, 50 min.)
* ''Kingdom of Women: The Matriarchal Mosuo of China'' (2007, 54 min.)
"Frontline World: The Women's Kingdom"
(July 19, 2005, 9 min.)
* "Frontline World: stories from a small planet" (June 27, 2006, 9 min)
* 'Mosuo Song Journey'' by Diedie Weng and Carol Bliss (2007, 37 minutes)
''Kingdom of Women - A Reflection of a Matriarchal Society on Lugu Lake''
(58 minutes)
"Taboo: Sex"
National Geographic Channel (2008)
* ''The Mosuo Sisters
''The Mosuo Sisters'' is a 2012 documentary film that chronicles the lives of two sisters, Jua Ma and La Tsuo, who are members of one of the last matriarchal societies, the Mosuo tribe. Being an ethnic minority in China, the film explores their j ...
'' (2012, 80 min.). A tale of two sisters living in the shadow of two Chinas directed by Marlo Poras.
"Free Love," National Geographic Channel (2008)
"The Fall of Womenland," Director: Xiaodan He (2009)
"The Land Where Women Rule: Inside China's Last Matriarchy." Broadly staff. 2016. Broadly. October. 2016.
*''Sunny Side of Sex'' (2011)[Bergman, S. (Producer & Director). (2011). ''Sunny Side of Sex: a documentary series by Sunny Bergman'' otion Picture The Netherlands: Viewpoint Productions.] by Sunny Bergman
See also
* Chiefdom of Yongning
* Chinese marriage
Traditional Chinese marriage () is a ceremonial ritual within Chinese societies that involves not only a union between spouses, but also a union between the two families of a man and a woman, sometimes established by pre-arrangement between fam ...
* Kettu Kalyanam
Kalyanam, also known as , was the name of an elaborate marriage ceremony of the Samanthan, Nair, Maarar, and Ambalavasi communities of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The customs varied from region to region and caste to caste. (a matr ...
* List of ethnic groups in China
China's population consists of 56 ethnic groups, not including some ethnic groups from Taiwan.
The Han people are the largest ethnic group in mainland China. In 2010, 91.51% of the population were classified as Han (~1.2 billion). Besides the H ...
* List of matrilineal or matrilocal societies
The following list includes societies that have been identified as matrilineal or matrilocal in ethnographic literature.
"Matrilineal" means kinship is passed down through the maternal line.
The Akans of Ghana, West Africa, are Matrilineal. Akan ...
* Lugu Lake
Lugu Lake () is located in the northwest of the Yunnan plateau, with the middle of the lake forming the border between the Ninglang County of Yunnan Province and the Yanyuan County of Sichuan Province. The formation of the lake is thought to have ...
* Matriarchy
Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property.
While those definitions apply in general E ...
* Matrilineality
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance of ...
* Matrilocal residence
In social anthropology, matrilocal residence or matrilocality (also uxorilocal residence or uxorilocality) is the societal system in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's parents. Thus, the female offspring of a mother remain l ...
* Mosuo women
The Mosuo () are a small ethnic group living in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in China, close to the border with Tibet. Dubbed the 'Kingdom of Women' by the Chinese, the Mosuo population of about 50,000 live near Lugu Lake in the Tibetan Himala ...
* Nashi people
The Nakhi or Nashi (; Naxi: ; lit.: "Black people") are an East Asian ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China.
The Nakh ...
* Sambandam
Sambandham was an informal mode of marriage followed by Nairs, Samantha Kshatriyas, Kshatriyas, and Ambalavasis among their own communities as well as with the Nambudiris, in what is the present day state of Kerala, India. All of these were mat ...
* Yang Erche Namu
Yang Erche Namu (born August 1966) is a Chinese writer and singer of Mosuo ethnicity.
Early life
Yang Erche Namu was born in a small village near Lugu Lake, in northern Yunnan province, but left at age thirteen; after arriving in neighbouring Y ...
, a notable Chinese writer, singer and TV star of Mosuo ethnicity
Bibliography
* Barber, Nigel."Chinese tribe without marriage points to future" Huffington Post January 2014. Huffington Post. October 2016.
* Dashi, Latami (editor). 摩梭社会文化研究论文集 (1960–2005),云南大学出版社,主编:拉他咪达石
* Gong, Binglin, Huibin Yan, and Chun-Lei Yang. "Gender Differences in the Dictator Experiment: Evidence from the Matrilineal Mosuo and the Patriarchal Yi." SSRN Electronic Journal (2010): 1-25. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
* Hamon, Raeann R.; and Bron B Ingoldsby (editors). ''Mate Selection: Across Cultures'', Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, California, 2003.
* Hua, Cai. ''A Society Without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China'', New York: Zone Books, 2001.
* Hua, Cai. « ''Une société sans père ni mari : les Naxi de Chine'' », Presses Universitaires de France, 2001.
* Hamon, Raeann R.; and Bron B Ingoldsby (editors). ''Mate Selection: Across Cultures'', Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, California, 2003.
* Mattison, S. M., Scelza, B., & Blumenfield, T. (2014). Paternal Investment and the Positive Effects of Fathers among the Matrilineal Mosuo of Southwest China. American Anthropologist, 116(3), 591–610.
* Mattison, S. M. (2010). Economic impacts of tourism and erosion of the visiting system among the Mosuo of Lugu lake. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 11(2), 159–176.
* Mattison, Siobhán M., Brooke Scelza, and Tami Blumenfield. "Paternal Investment and the Positive Effects of Fathers among the Matrilineal Mosuo of Southwest China." American Anthropologist 116.3 (2014): 591–610. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.
* "Matriarchal/Matrilineal Culture." Matriarchal/Matrilineal Culture. Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association, 2006. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
* Mattison, Siobhán. 2010.
Economic Impacts of Tourism and Erosion of the Visiting System Among the Mosuo of Lugu Lake.
' The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 11: 2, 159 — 176.
* Namu, Yang Erche; and Christine Mathieu. ''Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World,'' Little, Brown: Boston, 2003, ,
* Roland J. Hardenberg. ''Die Moso (China) im interkulturellen Vergleich : Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des komparativen Ansatzes in der Ethnologie''. In : ''Paideuma'', vol. 54 (2008), p. 109-127. ISSN 0078-7809.
* Shih, Chuan-kang. ''Quest for Harmony: The Moso Traditions of Sexual Union & Family Life''. Stanford, 2010.
* Stacey, Judith. ''Unhitched: Love, Sex, and Family Values from West Hollywood to Western China''. New York: New York University Press, 2011. , , ,
* Stockard, Janice E. ''Marriage in Culture: Practice and Meaning Across Diverse Societies'', Wadsworth and Thomson Learning: Belmont, 2002.
* Ward, Martha; and Monica Edenstein. ''A World Full of Women'', Pearson: Boston, 2009.
* Waihong, Choo. ''The Kingdom of Women: Life, Love and Death in China's Hidden Mountains''. I B Tauris, London, 2017, ,
* XU Duoduo. (2015). A Comparison of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions Between Dabaism and Dongbaism. ''Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies'', 3, 2: 61-81 (links: 1
academia.edu
2
Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies
.
* XU Duoduo. (2017). From Daba Script to Dongba Script: A Diachronic Exploration of the History of Moso Pictographic Writings. ''Libellarium: Journal for the Research of Writing, Books, and Cultural Heritage Institutions'', X, 1: 1-47 (Links: 1
Libellarium
2
academia.edu
.
* Yuan, Lu. "Land of the Walking Marriages." Natural History. Ed. Sam Mitchell. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 57–65. Print.
References
Further media
* Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
External links
(via archive.org)
5 Successful Societies Run by Women
{{Ethnic groups in China
Ethnic groups in China
Nakhi people
Matriarchy