The Kirgiz Nationality

The Kirgizs, with a population of 140,000, mainly live in the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. For hundreds of years, the Kirgizs have led a nomadic life. Although still nomadic, today they also farm. The Kirgizs have their own language. Believing in Muslim, the Kirgizs have a rich legacy in poems, stories, proverbs and fables. The famous epic "Manass" is like an encyclopedia of the Kirgizs. The Kirgiz women are good at embroidery and paper cutting. Tapestries on the wall and carpets on the floor are all woven by the Kirgiz women and the designs bear a rich flavor of their distinct ethnic characteristics.

Situated at the foot of the Tianshan Mountain, the Tarim Basin where the Kirgizs live is a beautiful land of rivers and grasslands with cattle and sheep scattered throughout. The Kirgizs used to live by the upper reaches of the Yuni River. Since the 14th century, some Kirgizs started to move to the Tianshan area and have mingled with the local Turkic and Mongolian tribes, and thus formed the Kirgiz nationality.

The Kirgiz people have for a long time traveled around the pastures of the Pamirs Plateau and the Tianshan Mountains, so they have to move their homes several times a year. Most of the Kirgizs live in felt houses, which are easy to move. The pair of heavy curtains in every house is the biggest attention-grabbing feature. All the patterns on the curtains are embroidered by the Kirgiz women stitch by stitch. Some of the curtains have become precious works of art.

The Kirgiz women are very skillful in embroidery. They are fond of embroidering on bed covers, hats and other ornaments, and are all experts at making curtains. Curtains are not only a decoration in the house, but also an essential part of the dowry when a girl gets married. Every Kirgiz girl makes a pair of curtains before getting married.The Kirgiz costume resembles features of the plateau they live on. Both men and women wear a small round cap all year round. The young usually wear red, blue or purple caps, and the old black ones. They also have caps made of sheep and fox skin, which are especially worn for the cold weather on the plateau.

The Kirgiz women have colorful dresses and decorations. They like to wear red short shirts and dresses along with black or purple sleeveless jackets and red, green or blue head wrappings.

The Kirgiz men usually wear a sleeveless jacket over a white shirt. They hang a small knife on their leather belts, and often put on leather trousers and boots. They look very brave in their costumes.

Meat and dairy are the main food for the Kirgizs. Shoubarou, or mutton eaten with hands, is their favorite food.

Kirgizs are traditionally hospitable to the guests. No matter whether they know a guest well or not, they receive him warmly. If the host isn't taking good care of his guest, he will be criticized by others. Kirgiz hosts often kill a sheep to show their highest respect to a guest. The sheep is shown to the guest before being killed. The guest is invited to eat the sheep's tail first, then other parts. The guest should take some meat to the host's children in return. While eating, the guest should leave a little in the bowl to show that he has had enough.

The Kirgiz wedding ceremony is held at the bride's home. During the ceremony, the bride's mother, accompanied by other women, sings a song before giving her blessing to see the bride off. After the ceremony, the people all go out to participate in celebrations such as sheep grabbing, horseracing and tug-of-war.

During big festivals, the Kirgizs will hold a recreational game called "chasing the girl." When a girl rides on a horse and gallops away, a group of young men all run after her quickly on horsebacks. It provides a good opportunity for the young men to show their riding skills, and becomes the best way to express love and propose marriage.

Tug of war is also a recreation that the Kirgizs enjoy, but they conduct the battle in a unique way: Back to back, two participants stand five meters apart, with the two ends of a thick rope tied to their necks respectively. When the game starts, both players lean forward and pull the rope as hard as they can. The one who drags the other across the middle line wins.

The Kirgizs play many folk musical instruments, such as the kerke (two-stringed instrument), Pumierkamuzi (with three steel strings) and Queaoer (a kind of flute). The three-steel-string instrument is exported to the Middle East and Japan. All Kirgizs learn to play this instrument. They play it while singing about their glorious past and hopeful future.

The Kirgizs have a rich literary tradition. The famous epic Manass is a monumental folk literary work which has attracted worldwide attention. The entire book includes 8 parts, 2000,000 lines. Because the Kirgizs have no written form of their language, the Manass was handed down generation to generation by bards. It is regarded as the Kirgiz encyclopedia.

Today, there are many felt houses and herds of cattle and sheep scattered on the Pamirs Plateau. The Kirgizs are making full use of the natural pasture, trying to improve production conditions, promote animal husbandry and raise their living standards. The Kirgizs of the 21th century will build a much more beautiful homeland using their hands and wisdom.