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Axi People: Enjoy a Simple Marriage

In Mile Xishan of Southwest China's Yunnan(云南) Province is mainly inhabited by the Axi(阿细) people, who are a subgroup of the Yi ethnic group. With a population of 170,000, Axi people, different from some other Yi branches, enjoy a simple marriage procedure. A young man and a woman who fall in love with each can marry without a matchmaker and betrothal gifts. So long as they both want to get married and are approved by their parents, their marriage is permissible.

Based on where the man and woman live, there are two kinds of marriage customs of Axi people.

Gong Fang: Young People's Paradise

Gong Fang (a public building that is also called Girl Room) is a place of amusement for youth living in the same village. Before marriage, young people often come here to look for their mate. As night falls, they sit around the need-fire (the beginnings of a bonfire) to sing and dance. If a youth who has reached the age of courtship (about 16 years old) does not go to the Gong Fang to look for a lover, he or she will be blamed by the public, and regarded as an incompetent.

After much observation and comparison, when a young man decides that a certain young woman is the one for him, he will use a blanket or sheet to wrap around himself and his lover, which shows their destinies are linked together tightly. Then under the watchful eyes of the people, the happy pair will go out of the Gong Fang to find a secret place to reveal their feelings for each other or discuss their plans for the future.

It goes without saying that getting married is a great event in one's life. In the morning of the marriage, the woman comes back from Gong Fang early and changes into an elaborate attire suitable for the occasion, then waits for the arrival of her spouse at the gate.

Not long after that, the young man, wearing brand-new clothes, arrives carrying a container of clear cold water. He then have wait for the woman's parents' approval. If the father of the woman let the daughter open the door and welcome the man to pour water into the jar in the yard, this indicates they agree to let the girl marry him.

Then the man will go to work with the woman in the field or go up a hill to cut firewood until noon. After supper, the man takes the woman to his home, which means they have married. As the Axi people saying goes, "one cup of water fixes one life."

Generally speaking, in the Axi culture, parents respect their children's choice of spouse. When a girl and a young man falls in love with each other, their parents will usually agree on their choice.

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