page_title: Mosuo
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Mosuo / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: A Mosuo woman near Lugu Lake. Please note: it has been pointed out on my user page at Wikimedia Commons that this is actually a Yi woman. If anyone can confirm this, please contact me at zoharby@gmail.com.
context_page_description: The Mosuo, often called the Na among themselves, are a small ethnic group living in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces in China, close to the border with Tibet. Consisting of a population of approximately 40,000, many of them live in the Yongning region, around Lugu Lake, in Labai, in Muli, and in Yanyuan, located high in the Himalayas.
  Although the Mosuo are culturally distinct from the Nakhi, the Chinese government places them as members of the Nakhi minority. The Nakhi are about 320,000 people spread throughout different provinces in China. Their culture has been documented by indigenous scholars Lamu Gatusa, Latami Dashi, Yang Lifen and He Mei.
context_section_description: The Mosuo are primarily farmers. Subsistence is mostly based on agriculture. Farmers work "seven hours a day and seven months a year". In the past, they cultivated oats, buckwheat, and flax exclusively. This changed under Han influence at the end of the nineteenth century. Since then, these farmers have also cultivated, among other things, corn, sunflowers, soybeans, potatoes and other vegetables such as pumpkins and beans. Potatoes were their main staple for a while until the mid-twentieth century when they began growing rice, which today makes up more than half of annual production. In recent years, subsistence for some Mosuo has shifted dramatically from agriculture due to a thriving tourist industry
  Mosuo also keep a variety of livestock. Since the early twentieth century they have raised buffalo, cows, horses, and goats which originated from Han and Tibetan regions. However, their preferred stock is pigs. Pork plays several important roles in Mosuo society. It is fed to guests, is the obligatory offering at funerals, and used as payment or reimbursement. Hua (2001) insists that it is "a kind of currency and... a symbol of wealth".
  Once a year, regions of Mosuo males gather for a livestock fair. They travel for miles on buses, horses, or foot to attend. Here men sell and trade livestock to supplement household incomes.
  The Mosuo fish on Lake Lugu and also set land-based fish traps; however, they do not use motorboats, and catching fish in open water using their very primitive gear is not easy.
caption: Yí woman near Lugu Lake
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