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19 avril 2006

The Hani - Les Hani

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The Hani ethnic group is one of the many unique tribes in YunnanProvince. With a population of 1.25 million, they are mainly distributed over the mountain areas between the Red River and the Lancang River in Yunnan Province. The Hani share the same origin with the Yi and Lahu ethnic groups. According to the historical records, they all evolved from the ancient Qiang people. The Qiang people used to be a nomadic tribe living in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

The Hani people have their own language. Their language consists of three dialects and belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibetan-Burmese language group of the Chinese-Tibetan language family. They have no written script in the past and used to keep records by carving notches on sticks. In 1957, with the help of the central government, a script system based on the Roman alphabet was created, but failed to achieve a popular use.

The Hani people mainly engage in agriculture. Situated in the subtropical climate zone, the area inhabited by the Hani people is blessed with a mild climate, abundant rainfall and fertile soil, providing an ideal condition for the development of agriculture. Main crops include rice, corn, cotton, peanut, indigo, etc. The Hani are also good at planting tea and the tea produced here occupies one third of the total tea yield of Yunnan Province.

The Hani people usually build their villages on the south slopes of the mountains. A village comprises from ten to as many as 400 households, which are related by blood ties. The houses vary depending on the area they lived in. For those who live in Honghe, their houses are built with mud walls and thatched roofs and are supported by wooden pillars placed on stone foundations. While in Xishuangbanna, houses are built of bamboo. With the roof covered with straw and wood, this kind of house normally have two stories with the upper floor serving as the living area for the family and the ground floor is used for storage and provides accommodation for the livestock. The shape of the whole structure resembles a mushroom, hence the name "mushroom house." Viewed from a distance, the stockaded villages with their terraced fields, bamboo forests, and "mushroom houses," make a tranquil rural scene.

hani3The costumes of the Hani women show diversity among different clans. Women in most areas wear collarless short blouses with buttons on the right side and long trousers. Women in Xishuangbanna and the Lancang area wear jackets buttoned on the right side, short skirts, leggings and caps decorated with silver ornaments. Women from Baihong branch in Mojiang area wear a short and tight jacket, tube shaped or long pleated skirts, embroidered waist belts and girdles. The Hani women of the Yeche branch wear white pointed caps and short sleeved, collarless jackets opening at the front without buttons. They always tightened their jacket with a colorful waistband. Young women like to wear earrings, silver rings and necklaces. Married and unmarried women wear different hairstyles. The grown men often wear short jacket buttoned down on the front and long trousers. They like to wrap their head with black or white cloth turbans. Old people often wear skullcap.

The Hanis believe in polytheism and practice ancestor-worship. In the past, they had only an oral literature, which includes legends, fairy tales, poetry, fables, ballads, mythology, proverbs, riddles, etc. Some of them tell the origin of the world, some narrate people's conquest of the natural disasters and some relate the history of their tribe.

The Hani people are good at singing and dancing. The music instruments they usually used are three- and four-stringed instruments, flutes and Sheng (a reed pipe wind instrument). Famous dances include the "Hand Clapping Dance", "Fan Dance", and the "Dongpocuo" dance which is popular in Xishuangbanna area.

Like the Han people, the Hanis celebrate the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. Their traditional festivals include October Festival, June Festival and etc.

June Festival, called "Ku Zha Zha" festival in Hani language, is one of the three most important festivals of the Hani nation. It is held around June 24 of the Chinese lunar calendar and lasts for three to six days. During the festival, people sacrifice to the heaven and the cattle, and enjoy the festival by swinging, wrestling, singing and dancing. The main activities of the festival are those of killing an ox for sacrificing, preparing the green grass for the horse of God, playing the turn-swing, having the long street party, dancing and singing and wrestling.

The October Year, also known as Amutu Festival, is the most ceremonious traditional festival. It comes on the first dragon day in the tenth lunar month and is celebrated as the New Year's Day by the Hani. On the first day of the festival, every stockaded village holds a big banquet in the center of the main street. The banquet is so large in scale that many tables piled high with different dishes are laid end to end along the street like a colorful dragon, hence the name Long Dragon Banquet

When preparing this kind of banquet, all the families get their tables line up along the street. The villagers then sit along the table with the priest and the head of the village sitting in the seats of honor. Food and drink offered by each family are presented and people eat and drink and wish each other good luck and happiness.

Après les Yi, les Hani sont la deuxième grande nationalité tibéto-birmane du Yunnan par le nombre (plus de 1,3 million) puis par l’expansion géographique. Les divers groupes de Hani se distinguent par le dialecte et les particularités vestimentaires.

dsc02562Les femmes portent une veste sans col, fermée à droite par des boutons en argent sur des pantalons longs tandis que  le vêtement masculin  comprend une veste sans col  fermée sur le devant, un pantalon long et un turban noir ou blanc. Les habitations des Hani du Xichuangbanna sont sur pilotis, divisées en deux pièces – celle des hommes et celle des femmes, dotées chacune de son foyer. Leurs villages ne comptent guère lus d’une trentaine de maisons. Les Hani ont préservé le modèle d’une société égalitaire, organisée en clans patrilinéaires, représentés dans les communautés villageoises par des lignages minimaux (comprenant des parents de trois ou quatre générations seulement). La maisonnée est l’unité économique de base. Le dernier fils demeure avec ses parents tandis que ses frères ainés, mariés, habitent une maison indépendante dans le voisinage. Le culte des ancêtres fait à tous un devoir d’avoir des enfants. De nombreux rites de fertilité et fécondité y pourvoient. C’est sans doute pour cela que la vie sexuelle des adolescents des deux sexes est très libre, stimulée par les chants alternés, les danses et les jeux de balançoire.

Pour le Nouvel An chinois, les Hani alignent des tables sur la rue principale du village pour un fastueux banquet collectif. Le festival Amatu, dédié aux montagnes, forêts et aux ancêtres, est observé dans les Comtés Autonomes de Jinping, Yao et Dai lors du Jour du Dragon du second mois lunaire. Le premier jour, on sacrifie un coq en offrande aux esprits et on dresse une haie en bambou pour les garder hors du village. Le lendemain matin, le prêtre du village sacrifie un coq blanc en offrande à la rivière, aux montagnes et à la forêt. A midi, un sacrifice est fait pour la pagode centrale du village. Puis on prépare le banquet. La première table est disposée pour représenter la tête d'un dragon sortant de la pagode, les autres tables sont alignées à la suite le long de la rue principale. Ce sont les hommes qui s'assoient à la table du banquet.

Ensuite, des offrandes sont portées à la Forêt du Dragon, un endroit sacré où les femmes ne peuvent pénétrer. On dépose trois galets, badigeonnés du sang des premières menstruations d'une vierge du village et du sang d'un cochon et d'un chien, au pied de l'Arbre du Dragon. Le premier galet, portant le sang de la vierge, est placé à droite, il est offert au dragon et à la montagne. Le galet avec le sang du cochon est offert à la forêt et placé au centre. Celui au sang du chien, placé à gauche, est dédié aux esprits. On amène un jeune puceau et une pucelle aux abords de l'arbre pour symboliser la virginité. Trois doyens du village chantent des sutras pour demander la prospérité et l'immunité contre les désastres.

Les célébrations, commençant trois jours avant le Jour du Dragon durent une semaine. Toute autre activité est arrêtée durant cette période. Si une personne étrangère se trouve dans le village pendant les cérémonies, elle ne pourra en ressortir que quand celles-ci seront terminées.

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L
Hi, I know this blog was create 4 years ago, but i need to ask you about one of the picture : the third a man sitting with a strange thing...what is it ????????<br /> thank you !<br /> Liloo
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