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 Nestling among the tree-clad
hills dotting an extensive stretch of territory on the Hunan-Guizhou-Guangxi
borders are innumerable villages in which dwell the Dong people.
The population
of this ethnic group in China is 2.5 million. Situated no more
than 300 km north of the Tropic of Cancer, the area peopled
by the Dongs has a mild climate and an annual rainfall of 1,200
mm. The Dong people grow enormous numbers of timber trees which
are logged and sent to markets. Tong-oil and lacquer and oil-tea
camellia trees are also grown for their edible oil and varnish.
The most favorite
tree of the people of this ethnic group is fir, which is grown
very extensively. Whenever a child is born, the parents begin
to plant some fir saplings for their baby. When the child reaches
the age of 18 and marries, the fir trees, that have matured
too, are felled and used to build houses for the bride and groom.
For this reason, such fir trees are called "18-year-trees."
With the introduction of scientific cultivation methods, a fir
sapling can now mature in only eight or 10 years, but the term
"18-year-trees" is still current among the Dong people.
Farming is another
major occupation of the Dongs, who grow rice, wheat, millet,
maize and sweet potatoes. Their most important cash crops are
cotton, tobacco, rape and soybean.
With no written
script of their own before 1949, many Dongs learned to read
and write in Chinese. Philologists sent by the central government
helped work out a Dong written language on the basis of Latin
alphabet in 1958.
Customs and Habits
The Dongs live
in villages of 20-30 households located near streams. There
are also large villages of 700 households. Their houses, built
of fir
wood, are usually two or three stories high. Those located on
steep slopes or riverbanks stand on stilts; people live on the
upper floors, and the ground floor is reserved for domestic
animals and firewood. In the old days, landlords and rich peasants
dwelled in big houses with engraved beams and painted columns.
Paths inside a village are paved with gravel, and there are
fishponds in most villages. One lavish feature of Dong villages
are the drum towers. Meetings and celebrations are held in front
of these towers, and the Dong people gather there to dance and
make merry on New Year's Day. The drum tower of Gaozhen Village
in Guizhou Province is especially elaborate. Standing 13 stories
high, it is decorated with carved dragons, phoenixes, flowers
and birds.
Equally spectacular
is folk architecture that goes into the construction of bridges.
Wood, stone arches, stone slabs and bamboo are all used in erecting
bridges. The roofed bridges which the Dongs have dubbed "wind
and rain" bridges are best-known for their unique architectural
style. The
Chengyang "Wind and Rain" Bridge in Sanjiang is 165
meters long, 10 meters across and 10 to 20 meters above the
water. Roofed with tiles engraved with flowers, it has on its
sides five large pagoda-like, multi-tier pavilions beautifully
decorated with carvings. It is a covered walkway with railings
and benches for people to sit on and enjoy the scenes around.
A typical Dong
diet consists mainly of rice. In the mountainous areas, glutinous
rice is eaten with peppers and pickled vegetables. Home-woven
cloth is used to make traditional Dong clothing; finer cloth
and silks are used for decoration or for making festival costumes.
Machine-woven cloth printed black and purple or blue is becoming
more popular.
Men usually
wear short jackets with front buttons. In the mountainous localities
in the south, they wear collarless skirts and turbans. The females
are dressed in skirts or trousers with beautifully embroidered
hems. Women wrap their legs and heads in scarves, and wear their
hair in a coil.
Many popular
legends and poems, covering a wide spectrum of themes, have
been handed down by the Dongs from generation to generation.
Their lyrics tend to be very enthusiastic, while narrative poems
are subtle and indirect, allusive and profound. Songs and dances
are important aspects of Dong community life. Adults teach traditional
songs to children, and young men sing them.
Prior to 1949,
the feudal patriarchal family was the basic social unit. Women
were on the lowest rung of the social ladder, and they were
even forbidden to touch sacrificial objects. Girls lived separately
on the upper floors allowing no men to visit them. After marriage,
women were given a little share of "female land" for
private farming. Monogamy was and is practiced. Childless couples
were allowed to adopt sons, and only men were entitled to inherit
family property.
A newlywed woman
continued to live with her own parents. She went to her husband's
home only on holidays and on special occasions. She would go
to live with her husband permanently after giving birth to her
first child.
Dong funeral
rituals are similar to those of the Hans, but in Congjiang the
deceased is put in a coffin which is put outdoors unburied.
The Dongs believe in ancestor
worship and revere many gods and spirits. They have special
reverence for a "saint mother" for whom altars and
temples have been erected in the villages.
The Dongs have
many festivals -- Spring Festival, Worshipping Ox Festival,
New Harvest Festival, Pure Brightness Festival and Dragon Boat
Festival.
History
At the time of the Qin and Han dynasties
(221 B.C.-A.D. 220) there lived many tribes in what is present-day
Guangdong and Guangxi. The Dong people, descendants of one of
these tribes, lived in a slave society at that time. Slavery
gradually gave way to a feudal society in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Agriculture developed rapidly during the
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in the Dong areas in southeast Guizhou
and southwest Hunan provinces. Rice production went up with
improved irrigation facilities. And self-employed artisans made
their appearance in Dong towns. Markets came into existence
in some bigger towns or county seats, and many big feudal landowners
also began to do business.
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