Walking into the Binglang ethnic village, the first thing I saw is the huge totem upon the main entrance of the village. This is a unique totem of the Li nationality. The totem at the middle is the Hercules. Hercules believed by people from Li nationality, it means drive away all the disasters and bless all the people. Moreover, the totem beside Hercules is two holy cows, it means a bumper harvest every year. Li people put these totems at the entrance of the village in term to bless the peace of the village.
May 16, 2021, Sanya.
In front of the main entrance of the village, there is a huge relief on the small waterfall. The relief is engraved with special patterns and been color in old and blue. According to the history of the Li Nationality, this relief was dedicated to the emperor as a gift in ancient times. The totem beside the relief also has a special meaning. The one above is a totem of frogs. The frog in Li's Nationality is symbolized many children and many blessings. And the goat totem below is also a blessing to the people and the villages.
May 16, 2021, Sanya.
Walking into the village, there is the boat-shaped hut which lives by Li people in the past. A boat-shaped house is a traditional residence of the Li. It built with materials such as bamboo, timber, mud, hay, tree branches, and thatch. It is so named because it has the appearance of a boat lying upside down on the ground. The boat-shaped house was invented by Li’s ancestors after they arrived on Hainan Island by boat. According to F. Yang, nowadays, the boat-shaped house construction techniques have been included in China National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Project.
May 16, 2021, Sanya.
When I walked into the boat-shaped house, I met my first interviewee, Fu Mei. She was making the traditional clothing of Li. Fu Mei tells me that the machine to make the clothes is called “Juyaozhiji”, which is very difficult to use. And this machine is especially bad for her waist. Hence, “the number of women proficient in weaving and embroidery has decreased rapidly in recent years, and this technology is disappearing now.” However, Fu Mei asked me to continue discovering. To discover those skills which about to lose in this village and tell the world that don't forget them.
May 17, 2021, Sanya.
Keep going deeper into the village, here show special clothes for Li people. The fabric of this clothes is very unusual. It is made from the bark of a local poisonous tree, which names Antiaris toxicaria. “The ancestors of the Li nationality stripped the tree or tree bark from the mountain, then took off the outer skin, leaving the fiber layer, and then soaked in water and dried to make the weaving material.” This is how they made their clothes. The technology of making bark clothes is a very old clothing-making technology, but only a few people remember it now.
May 17, 2021, Sanya.
Li people are good at handwork. In addition to making their own clothes, they are also good at making quilts. Because of the exquisite craftsmanship, Li people been chosen to made quilts for the ancient emperors. And this quilt is called the King of Dragon Quilt. This dragon quilt is 284cm in length, 129cm in width, and 36636 square centimeters in size. It is the largest dragon quilt of the Li nationality in the world. The quilt is embroidered with auspicious patterns, which truly reflects the good wishes of the Li people for their life.
May 18, 2021, Sanya.
Following Fu Mei’s instruction, I met my second interviewee. She is the last generation of tattooed people of Li nationality, Fu Jin Hua. She told me that, tattoos were a symbol of beauty at that time. However, the process of tattoos is very painful. According to Oliveira, the pattern marks on the skin are made of Chinese ink. They used to pierce the skin with a plant thorn. Then apply the mixture of soot and water to the wound. And the tattoos can't be washed out for the rest of her life. However, now this tradition has totally disappeared.
May 18, 2021, Sanya.
Fu Jin Hua told me that, continue walking can see the medicinal liquor made by Miao nationality. Because the Binglang ethnic village is a village that combined two ethnic minorities, some of the Miao ethnic group people also lived here. “Since ancient times, Miao people have owned a whole set of wine-making techniques of their own.” The raw materials that making medicine are all collected from the mountain. Miao people believe that the mountain will heal them. Therefore, once they are ill, they will go to the mountain to find herbal medicine to make medicinal liquor.
May 19, 2021, Sanya.
However, Li nationality is also good at making wine. As keeping walking into the village, I saw their wine cellars. This wine names Shanlan. The Li people usually build their wine cellars in the fields of bananas, yams, sweet potatoes, and so on. Liquor jars are first placed in the field and filled with liquor. "The jars are sealed with banana leaves. After being buried under banana trees for one year, the color of the wine will turn yellow-brown, while after several years, its color turns red or even black, then it becomes the real Shanlan liquor."
May 19, 2021, Sanya.
And then, is the exit of the Binglang ethnic village. The special word in the middle is the symbol of the Ganza village, which is the previous name of the Binglang ethnic village before 1998. The whole village has 200 years of history. The significance of this village now is to let the people who visited here remember the traditional technology and history of the Li and Miao nationality. Because modern technology is developing towards automation, and manual work is slowly being replaced. However, these manual traditional cultures should not be forgotten. And I hope my photo will make people remember it longer.
May 19, 2021, Sanya
