Chinese Nation - Dongxiang nationality

Dongxiang people mainly live in the foothills west of Tahoe River, east of Daxia River, and south of Yellow River in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province. The rest live in Hezheng County, Linxia county, and Jishishan Baoan Dongxiang Salar Autonomous County respectively. In Lanzhou City, Dingxi Area, and Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province, a small part of Dongxiang People also live scattered. After the founding of new China, some Dongxiang people migrated from Gansu to live in Xinjiang.

It’s like paying attention to etiquette and hospitality when you go out to your hometown. If they are Muslim guests, they should send greetings to each other, and then let them enter the gate according to their seniority and age. The guests should take off their shoes when they go to the Kang. The host and guest should be in the middle to show the first place. The rest should sit on both sides according to their seniority and age. The host first offered a cup of tea. The cup was very exquisite. It was all made of fine porcelain painted with flying dragons and flowers. The tea was fragrant with white sugar or rock sugar. The host continued to add water to the guests attentively. During the short time of tea drinking, the guests were invited to taste the fried oil or baked oil cakes. When the host receives the guests, he usually does not go to the Kang to drink tea and rice with the guests. Instead, he has to stand on the ground to boil water, pours water, and serve the guests. The host does not sit or eat himself to show his respect for the guests. After tasting the fragrant oil or cakes, the following “la haha” will increase the appetite of the guests. “Lahaha” is the Dongxiang People’s Ramen or long noodles cut with a knife. The noodles in the bowl should be put in order, and the width and fineness should be balanced. No matter how polite the guests are, they have to eat two bowls.

Besides, eating “chicken baby” is a feast for Dongxiang People. Dongxiang People are very particular about eating chicken. After the chicken is slaughtered and cooked, it should be divided into 13 pieces. The chicken tail is the most valuable and must be given to the oldest or most distinguished guests. This is the greatest respect for the guests. The male guest should be accompanied by the male host, the woman should retreat, and the female guest should be accompanied by the host.

Dongxiang People also eat mutton with their hands when entertaining guests. There is a unique way of eating meat called “peace”. First of all, we need to know which company sells sheep, then we need to decide the time, and introduce a good tea and rice craftsman as the host. After the sheep is cooked, the knife holder will divide each part of the sheep fairly and reasonably, and match the fat and thin. Even the tail from large to small should be appropriately divided according to the number of visitors. First, the elder will “eat” and then everyone can sit around the Kang Table to drink tea and eat meat. In the process of eating hand grasping mutton, the host also brought Shanxiang and rice and sincerely invited visitors to enjoy it. When treating guests, don’t call famous guests by their first names. Instead, use their ancestral place names, village names, or other honorific names. Otherwise, it’s impolite.

No matter how many guests come, the host always puts the guests’ shoes away when he is on the ground and greeting them. When the guests get off the Kang, the host takes the initiative to take out the shoes to provide convenience for the guests. When the guests say goodbye, the host will modestly say “the tea and rice are not well cooked, please don’t laugh.”. And let the guests have a taste of the local products.

Dongxiang people live in Gansu Province in Northwest China. In the latter half of the 14th century, many different ethnic elements in Dongxiang were integrated, mainly Muslim and Mongolian.

Dongxiang People’s daily diet is mostly wheat, highland barley, corn, beans, millet, buckwheat, flax, and Shatian “Dongxiang potato”; the “Dongxiang potato” has less water, full face, sand and sweet, and high starch content. Dongxiang People often use potatoes as snacks, vinegar, vermicelli, and other foods, which are deeply loved by the people.

The non-staple food is fresh and tender mellow “stack sheep”, cattle, chicken, eggs, vegetables, and fruits. They have three meals a day, and the combination of meals and multiple ingredients is a prominent feature of their diet. Such as highland barley fried noodles, thick soup cooked with flax; tender wheat ears cooked and ground to grow “Matsuo”, mixed with fried vegetables, spicy oil, and mashed garlic; highland barley and beans mixed and ground powder, with sour milk water to make dough lumps; flour mixed into a paste, with diced potatoes and sour milk water to make “loose rice”; thick flour mixed with leek, carrot, pickle, scallion, pepper, mashed garlic and sour milk water to make “stir ball”; thick flour mixed with leek, carrot, pickle, scallion, chili, mashed garlic and sour milk water to make “stir ball”; thick flour mixed with sweet potato, mashed garlic, mashed garlic, mashed garlic, mashed; “Luobo weak porridge” is made of cattle and sheep head and hoof soup and various grains.

Dongxiang People’s meals are also made of single ingredients, such as the “pot collapse” of highland barley after fermentation, the “Qiong pot steamed bun” of hard dough in Qiong pot, the “bud taste” of germinated wheat refining sandwiched in two layers of pancakes, and the “rice noodle nest” of millet noodles cooked in Kang hole by boiling water. Because many grains have to be crushed in advance, every family in Dongxiang has a pair of small stone mills, which are quite exquisite.

In the daily diet, Dongxiang People have a special preference for potato products, almost every meal. Sometimes it’s baked on the fire, sometimes it’s fried with shredded mutton, sometimes it’s boiled and eaten with barley flour, pickled cabbage, and mashed garlic.

In the aspect of dress, it has changed a lot in the past few decades and has begun to be similar to the dress of the Han and Hui people. Its characteristics are mainly reflected in the headdress.

Dongxiang men usually wear white or black brimless hats, which are called “caps”; women usually wear silk and silk caps. Young girls and newlyweds wear green hats, middle-aged women wear cyan hats, and old women wear white hats. The cap usually grows to the waist, and the hair is completely covered. For the convenience of labor and work, some young women who take part in the work no longer wear a cap but like to wear a white cap.

Dongxiang men usually wear wide robes and belts with knives, purses, snuff bottles, and glasses boxes on them, and wear white or black soft hats. Dongxiang men don’t like to have long hair, but they are used to having beards, which is different from Hui, Bao’an, and Salah people who believe in Islam. It is said that Muslim men, who have beards at an appropriate age, should be treated with courtesy when they see them.

The elderly like to wear long robes and “Zhongbai”, which are usually sewn with gray or black cloth, with double-breasted robes.

Women wear a big skirt and a knee-length jacket. What’s very unique is a woman’s hat. The little girl’s hat is a kind of round hat with a green or blue top, red or green Ruffle lace on the brim, and tassels and beads of various colors are hung on the brim. Unmarried girls’ caps are made of thin and soft green silk. After marriage, they are changed to black ones, while old women wear white ones.

There are festivals every month for the people of Dongmin. They rotate month by month after the year, 12 months a year, and once every month after 36 years. This is closely related to religious belief. The four major festivals of Dongxiang People, namely, Eid al Fitr, Guerbang, Erde, and Ashura, all originate from Islam.