Buyi

PRONUNCIATION : BOO-yee
ALTERNATE NAMES: Buyue, Bunong, Buyai, Buzhang, Burao, and Buman
LOCATION: China
POPULATION: 2.5 million
LANGUAGE: Buyi
RELIGION: Ancestor worship; some Catholicism and Protestantism
RELATED ARTICLES: Vol. 3: China and Her National Minorities

INTRODUCTION

The Buyi represent one of the most ancient nationalities of China. They formed a branch of the ancient Yue of southern China, called Liao in ancient Chinese books. Around 200 bc, the state of Yuelang was established in an area long inhabited by the Buyi; thus, there may be a historical link between the Yuelang and the Buyi people. This area was later incorporated by the Western Han Dynasty (206 bc—ad 8). During the Tang Dynasty (ad 618—907), it was ruled by native officials following an agreement with the central government. In the 18th century, the native officials were replaced by Manchu or Chinese officials appointed directly by the Qing Dynasty (1644—1911). This reform evoked strong opposition from the Buyi and led to uprisings. Although their rebellion was short-lived, the names and heroic deeds of their leaders are still frequently on the lips of Buyi people.

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

The Buyi are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces, with dense concentrations in the city of Guiyang, the district of Anshun, and two autonomous prefectures in Guizhou. The famous scenic spots of Huangguoshu Waterfall and Huaxi are located in Buyi territory. On the whole, the Buyi inhabit fertile lands with smooth terrain, mild climate, and abundant rainfall, very suitable for farming. Their population was over 2.9 million in 2000.

LANGUAGE

Buyi language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, Zhuang-Dong group, Zhuang-Dai branch, and is closely related to the Zhuang language. The Buyi did not develop their own writing system, but use Chinese characters. In the 1950s, a written language based on Latin was created, and is very useful and convenient for the Buyi people.

Buyi is a self-given name. Other designations include Buyue, Bunong, Buyai, Buzhang, Burao, and Buman, reflecting a historic era when each clan had its own name. The ancient Chinese books called them Liao, Man, Li, Zhongjia, Yijia, etc. Buyi is the most commonly used designation nowadays.

FOLKLORE

Buyi folklore was transmitted orally from generation to generation for many centuries. Their myths were deeply influenced by those of the Chinese and other nationalities, so that we find many similarities among them. A myth called Buji describes the creation of the universe by Pangu, a creator god. Buji was the man who successfully mastered the flood but died a heroic death. His son and daughter escaped from danger by hiding in a calabash. (They rolled down from the mountain top two millstones that laid one on top of the other when they came to rest, a heavenly-sent sign that they must marry.) After marriage, the girl gave birth to a fleshy lump. Her husband cut it into 99 pieces and threw them in all directions. They turned into 99 villages, each having its own name. Another myth called "Nian Wang shoots suns" says that there were originally 12 suns in the sky and the people suffered a great deal from their fierce irradiation. Nian Wang shot down 11 of the 12 suns to save the people.

The Buyi revere their heroes. Wei Chaoyuan and Wang Achong were leaders of an insurrectionary army against the Qing Dynasty. The Buyi erected statues in their honor and worshipped them (in Anlong County and Dangzhang village). This is rarely seen among other national minorities.

RELIGION

The Buyi believe in ghosts and worship their ancestors. The shaman, called laomo by the Buyi, acts as an intermediary between ghosts and human beings. Illness is considered mischief caused by a ghost, so a shaman is invited to perform rituals in which poultry or livestock is sacrificed. The importance of the sacrificial offerings depends upon the virulence of the ghost, which can only be assessed by the shaman. The Buyi also believe in chicken divination; whatever they want to do must be decided beforehand by divination, especially in the case of marriage, funerals, and house building. The Buyi regard their ancestors as gods of protection and blessing.

Since the beginning of this century, a sizable number of Buyi have converted to Catholicism and Protestantism.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

In addition to the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, which they share with the other nationalities and with the Chinese, there are other major spring holidays. April 8 (lunar calendar; Western calendar, between May 2 and May 30) is called the Buffalo King Festival, held after the fields are plowed in the spring. Every household makes Buffalo King cakes and steams multicolored rice. People first offer them to the ancestors, then call back the spirit of the buffalo, and finally give half of the food to the buffalo and let it rest for one day. Today, all national minorities in Guizhou participate in this festival. There are spectacular performances, sporting games, and sheng (a reed-pipe wind instrument) competitions. The sixth of June (lunar calendar; Western calendar, between June 27 and July 27), called Genjiang or "lesser New Year" is second in importance only to the Spring Festival. Every village kills pigs and cows as sacrificial offerings to the gods of the mountain, of the land, and of the cooking stove. The Buyi of Zhenfeng County in Guizhou take a chicken, a piece of pork, and a cardboard paper horse to the limit of their field. They kill the chicken, splatter the blood onto the paper horse, which is then planted into the field. All of these rituals aim to avert misfortune and obtain a good harvest.

RITES OF PASSAGE

The Buyi pay much attention to their newborn children. Besides celebrating the birth, they try to find a god to bless the baby and protect him or her from disease and danger. In the past, the Buyi had a custom called Qiangbaohun (marriage in swaddling bands), that is, matrimonial engagement shortly after the baby's birth. When the boy grew to teenage years, he would ask somebody to put a hat called jiake on his fiancée's head. This meant that she was caught by her fiancé, indicating his request for a wedding. If she did not want to marry yet, she should beware lest anyone put the jiake hat on her head.

The Buyi make offerings to the spirit of the dead during funerals. The family will kill a buffalo as sacrifice to release the soul of the dead from purgatory. According to traditional custom, the Buyi bury the dead underground.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

The Buyi are hospitable. A village is usually composed of 10 or more families belonging to a few clans. They are on intimate terms with each other. If something happens, the whole village will come to help. Guests will be treated cordially with wine and dishes. Song will never cease. Duck is often offered—first the head followed by the body—and presented politely. This indicates the hospitality of the host: the duck is all for the guest, from top to toe. The guest should never beg to be excused. Otherwise, it might seem that he thinks the food is unclean.

The Buyi youngsters practice group dating called ganbiao. They take advantage of festivals (or going to fairs) to get together. If a girl takes a fancy to a boy through antiphonal singing, she will throw an embroidered ball to him. If he is glad to receive it, they will move to a place close to the other youngsters and sing love songs to each other. After several dates, they may be deeply in love, but their marriage must be approved by their parents. If disapproved, they usually cannot get married.

LIVING CONDITIONS

Most of the Buyi dwell at the foot of a hill and beside a stream. They live in houses of one or two stories. Some are combinations of one-story and two-story houses, that is, houses built on the slope, two-story on one side and one-story on the other. The family lives upstairs, while the bottom is for livestock and fowl. The frame of the house is made of wood, and the roof of tile, flagstone, or straw. Buyi in the Biandan Mountain district (in Guizhou) live in houses made of stone with stone tables and stools.

Most traditional infectious diseases have been eliminated or brought under control. By the time babies are one year old the majority have been inoculated against diphtheria, pertussis, infantile polio, and measles.

FAMILY LIFE

Patrilineal extended families of three and more generations are prevalent among the Buyi. A large family means that the parents live with several married sons and daughters-in-law. In the family, men are persons of authority, while women are in a subordinate position. Buyi families are monogamous. Although close relatives are not allowed to marry, marriage between cousins is prevalent. Furthermore, a woman should marry her husband's younger brother after her husband's death. In the old days, the Buyi married very early. The bride went back to her parents' home right after the ceremony and only returned to live with her husband for a few days at a time during festivals or the busy season. She moved to her husband's house if she got pregnant. After childbirth, she changed her hairstyle from pigtails to combing it plainly, as a nun, and fixing it with hairpins made of silver or horn.

Common pets include dogs, cats, and birds.

CLOTHING

Men usually wear long-sleeve shirts and long robes covering their pants down to the ankle. Solid navy or white-navy checked scarves are used on their heads. Women wear Mandarin-style blouses and trousers. Sometimes, they wear lace-trimmed blouses over multi-pleated and wax-printed long skirts. A beautiful embroidered cotton apron covers the skirt. During the holidays, Buyi women also like to use silver ornaments to decorate their costumes.

FOOD

The Buyi are agriculturists. Their staple food is rice, supplemented by wheat, millet, corn, buckwheat, and yams. They love glutinous rice most. They eat Chinese cabbage, radishes, hot peppers, melons, and beans. Protein comes from pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, goose, fish, and eggs. A favorite drink of the Buyi is sweet wine fermented from glutinous rice. Mixed with spring water, it makes for a cool beverage in summer. The Buyi take breakfast as early as five o'clock in the morning, then go right away to work in the fields. They return home for lunch at noon, although they sometimes bring a simple meal, which they eat at the edge of the fields. They leave work at five or six o'clock, then do the cooking at home, and take dinner at six or seven o'clock.

EDUCATION

There are primary schools in large villages of Buyi districts. All children over seven are able to receive a formal education. Middle schools, vocational schools, and normal schools were established in counties and some small towns. There are colleges in the cities. As a result, the number of professors and teachers, as well as professionals and technicians, has been increasing rapidly. However, rural families pay little attention to girls' education. The rate of illiteracy is very high among Buyi women.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Buyi songs include historic songs, love songs, labor songs, "weep songs," and lyrics. They can be divided into songs in the major mode and those in minor mode. The former are sung with inspiring strains on ceremonial occasions, such as marriages and funerals. The latter are sung tenderly in dating. Yueqin, a four-stringed plucked instrument with a full-moon-shaped sound box, and Dongxiao (or Duanxiao), a vertical bamboo flute, are their favorite instruments. An age-old traditional percussion instrument, the bronze drum with various figures and geometrical patterns, is available in almost every village. It is used as accompaniment for bronze drum dances in grand festivals, or beat by the shaman on funeral or sacrificial offering rites. Famous dances include "Sewing Dance," "Chaff Packet Dance," and "Lion Dance."

The Buyi culture is rich in folk tales, myths, stories, fairy tales, fables, proverbs, and poems.

WORK

The Buyi engage in self-sufficient agriculture. Sometimes the males go hunting in the slack season of farming, and the females gather edible wild herbs. Some peasant households grow apples and medicinal herbs. The double-cropping of rice requires intensive labor. Besides crop-growing labor, the household chores are women's burdens. The ready-made clothes now available in the market greatly lighten their load.

SPORTS

Horse racing on festive occasions is a traditional sport. We find in Guizhou a kind of horse with short legs but great galloping speed and stamina. Dragon boat regattas held in broad rivers also attract a large number of spectators. The youngsters like to play a game called "throwing the chaff packet." Boys stand in line on one side and girls on the other. They throw small cloth packets filled with chaff to the opposite line, generally to the individual he or she likes.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

Singing competitions are often held on festivals as entertainment. Dozens of singers of both sexes sing musical dialogues in antiphonal style. The songs are not allowed to cease and the words of the songs may not be repeated. There are two kinds of plays that are bound to appear on festive occasions. One is called Dixi, performed with masks and stage costumes, the songs being folk melodies. The other, a festive lantern play, is performed with a distinctive tune. The Buyi also like gamecock and buffalo fighting on festivals for recreation. Buffalo fighting is held among villages. Each side chooses buffalo of extreme sturdiness and prompts them to fight along the river bank. A rosette will be placed on the winning animal with pride and joy by the owner.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

The ko-hemp cloth, a typical Buyi craft, was traditionally sent as a tribute to the emperor. Wax printing cloth is one of the most famous crafts of the Miao and Buyi. They draw figures of wax on the white cloth, which is then dyed and dewaxed. A white decorative pattern in a blue background thus manifests itself at once. After a series of improvements in the technological process, multicolored wax printing cloth (batik) was developed and greatly welcomed in the market. Embroidery is a tradition of Buyi women. A pyramid-shaped bamboo hat with a variety of figures is not only beautiful and durable, but also useful as an umbrella for rain and sun.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Poverty and isolation are still the most important socio-economic problems of the Buyi. Modernization through reform and opening to the outside world has brought social and economic development to the coastal areas, border areas, and areas along the Yangtze River. The Buyi districts share, to a limited degree, in this new-found wealth.

GENDER ISSUES

The Chinese constitution states that women have equal rights with men in all areas of life, and most legislation is gender neutral. However, there are continued reports of discrimination, sexual harassment, wage discrepancies, and other gender related problems. The gap in educational levels between women and men is narrowing with women making up 47.1% of college students in 2005, but only 32.6% of doctoral students. China has strict family planning laws. It is illegal for women to marry before 20 years of age (22 for men), and it is illegal for single women to give birth. The Family Planning Bureau can require women to take periodic pregnancy tests and enforce laws that often leave women with no real options other than abortion or sterilization. Prostitution and the sex trade is a significant problem in China involving between 1.7 and 5 million women. It involved organized crime, businessmen, the police, and government workers, so prosecution against prostitution has limited success. In 2002, the nation removed homosexuality from its official list of mental illnesses, and though it is still a taboo topic, homosexuality is increasingly accepted, especially in large, international cities.