Hui'an maidens / Hūi-oaⁿ cha-bó· / 惠安女

Hui'an maidens or Hui'an women (Chinese: 惠安女; Pinyin: Huì'ān Nǚ; Min Nan POJ: Hūi-oaⁿ cha-bó·) are a special female people group residing in Hui'an County of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. They are ethnologically considered as Han Chinese, but their origin traces back to the ancient Minyue people of more than two thousand years ago. The isolation on the eastern peninsula of Hui'an prevented Hui'an maidens from assimilating into the Han culture, so much of their distinctive customs and traditions still survive today.

Hui'an maidens are also well-known for their hard work and kindness. They indefatigably do most of the formwork, road repair, and family chores while their husbands fish at sea.

Unique cultures
Costumes
Typical Hui'an maidens wear short cyan jackets and skintight black hip huggers which flare out baggily at the legs and leave their bellies bare, but they fastidiously cover their heads with colorful scarves and conical hats. Thus they are jokingly said to have "feudal heads, thrifty jackets, democratic bellies, and wasteful trousers."

Hui'an maidens' unique costumes can be found in some other southern Chinese minority groups. For example, their conical hats are similar to the Li and Jing people's, and their short tight jackets bear much resemblance to those of the Dai people in Sipsongpanna. On traditional festivals, Hui'an maidens pull their hair into a knot which looks like a butterfly, which was one of the totems of ancient Minyue. All these are regarded as evidences that they are descendants of the ancient Baiyue people.

Marriage
Hui'an maidens have very peculiar customs regarding their marriage. Newlyweds are not allowed to stay together on their wedding night, so the groom stays in a friend's house. On the second day, the bride pays respects to the groom's family and gives gifts to the elders. On the third day, the groom's sister leads the bride to the communal well to draw two buckets of water. After five days of obeying various customs, she returns to her parents' home. Bride and groom are forbidden to live together or even talk to each other until the bride bears a child.

In recent years, however, Hui'an maidens have had more contact with the outside world and they have been influenced by the marriage law. For these reasons, younger generations today refuse to obey old marriage customs.

Originally published in Wikipedia.

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