Life Style

In the first half of the 18th century, most of the Kirgiz in Xinjiang believed in Islam. Those in Emin (Dorbiljin) County in Xinjiang and Fuyu County in Heilongjiang, influenced by the Mongols, upheld Lamaism while retaining some Shamanistic legacies: Shamanistic "gods" were invited on occasions of sacrificial ceremonies or illnesses and the Shamanistic Snake God was worshipped.

The Kirgiz material life is still closely related to animal husbandry; garments, food and dwellings all distinctively feature nomadism.

Men wear white round-collared shirts trimmed with lace and covered by a sheepskin jacket or a blue collarless, long cloth gown. Some wear camel wool fabrics with the sleeves in fringed black cloth. Normally, a rawhide belt is worn at the waist, attached to which is a knife and a flint for making fire. Some sport jackets with a standing collar and front buttons. They wear loose trousers and high boots. A characteristic Kirgiz shoe is made of rawhide. Throughout the year, all men, old or young, wear round corduroy caps in green, purple, blue or black and covered by a high, square-topped animal skin or felt hat with a rolled-up brim. The inside of the animal skin hat is bordered with black velvet.

Kirgiz women wear loose collarless jackets with silver buttons down the front. The long, pleated skirt is bordered with fur. Some wear dresses with the skirt pleated in the lower part, and covered with a black vest. Young women like red dresses and skirts, red velvet round caps or red otter skin hats decorated with pearls, tassels and feathers. While young women prefer red or green scarves, the elderly ones like white kerchiefs. Some of women's high boots are embroidered. Unmarried girls wear their hair in many small plaits, reduced to two after marriage. The pigtails are decorated with silver chains, coins or keys interlinked with a chain of pearls. Bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings are made of silver. Girls in some areas wear on their chests round silver pieces carved with patterns.

The diet of the Kirgiz herdsmen mainly consists of animal byproducts, with some cabbages, onions and potatoes. They drink goat's milk, yogurt and tea with milk and salt. Rich herdsmen mainly drink cow's milk and eat beef, mutton, horse and camel meat, wheat flour and rice. They store butter in dried sheep or cattle stomachs. All tableware is made of wood.

The tents are made of felt, generally square in shape, fenced around with red willow stakes. The tent frame is first covered with a mat of grass and then a felt covering with a one-meter-square skylight, to which a movable felt cover is attached. The tent is tied down with thick ropes to keep it steady in strong winds and snowstorms.

The nomad Kirgiz live on the plains near rivers in summer and move to mountain slopes with a sunny exposure in winter. The settled Kirgiz mostly live in flat-roofed square mud houses with windows and skylights.

The Kirgiz family is generally composed of three generations, with married sons living with their parents. Marriage used to be arranged by the parents, sometimes even before birth -- this was called "marriage arrangement at pregnancy." Traditional courtship starts when the bridegroom calls on the bride's family with a roasted sheep. The relatives of the bride then tie the couple to posts in front of the tent. They will be released only after the father and brothers of the bridegroom ask for "mercy" and present gifts. The wedding is presided over by an imam who cuts a baked cake into two, dips the pieces in salt water and puts them into the mouths of the newly-weds as a wish for the couple to share weal and woe and be together for ever. The bridegroom then takes the bride and her betrothal gifts back to his home.

There is distinct division of labor at home: the men herd horses and cattle, cut grass and wood and do other heavy household chores, while the women graze, milk and shear the sheep, deliver lambs, process animal by-products and do household chores. Before liberation, the male was predominant and decided all matters of inheritance and property distribution. When the son got married, he was entitled to a portion of the family property which was usually inherited by the youngest son. Women did not have the right to inherit. The property of a childless male was inherited by his close relatives. When there is a funeral, all relatives and friends attend, wearing black clothing and black kerchiefs.

The Kirgiz are very hospitable and ceremonial. Any visitor, whether a friend or stranger, is invariably entertained with the best -- mutton, sweet rice with cream and noodles with sliced mutton. Offering mutton from the sheep's head shows the highest respect for the guest. At the table, the guest is first offered the sheep tail fat, shoulder blade mutton and then the mutton from the head. The guest should in the meantime give some of what is offered back to the women and children at the dinner table as a sign of respect on the part of the visitor. Anyone who moves his tent is entertained by his old and new neighbors as tokens of farewell and welcome.

In the Kirgiz calendar, similar to that of the Han people, the years are designated as years of the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, fish, snake, horse, sheep, fox, chicken, dog and pig. The appearance of the new moon marks the beginning of a month, 12 months form a year and 12 years is a cycle. At the beginning of the first month of the year, the Kirgiz celebrate a festival similar to the Spring Festival. There are also Islamic festivals. On major festivals and summer nights, old and young, men and women, gather on the pasturelands for celebrations: singing, dancing, ballad-singing, story-telling and games which include competing to snatch up a headless sheep from horseback, wrestling, horse racing, wrestling on horseback, catching objects from racing horses, horseback shooting, tug-of-war and swinging.

The Kirgiz are renowned singers and dancers. The songs with rich content include lyrics, epics and folk songs. There are many kinds of musical instrument. A three-stringed instrument is uniquely Kirgiz.

Many poems, legends, proverbs and fables have been handed down among the Kirgiz for centuries. The epic, "Manas," is virtually an encyclopaedia for the study of the ancient Kirgiz. It has 200,000 verses describing, through the deeds of several generations of the Manas family, the bravery and courage of the Kirgiz in resisting plunder by the nobles of Dzungaria and their aspirations for freedom. It is also a mirror of the habits, customs and ideas of the Kirgiz of the time.

Kirgiz paintings and carvings feature animal horn patterns for decoration on yurts, horse gear, gravestones and buildings. The Kirgizs like bright red, white and blue colors. So their decorative art is always brightly colored and eye-pleasing, and full of freshness and vitality.

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