The Shui People

The Shui minority group is distributed around southern Guizhou province. Mountains, with streams of water running through them, surround their villages. Shui call themselves "water people" (shui jen). Their homes are often found with those of the Miao, Buyi, Dong, Yao and Han. Shui land is rich in natural resources. Rice, wheat, cotton, corn, sorghum, millet and sweet potatoes along with plums, oranges, tangerines, pears and peaches are common crops. The forest is filled with many varieties of trees as well as herb plants. Moreover, minerals such as iron, coal, mercury, antimony, sulfur, aluminum and zinc are inside the mountains surrounding the Shui villages.

The Shui language belongs to the Zhuang-Dong branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. While commoners use Chinese in daily life, Shui have an ancient writing system called "Shuishu." This system, however, is not used strictly for human communication. Shui sorcerers have used it to select opportune dates, call up gods, and determine geomancy. Until 1949, Shuishu provided the plumb line for daily living: people consulted it for everyday activities such as traveling, funerals, marriages, construction, calculation and prediction of good or bad luck.

The "Masters of Shuishu" (Shuishu hsien sheng) keep the books in the Shuishu script. There are two kinds of Shuishu books: the white, general book contains information regarding the prediction of good or bad luck, seizing opportune occasions and eliminating misfortune; the black book is used by the sorcerer for the releasing, repelling and retrieving of ghosts. According to a preliminary analysis, there are about four hundred Shui vocabularies; the meanings of most of these relate to divination, geomancy, and cosmology.

Giant stones, old trees, ancient wells and ponds are all objects of worship. The Shui especially revere the stone god and the god of ponds. Ancestral worship is also practiced. The Shui funeral ceremony reflects several aspects of Shui religious belief and cultural values even though its form is now changing. A funeral includes six steps: announcing the death, putting the corpse into the coffin, selecting an appropriate date for burial, burial, erecting a tablet and taking off the cloth. According to Shui customs, funerals must be prepared and conducted according to Shuishu books.

The Shui regard a person's death as significant and a time when they can dedicate their sincere respect to that person. The dead are buried underground; however, when the cause of death is accidental or untimely, the dead are cremated. In former days, every kinship-based Shui village saved a field, often surrounded by maple trees and bamboo, as a graveyard. After an elderly person's death, the oldest son in the family will use well water to wash the face and the body of the deceased. If the dead is male, he will receive a haircut; if female, her hair will be washed. According to Shui belief only those bodies thoroughly cleansed will meet their ancestors in heaven. The corpse, inside the coffin, is then covered with new white, black and blue cloth, and the coffin is then placed under the ancestral tablet. Finally, an appropriate date for burial is chosen. If there is no such day in the near future, the coffin will be carried to the wild and stored under a grass hut. As soon as someone dies, all blood relatives are informed so they can begin a vegetarian diet, an expression of sorrow.

Depending on the household's financial situation, a Shui funeral ceremony can be either modest or elaborate. However, the Shui often try to hold an elaborate service. In the case of parents, this expresses filial reverence to the deceased and also returns benevolence to them. At present, the trend is to spend much money on the funeral ceremony, which usually involves singing, dancing, stone sculpture carving and the burning of exquisitely made paper offerings.

The Shui believe the dead can intervene in the lives and fates of the living. Hence, they always construe personal troubles or suffering as willful sabotage by spiritual beings. As a result, they consult sorcerers to divine their release from their suffering. Among the various forms of divination, eggs, grass and stones are the most popular mediums.

Folk songs play a significant role in the daily lives of the Shui. Other than traditional folk songs, the Shui improvise songs to sing on any occasion. Shui folk songs do not have much variation in melody; on the other hand, the lyrics can always be revised or supplemented to adapt to the immediate situation.

Bronze drums, giant leather drums, various kinds of Chinese panpipes (lushen), two-string violins and trumpet-like wind instruments (sona) are typical Shui musical instruments. All of them are played during both festivals and funerals. The most precious among them is the bronze drum, a symbol of authority and wealth. Shui people treasure their bronze drums, considering the loss of one a disgrace and disrespectful to the ancestors.

The Shui have a rich oral tradition that includes poetry, legend, myth and fable. One of their creation myths is called "the flood" and describes how, in ancient days, after the appearance of human beings, there came a flood. The whole human race was wiped out expect for one brother and one sister who survived by hiding themselves inside a gourd. The brother married his sister to continue the human race.

The bullfight dance, bronze drum dance and lushen dance are traditional Shui dances. The bronze drum dance originated from an ancient ritual activity. The content of the dance varies, but it often reflects the themes of safeguarding the Shui people, the harvest or victory celebrations. Dancers follow the beats of the bronze drum as well as the leather drum which can be either slow or fast. The dance itself is magnificent and graceful. It comes to a dramatic stop after a series of fast beats.

Lushen dance is performed by several minority groups. It is often carried out during holidays as well as funerals. There are nine dancers, three male and six female, who wear silver horns or flowers mixed with colorful pheasant feathers on their heads, and dress with multi-colored ancient costumes. The men, in front, play the lushen while the women dance behind them. The leader of the dance starts to slowly play a small lushen, then he will speed up the beat and finally switch to a large lushen to continue the dance.

Every Shui woman, since she was young, has been taught by the elders of her household embroidery and paper cutting. Their exquisite aesthetic sensitivity is revealed in their handicrafts. For example, their elaborately embroidered baby knapsacks are beautifully decorated with various designs of geometric patterns, colorful flowers, plants, insects or birds. Shui dye is also very famous. The products of Shui weaving include bamboo containers, sheets, chests and baskets. Moreover, Shui are also known for their stone as well as woodcarvings.

Both Shui men and women wear dark as well as off-blue clothes. Men often wear long shirts with wide lapels and wrap their heads with blue cloth. Women wear blouses with collarless, wide lapels that they decorate with colorful laces. Their blue trousers are also decorated with colorful laces. They like to wrap their waists with blue-green scarfs. Women wear skirts during festivals and pull their hair up into a knot. For grand festivals or special gatherings, they wear various kinds of silver earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

The Shui practice monogamy as well as exogamy. Usually Shui youth become engaged at fifteen years and marry around seventeen. In the beginning of the marriage, the bride seldom lives with her husband's family. After half a year she will move in with her husband. The basic family unit of the Shui is the patrilineal nuclear family. The head of the household has the right to control finances and other family affairs. Traditionally, the oldest son inherits the family property.

The Shui calendar begins in September. Shui New Year, called the "Duan Holiday," is the biggest holiday for the Shui people. Everyone dresses up to visit relatives as well as to join the celebration with singing and dancing. They worship ancestors by offering a special dish-fish wrapped with leeks. It is also a time for family reunions.