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Buyi Ethnic Minority Group
Buyi Ethnic Minority Group
The Buyi or Bouyei ethnic minority group is the second largest minority group in Guizhou Province. The Buyi people are very frank and friendly. They hold the elderly in very high respect. Buyi villages are always located near rivers and the villages are fairly small. Normally a village will only house a couple dozen families, but some villages have been known to hold several hundred households. Their houses are made of stone. The Buyi people are primarily farmers and are proficient at growing foods as well as animal husbandry.
An elderly man relaxing in front of a traditional Buyi house
An ancient Buyi home
The clothing of the Buyi minority group is unique. Men traditionally a long sleeved short shirt with long pants. Young men like to wear a headdress of which consists of scarves of black or lattice cloth. In Guizhou along, women's clothing comes in four different styles: northwest, southwest, central, and eastern style. In the northwest of Guizhou women wear a short black jacket. The jacket is tied with a band of cloth. The cuffs and front have batik on them. The jacket is worn with a pleated skirt, an apron, and a turban. They also wear silver accessories. The central style of clothing consists of long green pants, silver ornaments, and an apron. In the southwest, the women wear long pants with a long sleeved blue jacket, or an embroidered coat, and a long pleated skirt. The sleeves and shoulders of the coat are normally decorated with batik or embroidery. The eastern style includes a dress and pants trimmed in lace and a turban. No matter which style of clothing is worn, each is handmade with care by the girl who wears it. Girls are taught at a young age to do embroidery and to make the Buyi minority batik.
A group of girls wearing traditional Buyi clothing
A woman wearing colorful Buyi clothing
The Buyi batik has been famous for thousands of years and the Buyi people are taught to create it at a young age. Batik is created by painting patterns on white cloth with wax. The cloth is then dipped into a bath of indigo dye. When the cloth has dried, the wax is scraped off and then the cloth is boiled to remove all of the wax left in the cloth. The areas where the wax was are white, while the surrounding areas are indigo. Common designs used in batik production are flowers, waves, and chains. In recent years, more modern designs have been created. Buyi people are also known for their embroidery. Originally used only for their own clothing, in recent years, the Buyi people have started selling their embroidered cloth to the public.
Buyi women on the way home after working in the fields
A Buyi woman threshing rice
The Buyi festivals revolve around forming new and renewing old friendships. The festivals are usually held in the forests, or on the hills surrounding the village. The festivals are huge community parties which include singing, dancing, games, and courtship activities. The Chabai Singing Festival is held on the 21st to the 23rd day of the 6th lunar month on the Chinese calendar. Tens of thousands of visitors from neighboring villages, provinces, and even countries come to witness and participate in the festival. The main activity during the festival is singing contests. During the day, the singing contests are held in the villages'open areas, but in the evening it is performed in the courtyards and houses of the locals'. The Ox King Festival is held on the first day of plowing. The most interesting part of the Ox King Festival is the multi colored rice that is eaten. Each family takes rice and dyes it into five different very bright colors. The rice is then steamed. The rice is offered to the ancestors, and then the half of the rice is fed to their oxen which are then allowed to rest for the remainder of the day. The festival known as the March 3rd Festival celebrates the local mountain and village gods.
Buyi girls singing a song in traditional clothing
A couple of grandmas relaxing alongside the road
The Buyi ethnic minority group like all of the minority groups in Guizhou is very unique. Its ancient customs and traditions have been kept alive and even in today's modern age, the Buyi people still continue to wear their traditional clothing. Their colorful customs have intrigued visitors very many years, and Guizhou's minority groups are starting to draw more visitors each year.
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