Xibo Nationality

        Hair Hanmafa Worship

        Xibo people don't only have a Xili Mama that blesses the safety of the family but also have a Hair Hanmafa god that blesses the livestocks.

        Hair Hanmafa means the male ancestor who is a god of protecting the safety of livestocks. Hair Hanmafa is enshrined on the southwest corner of the wall outside the west room. Nail a piece of wood board on the wall corner, put the incense burner on the board, make a hole in the wall, put a wooden box with a piece of cloth into the hole, a man's statue is drawn on the cloth, which signifies the male ancestor of the whole family. Hair Hanmafa god is enshrined outdoor because men are often herding and hunting outside.

        Hair Hanmafa worship is also a kind of ancestor worship, which is to bless the safety of man while they are going out for herding and hunting and to bless more games to be hunted. It's gradually turned into a god of protecting the livestocks afterwards. The Xibo people in nomad times mainly relied on animal husbandry for living and all their foods and clothes coming from livestocks, therefore they paid much attention to the multiplication and safety of the livestocks. So that Hair Hanmafa is enshrined in every family. They burn incenses and knock head every festivals to sacrifice the god and the host should dedicate the courser most favored by him to Hair Hanmafa god. The horse dedication ceremony is very lively. The host who dedicate the horse should totally clean the horse and feed it full. Then fasten a feather or red cloth strip on the tail of the horse, and then fasten the horse before Hair Hanmafa god to mean that the horse is dedicated to Hair Hanmafa. If there are no women's clothes on the horse back while dedication, the horse cannot be ridden by women.

        Xili Mama is a god of blessing the safety and prosperity of Xibo family. The Chinese translation is Mama of Children, which means the generations could be handed down to sons and grandsons with the female ancestor. Their God is made by an approximately 6.7-m-long rope, with some mini bows and arrows, mini boots, mini cradles, mini water pails and copper cashes, red and green cloth strips, pig prayer bones, etc fastened on the rope. The bows and arrows signify the men, which wish the boy could grow up into a master in shooting on horseback; the cradles, boots and other articles signify the blessing of many children; the prayer bone is used to show the generations; the copper cashes signify the wealthy life. Another prayer bone should be fastened on Xili Mama every there is one generation increased. An arrow and bow should be increased if a boy is born and some red and green cloth strips should be fastened on Xili Mama if a girl is born. Xibo people not only regard Xili Mama as the god of blessing the safety and good fortunes of the family and offsprings but also regard it as a pedigree of recording headcount and generations.

        The northwest corner in the west room is a place specially to enshrine Xili Mama. Normally it's put into the bag and hanged on the north corner in the west room. It's taken out on the New Year's Eve and obliquely pulled from the northwest corner to the southeast corner, and then the family will burn incenses and knock head to pray Xili Mama could bless the safety, many children and prosperity of the family. It's hanged on the wall until the 2 nd of the second month of the lunar year and then put back to its former position.

        The materials of making Xili Mama should be asked from the household with the biggest population and generations in the village, and should be made by the eldest who is blessed with many children. They think only the Xili Mama made by the eldest of the family could really bless their safety and prosperity and they believe the materials asked from the household with a big population signify luckiness and could bring many children.

        Face Staining Festival

        The 16 th of the first month of the lunar year is the Face Staining Festival of Xibo people. The people get up early on this day and go into the streets with the cloth or felt piece prepared last night and stain each other's faces. On this day, the people could stain each other regardless of gender and age. However, the juniors should pay respects to the elders first before staining their faces and should stain a little to show respect.

        The Face Staining Festival of Xibo people have a very long history. It's said in the past there was a young wife who fed a burnt yeast pancake to a dog and offended the patrol heavenly god. Therefore, the patrol heavenly god decided to punish the people who didn't cherish grains. The patrol heavenly god turned all crops of Xibo people into black in the next year. As a result all seeds harvested in autumn are black. And all people were scared and didn't know what to do. Finally all the villagers apologized to the patrol heavenly god and swore would rather stain their faces than have the black seeds of their crops. The patrol heavenly god was moved by their sincerity and called back his magic arts. From then on the people stained their faces on the 6 th of the first month of the lunar year to cover the punishment for their crops.

        For this reason, the people are not afraid of others to stain their faces on the Face Staining Festival, because they think they are covering the punishment for their crops.

        West Migration Day

        West Migration Day is a traditional festival of Xibo people. The 18 th of the fourth month of the lunar year is the commemoration day for some Xibo people to migrate from various northeast areas to Xinjiang. The people designate this day as the West Migration Day to commemorate this west migration.

        The Qing Dynasty Government subdued Zhuger Tribe that obstructed the unification of the country in 1757 A.D and subdued the rebellions in Dahezhuo and Xiaohezhuo of the southern border later. They established Martial Yamun in Yili to administer the south and north areas of Tianshan area and stationed troops, excavated channels and plough lands and reinforced the defence and rule over Xinjiang. Although there were Manchu, Han, Chahar and Suolun soldiers garrisoning in Xinjiang, Qing Dynasty Government still felt the troops were not enough. Qing Dynasty Government transferred more than 1000 Xibo soldiers together with more than 3000 family dependants to Yili area of Xinjiang in 1764 in order to reinforce the military strength and reclaim the borders in large scale. Xibo soldiers and families said farewell to their families and local people in northeast and started the journey to the west on the 18 th of the fourth month of the lunar year. From then on, the 18 th of the fourth month of the lunar year became the traditional festival of Xibo people. The Xibo people stayed in various areas of northeast missed their families on this day. However, the Xibo people migrated to Xinjiang rather missed their native land in northeast.

        Xibo people always go to the temple fair and hold various commemoration activities on West Migration Day. The people often get together at temples and then have picnic together to recall the scene of Xibo people get-together at Xibo Ancestral Temple in Shenyang on the day before West Migration. Additionally, they have horse race, arrow shooting and wrestling contests and the youngsters have picnic by riding horse as well. The women and the aged go out to the field for a walk on this day; every family eats fresh fish and steamed dumpling on this day to commemorate the festival.

        Wedding Customs

        Playing Dingba is one of the entertainment activities with the most prominent characteristics among the wedding customs of Xibo people. This entertainment activity is held on the evening of the fiancée's feast, the elders, boys and girls from the fiancée's family will get together to wait for the coming of Dingba team sent by the fiancé's family. Because the father and mother (elders invited by fiancé's family to meet the bride) and the young boys of the Dingba team have to escort the bride to the fiancée's home before the day break and to prepare for the wedding ceremony, the Dingba activities will be held overnight.

        Playing Dingba is in a form of party. The Dingba team should consist of 6 to 8 boys who are versatile in singing and speaking. They will first perform for the finance's elders, they may recite or recount historical novels, or playing Dongshuila (a musical instrument) and dancing Beilun, or singing in flat tone wearing suit-dresses to win favor from the elder. Then the boys will go to the room where girls are gathered to sing and dance with the girls to their hearts' contents. Evidently, the fiancée's family will also organize a versatile team of girls who are good at singing and dancing. According to the tradition, the Dingba team representing the fiancé's family could not give in, otherwise the fiancée must feel ashamed at the fiance's family, and the girls will sneer at the impotency of the fiancé and even postpone the time for the bride to leave. Therefore, the members of Dingba team have no choice but to bring their talents to the full play and to overwhelm the girls' team. The two Dingba teams will sing ballads in pairs by improvising and “assault” each other by means of songs, which is similar to the Aken ballads that is difficult to differentiate with the winner and loser.

        Mourning Custom

        After the death of the Xibo elders, not only the funeral ceremony is ceremonious, but also the wake custom is very cultured.

        The mourning apparels have to be tailored shortly after the death of the elder. The juniors must wear the mourning apparels before the corpus, otherwise will be deemed as disrespect to the dead. The juniors should fell down before the corpus after wearing the mourning apparels and cry their eyes out. The one who cries most heartrending will be deemed as the most filial.

        The mourning periods and mourning apparels are different according to the relationship between the dead. The mourning period to grandparents, parents, parents-in-law, aunts and uncles is hundred days. The mourning apparels to hundred day mourning period is the longest one, which is down to the feet, with a long white cloth strip circled around the waist and falls down to the bottom from the middle. Mourning cap is to sew a piece of white cloth surrounding the common cap. The mourning period for uncles is 49 days and the mourning apparels are nearly the same with the mourning apparels for the hundred day mourning period; the only difference is the cancellation of collars from the mourning apparels. A small piece of square red cloth has to be sewn on the shoulder of the mourning apparels for the grandson generation. A red cloth fork has to be sewn on the back of the mourning apparels for great-grandson generation.

        The men are not allowed to have haircut and beard shave, are not allowed to go to entertainment places, and are not allowed to sing and to engage in lawsuit during the mourning period. However, the women are not allowed to wear earrings, bracelets, finger rings, and other jewelries. The New Year pictures are not allowed to put up at home. The New Year visit outside is not allowed during Spring Festival.

        A memorial ceremony has to be made before the tomb on the 10 th day since the death of the lineal relative elders, and all the lineal relatives have to attend. Another memorial ceremony has to be made again on the 48 th day since the death. The mourning apparels take-off ceremony will be held before the tomb on the ceremony of the 49 th day since death. The mourning apparels taken off will be bound up into a bundle after several swaying over the fire, which will be taken back to home to wash. The mourning apparels take-off could be done by others in the same way if the wearer is absent. All relatives far and near come to attend the memorial ceremony on the 100 th day since death.

        The mourning period for the wife is 3 years and she is not allowed to remarry during the period.

        Taboos

        Xibo people have many taboos in routine life. The careless violators cannot avoid curses and punishments.

        The trousers taken off have to be put on a high place or the elder, otherwise will curse horizontally on kang while sleeing. If one carelessly strides over the caps, clothes, quilts and pillows, the stuffs strode over have to be swayed for several times over the fire, otherwise the stuffs will be deemed unclean and nobody will use them afterwards.

        Sitting on a doorstep to have meal is not allowed, and beating the bowl or table with chopstick is rather prohibited. They deem it's unlucky and will scare away the plutus from home and because only the beggars beating their bowls. Moreover, the father-in-law and the daughter-in-law are not allowed to have meal by the same table. The west chair is the superior, and the juniors are not allowed to sit on the west position.

        As for the marriage, the young boys have to marry while their ages are odd numbers. Therefore the marriage of the children in their even number ages is absolutely prohibited by the elders. The wedding ceremony is allowed at least that the boy's or the girl's age is odd number, otherwise it's deemed very unlucky.