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Chinese Name: 哈萨克族
English Name: The Kazakh People
Languages: Kazakh language 哈萨克语, Chinese 汉语
Total population: 1.46*106 (China mainland 2022)
Distribution: Mainly distributed in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Brief introduction
The Kazakh People 哈萨克族 are one of the 56 ethnic groups in China. The national language is Kazakh, which belongs to the Altaic languages 阿尔泰系语. Due to frequent exchanges with the Han 汉族, Uyghur 维吾尔族, Mongolian 蒙古族 and other ethnic groups for a long time, many Kazakh people also speak the languages of these ethnic groups.
The history of the Kazakh People
The origin of the Kazakh ethnic group is relatively complex. It is generally believed that it is mainly formed by the fusion of various ethnic groups in the grasslands. During the Qing Dynasty 清朝, the Hazaks began to pay taxes, fulfil their national obligations, and finally accepted the direct jurisdiction of the central dynasty.
The religion of the Kazakh People
The Kazakhs originally worshipped natural phenomena and worshipped gods. In ancient times, they lived a nomadic life on the vast grasslands, seeking the safety of livestock and life through worship of nature, and overcoming various disasters, suffering and diseases. So far, the Kazakhs still retain the religious custom of worshipping the moon.
The Cultures of the Kazakh People
The architecture of the Kazakh People 哈萨克族建筑
Because the Kazakhs have lived on the grasslands for a long time, the Kazakh people live in yurts like other nomads. But this Phenomenon has been greatly changed by the Chinese government. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the people’s government fully considered that the Kazakh herdsmen lived by water and grass for the convenience of feeding their horses, cattle and sheep, and moved with the herds.
In order to solve the problem of unstable life completely, the Party and the People’s Government have planned to build settlements or semi-settlement settlements, and Kazakh herdsmen have gradually turned to a combination of settlement and expulsion and grazing.
The costumes of the Kazakh People 哈萨克族服饰
Kazakh costumes have strong national characteristics. The hat worn by Kazakh in winter can highly shield the wind, snow and cold. Most of the belts are made of cowhide, ranging in width and width, and are inlaid with gold, silver, coral, pearls, gemstones and other accessories.
Kazakh women’s clothing is more complicated than men’s clothing, with a wide variety of styles and exquisite workmanship, and with the change of age, the dress is also different. Girls and maidens wear dresses with cross-stitched lace on the cuffs and pleated hem, and half-fitting black, red, and green waistcoats on the bodice and the sides of the waistcoat are full of sparkling silver ornaments. Middle-aged women wear half-sleeves, long lapels and waistcoats with coloured velvet embroidery on the chest and hem in the warm season, and two pockets on both sides.
With the impact of the economic tide, the clothing styles of the Kazakhs have been updated, which is not much different from the clothing worn by most ethnic groups.
The diet of the Kazakh People 哈萨克族饮食
The diet of the Kazakhs is closely related to nomadic life, mainly including tea, meat, milk and pasta. In the daily diet of the Kazakhs, it is possible to have no vegetables for a day, but never without tea. The practice of milk tea is usually to add some salt to the fried strong tea, add some milk, milk skin, and ghee.
When winter comes and the snow is about to close the mountains, the Kazakhs have to slaughter some horses, cattle and sheep, and then process some of the meat and store it in winter to ensure that the meat can be eaten in the next spring.
In addition to some of the above-mentioned diets, the Kazakhs living in the city have also learned to cook various flavours of meals from the surrounding fraternal ethnic groups, and the diet structure tends to be diverse. At the same time, it in turn affected the Kazakhs in the farming and pastoral areas, enriching their tables.
The rituals of the Kazakh People 哈萨克族礼仪
In places where Kazakhs live, elderly people, both men and women, rich and poor, are very respected. When the juniors see them, they should salute and greet them. The juniors must not interrupt when the elders speak. When the old man dismounts, the younger generation will come out to greet him, help him dismount, and tie the horse. When entering the room, let the elderly take the lead and sit in the upper centre of the room. When eating meat, the head and leg of lamb should be served to the elderly to enjoy.
Etiquette runs through the whole life of Kazakhs. Congrats on the birth of a baby, congratulations on marriage and marriage, etc. As long as there is a big or small event worthy of celebration, there will be a woman holding a handful of trays of delicious dry food such as happy candy and milk pimples from time to time. It is thrown to the happy crowd, to show that there is joy and happiness, and happiness is shared, and the happy events continue.
