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The Va ethnic minority
 The Va ethnic minority, with a population of 352,000,
lives in Ximeng, Cangyuan, Menglian, Gengma, Lancang, Shuangjiang,
Zhenkang and Yongde counties in southwestern Yunnan Province. Some are
found scattered in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the
Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. Ximeng and Cangyuan counties
are the main places where the Va people live in compact communities.
In the areas where the Va people live, there are also Hans, Yis, Dais,
Hanis, Lahus, Jingpos, Blangs, De'angs and Lisus.
Ximeng, Cangyuan, Menglian and Langcang are situated between the
Lancang and Nu rivers, blocked by undulating mountain ridges some
2,000 meters above sea level. Traditionally this area was called the
Ava hilly region.
With a subtropical climate, the fertile Ava region has plentiful
rainfall and only 40 frost-free days a year. It is suitable for the
growth of dry rice, paddy, maize, millet, buckwheat, potatoes, cotton,
hemp, tobacco and sugarcane, as well as such subtropical fruits as
bananas, pineapples, mangoes, papayas and oranges.
The Va language belongs to the Austroasiatic family. Before 1949,
except for some parts of the area where an alphabetic script was used,
the Va people had no written language, and they kept records and
accounting or passed messages with material objects or by engraving
bamboo strips. Each strip ranged from half an inch to an inch in
width. Objects used i mplied specific meaning or feelings. For
instance, sugarcane, banana or salt meant friendship, hot pepper
anger, feather urgency, and gunpowder and bullets the intention of
clan warfare. An alphabetic script was created for the Va people in
1957.
Customs and Habits The monogamous
family was the basic unit of the Va society. Family property generally
was inherited by the youngest son, while daughters were denied the
right to inherit. A man was allowed to have more than one wife.
 Men and women had sex freedom before marriage. Small groups of young
men and women met and sang love songs. After giving their chosen
partners betal nuts or tobacco leaves as a token of love, they could
go to sleep together. Such freedom ended upon marriage. Marriages were
arranged by parents, and the bridegrooms had to pay several cattle as
betrothal gifts. Eloping used to take place as a result of forced
marriages.
 Most of the Va villages were built on hilltops or slopes. Some
villages in the Ximeng area have a history of several hundred years
and embrace 300 to 400 households. When a family built a new house,
others came to help and presented timber and straw as gifts. Generally
the house was completed in one day by collective effort. The "big
house" of a big chieftain or a rich person was marked by a special
woodcut on top. The walls were decorated with many cattle skulls still
carrying horns. The other sections were the same as commoners' houses,
built on stilts, and the space below was used for breeding domestic
livestock. Before iron cauldrons were introduced into the area, the
Vas used big bamboo tubes to cook rice, and the cooked rice was
divided into equal shares by the hostess at the meal. They loved to
chew betel nuts and drink liquor.
The Va people dress differently according to different areas. Men's
garments consist of a collarless jacket and very wide trousers. Their
turbans are usually black or red and their ears are pierced, through
which red and black tassels are threaded. Young men like decorating
their shins with circular ornaments woven with bamboo strips or
rattan. A Va woman wears a black short dress and a straight long skirt
with folds. She has a silver (or rattan) hoop round her head and
silver necklets and chains of colored
 beads round her neck. Round her
hips are many circular hoops of rattan. Va women are fond of bracelets
round their wrists and earrings. |
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