The Zhuang have a rich variety of customs and culture.

Festivals

" Sam Nyied Sam" the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the Chinese lunar calendar is one of the main festivals of the Zhuang celebrated by singing, dancing, games, and special food. At this time traditionally young men and women sing antiphonal songs to each other. *festival of the ancestor sacrifice of the 7th lunar month *the ''

Duanwu The Dragon Boat Festival ( zh, s=端午节, t=端午節, first=t, p=Duānwǔ jié, cy=Dyūnńgh jit) is a traditional Chinese holiday that occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or earl ...

'' medicine festival *Buffalo King Festival - celebrated in Niutouzhai Village,

Wenshan County Wenshan (; ), old name Kaihua, is a city in and the seat of Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in the southeast of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. It once was a county (Wenshan County; ), but on 2 December 2010, with the a ...

, where there is a Buffalo King Temple. The Zhuang have long worshipped the

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...

. *Bullfighting festival *Firstfruits Festival *Zhuang children's festival; dates chosen by each individual village

Stories

The Zhuang peoples of Yunnan and Guangxi have a rich tradition of written and unwritten stories.Johnson & Wang 2008 Zhuang folk stories often take the form of songs. There are various folk tales, myths, legends, and historical poems and chants. For over one thousand years they have used

Sawndip (Sawndip: ; ) are Chinese characters used to write the Zhuang languages in the Chinese provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan. is a Standard Zhuang, Zhuang word that means "immature characters". The Zhuang word for Chinese characters used in the Chi ...

to write a wide variety of literature, including folk songs, operas, poems, scriptures, letters, contracts, and court documents. Bronze drum with frogs

There are many stories that are a thousand years old, or older. One, a fairy tale which has attracted much attention in recent years, is "The orphan girl and the rich girl." It is an early version of the story

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

(Zhuang "Dahgyax Dahbengz" Dah - indicates female, means orphan and means rich). It is found in Zhuang opera scripts. A 9th century Chinese translation of a Zhuang story entitled

Ye Xian "Ye Xian" (; ) is a Chinese fairy tale that is similar to the European Cinderella story, the Malay-Indonesian Bawang Putih Bawang Merah tale, and stories from other ethnic groups including the Tibetans and the Zhuang. It is one of the oldest k ...

was written in the

Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang The ''Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang'' () is a book written by Duan Chengshi in the 9th century, during the Tang Dynasty. It focuses on miscellany of Chinese and foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, short anecdotes, an ...

and the

versions we now have are quite similar. Analysis suggests these versions took shape no later than the 10th century. "The house-raising song" has been sung for over a thousand years. This song has two parts. The first part describes the construction of a traditional

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on Stilts (architecture), stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they als ...

, and the second part describes customs to ward off evil from the new home. "The Origin of the

Bronze Drum Bronze drums are ancient artifacts found in various cultures in Southeast Asia and southern China. The drums were cast in bronze using the lost-wax casting method. The drums were both musical instruments and cult objects. They are decorated with g ...

" tells of the origins of bronze drums that are like "stars" (such drums have a star in the middle of them), that they are as many as the stars of the sky and like stars can ward off evil spirits. The Zhuang have their own scriptures written in poetical form such as the '' Baeu Rodo'' about the creation of the world. As well as indigenous stories many stories from other peoples such as the Han Chinese have become part of the Zhuang literary tradition. Whilst the original Chinese opera of "

The Legend of Wenlong "The Legend of Wenlong" is an ancient folk story of Han Chinese origin, that was early on adopted by several people groups in Southern China including the Zhuang. It is also known by the name of the associated Chinese opera ''Liu Wenlong and the Wat ...

" has been lost, the story has been preserved in Zhuang texts. *"The cutting down the banana tree song" ("Kau Tam Gvoa") *"The song of the origin of bronze" ("Gvau Dong") *"The rice paddy-planting song" *"Village visitation songs" *"Wine banquet songs" *"The national partition song" *"Banlong and Banli" *Poems of the Poya Songbook *"The escape from marriage song" *"Yiluo and Diling" *"Buloakdvo" *"Tea origin songs" *''Swqmo'': records of Zhuang history, ethnic relations, astronomy, farming technology, literary arts, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, and so on.

Folk arts

Zhuang folk arts include music and dance:

Music

*Masa classical music: classical orchestras of Masa Village,

Maguan County Maguan County (, ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lào Cai and Ha Giang provinces to the south. Geography Maguan County is located in the southwest of Wenshan Prefecture, ...

, Yunnan *Zhuang ceremonial music *Bawu: a type of Zhuang folk music dating back to ancient times *Mubala: ancient Zhuang wind instrument *Huqin: stringed instrument made from a water buffalo horn or horse bone; may be two-stringed or four-stringed *''Svaeu'na'' toasting they dance and sing

Dances

There are many types of Zhuang dance. *bronze drum dance *straw man dance *water buffalo dance () *paper horse dance *hand towel dance *sun () dance

Handicrafts

Traditional Zhuang folk handicrafts includes the following. *bird totem hats *elephant trunk shoes reflecting Zhuang elephant worship *totem back carriers, consisting of fish, bird, and abstract symbolic designs *cloth monkey medicine bags *embroidered balls *spinning tops *: teeter-totter; the is a more complex variant *wood prints *paper *traditional waterwheels *traditional brocades and weavings *silver jewelry *straw mats *bamboo basket weaving *rattan *''Paeng'vae'': a type of linen made of grass leaves and hemp fibers, made by weaving the two 90 degrees with each other

Religion

Most Zhuang follow traditional

animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

practices known as Mo or Shigong which include elements of

ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...

. The Mo have their own

sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

and professional priests known as Bu Mo who traditionally use chicken bones for divination. In Mo, the creator is known as Bu Luotuo and the universe is tripartite, with all things composed from the three elements of heaven, earth, and water. There are also a number of

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

Taoists Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

, and

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

among the Zhuang. *sacrificing to the field deity *mountain sacrifices *worshipping ''Zoa'nongz'', the god of the ''ndoang'' (forest) *sacrifices to ''Zoachu'', the sun deity and original ancestor spirits now living in trees of ancient forests *sacrifices to the mother tree or ''mih maix'' (among the Dai or Tu of Wenshan) *''Longdvaen'' festival: theatric performances in Guichao Township, Funing County *Opening the seedlings' door ceremony: a healthy, beautiful girl is chosen to plant the first seedling *Ceremony for repelling insects: insects are loaded onto paper boats, which are floated away in the water while drums and gongs are beaten *Sacrifices to

Nong Zhigao Nong Zhigao (; modern Zhuang language: ; ) (1025–1055?) was a Zhuang people, Zhuang (Nùng people, Nùng) chieftain and the only emperor of Dali (大曆; 1041), Nantian (南天; 1045–1052), and eventually Danan (大南; 1052–1053). Today ...

in the 6th and 7th lunar months; purple-dyed

glutinous rice Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also hav ...

is offered, and sometimes cattle *offerings to the sun: In Shangguo Village,

Xichou County Xichou County () is under the administration of the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in the southeast of Yunnan province, China. Administrative divisions In the present, Xichou County has 2 towns and 7 townships. ;2 towns * Xisa ( ...

, Zhuang women bathe in the river, put on their traditional clothing and headdresses, and then make offerings to the sun with yellow glutinous rice, which they carry up Sun Mountain. *Sky Sacrifices: practiced in Bahao (''Pya'Kau''),

Guangnan County Guangnan County (; Zhuang languages, Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximat ...

, which a wooden hall on Bozhe Mountain is dedicated for *''hvaeng ting Svaeu'' (townhall shrine) sacrifices: in Guima Village,

*sweeping the village to chase away evil *sacrifice to the song immortal: shrine in Ake Village,

*reception of the Princess Huanggu *sacrifices to

bronze drum Bronze drums are ancient artifacts found in various cultures in Southeast Asia and southern China. The drums were cast in bronze using the lost-wax casting method. The drums were both musical instruments and cult objects. They are decorated with g ...

s *''Paeng'zong'': banners hung during sacrifice ceremonies for funerals *''Paengban'': long banners hung during sacrifice ceremonies to repel evil *''Paengsaeh'': banners hung during animal sacrifices for religious ceremonies

Language

The

Zhuang languages The Zhuang languages (; autonym: , , pre-1982: , Sawndip: 話僮, from ''vah'', 'language' and ''Cuengh'', 'Zhuang'; ) are the more than a dozen Tai languages spoken by the Zhuang people of Southern China in the province of Guangxi and adjace ...

are a group of

mutually unintelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intellig ...

languages of the Tai family, heavily influenced by nearby dialects of Chinese. The

Standard Zhuang Standard Zhuang ( autonym: , ; pre-1982 autonym: ; Sawndip: ; ) is the official standardized form of the Zhuang languages, which are a branch of the Northern Tai languages. Its pronunciation is based on that of the Yongbei Zhuang dialect ...

language is based on a northern dialect but few people learn it, therefore Zhuang people from different dialect areas use one of a number of

Chinese varieties There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast part of mainland China ...

to communicate with each other. According to a 1980s survey, 42% of Zhuang people are monolingual in Zhuang, while 55% are bilingual in Zhuang and Chinese. Whilst according to some semi-official sources "In

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

compulsory education Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at home or other places. Compulsory school attendance or compulsory sc ...

is bilingual in Zhuang and Chinese, with a focus on early Zhuang literacy." in fact only small percentage of schools teach written Zhuang. Zhuang is traditionally written using

logogram In a written language, a logogram (from Ancient Greek 'word', and 'that which is drawn or written'), also logograph or lexigraph, is a written character that represents a semantic component of a language, such as a word or morpheme. Chine ...

s based on

Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

"), and Standard Zhuang, which was written in

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

, with a few added

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

letters for tone, between 1957 and 1982, and is now officially written using only Latin letters, even though Sawndip are still more often used in less formal domains. Its Wikipedia is za.wikipedia.org.

Traditional medicine

Zhuang folk medicine has a history of over one thousand years. In Sawndip texts thousands of Zhuang medical terms have been identified and some terms have entered into Chinese medical dictionaries, and in Southern China some hospitals have Zhuang Medicine departments.《壮文论集》梁庭望 pages 220,221 中央民族大学出版社 2007 *''Samcaet'': the ''three-seven'' (''

Panax notoginseng ''Panax notoginseng'' is a species of the genus '' Panax'', and it is commonly referred to in English as Chinese ginseng * or notoginseng. In Chinese it is called ''tiánqī'' (), tienchi ginseng, ''sānqī'' () or ''sanchi'', three-seven root, ...

''), which has the Chinese nicknames "not to be exchanged for gold" and "the southern divine herb" *''Laeujyaq'': medicinal liquor

References

{{reflist *Johnson, Eric and Wang Mingfu. 2008. "Zhuang cultural and linguistic heritage". SIL International and the Nationalities Publishing House of Yunnan. Culture in Guangxi Zhuang people