Home : China Guide : Yunnan : Mosuo Matriarchy in Lugu Lake
By YUAN PEIDE

I first heard about the Mosuo matrilineal society some years ago, and it has intrigued me ever since. The Mosuo ethnic minority live near Lugu Lake, on the boundary of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Within Mosuo culture, marriage, by mutual consent, is unconventional, by Chinese or any other standards, as women rule the roost in every sense.

It was in March this year that I finally took a trip to Lugu Lake Town, deep in Yunnan's woody mountains. I spent my first night at the Mosuo Family Inn, having been escorted there by a young man I met on the way. The walls of traditional Mosuo dwellings, known as mulengzi, are built from quadrate logs and the roofs are of Chinese Fir planking. A mulengzi is similar to the traditional siheyuan arrangement of a courtyard flanked by two-story buildings. There is a south-facing main dwelling where the family eats, discusses family issues, holds rituals and receives guests, west of which is a building devoted to worship that contains a Buddhist shrine. North of the main dwelling is the so-called flower house where the female adults of the family sleep, whose lower floor is used for storage and keeping livestock. My room was in the flower house.

I rose at dawn the next morning, and set out on the 30-minute walk to Lugu Lake. My presence was acknowledged by a few barking dogs and crowing roosters in the villages I passed on the way. The lake was an incredible sight: a pool of clear cerulean water with snow capped mountains on either side.

Sweet tuneful singing wafted on the breeze, and soon a caique C a long narrow rowing boat -- emerged through the morning mist, oared by a young woman. She asked if I would like to go on the lake with her, and I gladly agreed.

We talked as the boat moved leisurely through the light mist. The girl's name was Gaozuoma. She asked me which family I was staying with, and when I told her I had not yet found lodgings she immediately suggested I go to her home, close to the lake. I happily agreed once more.

Gaozuoma's family lives in a mulengzi. She led me through the dimly lit main dwelling to a fire pit, where the matriarch introduced me to her 15 family members, a modestly sized household by Mosuo standards. I was then offered sunflower seeds, pears and an utterly delicious home made candy called huahua. When I asked Gaozuoma how it is made, she explained that it is a mixture of rice, corn, oatmeal, soybeans and wild plant suma seeds, combined with maltose syrup (made from corn and barley), stir fried over an iron pan and left to cool before being cut into cubes and served.

After serving me a cup of mellow sulima liquor, Gauzuoma's mother made us a pot of salt tea, an everyday Mosuo beverage. She broke off a fragment of a solid block of tea, roasted it over the fire, and placed it in a small earthen pot together with a little salt and water. When the water boiled, she poured a little into my cup, added more water to the pot, and repeated the process. It was an unaccustomed but refreshing drink.

Gaozuoma then told me that the village would hold a guozhuang C music and dance festival C to welcome me that night. When the sunset glow appeared on the horizon a bonfire was lit by the lake and groups of young Mosuo people gathered around. At the shriek of a whistle the sound of beating drums filled the air and everyone lined up, joined hands and began to dance.

Guozhuang celebrations are a good opportunity for local youth to find a-zhu C a word in the language of the Pumi ethnic minority of Yunnan that means spouse, although Mosuo lovers address one another in their own language as a-xia. When a young Mosuo man and woman choose one another as lovers, they enter into a specifically matrilineal form of nuptials known as a walking marriage.

Both partners in a walking marriage continue to live with their parents. In the evening the man sleeps with his spouse at her family home, and returns to his own home the following morning. Children of the marriage live with their mother and bear her family name. The father is not obliged to take responsibility for raising his children, but is free to visit them at any time and to be involved in their upbringing. Children go to their father's family at New Year. When the woman's household needs help, her spouse moves in and lives with her for as long as needed, but is not deemed a member of her family.

A husband and wife may have several lovers during their lifetimes, but never more than one concurrently. They may choose to be together or separate. When a wife and husband decide to end their relationship there is no bitterness, rancor or scandal. Mosuo unions are based purely on love rather than law, religion, politics or clan traditions. Husband and wife respect each other's feelings and ways, and neither would dream of forcing their will on the other. Their relationship lasts as long as their passion. A wife's refusing to let her husband into the flower house signifies that their union is over, as does a husband's ceasing to visit his wife, and either partner may openly take another lover if they so choose. A walking marriage can last anything from several months to a lifetime.

As the flames of the bonfire leapt higher and higher, the faces around it glowed in its reflection. The sound of dancing and song spread through the night, attracting throngs of youths from neighboring villages. Gaozuoma appeared from among the swirling crowd, and pulled me into it, making me a part of this joyful gathering.

During my two-week stay in the village I entered the Mosuo community. I accompanied Gaozuoma as she made fires, took the cattle to graze in the mountains, tilled the fields and boated on the lake. On the day of my departure Gaozuoma's home was filled with villagers who had come to bid me farewell. After they had seen me off at the village entrance, Gaozuoma appeared on a horse and accompanied me to the mountain path leading to the town. As she was about to ride off, I took off my hat and wished this sweet natured Mosuo girl peace, happiness and love all her life, goals she will surely achieve as long as she continues to live within the idyllic Mosuo society. (Source: China Today)

   9 days Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Zhongdian

Touring around Yunnan About Yunnan Baoshan Chuxiong Dali Dehong Diqing Honghe Kunming Licang Lijiang Liming Lugu Lake Maps Nujiang Qujing Simao Three Rivers Wenshan Xishuangbanna Yuxi Zhaotong

The following websites are also running by HRC Sinoway Travel

Expert in Lugu Lake travel services, Lugu Lake tours, Lugu Lake bike tours, Yangtze River cruise, Lugu Lake festivals, Lugu Lake trekking tour, Lugu Lake Minority Ethnic Culture tours. Copyright © 2004 Sinowaytravel.com™ All rights reserved.