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Feeling the beat of the bamboo dance
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HAINAN, China’s second largest island after Taiwan, is the home of the Li ethnic group who created the earliest cotton fabric in China.
The Li ethnic group originated from a branch of the ancient Baiyue tribe who lived in today’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong Province. The ancestors of the Li people immigrated to Hainan Island during the Qin (221–206 BC) and Han (206 BC–AD 220) dynasties as the earliest settlers there. They were referred to as “Li,” “Man” and “Liao” in different periods of time, until formally addressed as Li since the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1129).
With a population of about 1,247,814, most of the Li people live in and around the Hainan Li-Miao Autonomous Prefecture, and Baoting, Ledong, Dongfang and other counties under its jurisdiction. There are also Li people living among people of the Han and Hui ethnic groups in other parts of the island.
The language of Li belongs to the Zhuang, Dong and Li branches of the Han-Tibetan language family. Different accents are used in different regions, but there is no written-language of the ethnic group. Due to long-time communication with the Han people, many Li people know and speak Mandarin well.
Living in a subtropical zone with fertile land and abundant rainfall, most Li people earn a living from agriculture. Coconut palms and rubber trees line the beaches and people in some places reap three crops of rice a year and grow maize and sweet potatoes all year round. The area is the country’s major producer of tropical crops such as coconuts, sisal hemp, lemon grass, cocoa, coffee, rubber, oil palm, cashews, pineapples, casabas, mangos and bananas.
The Li people eat rice, potato and corn as staple foods, while roasted or pickled meats are their favorite cuisines. That may include pork, beef, mutton, fish, shrimp, crab and even snake.
Areca is a popular snack for the Li people. They chew it with shell ashes wrapped in green leaves, and the juice often dyes their lips or teeth red.
The Lis are known as heavy smokers and drinkers. They produce various wines with different ingredients such as corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, wild fruits and glutinous rice. Home-made glutinous rice wine is among the top drinks for treating guests. A cone-shaped bamboo basket with banana leaves is an essential container for the ingredients to produce the home-made wine. A hole will be poked at the bottom of the container when the wine has been fermented for three days. The liquid will drop into another container for sealing and further fermentation. Some people will keep the wine sealed and buried underground for three to five years before drinking.
Li women are often skilled weavers, especially cotton. They created the “Li Brocade” — China’s earliest cotton fabric more than 3,000 years ago. Li Brocades have long enjoyed a reputation for magnificence and exquisite workmanship. A Han woman named Huang Daopo in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) learned advanced weaving skills from the Li people and later introduced the techniques to other parts of the country. This helped the cotton textile industry develop rapidly.
Li women wear collarless jackets and tight-fitting skirts. Women in some places wear pullovers. Most people prefer black in their dressing. They do their hair in a coil at the back and pin it with bone hairpins and wear embroidered kerchiefs. They like silver jewelry like earrings, bracelets and ankle bangles. Some old women have tattooed faces. Li men also wear collarless jackets, and knot their hair on the neck and wrap the head.
Traditionally, the Li people lived in groups and build their villages near mountains and rivers. The houses are usually boat or pyramid-shaped thatched cottages. The roofs of the pyramid-shaped cottages are supported with tree trunks and the walls are made of knotted bamboo strips coated with mud. Today, many Li people living near towns and cities build light and spacious houses with tiled roofs just like that of the Hans.
The Li people are good at singing and dancing. The folk songs are beautiful in rhythm. There have more than 40 traditional music instruments, including percussion, woodwind and stringed instruments. One of the most astonishing is a flute played by nose.
The bamboo dance is extremely popular. Two bamboo poles are put on the ground abreast of each other with several inches between them. Other bamboo poles are put across them. Young men crouch on both sides holding one end of the poles, moving them around in a set rhythm. The dancers jump and turn as the bamboo poles come together and spread apart. The pole holders will slowly accelerate as the dance reaches a climax, accompanied with people’s cheering and laughing.
The Li people are polytheist and believe everything has a spirit, and all things in nature are living temples of holy things, ghost or gods. They worship ancestors as well as nature. Illness is believed to result from ghosts. Particular sacrificial ceremonies are needed to drive the ghosts away to cure the disease.
Li people also celebrate the Spring Festival, Tomb-sweeping Day, and Mid-autumn Festival. Their biggest exclusive festival is on the third day of the third month in the lunar calendar. On that day, people in their finest dress get together to remember ancestors and pray for a good harvest.
Li
Population: 1,247,814 (2000 national census)
Distribution: Hainan Province
Language: Li Language
Religion: Polytheism
Food: Rice, potato, corn and roasted or pickled meats
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