In Lijiang, the largest minority group is the Naxi tribe but according to the Chinese government, the tribe is actually made up of several other smaller groups and the cultures of these groups differ in certain ways despite being classified together. One of these smaller ethnic groups that caught my attention will have to be the Mosuo (摩梭人). I have found their culture to be rather peculiar and interesting that I want to share with you guys.
Lugu Lake
I remembered when I was on the bus to Shangri La and our tour guide was introducing this minority group to us. She mentioned that there was another highly-recommended scenic spot in Lijiang called the Lugu Lake which is inhabited by the Mosuo. Sad to say, the journey was arduous and hence, not many tours offer a visit to the Lugu Lake. Speaking of the Mosuo, she asked if we have heard of the term, Kingdom of Women (女儿国) which appeared in the fictional novel, Journey to the West. It is actually believed that it is referring to the Mosuo.
The Mosuo has a matriarchal culture where the women takes responsibility of everything, from farming to raising a family. There is simply no fatherly figure in the family and the reason for that has to be explained by their unique marriage, known as walking marriage (走婚) where the couples do not stay together. Rather strange isn't it? You got to hear how the courtship even begins.
During certain festivals, the men and women who have reached adulthood will gather together and dance. They will hold hands and if any woman takes fancy of a man, she will tickle the man's palm. This is a signal of her interest and if the man is interested too, he will visit the woman's house at night. Everything will be done in secrecy where only the woman's mother will be aware of their relationship. So when darkness falls, the man will secretly visit the woman's house, he will throw a stone up to the lit room and the woman will come down to open the door for him. What they do there in the room is up to your imagination haha.
Before dawn where people wake up to work, the man will sneak away, back to their house. This relationship continued for long until either party is no longer interested in the other and he/she will return the token of love and terminate the relationship. Then, the search for the next lover will begin. Hence,there is no actual marriage and the Mosuo men basically have no responsibility. They mainly rest and occasionally rear some animals while the women take on the more tedious chores. Then, you must be asking, "What about the children whom the woman had with a previous lover?" Well, the children will be staying with the mother where she will be bringing them up. The children will not know who their father is until they have reached their adulthood.
I remembered watching a documentary hosted by Gigi Leung who visited the Musuo tribe. When she was asked to reflect her experience at the end of the show, Gigi who has just ended her long relationship with Ekin Cheng said that she definitely envied those Mosuo women, being able to love freely with no commitment. They do not have to put with things that they dislike. If she feels that there is no more love between them, she can just end the relationship and there is no loss, hurt or sadness. But, she did say that she was glad that she was not born in this culture and she questioned if the Mosuo women truly understand what love is.
So, do you envy their culture? The part about having no commitment?
To me, I was initially amazed by how open the Mosuo culture is and was further shocked that it has actually been around for centuries, considering that the Chinese in the past were the most conservative. How did they even allow such a free marriage to even exist.
I still have many questions in me and I hope that in future, I would have the opportunity to visit Lugu Lake and the mystical Mosuo to have my questions answered.
If interested to find out more about the culture of the Mosuo, you can watch this video: http://wn.com/Mosuo_women .
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