Shui Ethnic Group
There are 286,500 Shui along the upper reaches of the Longjiang and Duliu rivers where the plains and rolling hills are interspersed with vast forests in southern Guizhou Province. They live in compact communities in Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Libo, Dushan and other counties. Some Shui have their homes in the northwestern part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The Shui populated areas are mountainous and abundant with both fish and rice. Wheat, rape, ramie are also grown besides a great variety of citrus and other fruits. The forests are a source of timber and medicinal herbs.
The Shui language belongs to the Zhuang-Dong branch of the Chinese-Tibetan language family. The Shui used to have an archaic writing script. Some of their words were pictographs, while others resembled Chinese characters written upside down. Except for scores of these ancient words that are still used for religious purposes, the Shui now use standard Chinese in their daily lives.
Shui art and literature is colorful in its oral traditions. Their literature includes poetry, legends, fairy tales and fables. Among its various forms, long narrative poems and extemporaneous ballads are generally considered the most renowned. Stories and fables in prose style praise the diligence, bravery, wisdom and love of the Shui ethnic group and satirize the stupidity of feudal rulers. With rich content and vivid plots Shui tales are usually highly romantic.
Their songs, which are usually sung a-cappella, fall into two categories. The "grand songs" are sung while they work, whereas the "wine songs" are meant for wedding feasts or funerals. The "Lusheng Dance" and "Copper Drum Dance" are the most popular dances enjoyed on festive occasions. Traditional musical instruments include gongs, drums, lusheng, huqin and suona horns.
The Shui people make beautiful handicrafts -- embroideries, batiks, paper cuts and woodcarvings. The Shui usually dress in black and blue. Men have long gowns and black turbans, and women wear collarless blue blouses, black trousers and aprons, all of which are embroidered. On festival occasions, women put on skirts and a variety of silver earrings, necklaces and bracelets. They usually wear their hair in buns.
Shui diets consist of rice and fish, supplemented with corn, barley, wheat and sweet potatoes. A kind of liquor made from rice is offered to guests or is used to honor ancestors at sacrificial ceremonies. A Shui house is constructed in either one or two stories. Dwellers of two-storied houses usually live upstairs and reserve the ground for livestock, dogs and chickens.
The Shui are probably descendants of the Luoyues, one of the early tribes that lived along China's southeastern coast before the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 24). They adopted their present name at the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), settlements and rice cultivation began. The Ming period witnessed a marked economic growth in Shui communities. The introduction of improved farm tools made it possible for farmers to create paddy fields on flatland and terraced fields on mountain slopes. The primitive "slash and burn" farming gave way to more advanced methods characterized by the use of irrigation and draught animals. As a result, grain output increased remarkably.
During the two centuries between 1640 and 1840 the Shui economy continued to develop. Farm production registered a marked increase, with flatland per hectare yield of rice reaching 2,250 kilograms. Some stopped farming to become craftsmen.
After the Revolution of 1911, capitalism gained some ground in the area. In what is now the Sandu Shui Autonomous County, iron mines and processing facilities, mercury and antimony were established only later to have gone bankrupt or be taken over by the Kuomintang. The capitalists plundered the rich natural resources, while big landowners annexed large areas of farmland. Ruthless exploitation through usury, hired labor and high land rent robbed farmers of 60 to 70% of their crops. In 1957 the Sandu Shui Autonomous County was established.
Agrarian reform, Women’s liberation, Han encroachment, education, and industrialization have dramatically changed the Shui. Malaria and other diseases, which used to take a heavy toll, have been largely eliminated. Today local industries include the production of chemical fertilizer, farm machinery, sulfur, casting, sugar refining, winemaking, ceramics and coalmining. Handicraft industries such as ironwork, masonry, silverwork, carpentry, textiles, papermaking, bamboo articles have also developed. Satellite TV and even DVDs are bringing the outside world into their homes for the first time. With younger generations having left the farms for better opportunities in the nearby cities, traditional techniques and cultural practices are being passed down less and less to the younger generations.
