The love between the Deang

The Deang are one of the original ethnic groups of the Province of Yunnan. His marriage is realized between a man and a woman, without two persons c marry the same surname.

The young people has freedom to choose his couple. In all the phases of the courtship and the marriage the music plays a preponderant role, as well as the tea, of which the Deang he is considered to be progeny.

Since they usually live in houses of two apartments, with the persons sleeping above and the animals below, the claimant usually approaches in the night house of his dear one, beginning singing under his window. When the girl wakes up, invites him to happen and both happen the night singing while they drink tea. The rest of the family does as if he was ignoring this event, or sometimes, even he helps the daughter to answer to the short duets that the claimant initiates.

The sexual relations are frequent also before the marriage, and if the young woman has a son like resulted from the same ones, no alienation exists, since the son will happen to the family of the husband when he marries.

If between them the love arises, the boy will give him a sachet of tea, which she hangs along with his bed. When the parents see it, they know that his daughter already has a claimant, and wait for the arrival of the matchmaker. Of symbolic form this one also takes a tea bag to initiate the conversations that will finish in the wedding.

A big dowry is not usually demanded on the part of the parents of the fiancée, for what everything usually goes on wheels.

The wedding day the family of the fiancé goes so far as in courtship, singing, to gather the fiancée in its own house. His relatives also answer singing, and at the end of the day the fiancée ends up by presenting his respects to the elders of his new family.

The divorce is not traumatic at all. If he is the fiancé the one that requests it, it will have only to do a small gift to the chief of the village for the gods, and if she is the fiancée, will have to return the gifts that it obtained with the wedding.

Copyright © 2004 www.wuhancom.net