The sexual freedom of the Talu

The marriage and the sexual relations is it does it to the Talu different from the peoples that surround them, since it preserves a type of relations that they are considered they were extended enough by the Province of Yunnan in more ancient times.

In general they marry neither the Han, the Lisu nor the Yi; although sometimes they do it with the Nacha, Liude and Longwo of more similar still not studied culture. There do not also marry between those who have the same surname, and avoid the social relations between the relatives of the opposite sex.

In fact the Talu only have nine surnames, which possibly they avenge of nine ancient clans that there were constituting the Talu related to animals, plants or natural objects. Formerly every in every village there were living the people who belonged to the same clan, all with the same surname.

There they finish all his limitations, since otherwise they enjoy enormous sexual and matrimonial freedom.

For them there are two types of marriage, the formal one and informal other, that we might compare them to what in Occident we call relation of marriage and of lovers. Along his life, every person Talu, both men and women, has many lovers, some of which are even preserved by it after marrying.

The children and the girls are instructed in the sex by his biggest relatives. After 15 comes to ó 16 years the girls allow and to live with the parents, and go to live to a house where together all the young people lives together: the house of the girls. Since then they begin having lovers. If a girl does not have several lovers, they all make fun of her thinking that it is not very skillful. Normally the groups of young people visit in the night the house of the girls, where they start by singing piquant songs. When a girl is interested for a boy, it does a sign to him, and this one will remain to happen the night with her.

Other times a friend presents some of his lovers his friends, without by it no type of jealousy being generated.

The relations can last a few days, or spread during long years.

Generally the girls do not think about the formal marriage up to 25 years, when his lovers usually choose a spouse between. Looking someone of good character and worker. When a feeling begins arising between two lovers, small gifts are exchanged. If they decide to marry they look for a priest or Luxi so that by means of the divination he says to them if his marriage will be auspicioso. If he says that not, they separate. If he says that yes, they drink the tea of the commitment, and marry soon in a simple ceremony, without trousseau or dowry, happening the wife (with the children that it could have, who do not suffer discrimination) to live with the family of the husband.

The divorce also is very simple, and most of the people get divorced also, although there are many who do not marry and support lovers' relation during the whole life.

The family is structured then from a husband, a wife and his children. There are distributed the works of the field (except to plow that the men do it), but the woman deals with the house and the children. The women do not take part in the religious ceremonies, which remain this way restricted for the men. The wealths of the family are inherited only on the masculine part.

The families are very unstable for the frequent divorces.

The sexual freedom is transforming quickly as his contact increases with the exterior world. In addition to the moral reprobation on the part of the Chinese puritans, these sexual relations of the Talu also took his disadvantages, like the transmission of venereal diseases, scarce development of some women as the premature pregnancies, high infant mortality and big percentage of congenital illnesses.

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