The Jing nationality

The Jing nationality has a population of 19,000. They have their own language. They are polytheistic and worship their ancestors. The Jings are fond of singing and dancing. Their one-string musical instrument is unique, sweet and varied in tone. Having lived by the sea for so many generations, the Jings have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the sea as well as great experience in fishing.

The Beibu Bay to the south of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China is dotted with white sails on the blue water. On the three islands of Wanwei, Shanxin and Wutou in Guangxi live the Jing nationality that makes its living by fishing.

The Jings live on islands, and their houses were at one time entirely built of bamboo and wood. The walls were made of thatch and bamboo strips coated with mud or embedded with stones. Bamboo or wood strips are laid as flooring inside, with straw mats spread on top. People take off their shoes before entering the house, and they all sit, sleep and eat on the straw mats.
Nowadays, the houses are mostly two-or-three-story buildings of brick and wood. Inside it is neat and tidy. Fruit trees, sisal hemp and cactuses are planted around their houses, which creates a beautiful environment while breaking the force of wind and sand.

The costumes of the Jings are plain but attractive. The males like to wear a narrow-sleeved short gown with an open front along with long wide trousers. The Jing women like to wear earrings. They part their hair in the middle, leaving some hair loose on each side of the face. The rest they tie into a plait at the back of the head, wind it round with black strings, and then coil it up on top. Under a close-fitting garment, they wear a diamond-shaped cloth covering the breast and then a collarless short coat open at the front. Like the men, they also wear long wide black trousers. At holiday time, they wear a narrow-sleeved long white blouse, which gives them a new grace.
The Jings regard rice and corn as their staple grain, and regard sweet potato and taro as coarse cereals. They cook glutinous rice or sugared glutinous rice porridge on all the holidays. For protein, they mostly have fish and shrimp. They also enjoy having rice with fish sauce.

Hajie (Singing Festival) is a traditional Jing holiday. "Ha" is a transliteration of a word in Jing language, meaning "songs" or "inviting the gods to sing."
In every Jing village there is a Hating (singing pavilion), which is the main site of the Singing Festival. The festive activities last three days, with singing and dancing going on day and night. There are three main singers, Hage, a male singer who plays an accompaniment to the singing, and two Hamei or women singers who hold either a pair of bamboo clappers or bamboo sticks, which they beat as they sing in turn.

Young Jing men and women usually find their sweethearts through a call-and-answer kind of song. During every Singing Festival, with a full moon in the sky and waves lapping the shore, young men and women tell of their love in song, while beating time with their feet. With a full moon and the season in their favor, they open their hearts to their lovers.

The Jing people are good at singing and dancing. They often accompany their singing with their special national instrument - the "one-string." It is made by splitting a big mottled bamboo about one meter long into two halves. Its tone is clear and lucid; with an appeal similar to chanting, it has a special effect in playing glides, mordents and trills. Deeply loved by the Jing people, this special musical instrument has become part of their life.

"Nianzhi" which has a unique flavor is a Jing delicacy famous throughout China and the world. "Nianzhi" is actually fish juice or fish sauce, made by preserving sea fish in big earthen vats for several months. It is red in color, rich in fragrance, fresh in taste and highly nutritious. It has been considered an excellent traditional flavoring by generations of Jings; it is a fine product of their traditional cuisine.

The dances of the Jings include the wine drinking dance, incense burning dance, heavenly lantern dance, flower stick dance, boat rowing dance, paper horse dance, tea picking and spiral shell catching dance and so on. Most of the dances are religious and are often performed during the Singing Festival. Of all these dances, the heavenly lantern dance is most special .It is performed on the last day of the Singing Festival by four, six or eight Jing girls wearing long white blouses and long black trousers. They each carry a plate containing three burning candles on top of their heads, and a glass with a burning candle in each hand. The girls perform the dance face to face, turning their wrists while changing places with each other. With lithe steps and flowing movements, they weave various graceful patterns. Pale candle light shines on white blouses. The dance gives a sense of worshipping god by candle light and an aesthetic pleasure at the same time.

In recent years, the Jing people have developed sea-water aquaculture along the beaches, which pushes fish production into a new stage. They have not only increased their incomes by a big margin, but have managed to maintain a steady output which guarantees that income. Education is becoming more widespread and the application of modern science and technology to fishing and farming has brought ever-greater changes to their lives.