Hui'an maidens

Infobox Ethnic group
group=Hui'an maidens Hūi-oaⁿ cha-bó· 惠安女


poptime=C. tens of thousands
popplace=Huidong Peninsula of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China
langs=Min Nan, Mandarin
rels= Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity

Hui'an maidens or Hui'an women (Chinese: 惠安女; Pinyin: "Huì'ān nǚ"; Min Nan POJ: "Hūi-oaⁿ cha-bó·") are a special female ethnic groupFact|date=September 2008 residing in Hui'an County of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. They are ethnologically considered as Han Chinese, but their origin traces back to the ancient Minyue people of more than two thousand years ago. The isolation on the eastern peninsula of Hui'an prevented Hui'an maidens from assimilating into the Han culture, so many of their distinctive customs and traditions still survive today.

Hui'an maidens are also well-known for their hard work and kindness. They indefatigably "do most of the formwork, road repair, and family chores while their husbands are at sea."cite web|url=http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_chinaway/2006-04/29/content_81491.htm|title=Hui'an Women|publisher=ChinaCulture.org|accessdate=2008-09-21]

Unique cultures

Costumes

Typical Hui'an maidens wear short cyan jackets and skintight black hip huggers which flare out baggily at the legs and leave their bellies bare, but they fastidiously cover their heads with colorful scarves and conical hats. Thus they are jokingly said to have "feudal heads, thrifty jackets, democratic bellies, and wasteful trousers."

Hui'an maidens' unique costumes can be found in some other southern Chinese minority groups. For example, their conical hats are similar to the Li and Jing people's, and their short tight jackets bear much resemblance to those of the Dai people in Sipsongpanna. On traditional festivals, Hui'an maidens pull their hair into a knot which looks like a butterfly, which was one of the totems of ancient Minyue. All these are regarded as evidences that they are descendants of the ancient Baiyue people. [cite web|url=http://www.cctv.com/folklore/20040715/101244.shtml|title=Quanzhou Hui'an Maidens|author=CCTV|date=July 15th, 2004]

Marriage

Hui'an maidens have very distinct customs regarding their marriage. Newlyweds are not allowed to stay together on their wedding night, so the groom stays in a friend's house. On the second day, the bride pays respects to the groom's family and gives gifts to the elders. On the third day, the groom's sister leads the bride to the communal well to draw two buckets of water. After five days of obeying various customs, she returns to her parents' home. Bride and groom are forbidden to live together or even talk to each other until the bride bears a child. [William N. Brown: Discover Quanzhou, 2007, ISBN 978-7-5615-2106-9]

In recent years, however, Hui'an maidens have had more contact with the outside world and they have been influenced by the marriage law. For these reasons, younger generations today refuse to obey old marriage customs. [cite web|url=http://www.chinavista.com/experience/huian/huian.html|title=Unique Chinese Customs in Hui'an, Fujian Province|author=Qiu Huanxing, Lu Zhongmin]

Footnotes

See also

* Quanzhou

External links

* [http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_chinaway/2006-04/29/content_81491.htm Hui'an Women]
* [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ezine/2007-05/15/content_872724.htm Beauty of Hui'an women]
* [http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/15Traditions2297.html Hui'an Women's Clothing]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHLQqTA2Qjc Hui'an women's dance practice]