Of Lusheng Pipes and Beautiful People: Hootoksi's China tour, 10-19 February 2006

Hootoksi Tyabji, China, 10 - 19 February, 2006

China has always fascinated me, my mother loved Chinese artifacts and our home had quite a lot of Chinese porcelain, ginger jars, decorative plates, and a flower vase in the traditional blue and white Ming style. It had a rectangular shape with a spout and a handle. My mother who was a frequent visitor to Chor Bazar (Thieves Market) in Mumbai, found it there covered in dust and bought it for a song, it was always filled with flowers and had pride of place in our living room!

One evening a Chinese gentleman came over for dinner and as he was leaving, he took my ma aside and in very hushed tones told her that the flower vase was actually a man’s urinal. Mother continued to put flowers in it!

Apart from porcelain, China is also well known for its beautiful embroidery. Traditional Parsi saris known as ‘garas’ were embroidered in China and brought back to India in the late 18’th century when the Parsis began trading in opium and cotton. The saris were embroidered with silk thread of variegated shades on dark coloured satin or gauze. The designs and motifs are essentially Chinese and having inherited some of these treasures, I have always wanted to visit the land that produced them.

The opportunity presented itself when I attended a talk on “Minority Villages in Guizhou Province” at a Malaysian Culture Group meeting. Presenting the talk was Joanne Mahendran and she showed us some of the garments worn by the minority peoples with embroidery that was similar to what we have on our Garas. When she said she was taking a group to visit China and focus of its embroidery in remote areas, I immediately signed up to go!

It was an amazing opportunity to experience the villages in the South East region of Guizhou province, and to meet the people who have lived through China’s turbulent history and are now building a new and exciting future for themselves.

We were eight in the group, with Zhen Gui Xian (Wilson) our trusty guide, and Mr. Chen our skillful minibus driver.

Our focus was the Lusheng Festival and visiting villages of minority groups, many of whom live in Guizhou Province. 87 percent of the province is mountainous, 10 percent hilly and 3 percent flat plains. 13 distinct ethnic groups make up 34 percent of the total population of about 1.2 billion, and as 82 percent live in rural areas, that is where we were heading!

Wilson clearly understood that we were not looking for comfort or for government-orchestrated dances and shows portraying the minority people. We wanted to see people in their natural environments and the tour was difficult for him to organize not just because the places we wanted to see were remote with no paved roads leading up to them but also because there are few tourist facilities in these places. We stayed in peoples' homes and often Wilson had problems communicating with them because the local dialect was quite different from his; but this only spurred him on to drive us to ever more remote areas!

The Gods were smiling as we managed to chance upon a baby’s first month celebration, as well as a wedding ceremony and a death ritual. We also experienced three Lusheng festivals that coincidentally were happening as we passed through some remote villages, and we stopped whenever we saw a street market in the middle of nowhere!

The least exciting of the three festivals was the one on our itinerary closest to the town of Guiyang as it was orchestrated by government and undoubtedly influenced by it. The ones we chanced upon in remote villages, were completely different!

92 percent of China’s vast population are Han and the rest are made up of 55 minority groups. Of them, the Miao are the third largest group, and were the ones we saw the most of. The origins of the Miao people are uncertain. Mongolia, Tibet or Lapland; but generally, it is believed that they lived in the valleys of the Huang He (Yellow River) 4,500 years ago. They were constantly under pressure from the Han Chinese who taxed them heavily and often used them as slaves. They began moving up into the mountains where the rugged terrain made for harsh living conditions but kept the Han at bay. They used to grow poppies, but now grow rapeseed, rice, maize, millet, buckwheat, and potato on beautifully terraced fields. The rapeseed was in bloom and the mountains and hills were covered in vivid yellow and green set among incredible limestone formations.

There are many different groups of Miao each with their own distinct costumes, dialects and customs, living in different regions. They have been named by their hairstyles or what they wear so we have the white, black, red and white Miao, the long, short or mini skirt Miao, the cock Miao (wearing cock-shaped silver ornaments in their hair), or side comb Miao. They are also named by where they live so there are the mountain or the river Miao.

The Lusheng Festival is the general name for an important courtship festival of the Miao, held annually during the low agricultural season between October and April. The village designates an area for it and that space is known as the ‘flower ground’. It is here that young people meet, play music, dance, and find a marriage partner.

The lusheng is a traditional Chinese wind instrument with multiple bamboo pipes, each with a free reed which is fitted into a long blowing tube made of hardwood. It most often has five or more pipes of different pitches and is thus a polyphonic instrument. It comes in sizes ranging from exceedingly small to several meters in length.

The pictures below illustrate the countryside, the villages, the lusheng festivals and the people we visited.

We flew from KL to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province and gateway to the celebrated Silk Road. A bustling city, we walked along the Green Lake promenade where all sorts of foods are sold, where families enjoy themselves and water birds abound! We then drove to the vegetable and bird market. Like markets everywhere in the world, the most fascinating part of being there was the people! That evening we ate our first Chinese meal in China (more than 18 different dishes were served!) at a restaurant famous for its Yunnan cuisine. With a belly close to bursting, we boarded the plane for Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province.

After spending a comfortable night at the Miracle Hotel, we drove to Kai Li and stopped at Xia Xi for a delicious lunch. We crossed a river and just by the bridge was a large statue of a dog. I imagined this beast had performed some heroic deed but learned later that he was there because the town we were entering is famous for dog meat! We were only told this after we had eaten our lunch!!

Our experiences in China were quite unique as all three villages we visited were off the beaten track, each one had a grand gate at the entrance but the village and the people living in it looked very poor. We stayed in peoples' homes with no indoor plumbing and very rudimentary sleeping arrangements. In the humblest home, sitting around a wood burning stove with not much else around us, we would be served the most delicious and varied meals but we were never sure what was being served! Hot food was wonderfully welcome on a freezing cold day, and very quickly we got used to seeing beaks, heads and claws floating around in the soups and gravies on offer!

After lunch, at the dog village, we were chatting with a schoolteacher on the street and he told us that just up the road was a village called Tong Gu where a Lusheng Festival was in progress. He gave our driver instructions and before we knew it, we were on our way, driving up a very steep and winding dirt road for well over an hour! Our skillful driver Mr Chen was happy to take us and what a marvelous treat that turned out to be!

We arrived at Tong Gu village at 2.30 in the afternoon and were clearly the "outsiders" there but nobody took a second look at us; they were much too busy getting ready for the festival which was about to begin! As we walked into the village, we heard singing and saw that there was a competition in progress. Music is an especially important part of the life in the village, and the songs we heard imitated the sounds of nature. We heard people sing like birds, insects, and murmuring brooks. I saw mothers helping their daughters dress in their finest traditional costumes. The clothes were superbly hand embroidered and embellished with silver ornaments and jewellery. Elaborate silver crowns and combs were used as hair ornaments.

We made our way up to the “flower ground” along with other spectators, many of whom had walked a long way across mountains from other villages. Young village boys dressed in simple trousers, jackets and turbans walked onto the ground with their prized Lusheng pipes. They began playing a repetitive, slow melody and the girls danced around them in a circle. Even the little ones joined in while proud parents looked on! The pace of the music increased, and the boys twirled round and round and some were quite acrobatic! Each boy wanted one of the dancing beauties to tie a red ribbon on his Lusheng pipe, indicating that she liked him, and if he returned the ribbon to her, their courtship would begin.

Older men enjoyed buffalo fights, and animals from neighbouring villages compete, though they are not allowed to fight an animal to its death. The water buffalo is greatly prized and there are many tales about it in Miao folklore. Once a year on Bull King holiday, water buffaloes are given a rest from working the fields!

The singing competition, the bullfight, an art exhibition and the Lusheng dances were all taking place in different parts of the village. I wandered off on my own and was hijacked along the way by an elderly woman who led me by the hand to her hut. She proudly introduced me to her family and sat me down by her wood fire to eat a hot steaming bowl of something. The family chatted away and I laughed and smiled and nodded my head, we hugged, and I took pictures on my digital camera which the enjoyed posing for!

Over the next eight days we visited many villages, stopped to partake in the feasting and music for a funeral, explored street markets alongside village folk buying piglets, wool, threads, buttons and bows, backpacks, DVDs and videos as well as all sorts of roots, herbs and vegetables. Most mothers carried their babies in beautifully embroidered baby carriers which they made themselves before they got married. It is interesting to see modern Miow women wearing jeans along with their traditional headdress and ornaments.

We drove to Da Tang village over Leygong or the Thunder God mountain through some of China’s most spectacular scenery! We visited a Black Miao village and climbed a steep path to a very picturesque Shuie village where we saw the white cap Miao. These people dress in blue tunics with pointed black hats. The Basha Miao people wear leggings, short pleated skirts, and embroidered aprons. The men have top knots, and many sport a bald head with just a tuft of hair in the front.

While we were watching some girls embroidering in the village, there was a sudden flurry of excitement and we saw a file of young boys walking down the path carrying baskets of sticky rice. The last in the line was a young girl beautifully dressed and carrying a duck by its neck. As they passed, everyone in the village began to follow them, and stopped outside the girl’s house where she was ushered in with great ceremony. We were invited in and learned that this was the homecoming of a bride returning to her parents’ home for the first time from her husband’s village where she had been for a few months. I never did find out the significance of the duck that she had been carrying!

At the miniskirt Miao village, we were welcomed by young girls dressed in their beautiful traditional costumes. At the entrance into the village square, they offered each one of us a sip of a brew and then we were ushered in to be entertained with dancing and Lusheng pipe playing. Even though Wilson had set this up for us it was a fantastic opportunity to see the wonderful embroidery, jewellery and ornaments of the Miniskirt Miao, who only wear these clothes on ceremonial occasions. Wilson told us why this group wears miniskirts. They used to wear their skirts long, but the water buffalo became angry because their skirts often trailed in their dung and this offended them! So, to appease the animal, the women cut their skirts short!

We saw several Dong villages and spent a night at Lulu’s Homestay in Xiaoxing, the largest Dong village in China. It was here that we came upon a huge feast in celebration of a baby’s first year of life. For all village community celebrations everyone contributes food, and for a wedding a huge amount of sticky rice is made into flat cakes which are brightly coloured and carried miles to the house where the celebration is taking place. At night, the village entertained us with dances, and we had the famous welcome drink of Maotai. This potent spirit used to be Mao’s favourite, brewed only in Guizhou Province. The best Maotai comes from Guizhou because of the quality of water there, Isn't this so of the best Scotch whiskey from Scotland?

The Dong people date as far back as 207 BC and a majority of them live in Guizhou Province, They wear 30 different costumes and are basically divided into two groups; one in the North which has lost its cultural identity because of the Han influence, and the Dong who live in the south who have managed to keep theirs.

Most of the minority groups that we visited are Animist and worship the sun and the moon. They believe in the existence of good and evil spirits that live everywhere in nature; in valleys, rivers, mountains, trees and rocks, and they must all be taken care of and preserved so that a natural balance is always maintained.

Homes are generally made of wood, China fir, and are 2 to 4 stories high. The roofs are tiled, and the upper floors are used as living space while the lower one’s house animals. The elderly occupy the warmest place on the top floor which houses the wood burning stove around which the family cooks and eats.

We visited a Shi Buddhist monastery built beside a river in Guam where the scenery was beautiful and where there are three bridges built alongside each other. The oldest was a chain bridge built in 1870 and still very much in use. It was a bitterly cold day, but Wilson insisted we go for a ride in a tin boat rowed by an elderly gentleman with a single oar! We had a delicious lunch and saw several traditional granaries driven by water mills. We visited the Gejia people in Matang village. This minority group is not Miao or Dong. They are well known for their beautiful hemp batik and we were privileged to watch them make it. The women wear hats with different coloured brims, red for an unmarried daughter, yellow for a daughter-in-law, and black for grandma.

Once again, we were fortunate to come upon another Lusheng Festival in Long Chang village where there were Miao, Shui and Gejia people. The dances here were different, but as beautiful. Many more hand gestures were used and for the first time I saw a woman play the Lusheng pipe! It was raining and cold, but this did not hamper spirits and the festival went on regardless.

On the last day, we went to see a village where Miao and Han people live together and make handmade paper. It was close to the town of Kyle where we spent two nights in a hotel with hot baths and heated rooms while the temperature outside was below zero, what a luxury that was!

While sitting in the bus, freezing cold and on our way to the airport, I reflected on my first visit to China. It was utterly different from what I had imagined it would be. The best part of it was the ease with which we all communicated with people everywhere! We didn't need words; we used the universal language of love and were made to feel a part of the community everywhere we went.