Elopement, Fleeing Marriage, Running Away Marriage, Self-Sacrifice in Love - The Strange Marriage Customs of a Naxi Family

Author: He Jiaxiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The Naxi people have lived alongside the Jinsha River for two thousand years. The people are like water, and the water is like the people. The ethnic group has the character of the river, and the river is personified by the ethnic group. The Jinsha River has become the embodiment and symbol of the Naxi people. In the Dongba scriptures and folk tales of the Naxi ethnic group, there are many beautiful and moving stories about the Jinsha River. One story goes like this: In ancient times, Mount Juyong and Mount Haba were brothers, and the Jinsha River was their younger sister. The older brother Juyong was honest and simple, the younger brother Haba was clever and capable, and the younger sister Jinsha was a beautiful and graceful girl, renowned far and wide. The beauty of the Jinsha girl attracted hundreds of young men to seek her hand in marriage. The songs of love were sung day and night, but the Jinsha girl was not moved by any of them, because she had fallen in love with the son of the sea in the east where the sun rises. Her parents did not want their precious daughter to marry far away, so they asked Juyong and Haba to take turns guarding her. The two brothers agreed: the older brother would guard the first half of the night, and the younger brother would guard the second half. Whoever failed would have their head chopped off mercilessly. After several months, one night, the darkness was as deep as ink, and it was Haba's turn to guard in the second half of the night. The Jinsha girl sang gentle and melodious songs, and her older brother Haba listened, lost in ecstasy. When she sang the eighteenth song, Haba drifted into a dreamlike state and fell asleep. The Jinsha girl slipped away quietly from the canyon beneath the two brothers' feet. The eighteen songs she sang turned into the eighteen dangerous rapids of Tiger Leaping Gorge. When Juyong and Haba woke up, they were filled with regret. According to ancient customs, Juyong wept as he chopped off his younger brother Haba's head. From then on, Haba became a headless mountain, while Juyong was heartbroken and turned white overnight. His tears turned into the famous Black Water River and White Water River. Another version of the Jinsha girl's story goes like this: The Jinsha girl, who was far away in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, heard from an old man on Mount Juyong about how the prince of the East Sea had wasted away from love and longing for her. Determined to go to the East Sea to be with her beloved, the Jinsha girl accompanied the old man. But he traveled a hundred miles in a single step and arrived at the beautiful Lijiang first, looking back to see that the Jinsha girl was still nowhere in sight. He fell asleep, and he slept for tens of thousands of years. The Jinsha girl arrived at the foot of Mount Juyong and playfully scratched the old man's sole of the foot that blocked her path. The old man Juyong swayed his big foot and opened a narrow gap, which became Tiger Leaping Gorge. From then on, the Jinsha girl went eastward along the gorge and married the son of the Dragon King of the East Sea, to be together forever. Another version of the Jinsha girl's story goes like this: The beautiful, wise, and affectionate older sister Jinsha left her younger sister Nujiang, who had a temper, and her third sister Lancang, who was impatient. She turned eastward. One day, the Jinsha girl came before Mount Juyong and Mount Haba, only to find that the path was blocked by two rough men. The Jinsha girl quickly thought of a plan. She knew that no man in the world did not like a beautiful girl, so she sang a love song full of passion. But Juyong and Haba had just returned from an affair with the Goddess Gemo three days ago and paid no attention to the Jinsha girl, who was disheveled and exhausted. Even the two rough men covered their ears in annoyance. The Jinsha girl had no choice but to use sweet words to beg, but the two men just stared blankly and refused to let her pass. The Jinsha girl begged for three days and nights. Juyong, the older brother, grew tired and fell asleep. He said to his younger brother Haba, "Brother, I'm a bit sleepy. Let me take a nap. You must keep a close eye on this runaway demon girl!" Haba, while agreeing with his older brother, was already dreaming about his affair with the Goddess Gemo and soon fell asleep. The clever Jinsha girl quietly raised a wave and gently bit Haba's foot. Haba's foot withdrew, and the Jinsha girl slipped out quietly, rushing into Tiger Leaping Gorge, laughing with joy. When Juyong woke up in anger, he slapped Haba, and Haba shrank in height from then on. Juyong turned over and faced Haba with his back, while his face turned toward the Lijiang Plain. In the many stories about the Jinsha River in the Naxi ethnic group, the Jinsha River is a wise, beautiful, and affectionate girl. She is sometimes joyful and rushing, and sometimes gentle and graceful. With her wisdom and tenderness, she overcomes the temptation and obstruction of hundreds of "mountain companions" along the way, determined to meet the son of the Dragon King of the East Sea in the east where the sun rises. She has lofty goals and lives freely, playing hide-and-seek with the mountains under the sun and moon, and creating beautiful and wise stories day and night. Clearly, the stories the Naxi people tell about the Jinsha River are actually personifying the river. The Jinsha girl is actually the embodiment of thousands of beautiful, wise, hardworking, kind, and tender-hearted Naxi women. The stories of the Jinsha girl are the stories of Naxi women, and the Jinsha River will always flow with beautiful and moving stories and legends of Naxi women. P3-5