Chapter 3 Section 2: The coming-of-age ceremony that knocks on the door of marriage and love

The right to marriage and love is inherent in people, but people can not enjoy this right arbitrarily.Modern society requires young people to enjoy this right only when their bodies and minds have developed to a certain level, and laws are used to restrain people's behavior.In clan and tribal society, it relies on the constraints of customs.At that time, in order to ensure the normal development of young people's bodies and thus ensure the normal reproduction of human beings, the so-called "adult ceremony" or "adult ceremony", "entry ceremony" and "adult ceremony" were formed.Before that, boys and girls belonged to children and were not allowed to talk about love; after the coming-of-age ceremony, they obtained the right to marry and love, and gradually assumed the obligations and responsibilities of adults to the society.

In the ancient Han nationality, "men's 20 crowns and characters" and women's 15 "xu married ji (jiji) and characters", that is, young men and women changed their clothes and clothes after passing the coming-of-age ceremony, received new names and were allowed to marry.So far, there are still many ethnic groups in the world holding coming-of-age ceremonies.Some ethnic minorities in our country are still practicing this ancient custom. This is the coming-of-age ceremony of the Mosuo people by the Lugu Lake in Sichuan and Yunnan.The Azhu marriage, which has the legacy of group marriage, is practiced in the local area. Adults enjoy complete freedom of marriage and love, but men and women before the age of 13 are protected by customs and are not allowed to get involved in marriage and love life.In terms of clothing, children regardless of gender wear linen gowns.When they reach the age of 13, they will experience a major turning point in their lives—the coming-of-age ceremony.The time is on the first day of the first month of each year.On New Year's Eve, all boys and girls who are about to grow up will gather in two places according to their gender, singing and dancing, and staying up all night.In the early morning of the first day of the new year, each returned home and held a grand coming-of-age ceremony near the firepit in the main room.

A girl's coming-of-age ceremony is hosted by her mother.She was led to the female column in the main room, with her feet on pig fat (a kind of bacon cured with whole pigs) and grain sacks, a bracelet and earrings in her right hand, and linen and linen in her left hand. Pray that there will be enough food and clothing, that the house will be full of children and grandchildren, and she will take off her long gown and put on the dress of an adult woman (Figure 1). The boy's coming-of-age ceremony is presided over by his uncle.He stood beside the men's pillar, also stepping on grain and pig fat, holding a silver dollar in his left hand and a sharp knife in his right. His uncle took off his long gown for him, put on a man's short jacket and trousers, and wished him brave and tenacious, and prosperous and prosperous.

Since then, boys and girls have entered the ranks of adults.They have to work hard to learn all kinds of major production techniques, and they also begin to enjoy all the rights and obligations of adults, can participate in social activities, and gradually begin to live in love and even married life. For the Yao people in Hekou County, Yunnan Province, the coming-of-age ceremony is just changing the headgear.That is to say, when girls reach the age of fifteen or sixteen, they change their flower hats into kerchiefs; boys at the age of fifteen or sixteen also change their flower hats into kerchiefs.This means they are of age and ready to seek a mate.In other Yao districts, a stricter coming-of-age ceremony called "dujie" is generally practiced.This is a dangerous test.Usually only held for boys, but in Jinping County, Yunnan, both boys and girls are required to participate.At that time, a high platform of more than ten feet will be set up outside the village, and the boy who has taken the precept will turn down from the high platform.Interestingly, there is a "woman" disguised as a woman holding a baby in the audience, which symbolizes that after the ring, the man can enter the door of marriage and love, marry a wife and have children.

Holding the coming-of-age ceremony for 16 or 17-year-old boys by means of attack is the uniqueness of the Jinuo nationality's coming-of-age ceremony.The coming-of-age ceremony of this family is mostly held at the ceremony of going to the new house (that is, celebrating the completion of the new house).At that time, the teenager will be hijacked by some adults holding sticks to the scene of going to the new house.He listened to the elder's warning while still in shock.In the end, he returned home with the two small packages of ancestral worship beef that he got. At this time, his parents congratulated him and presented him with adult clothes and a full set of farm tools.Girls don't have to be so frightened, but they also accept gifts and changing clothes from their parents, thus starting their free love life.

The coming-of-age ceremony of the Blang people was spent peacefully.When a girl is twelve or thirteen years old, her father will give her a bamboo stool, a small bamboo basket, a suit of clothes, and an iron pot; and a boy of fifteen or sixteen will get a cloth bag from his parents. , a blanket, and a silver box containing betel nuts.These are the necessary material preparations for boys and girls to participate in social life, but to really enter the social world, they have to complete a coming-of-age ceremony called "festival"-tooth dyeing.Under the night, the boys who have reached the age of adults play the Sanxian and invite them to the firepit where the girls who are about to grow up gather.The girls took out iron pans, burned black smoke on them with red hair branches, and dyed the boys' teeth, and then the boys dyed the girls' teeth.They complete their rite of passage when each other's teeth are inky black.In this way, boys and girls knocked on the door of love together (Figure 2).

Yi women have to change their braids and change their clothes at the age of 17 to show they are adults.When she was a girl, she wore a single braid hanging behind her head, but now it has to be divided into two and coiled on top of her head; the original earrings only have one bead, which needs to be replaced with a string of beads.The most interesting custom is that when a girl reaches the age of marriage and fails to get married due to various reasons, a "skirt changing" ceremony will be held.On this day, when the sun was about to rise or set, the mother took her daughter outside the house, first let her eat a buckwheat fried ball, and then let her change into a very short purple-red wool skirt, One side murmured: "This girl has grown up and can get married, and the wedding will be held now." Pointing to a nearby big tree or big rock, she said: "You will be a family with it today." In some areas After changing the skirt, the girl can have sexual freedom in the communication with the opposite sex.In family life, after changing the skirt, the girl must abide by the etiquette of married women, and she is also regarded as an outsider when holding sacrifices and other activities at home, which psychologically encourages women to choose a spouse and marry outside.This is a function of the adult tense under patriarchy.

The Hani people in some areas also change their attire to symbolize adulthood.For example, among the Hani people in the Menghai area, young men begin to stain their teeth red when they are fifteen or sixteen years old.Adolescent girls' clothing changes even more. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, two ornaments made of embroidered cloth should be worn on the waist, which means that the girl has grown up. At the age of 17, the round hat worn by girls is replaced by a square bucket hat with silver decorations, which shows that the girl has matured, and it is the radiant flower season, and the young man can boldly pursue it.

In some other nationalities, the coming-of-age ceremony is more or less reserved.For example, among the Gaoshan ethnic group in Taiwan, the males are assigned to the juvenile group when they are 14 or 15 years old. After several years of training, they are promoted to the youth group. Only at this time can they obtain the qualifications for adulthood and marriage; among the Gaoshan ethnic group, the Atayal, Cao, For the Bunun people, men aged 17 or 18 and girls aged 15 or 16 have undergone training and become familiar with farming, hunting, weaving and other skills before they are considered adults and are eligible to marry and start a family.