Chinese Nation – Gelao nationality

The Gelao people are concentrated in Wuchuan and Daozhen, two Gelao Miao Autonomous Counties, and Shiqian County in the north of Guizhou Province. The rest are scattered in more than 20 counties and cities, such as Anshun, Pingba, Pudding, Guanling, Qingzhen, Zheng’an, Fenggang, Songtao, Qianxi, Liuzzi, Zhijin, Dafang, etc.

Gelao people worship their ancestors and worship the king of bamboo, the ancestor of manway, and the mountain god. Some witches specialize in sacrificing, praying for longevity, retreating ghosts, and transcending the dead.

The Gelao people started their business and lived in the mountains. Their clothing, food, housing, and transportation were closely related to the mountains and forests, resulting in the idea that all things have spirit. Some people worship the ancient trees and boulders. On the 14th of the first month and the third day of March, they offer wine, meat, and Ciba to pray for the health of their descendants. Every time there is drought, flood, disease, and insect disaster, they will raise money and ask Taoists to set up altars to pray for the safety of the gods.

The biggest and thickest ancient tree in the mountain forest near the residence is often used as a sacred tree for sacrifice and worship. Once selected, it is necessary to close the mountains and prohibit any improper behavior, including cutting down trees and grazing, which objectively protects the local vegetation resources and maintains the ecological environment.

The clothing culture of Gelao nationality has its own characteristics.

Before the Qing Dynasty, most of the clothes were made of homemade linen and dyed blue and blue. Men wore collarless long shirts with lapels, long to the knees, big and short sleeves, and often wore a belt. When working, the front and back corners of the clothes were tied around the waist.

Women’s clothes are short, with lapels and lace. According to historical records, around the middle of the 19th century, women of Gelao nationality wore a waist-length jacket with a scaly pattern embroidered on the sleeve back and a pleated long bucket skirt. The whole skirt was divided into three sections. The middle section was woven with wool and dyed red. The upper and lower sections were mostly woven with linen. Generally, they were covered with blue and white stripes. The robes were short in front and long in the back and were embroidered with patterns. When they were worn, they were covered from the top to the bottom and their feet were covered Wear hook point shoes.

After the Republic of China, all ethnic groups had cultural exchanges, learned from each other, and their aesthetic values gradually changed with the development of society.

Nowadays, the daily costumes of Gelao people are becoming more and more diversified, personalized, and complicated. From pure cotton and polyester card to wool, hemp yarn, polyester, and so on, the Gelao people in rural areas also wear many kinds of clothes in one season. Only in various festivals and celebrations can they especially wear their own national costumes.

In terms of diet, corn (mountainous area) and rice (Pingba area) is the main staple food, followed by beans, wheat, buckwheat, and potato, and like to eat hot and sour food and glutinous rice Baba. Among the non-staple foods of Gelao people, glutinous rice Ciba is used as a precious food. In the new year’s festival, glutinous rice Ciba is used as “ancestor worship” to treat the guests. The custom of sending relatives and friends to the Duanyang Festival and offering new gifts at the Chongyang Festival has been preserved to this day.

Zajiu is also a special diet of Gelao people. Corn, wheat, millet, and sorghum are used as raw materials for production. After being cooked, they are fermented and put into a vat. When installing the tank, first use two water bamboo poles (one of which is bent by fire) with the size of two fingers and about one meter long. Except for a bamboo knot at the top, the rest of the bamboo knots are hollowed out and inserted into the tank before sealing. The longer the sealing time, the stronger the wine taste. When drinking, empty the top of the bamboo, but the straight rod into the air, and bend the rod as a suction device. No matter the banquet or the usual hospitality, they suck according to the order of the old and the young. The draft of Zheng’an county annals of the Republic of China has “ten thousand pearls in a jar, and princes bow their heads here.”. Five dragons hold Optimus Prime and suck up the water of the Yellow River.

The production of Camellia Oleifera is also very special. First, stir fry the green tea with lard in the pot, and then boil it with water. When the water dries slightly, push the tea into a paste with a wooden ladle, which is called “tea soup”. When drinking, depending on the amount and the intensity, fry the tea soup in pig oil, add water to boil, then add lard, oil residue, salt, pepper, cooked sesame, soybean, peanut powder, and then drink. Its flavor is strong, fragrant, and unique. Today, Daozhen’s Camellia Oleifera has formed a series, mainly including Camellia Oleifera eggs, Camellia Tangyuan, Camellia Oleifera porridge, Camellia Oleifera noodles, etc.

All weddings and funerals should be held as a banquet. Generally 20 or 30 tables, more than 100 tables. Because there is often no preparation in advance, the funeral banquet is not very particular, and the condoners don’t care about it. There is a custom of “don’t welcome, don’t send the funeral ceremony, go to and send the love from yourself”. In the past, when the economy was in dire straits, it was not easy to hold a banquet. There was a saying that “in a funeral, we can’t afford to hire a man to marry a woman, but we can’t afford to have a ghost at the end of our life.”.

Since the 1980s, the special etiquette of “three Yaotai” has appeared in the Sanqiao area of Daozhen Autonomous County. “Yantai” is a dialect, which means the end, “Sanyotai” is to invite guests to dinner, a meal to eat three (Times) is the end. The first one is “take the wind and wash the dust”. The food is nine plates of fruit cake. Generally, there are nine kinds: Milky crisp food, Tianxing rice cake, Baihua crispy skin, red hat cake, merengue bubble cake, walnut, peanut, sunflower, and dried persimmon cake. Each person has a bowl of tea, and the guests can have a good chat in their leisure time when they are drinking tea and tasting snacks. The second one after the tea is “Eight Immortals drunk”. The food is generally nine plates of stewed vegetables and cold dishes for wine, while the wine is self-made Baogu small pot wine. After the wine and vegetables are on the table, the first order fragrant paper to honor their ancestors, and then the guests take their seats. The first one is the toast, the second one is the blessing wine, and the third one is the filial piety toast. After the three cups, the wine songs help to cheer up, drink freely according to the quantity, and the atmosphere is warm. The third main table, called “Four Party reunion”, contains nine big bowls of meat-based dishes, until the guests are satisfied; the host does not let the guests leave. The rich contents of dishes and exquisite dining etiquette of the “three Yaotai” banquet of Gelao people fully reflect the unique flavor and cultural connotation of Gelao people’s diet and embody the enthusiasm and simplicity of Gelao people.